Gardening With Grace: Butterfly

Showing posts with label Butterfly. Show all posts

Monday, July 29, 2019

Late July, Already!

Oregon has the best summers and this one is no exception. Sunshine, temperatures in the 80s, cool nights, slight breeze. I think we've had only three or four 90 degree days so far. I'm really thankful.

Just because it's summer doesn't mean I quit buying plants. Check out this newbie. It's a tropical so I'll need to move it inside during the winter but aren't these leaves gorgeous?

Breynia nivosa 'Roseo-picta'

Also on the tender side, I'll have to take care not to let this one (below) get exposed to too much cold. I bought it from Annie's Annuals this spring. It just started blooming.

Lavatera assurgentiflora

Clerodendrum bungei just started blooming.

Gardenia 'Frostproof' has been blooming for about three weeks.

I have a new fascination with hardy Geraniums. There are some really rare varieties for sale at Robin Parer's nursery called appropriately, Geraniacea located in California.

Geranium nodosum 'Clos du Courdray'

I'm growing most of my new hardy Geraniums in pots so I can really enjoy the flowers.

Geranium himalayense 'Plenum'

Geranium x oxonianum 'Tanya Randell'

I've got a few others that haven't started blooming yet. Stay tuned.

Check out this new to me (last year) Fuchsia 'Nettala' from Secret Garden Growers. Easy and hardy!

Fuchsia 'Nettala'

Lily from a bagged of mixed bulbs from Costco

Lilium 'Stargazer'

Another newbie this year from Annie's is this white-flowered Cupid's Dart. It had been on my wish forever and I nabbed two of them when I saw them for sale. It mingles really well with other flowers.

Catananche caerulea 'Alba'

Also from Annie's... this Heracleum is just starting to bloom.

Heracleum sphondylium 'Pink Cloud'

A Dahlia called 'Mistral'

From Far Reaches Farm in northern Washington this sweet Codonopsis. I didn't expect bloom this year because the plant was so small. But check it out.

Codonopsis convolvulacea subsp. grey-wilsonii

And my other Codonopsis from Dancing Oaks:

Codonopsis pilosula

This Rhodochiton is a tender but wintered over from last year in a protected pot.

Rhodochiton atrosanguineum

And the Anemonopsis is blooming too. I love how plants just have there own unique blooming time table.

Anemonopsis macrophylla

I bought this Scabiosa at BiMart (variety store) last year. I really hoped it would winter over and it did.

Scabiosa 'Gelato Blueberry'

This is a small pond but you can't tell because it's so full of plants.

A few wide shots.

And now for some critter shots:

A baby robin waiting for dinner

A towhee parent and child

You know you're a (weird) gardener when you're more excited to see a rare critter on your basil than you are to eat the stuff. Below is a gray hairstreak caterpillar. It is pink because it's been eating purple basil flowers.

Gray Hairstreak caterpil

I saw the mother a few weeks ago and thought she was nectaring but apparently she was also laying eggs. (I took this butterfly photo last year but shows what this little thing will become.)

And this is a gray hairstreak. (Not the best photo)

Finally, we saw twins this morning. This little one, her sibling and mama visited my front garden. Unfortunately when I opened the door to get a better picture, they scurried off.

Photo of baby deer through a very dirty window.

Thank you for visiting.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Don't Look

You know you're a gardener when your outdoors is cleaner than your indoors. Confession: I've spent so much time gardening lately that my house looks like crap. I keep telling myself, "Don't look" at all of the indoor to-dos. They will get done. They always do. Right now I've got gardening to do.

Well, and blogging. It's been forever since I've posted photos. I've got a bunch of them so I'll keep my comments brief. If you have a question or comment, feel free to chime in.

Penstemon rupicola with Helianthemum 'Ben Ledi'

P. rupicola close up.

Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'

This one, lone Gardenia blossom overwintered and bloomed. Ah, the fragrance. I took this photo about a week ago but now the flower has faded. In a few months, the entire bush will be abloom. What a nice little spring surprise.

Gardenia jasminoides 'Frostproof'

Enkianthus campanulatus 'Showy Lanterns'

I'm going to move this poor Peony. It just isn't happy in this spot.

Paeonia tenuifolia

Quaking Grass is an annual grass reseeds. The roots are shallow so the plants are easy to pull and transplant into a pot (or feed to my cats). I will dry most of the seed heads though.

Quaking Grass (Briza maxima)

Calycanthus x raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine'

This Night Phlox is incredibly fragrant. I have it in a pot right at nose level.

Night Phlox (Zaluzianskya ovata)

Speaking of fragrance, this bush Lonicera is incredibly fragrant. I almost got rid of it a few years ago when it was in a bad spot. I'm so glad I didn't.

Lonicera syringantha

Jim was new last year. Despite reports of being an "easy to grow" plant, he pouted. This year he's happy. And so am I.

Chiastrophyllum oppositifolium 'Jim's Pride'

My sister gave me a piece of this gorgeous hardy Geranium. My photo doesn't do it justice.

Geranium nodosum 'Whiteleaf'

In all my gardening years, I've never grown Jack-in-the-pulpit or Arisaema. This spring I decided to try a species. (There are several and the showier they are, the pricier they are.) I bought three bulbs of A. triphyllum from Prairie Moon Nursery. They arrived a few weeks ago and check them out. One is already blooming.