My Japanese Iris are just now blooming. The deer sampled a few blooms last night (they do each year), but for the most part, they are left untouched.

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Tithonia 'Fiesta del Sol'
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Perennial heliotrope (soft cuttings available)
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Tall verbena and agastache
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Clematis and buddleia 'Royal Red'
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Geranium 'Brookside' (and a few platycoden in there, too)
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Returning calla in front of Kleim's Hardy Gardenia (so fragrant)
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Stella d'Oro and volunteer wave petunias:
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Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: more irises in my latest blog entry

Sorry, I posted medium sized photos.
Cameron

That's okay Cameron they're beautiful! I just found where I think some perennial heliotrope is coming back. I thought the bunnies had murdered it since it was a very small plant put down in fall.

Cameron the size of your photos are much too small to be a problem. Anything bigger than 120K I post as a thumbnail, which is why most all of mine are thumbnails. Hopefully some people are opening them up, lol. The white Japanese iris is lovely. I have a purple one that I got from Niche that's starting to bloom; I've grown dozens of seedlings from it and they are the same purple. I saw that perennial heliotrope over at Tammy's and I'd really like to get my hands on it, lol.

Alicia when we get together i'll be happy to bring you some! You just have to tell me how many you want- LOL. (I emailed you this week). It seeds around for me and I always have lots of extras. Just put it where you want it b/c it never dies and it sends roots down and will come back from any little bit. The only way to get rid of it is to catch the seedlings before they put down the tap root. I assume glyso will kill it but i don't mind it all over, just like verb bonariensis. It's a great harmonizing color. I bring some to each swap, too.

Tammy thanks. You need to email me from GardenWeb or use my aol address; my embarq address has been down for over a week. :(

Speaking of seedlings, I have a lot of amsonia hubrechtii under the mother plants. I also have a lot of baptisia seedlings under the mothers. I will have a lot of baptisia seeds in the late fall.
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The white irises are iris ensata 'Mount Fujiyama'. This is the 2nd year for them. I have 3 clumps. When it comes time to divide them, I'm happy to share. I have them with purple (just now opening up) and they are great together. I have another clump nestled in with monarda 'blue stocking'. I'm waiting to see that combo for the first time this year.

This isn't a good photo of the Mt. Fuji, but it shows the purple.

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Here is leucanthemum 'Ice Star' that I just planted 2 weeks ago. It's a new one for me, so I'll see how it does. I love the fluffy bloom. I've got it mixed in with daylily 'Happy Returns' and leucanthemum 'Broadway Lights' and the annual angelonia 'Lavender Pink'. That bed needs to fill in before I can get photos of the combination.
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The butterfly garden is starting to bud up. I think I'll be seeing a lot of color in late June.

The spirea 'Neon Flash' is starting to bloom and the ruby star coneflowers won't be far behind. I have those mixed together. A favorite combination.

Those will have to wait for the "Summer pics 1" thread! LOL

Alicia, I sent you an email to your aol acct. :) Just let me know how many you want!

Have more pictures for today

Salvia greggii 'Raspberry Royale'
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Here is a link that might be useful: Today's pics

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It's good to see someone has butterflies. I'm not seeing many so far this year. When I look back at last year's photos, the butterfly pics were mostly taken in July and August.

Shari -- I'm so glad that you posted that salvia. I have a similar one, but have no label for it. I got mine a couple of years ago from The Unique Plant in Chapel Hill. The blooms on mine match the rose campion.

Shari I really like your Cryptomeria picture. Your butterfly weed looks extremely happy. I think I'm going to do what you are doing and just link to my Photobucket page.

Eastern Gray beardtongue
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Here is a link that may be useful: Some pictures from yesterday

I don't have anything to link to. Maybe one of these days I can figure out how to put them on the website my husband set up. I think he made a special section just for my garden, but I've never done anything with it.

I took some bigger pictures this time that show the structure of the garden (and all the weeds I haven't pulled, hellebores that need to be deadheaded, etc, etc):
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My husband built a cool stone wall right after we moved in. On one side the soccer balls roll and dogs chase frisbee fragments. The other side is mine, and everyone knows it (except the puppy sometimes). Over the years I've taken over more and more of the top of the wall, too.
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Dyckias and Hechtias:
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PinkPet:
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out in the meadow:
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Alstroemeria 'Marmalade'
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Anomatheca laxa
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clematis
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foliage:
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A very happy insect. Another moment and he was out of sight.

Karen, I absolutely love it! I would feel perfectly at home there and I'm jealous of the stone, brick and shade. Alstroemeria 'Marmalade' is a scrumptious color and is the plant with the white blooms a Scuttelaria?

Tammy I have not yet received an email through my aol account either.

Alicia- i'll try & send one again later, maybe thru GW. Not sure why you didn't get it at aol- i copied &pasted it from one of our old letters. .

Karen, i love your garden! What is the pink flower the bees consumed by? and what's the iris in the second to the last shot? The woods in the first shot is really nice, and the wall's beautiful!

Tammy I still haven't gotten your email. I don't know what's going on either. I'm calling Embarq today because to go without email service for more than a week is ridiculous -- I can send but not receive email. Perhaps you can post your message here...

Tammy I just called Embarq and found that I had to click on Enhanced Email to get my messages -- Embarq is having trouble after installing new servers.

So, do i need to send another or not? I was consumed with dealing with sun burns, etc after getting back from the beach last night & didn't get a chance.

No I just read your email messages and replied.

Alicia, email glitches seem to be an epidemic these days - I just got yours and responded back. Hope it makes it to you.

Alicia, thanks, and I'm jealous of your wetlands and the long views. The white is Salvia argentea. Typically biennial, so in a few weeks I'll be in a quandry as to whether to save seed or cut it back in hopes of getting another year. I tried to dig some 'Marmalade' for the last swap but the tubers have pulled themselves pretty deep. If I'm feeling energetic in the fall I'll try again to bring you some. It was a gift from one of my gardening benefactors years ago, but I've rarely seen it listed anywhere commercially.

Tammy, the pink flower with the ecstatic bee is (I think) Spirea tomentosa. I got it from a friend who dug it at her property in the mountains, but it seems extra fuzzy compared to pictures I've seen on line. It was originally one of those 'Charlie Brown's Christmas' plants in danger of being orphaned at the end of a swap so I decided to bring it home. I was pretty pleased with myself after I saw it size up and bloom. I think the iris must be an Iris ensata but, akin to the spirea, it came in an unblooming clump in a garbage bag from someone's mother's house to a swap and I felt like it needed a home. I get some of my best plants that way.

A few more photos:
Abutilon 'Voodoo'
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Begonia boliviensis
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Edgeworthia papyrifera
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Geranium sanguineum and Sedum emarginatum 'Eco Mt.Emei'
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Herbertia lahue
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Kalanchoe beharensis
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Iris 'Aichi no Kagayaki'
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Silene virginica
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Assorted Semps and Sedums
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I'm jealous! How do you amass such a collection?

Well, the iris especially is absolutely lovey, and if you ever want to divvy for a swap... LOL

Was the silene native on your prop or how did you get it going? I love seeing thsoe in the mtns. Love that begonia and the kalanchoe! Very cool plants. Does that kind of edworthia get the same paper husk flowers in winter? The form is pretty. I like the sedum containers, too.

Thanks, Alicia for being patient! :)

I like the Abutilon and the strawberry jars. I must do some of those.

Salvia 'Indigo Spires'
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Here is a link that might be useful: Some pics from yesterday

Karen, where did you get the Herbertia lahue -- drool -- PD?

Karen where did your husband get the rock? Was it on your property?

Shari I didn't realize that Indigo Spires bloomed so early. The rugosa seedling looks happy! I want to see a picture of the bloom when it opens up. I ordered the real Purple Pavement after discovering that what I have is Foxi Pavement and it will be interesting to get seedlings from that one too.

Alicia, Indigo Spires has been like the energizer bunny for me but I don't know how many more years I can expect that. I need to root some cuttings and get it started in another place. I took another pic this am of the rugosa- I'll have to post it tonite.

The rugosa seedling this morning.

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Here is a link that might be useful: a couple of new pics

Shari is the color as two-toned as it looks in the picture?

Yes it was this am. Didn't get back outside after work so I don't know if it opened up more today or not. There are two samller buds coming that can't be seen in the picture.

Beautiful flowers! It's great to see all the variety, inspirations and advice.

Shari, where do you get your spider daylilies? I love that wilder look but I never see them around for sale. Do you mail order? On Indigo Spires, I recommend taking some cuttings and starting fresh plants if you see that the old ones are getting woody at the base. I didn't do that and am regretting it now that I lost them winter before last. They were one of my husband's favorites, but I haven't gotten around to replacing them yet. Unfortunately I also lost the Salvia meyeri cutting I got from you last year. If you feel inclined to take any cuttings this summer I'd love to try again at the next swap.

Alicia, the Herbertia lahue came from the arboretum, but I think PDN carries it. I keep meaning to save seed and try to start them but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll let you know if I manage to catch seed this summer. The rock came from the power cut that runs behind our house. We've gone through lots of wheelbarrows.

Tammy, the silene wasn't native here and I only have a couple of plants so far but I'm hoping they'll seed off. I love anything that blooms that intensely red in the open woods. This edgeworthia does have the typical buds and flowers but is smaller in proportion than the E. chrysanthas I've grown. I don't really know what the differences are -- all that edgeworthia taxonomy still seems a little mixed up to me. I don't think I'll get in there to divide the iris this summer and it's actually a mixed group of colors so I'll need to do it just after blooming to get a particular clone, but remind me next year.

JQ, it's hard to think of this as a 'collection' (or even a garden sometimes) when my husband keeps referring to it as a 'scientific experiment', but I think I have a lot of generous friends who give me cool stuff and also I quit buying shoes in favor of plants about 10 years ago.

Shirley poppies and larkspur
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Skullcap
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Devoniensis
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Daylily "Buttered Popcorn"
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Karen, I bought alot of my daylilies from the Lily Auction and the rest came thru classified ad sales on Dave's Garden. If you just want a few spiders you would probably do well to hit the LA or you could wait another year and trade with me:)

Alicia, I love your poppies and larkspur. I had poppies going pretty well at one time but I guess I need to start seeding again. I've been out to look this am and the rugosa is light pink except for the very outer petals. Devoniensis is beautiful.

Here is a link that might be useful: the Lily Auction

Karen, with peak bloom season coming up it's a great time to visit some farms. I've never been but Marietta has a huge selection, some cool ones of their own and are said to be super nice folks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marietta Gardens

Boy, they sure have some pretty ones, even just on the home page! There's a daylily farm here in garner but i've not visited, so i don't know if they have spiders or not. Weston farms. Karen, After mine bloom this year i can probbably divide the spidery ones i have. I'll try to take some pix and send them so you can tell me if you're interested or not. I think i have 3 or 4 spidery types. I'll try to rememeber to email you next yr about the iris, but will likely forget. So, where did you get the silene then? Does niche carry them? Very cool.

Alicia your pix of the spiderworts are fun! Love the fuzz. Is the skullcap the ovata or another one?

I think it's integrifolia, Tall Skullcap, even though it's not tall. It grows in ditches and damp places on my farm.

Shari it will be interesting to see if your rugosa continues to have blooms with two colors. It's beautiful.

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Shari, I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for those daylily links. I could get into big trouble there. (Un?)fortunately I can't get away to do anything much until July, otherwise I'd be up for a road trip to Marietta NOW, but I'll jump on the alternative of trades sometime with you and Tammy.

I can't remember where the Silenes came from, though I think one might have been from either the Duke or NC Botanic Gardens sales. When I've been to Pine Knot Farms this time of year I've seen it growing along the road up to the nursery.

Alicia, there are two Scutellarias growing out in my meadow. One looks like yours and I've thought it was integrifolia as well. The other I've tentatively ID'd as S. ovata although if you look at photos around the net it looks like there's a fair amount of variability in leaf form there. The integrifolia is predominant though.

Karen I've got Scutellaria ovata -- I'll post a picture tomorrow. I have S. incana too but that one's not blooming yet.

The NC Botanical Garden almost always has Silenes for sale, although you want to get them in flower because they have a lot of pinks as well as the red.

Wow, the Cradle of Bethlehem daylily on the Marietta site is gorgeous. Not sure if it's $75 worth of gorgeous though. It's a known fact that the more expensive a daylily is the more deer will like it.

Karen, I picked up a Scuttelaria that you took to the Fall Swap last year. You had it marked "species?" Any idea which one it is now? It's still a very small plant although it is in the ground:)

Here are some pics of three different Scutellaria species:

Scutellaria integrifolia. This one has narrow leaves.
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Scutellaria incana. The leaves have a slight sheen and it doesn't bloom until summer.
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Scutellaria ovata
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The large leaf to the right is Digitalis.
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Thanks Alicia! I'll save the pics for when they bloom. They are all very pretty.

Here's a close-up of S. ovata bloom:
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