Random Photos

I'VE BEEN TAKING A lot of photos lately so I thought I'd share them with you all. They're pretty random, taken at various times during the last few months. 

This is a Filipendula rubra blooming in a hellstrip, of all places.
I thought they liked shade and water. 

One of the gardens featured on the tour in June had this vertical planter
with fresh Viola blossoms growing in a vertical planter.  

Is it just me or are the Crocosmias looking exceptionally vibrant this year?

I have several photos of  hellstrip plantings. This Echinacea is especially healthy.

Sea Hollies (Eryngium) are such an unusual color of blue. 

At one of the entrances to the university, a very healthy Dierama is in full bloom. 

Recently I spotted this very tall, pink-flowered Poor Man's Orchid (Impatiens balfouri) growing at a park.
I was able to collect some of the seed. 

I've been watching a church yard near where I work. Here is one of the Penstemons in full bloom. 

Here is another shot of the church yard's perennial border. 

Another shot of the church garden. The photo doesn't do it justice. 

I thought this variegated Liriope planting was kind of cool. 

As you can imagine, the bees were very happy with this planting. 

Another hellstrip planting. Common, annual Cosmos. 

Another hellstrip had a small above-ground water feature. There was a tiny pump and fish.
I'm not quite sure what the wire was all about. It kind of detracts from the aesthetics, don't you think? 

I'm not sure what this "Victory Garden" mobile greenhouse is all about but it's kind of cute, don't you think?

How's this for unique garden art? 

I like the combination of Japanese Blood Grass and  Voodoo Sedum 

This pretty display is part of the garden tour in June. 

Another garden tour planting. 

I really like this cement bird bath/planter. 

One of the backyards on the tour. The tree made it really shady and pleasant. 

From the garden tour: isn't this an ingenious composting system? 

Functional and fun. 

Nix the lawn and have a fun front yard. 

I thought this gate was really cool. 

This house is near my work. If you look closely at the railing you'll see that it's a one-of-a-kind.

I like this front porch with the blooming clemmy. 

And finally, I couldn't resist snapping a photo of my friend Annie's pot.

As always, 

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Years ago, when I was a young gardener, I would have been mortified to take a walk in the garden that I found myself in today.

My Crape Myrtle, finally blooming, is laden with rainwater.

Back then, I was still deluded by my own self-serving grandiosity. I believed I could weave perfection out of weeds and dirt chunks. I could design eye-candy out of waterlogged detritus. Transform the desert into an oasis. Anything less was failure.

Fuchsia, Joe Pye and Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate with the chartreuse foliage of Himalayan Honeysuckle.

As my kids got older and their play structures were relegated to Goodwill, I had my expanding blank canvas. There wasn't much that was too difficult for my designer's mind to wrap itself around.

The final show of a Hosta

Most of what I enjoy today is the result of those sore muscles and impetuosity. I'm grateful that the really heavy work is behind me.

Aging Cotinus foliage doused with rainwater. 

An early October deluge has rendered my garden pretty sad looking. This, after a dry summer. Lacking measurable rainfall for about two and a half months, my plants had been forced to anchor their roots in hardpan. Leaves turned brown and shriveled into unrecognizable masses; stems that once held the prettiest of flowers were now brown and crispy.

Hydrangea 'Glowing Embers' 

But then the rains came. And now many once-vertical stems are laying prostrate, encroaching on walkways and their neighbors. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Lespedeza on a good year. 

Good thing I've got a sense of humor about it all. I'm older now. Grand illusions of perfection don't occupy every inch of my gray matter. The garden evolves and devolves.

The Fuchsia are still looking great. 

Rather than scrutinize the entire garden, I seek out small victories. Raindrops on a dangling Fuchsia...

Shiny seeds from Lantana 

Pretty seed pods or a lone spider clinging to its web, (at which point I go somewhere else).

"Poor Man's Orchid" or Impatiens balfouri seedpod.

And because I'm so easily amused by plants, sometimes I'll saunter over to my Poor Man's Orchid and grasp a long, thin seedpod and let it pop in my hand. I know, silly, right?

When the Seeds Don't Germinate

It was back in 2008, while visiting a nearby nursery that I found this cute little old fashioned flower. Without even a hint at botanical nomenclature, the salesman blurted, "Poor Man's Orchid." [Impatiens balfouri] At $2.25 for a four-inch pot, I thought, why not? It required shade, check. It would get tall, check. It would bloom 'til frost, check. What I didn't realize at the time was that it would also reseed! 2009 was a bumper year, with Orchid offspring filling my courtyard. Ditto for 2010. Then at the dawn of 2011, with an unseasonably warm January, baby Orchids did their thing, sprouting up all over the place, full of promise. Until February when frost made mush out of them. And that, my dear friends, was the end of the saga. Not one seedling in spring. Nothing. Nada.   

 A few days ago, Carol and I went back to said nursery and I scored another four-incher for my courtyard, [above]. Barring another fluke in the weather [I'm not holding my breath], I'll have a courtyard full again next year.

 Don't you just love this time of year in the garden? Every day it's something new. Above is my Galega officinalis 'Lady Wilson.' Looks an awful lot like a Lupine, doesn't it?

 My Abutilon 'Nabob' overwintered successfully and is about to bloom. This photo is from last year.

 This is Agastache 'Red Fortune.' 

 My tall Alstromeria is blooming. 

 Carpenteria 'Elizabeth' just finished up its blossoming. 

 This sweet little Dahlia has overwintered again. Every year I worry that I'll lose it but don't have the nerve to dig it up and overwinter it inside. I think it's proven itself. I think I can relax now. Maybe. Actually it's all a big crap shoot and I scored with this one.