Green on Green

This plant in the papyrus family reproduces itself freely, which leads to
many babies in my flower beds.  I then transplant said seedlings to any place
that tends to get waterlogged in the rainy season.
Nothing scientific, just a sense that papyrus grows near water, and I have areas with bad drainage, so I am trying to make the best use of challenging areas in my garden.

* * * * *

This Eryngium, or Sea Holly, also reproduces freely – almost too freely for me.
I mean, it grows well, is deer and rodent resistant, and I am still looking for where to move it so it won’t poke me while I weed around it.
I cut some of the ‘flowers’ and laid them in a cool, dark area to dry, just in case they might look good in another season.  Chances do not look good, as I found the stems to be hollow, which is not a characteristic of any other flower that dries well.

* * * * *

A visitor to my garden recently asked me about this ‘flower’.  These are seedpods of a spring flowering daylily.  No flower here!  When the stems turn brown they pull away easily, so I wait a few months, and it is one less plant to deadhead.

Advertisement

Colorful Asters

The original plant is this color, but the camera captures a different color than my eye sees.  I looked at a number of photos I took, and kept seeing the same hue.  In person, these flowers look more purple / blue.  I suppose there is a perfectly logical camera explanation for the color difference :-)* * * * *

I do like this light pink color, perhaps because there are so few plants with flowers this color.  Can you see the purple asters on the far left of the photo?  The camera was fooled into showing those flowers their true color!

I am inundated with aster seedlings in the garden, since it is extremely time-consuming to dead head these plants.  New blossoms open and others die everyday, from the top of branches going down.

My latest plan is to mark the bottom of the plants with pink blooms, so I will know them after the tops have been cut off.
When they are dug up in winter, I can say decisively, what color flower comes from which plant.
* * * * *
The one plant with white flowers was the last to bloom.

Rockin’ Roses

A ‘single’ rose means there are only five petals.  Their beauty is fleeting, they do not last long on the bush.  When the shrub is full of flowers it is quite a sight.  Then there is lots of deadheading, to encourage more blooms.
* * * * *

This small bush is a prolific producer of miniature roses
One of my favorites, sturdy and stalwart.
Again, lots of deadheading to keep it blooming & looking great.
* * * * *

Our most aromatic rose bush, which is why my husband had to buy this one.
* * * * *

Vi’s Violet is another miniature rose bush.
(I happened to find a broken name tag below.)
This plant struggles, but stays alive.  It gives a few blooms every year.
* * * * *

This poor plant had been struggling for a couple of years, and almost did not make it through the winter.  I dug out chives that were threatening to overrun at the base, and dug in bark mulch and added more topsoil.
It looks so much better this year.  A climbing bush that bears miniature red blossoms, this had been one of the most productive roses here.  It now looks to be on the way back to its former glory.