Friday, May 24, 2013

Wildflower Wednesday


Happy Wildflower Wednesday, er Friday! Late as usual. Better late than never though, right? I have been so busy working in the garden that I've been too tired to blog at night.

Gail's right, Phlox pilosa is practically perfect. This is Ozark Phlox, P. pilosa var. ozarkana. Beautiful candy pink flowers with a sweet fragrance. For something with "prairie" in the name it can handle quite a lot of moisture, and needs some moisture to thrive. Not a dry prairie kind of phlox.



Goldflame Honeysuckle, so colorful, so polite, and fragrant if you catch
the perfume in the morning before it has burned off. The scent doesn't have
the strong coconutty notes of Japanese honeysuckle; it is refined and sweet.


I don't know the name of this Lousiana Iris but I love its rich royal purple color. I don't think it's 'Black Gamecock'. I think that's a deeper blue purple than this one.



I wish I'd gotten a picture of Lyreleaf sage while it was in bloom, but here it
is looking striking even while going to seed. I dug some starts of this from the
floodway fields. Give it some room and it's actually quite showy, with its bunch
of light lavender blue flowers. The wild ones here have burgundy veining but
it's not overdone, as with a couple of cultivars I've seen in nurseries.


I love spiderwort this time of year. Mine don't run around, just seed around a little, and in a wet year they will bloom from April until a freeze cuts them down. In a dry year they just fade into the background or literally go underground to wait the drought out.



Clockwise from top left: spiderwort with Verbena 'Homestead Purple'; pink primrose; more spiderwort; and Amsonia (Willowleaf/ Hubricht's hybrid).


I used to read about Amsonia in garden catalogs and wonder what the fuss what about. I thought the pale blue flowers looked rather anemic and just didn't get it. Then one day I was walking along a path at the JC Raulston Arboretum and saw a big billowy Hubricht's Amsonia, no flowers, just summer foliage. It looked soft, it even felt soft, and had the same sort of movement as grass but with more substance. What a nice foliage plant, I thought. So I got a couple from Niche Gardens. They didn't get very big until I put them in a low spot in front of the big perennial bed. Even so, they took a few years to size up, and in spring when they bloomed, looking like flowers stuck atop a bristly cock's comb, I waited impatiently for the flowers to be over and the plant to fill out for the summer. Now that they are a mature size and covered with flowers in spring I love them then too. The flowers are fragrant, with delicious vanilla notes. I finally discovered this a few years ago, when I could smell the white iris even though I thought I was too far away even for those to waft. The Amsonia and white iris have a very similar delightful scent. Hubricht's even colors in fall, although that too, took time. They didn't do that when they were young. A plant that requires patience, like baptisia, but very much worth the wait.


Hubricht's Amsonia with Baptisia alba and australis


And my very favorite May natives of all, Baptisias.

Baptisia alba


Most of my Blue Baptisias are lavender and purple,

although some are bluish-purple like the one below and there are even a few true blue ones.


'Carolina Moonlight' and 'Twilite Prairieblues' are the only two baptisias I've ever spent over 20 bucks on, that came in 5 gallon pots, and I should have bought more like that, because these have been miles ahead of my seedlings.


'Twilite Prairieblues' has been more pretty and less strange this year. The flower color is highly changeable, responding both to light and flower age. This year I noticed the flowers at twilight actually being ageratum blue. I've wondered about the popularity of this plant. It is both very fertile and very robust, but also just kind of weird. I've always liked it as a specimen plant. I wouldn't want a whole garden full of them.



I would like a whole garden full of 'Purple Smoke'.





Thank you Gail for hosting Wildflower Wednesday and highlighting our wonderful natives.


26 comments:

  1. You have a great collection of baptisias. I plan to do that in the new garden. Mine just don't have room enough to perform well.

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  2. WOW, I'm overwhelmed by the number of different baptisias you have. I wish I had more space and could emulate your garden. They are just gorgeous!

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  3. Wow, I love your baptisias. And your different colors of spiderwort. I have one color. I just love blues and purples in gardens and that's why I love your gardens so much. They grab me by my heart and pull me in.

    Have a nice long weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  4. I love wildflowers! Yours are wonderful!!!

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    1. What a wonderful tour of your beautiful gardens!!!! Thank You
      Love the purple shades.

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  5. Beautiful! How do you keep the grass out of your garden beds? My 'Twilight' baptisia is much lighter than yours but it's also much younger. I have the dwarf amsonia and it still needs time to fill out but I love the flowers, anyway. I mentioned you in my current post and in my Garden Love column. :o)

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  6. I love the combination of Baptisia and Amsonia. A previous post of yours inspired me to go out and get some Amsonia and I plopped them down right next to Baptisia Purple Smoke. I have high hopes that they will bloom together in the future.

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  7. I felt the same way about bluestar/Amsonia; couldn't figure out the fuss but after a few years the plants not only grew on me, but grew up. I love them and have several different species. Also love, love, love baptisia; I have one 'Twilight Prairieblues'and at least 5 'Starlight Prairieblues'. It's a terrific blue bicolor that you would also like. So glad you shared your garden with the WW bunch! xo

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  8. Hi, sweetbay!
    hole garden of wonderful flowers! Your Honeysuckle is blooming and I guess the smell you feel near it. Mine has leaves now, soon will be buds. The iris is unusual, nice color.
    Have a nice weekend!

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  9. Wonferful Baptisias, I will try to planting them in my garden for next year and really, and as always...wonderful photographs !! A treat for the eyes. Bonjour de France!! J'aime beaucoup votre jardin!!!✿◕ ‿ ◕✿

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  10. Sweet Bay, all so lush and your garden is as beautiful as ever! the Louisiana Iris is stunning! Years ago we started the blue Baptisia in our garden and it was white :( and now we are trying for blue once again.

    PS: Am hoping this comment goes through, as I've tried on several occasions to leave a word, but who knows what is going on with google. Happy Memorial day weekend.

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  11. I am in love with that royal purple - magenta iris. What a beauty.

    I was interested to read your comments about baptisia Twilite Paririeblues. I grow it and have had the same odd reaction to this plant -- it's robust and a gorgeous foliage plant, but the flowers are so weird and changeable and I can't describe them. I wish instead that I had put in the lovely yellow one you show.

    Amsonia takes forever -- years -- to become an attractive plant. Thank goodness you were patient, you are now being rewarded with the nice form and even the interesting flowers.

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  12. Your Baptisias are amazing. So beautiful, and such a variety of color.
    So many types of plants keeps your garden fascinating.

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  13. I love, love all your baptisias! I only have one, but you have me thinking I need to find room for many more. And I 'm glad to hear that Amsonia H. Takes awhile to achieve its true beauty--mine is only a couple years old and has been slow to get going.

    I know what you mean about being too tired to blog; we've had so many rainy days, that every time the sun shines I'm working feverishly in the garden. My house is a mess:)

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  14. What a beautiful garden you have. Baptisias are lovely and seem to go so well with roses. The lushness of your plants always amazes me.

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  15. Wow...everything is beautiful but your Baptisias are just gorgeous!!! So big and wonderful!! I just bought two " Dutch Chocolate" Baptisias and they were really pretty, but they're still fairly small. Love the smell of Goldflame Honeysuckle. It's blooming all around us in the woods and it smells just fabulous! I just love your gardens!

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  16. Lots to see and admire in this post. I like the royal purple iris and always love to see your impressive collection of baptisia. I can see why you might want a whole garden of 'Purple Smoke'. I bought a pale yellow one this spring. They can easily get crowded out in my garden, so I am nurturing this one in my holding bed until it gets big enough to hold its own. I think I will go back to the nursery and get a white one as well.

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  17. All your baptisias look great, but I'm particularly loving the colour of Twilite Prairieblues.

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  18. Your garden has always been one of my favorites in all of blogdom! Because of you I have planted my first baptisia. I have only the one, and it hasn't bloomed yet. But your garden is an inspiration, and now I know there will be more baptisias in my future!

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  19. Wow, what a smorgasbord of beauty! I love all the blues and purples in your garden. Those colors are so refreshing and relaxing; they create such a peaceful feeling.

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  20. Oh my, Love that purple! So much going on in your gardens. And oh so happy too...

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  21. Your wildflowers are a feast for the eyes. I love me some purple and you have it aplenty. The iris was by far my favourite though, what a stunner.

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  22. Dear Sweetbay, I hope all is well with you and yours. Just checking in . . . your summer may just be too full to keep up here. I totally understand that. Anyway, thinking of you. Carol

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    1. Thanks for asking Carol, it's been busy around here! Lots of gardening just not much blogging. I want to get back into it though, and must visit your blog again soon!

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  23. Wow, your garden looks so beautiful!!! You have so many beautiful Baptisias, they look great and your Amsonias, I have them too. The Amsonias are already for more than 20 years in my garden and they still are a compact group, but so funny, until now I did not know they had scent. I will keep it in mind till next spring, I want to smell the vanille fragrance.

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  24. You're back! I'm so glad! Your garden is amazing, as usual. I love all those baptisia. I have the 'Blue Ice' amsonia and it's great at filling dry shady spots.

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