Flower for the Day Oriental Lily 2 6-30

The oriental lilies are winding down. The depth of their color is 

remarkable.

 

 

This one is doing poorly.

 

Flower for the Day First Day Lily 6-27-14

This is the first day lily which showed up about ten days ago.

And a day lily poem by Stan Thawley -colleague, surgeon, and poet.

THE FIRST OF MY SUMMER LOVERS

   Just out of the shower

   Wearing only lacy dew

   She has arrived early

   Voluptuous, steamy.

   She is no coy one

   Her petals spread open

   Waiting for mating.

   Comfortably naked in the sun

   With her soft creamy skin

   and dark inner lips

   She has come for adulation,

   Sex and sun.

   Confident , she winks 

   At me with those dark eyes

   Saying ,come, adore me.

   Embarrassed, I have forgotten

   Her name... Misty Maude I believe.

   Undulating in the wind

   She whispers,

   Come closer,closer

   Love me, love me.

   Quick now, skip the foreplay.

   We haven't much time you know.

   I'm only passing through,

  Just here for one day.

   Copyright Stan Thawley,2009

     All rights reserved.

   

   

   

Flower for the Day Celandine Poppy 6-26-14

Celandine poppy (Stylophorum dyphyllum) is an herbaceous perennial wildflower.This plant has been blooming since May. It has grown well in several of my garden rooms but it especially loves this area. Whereas it was just holding on behind the house, here it thrives. I have found that plants are muchlike people. Given the right conditions they grow and produce with exceptionalsuccess. Or is it genetics or fate?

Flower for the Day Field Coreopsis 6-24-14

Field Coreopsis or Plains Coreopsis is an exquisite and prolific wildflower. Somehow it has moved from the wildflower gardens in the back to the front yard. In my garden it has 2 blooming seasons - now and in the fall. It is striking in large numbers and bears a close look individually. Its colors are remarkably vivid.

Flower for the Day Oriental Lily 1 6-20-14

And the exotic oriental lilies have arrived.

FFTD Bonus Mushroom 2 6-19-14

My botanist thinks these might be  dunce cap mushrooms (Conocybe tenera) at the base of a cedar tree.

She said, "Don, don't eat these."  "Don't worry," I tell her, "I'm chicken. I don't eat wild mushrooms."

FFTD Bonus Mushroom 1 6-19-14

Old German saying: "All mushrooms are edible - some just once."

It has been raining so much that we have mushrooms growing in the forest. My favorite botanist says not to eat this one which she thinks could be a waxy cap (Hydrophorus). 

It could also be a Frost's Bolete.

Mushroom identification is complex  and requires a look under the cap, a check of the stem and examination of where it is growing. Under the cap there can be  gills, tubes, teeth, veins and more. 

 

Flower for the Day Day Lily 6-18-14

It's day lily time. Words are superfluous.

Flower for the Day Wild Garlic Bulbils 6-16-14

Well maybe its not a flower but it is of interest. Bulbils grow out of the scape (the stem) of the garlic plant. They can be eaten or planted to form more garlic. I have found that the passion of garlic growers equals or excels that of stamp or coin collectors for their 

collections. 

Flower for the Day Peony 3 6-13-14

          Peonies  by Jeanne Lohman

Grandma called them pineys, and I don't know why.They smelled so good, the full lush petals

crowded thick, the whole flower heavy on its stem, the leaves dark and rich as shade in Chatauqua Woods where each spring I hunted for violets.

What could there be to pine for on this earth? Now I think maybe it was Missouri                 she missed, and maybe that was what somebody she knew called peonies there, before she travelled to Ohio,                           a sixteen year old bride whose children came on as fast as field crops and housework.

Her flowers saved her, the way they came up year after year and with only a bit of care

lived tender and pretty, each kind surprising,  

keeping its own sweet secret: lily-of-the-valley, iris, the feathery leaved cosmos, lilacs in their white and purple curls,                         flamboyant sweet peas and zinnias, the bright four o'clocks and delphinium, blue as her eyes, and the soft peony flowers                       edged deep pink.

                   In her next lifetime I want my grandmother to walk                           slowly through the gardens in England and Kyoto.                            I want to be there when she recognizes the flowers                             and smiles, when she kneels and takes the pineys in 
             her hands.

                             Copyright Jeanne Lohman                                from Calls from a Lighted                               House

                             Fifthian Press  2007

    

                           

                            

       

Flower for the Day Peony 2 6-11-14

During the iris extravaganza the peonies have come and gone quietly. 

Flower for the Day Peony 1 6-9-14

There are many peonies in my garden. This is my favorite, the Scarlet

O'Hara Peony. It is embedded from my childhood, complete with the ants

that come with it when its cut flowers are brought in to the kitchen table.

FFTD Bonus New Hammock 6-6-14

For fun we just got an ENO hammock. It is made of parachute nylon and comes in great colors. It packs easily for travel and has sturdy ATLAS straps for hanging it non-invasively from trees. 

It is very comfortable. Has anyone seen my wife?

Flower for the Day Blue Star 6-6-14

Blue Star (Amsonia hubrichtus)  is new to the wildflower garden this year.The flowers grow in clumps with star like blossoms in terminal clusters. The leaves are green in the spring and bright gold in autumn.

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Dancing Thespian 6-5-14

Here is Jan on the Innsbrook Farmhouse Stage dancing to her own music.

 

Flower for the Day Dames Rocket 6-5-14

Hesperis matronalis is notable for its many common names - damask violet, queen's gilliflower, summer lilac, mother of the evening and more. Hesperis is Greek for evening when the lavender flowers scent is most noticeable. 

Flower for the Day Iris 9 The Finale 6-4-14

New this year. 

 

Very subtle blue.

 

And the grand finale - flourishes and ruffles.

 

Flower for the Day Iris 8 6-2-14

We are coming to the end of Iris month but there are a few left.