Part Three Of: Summer Scenery On Campus

Today we shall transition from container plantings on campus to lively plants that live in the ground. The first container for today shares a similar theme to those discussed last time, but I think this container is more successful. It blends just a hint of tropical with more familiar plants, and they're all bright and vivid.

 

 

These flowers were in all of last post's containers, but they are blooming much more aggressively here.

 

I still would not choose petunias to adorn my home, but these are some of the more creative I've seen. Petunias must be easy to breed and design, as I have seen an astounding array of colors and patterns in them this year alone.

Around the edge of the container are warmer-colored flowers. I like this combination of colors and textures. I also like that the bright orange flowers are tucked underneath the more inconspicuous ones. It keeps them from stealing too much attention.

I don't know what these flowers are, but I cannot get over them! They look like lacy cotton candy.

More of the pink froth.

Near those bushes (which were sadly unlabeled) were Stokesia laevis 'Blue Danube', common name Stokes' Aster.

These would be fun to have as a border. Their fuzziness complements the laciness of the pink flowers quite well. They'd both fit in a Victorian-esque garden, for sure.

More of these. Couldn't stop looking at them and wondering what they were.

And, lastly, daylilies in a banana color. Part of me always wants to deadhead the daffodils on campus, but there are a LOT of them, so I never have time.

What summer scenery has adorned your neighborhood this year? What do or don't you like about it?

Next post: knocked out by roses (for real this time).

Part One of: Summer Scenery on Campus

On the Fourth of July, I had my first chance to walk around campus and see what Landscape Services had done with the place. Our campus is quite large, so these posts will continue for several days.

This building is very old and historic, so the gardens in front of it are supposed to be showstopping and novel each year. Last year's array, as I recall, was more tropical, but I'm happy with what they did here. This is the best (and most encompassing) shot I could get without standing in the middle of the road.

I don't know what these cattail-like plants are, but they're neat. The not-quite-purple, not-quite-brown of the reproductive parts, paired with the whimsical bending of the spike, catches your eye better than most "typical" flowers. But they're only sporadically placed, which creates a good balance.

These flowers are just about the peppiest I've ever seen. They are clearly also meant to be highlights of this display.

Here's a closer shot of the "cattails."

These plants probably get overlooked by all the passersby, but they're sweet and subtle all at once. I always like flowers that fade to green like these do (white hellebores, for instance).

In terms of thrilling, filling, and spilling, these flowers fill. Because there are so many flower spikes, it's nice that a mix of colors was used. This would blow people off the sidewalk if it was all one color.

These bluebell-esque flowers don't seem to be quite in full bloom yet, but they also exhibit a combination of flair and sensibility--they're bright, but tiny. I wouldn't miss them terribly were they not in this bed, but they're nice enough on their own. They resemble snapdragons.

As you can see, these daisy-like blooms were so blindingly white that they wouldn't really show up on my camera. You can get the idea, though. For all the ground cover and filler plants included here, there are still many patches of bare soil. I wonder if that will change as the season progresses.

Albino cattails? These spikes were my favorites because they are hard to spot, but once you spot them, you can't look away. Bright green and bright pink fading naturally into each other! You don't often see that in nature.

These same plants (plus some petunias and a small tree) were combined in these containers. It's nice to have all that color livening up the beige of the (gigantic) building.

So that's that arrangement! What do you think of it? What could be added, improved, removed?

Next post: neon explosion.

The Dawn of Summer, Part IV

Let's dive deeper into summer's delights. I don't recall exactly where we left off, but today we're going deep into iris territory.

We begin with some lovely purple and gold irises in the peak of bloom.

Even iris buds are beautiful. When I was very small, I used to pick these and pretend they were eccentric lipsticks.

For a little change of pace, here's another peony bush. Peonies are so purely white that they're difficult to photograph with any detail.

These flowers are also exquisite, but I don't quite know what they are. They're almost like pink bluebells.

We now return to your regularly scheduled irises. These sunny yellow flowers serve to demonstrate the versatility of irises. Irises can look elegant (like the purple ones above), cheery (like these), or dramatic (as in the next picture).

These maroon irises border on moody and misunderstood, that's how dramatic they are. Yet, they evoke emotions just as positive as smiley face yellow irises do.

Dark and light irises can even inhabit the same space successfully. The contrast adds flair, and balances out the exuberance and the moodiness.

Speaking of exuberance, I'm not sure what these flowers are either, but they are the happiest I've seen since the daffodils stopped blooming. They're pink, but they're so light and reflective that they might as well be white. I would love to have some of these someday.

What new plants have you discovered recently? What unexpected combinations have worked well in your yard or garden?

Next post: more red-hot summer action.

The Dawn of Summer, Part III



This is the third installment of my ongoing series on summer's sprouting. Today we're going to see some of summer's best beauties, as well as a big, expensive toy. For more on that, read on.

 

To begin, here is a white clover flower. It isn't big, or showy, or even in focus, but it does make one more hesitant to use broadleaf herbicides on the lawn.

 



This picture sums up my feelings about irises: they're regal and always surprising. I've seen the lavender/periwinkle color before, but the pink/purple/gold variety is new to me. I don't think you can go wrong with color combinations when it comes to irises.

Even the necrotic tissue below that bud is elegantly shaped. That's impressive.

Here's a better shot of the multicolored blooms. Each color brings new sophistication to the whole. Stay tuned to my next couple of "Dawn of Summer" posts for more iris configurations.

The other great flower I noticed while I was home was peonies. According to my mother, peonies smell like roses used to. It's a vaguely sweet smell that enters your nostrils subtly, like the scent of marigolds. However, the smell of peonies is less controversial than that of marigolds. We had some peonies in my house for a couple of days over the weekend, and it was a pleasant experience.

See the sign on the tree in the picture above? That's a "No Trespassing" sign. However, I braved the warning to get a better shot of some peonies hanging out with yet another color of irises. The gold and maroon remind me of a crown.

I'm not entirely certain about the identity of this bush. The flowers look like dogwood flowers, but I've never seen a dogwood bush. The plant sure stands out, though. It must be fifteen feet tall.

See? The petals have the characteristic notches that dogwood flowers do. I wonder if dogwood can be trained or bred into bush form.

Lastly, a random neighborhood shot. This Corvette looks like something Adam West would drive.

Have you ever seen a plant in a form you didn't think possible? What colors of irises have you seen lately?

Next post: possibly potherbs.

The Dawn of Summer, Part II



Today we continue our journey through the beginning of the bountiful season. Let's start with the reason I initiated this journey: irises. Irises fascinate me. Their many colors and elegant shapes, propped upon tall, slender stalks have resonated with me all my life.

 

Here are a couple of iris bushes, though shot from afar. Also, note the peony on the right.

 



This beautiful, buttery iris was in a cemetery near my house. I must be hungry (even if not, I've always got food on the brain)--this flower reminds me of popcorn.

Even if a patch of land is unkempt, irises always spruce it up, as shown here.

Another elegant plant nearby was this yucca.

But what's this? That, my friends, is the start of a beautiful bounty in the form of blooms. Yucca flowers, as I've said in other posts, are completely edible. You'd better believe that I'm going to scavenge some when they arrive. I don't exactly know what these flowers taste like, but I can see myself sautéing them with onions, garlic, corn, beans, and jalapenos, then serving that over rice with some pork brisket for a Southwestern dinner. That sounds excellent. Maybe I am hungry.

This passageway is an example of the great aesthetic feats plants can accomplish. No other material, organic or otherwise, could make this area look so inviting and mysterious. It reminds me of The Secret Garden.

Here's another yucca inflorescence stalk (read: stalk where flowers will grow) forming, this one farther along. If I knew what yucca tasted like, I'd almost be able to taste the flowers already.

I noticed a lot of weeds on my walkabout. These two plants are buckhorn plantains (Plantago lanceolata). Why are they significant? They're edible! Young leaves can be included in salads, and older leaves can be cooked like any other leafy green. Yes, I want to try this, and yes, I will post about it when I do.

A few years ago, this cemetery (which was originally a "colored cemetery" dating back to the Civil War) got a nice entrance gate and some landscaping around it. While it was a nice gesture, and it does look much better, there are silk flowers adorning the gate. However, there are also these pretty rose bushes. The peachy-pink blooms are unique, at least in town.

What evidence of summer have you found?

Next post: probably more moments in summer's morning.

The Dawn of Summer, Part I

I'm back in College Town, USA, all moved into my apartment. All my plants made it more or less safely, and I'm really happy with all the space I have. But before I show all that, I'd like to begin an ongoing (for a while) series of posts about the plants I saw thriving at home while I was visiting. I took a long walk around the neighborhood(s) to photograph irises, but I found an even greater aesthetic bounty than I anticipated. So that's what all these "The Dawn of Summer" posts are about. Without further ado, let's get started!

The first thing that stuck out to me when I arrived in town was that honeysuckles were in bloom. I could waste hours sucking on honeysuckles, but in this case I merely snapped a shot of an aggressive honeysuckle bush.

This journey of mine really begins, though, in my backyard, which is where it will end. These hulking bushes are pyracantha (also known as firethorn). When pyracantha aren't fiery, they are sweet as can be, pictured here.

I can see the appeal of these plants. They are the best of both worlds: a dramatic accent in the fall and a subtle delight in the spring and early summer.

Next we have a planter full of Vinca major (better known as periwinkle). I like this bush because it only produces occasional flowers. There is room in this world for knockout roses that are taken over by blooms, but it is nice to see a plant that merely nestles a few in between its leaves. I'm also a fan of the variegated leaves on our periwinkle.

While horticulturally insignificant and often overlooked, clover flowers are as good an announcement of summer's approach as any other.

Down the street a ways are some clematis. Talk about an accent plant. Clematis' blooms are bold and big, and eventually this plant will reach the top of that trellis and then it will steal all the attention.

Next to the clematis is the first blooming hydrangea I've seen this year. Whatever variety this is, it would be perfect in a moonlight garden. Peonies are out too, and they would be perfect as well. You couldn't combine them though. You'd have to choose between them, I guess based on how much you value smell and how tall of a bush you wanted. I have no idea what I'd pick in that instance, as both plants hold a lot of nostalgia for me, and both are valuable plants.

Have you seen any hydrangea blooms yet? What's been stealing the show in your neighborhood?

Next post: my plants' new home.