Saturday, August 10, 2013

The Fairy Gardens


 
 
These are pictures of the Fairy Gardens, or what is left of them after a season of heat, drought and rabbits.  The tall tangled mass of colored stalks is Agastache, indigenous to the Prairie and other places.  On the hoop is Kinsley's Ghost, a new honeysuckle that I planted last season.  She blooms a pale, pale wraithlike flower and is very fragrant.  The grass is Rainbow Grass; her color is not very pronounced this season.  The mums, the phlox, the balloon flowers, the poppies, the tulips and the daffodils have not bloomed.  The lilies like the iris are sporadic at best. This is what happens when you go from 27 degrees at night in April to triple digits by mid June, or put another way, from February to August in just over six weeks.
 

 

Monday, August 5, 2013

The Daylily




This is the daylily.  They bloom from July through September here in Colorado.  They grow anywhere that they have plenty of sun, good water and drainage.  Their foliage looks like ornamental grass, so even when they aren’t blooming, they are very beautiful in the garden.  There are many, many varieties; see link below.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Portulaca




 
Portulaca, the Moss Rose, is an annual here in Colorado.  I put her in pots, because my ground does not lend itself well to the planting of most seeds.  In one way they are kinda-sorta perennials in that they reseed.  They also cross pollinate, yielding different color and varieties every year.