Flower for the Day Spiderwort 5-31-18

My spiderwort (Tradescantia) has moved to the gnome garden pathway. It blooms every morning.

The flower has three petals and six stamens. Each stamen (the male organ) has a filament and a yellow pollen bearing anther.

I'm not sure what those little purple hairs are.

Flower for the Day Thrift 5-30-18

Thrift  (Ameria marítima) is also called sea pink. I love its little pink balls of flowers.It grows on tufts of grass and is striking but tends to disappear after several years.Then I have to get some more. This is a great example of my trying to get something 

to grow where I  want it to rather than where it wants to.

Flower for the Day Surprise in the Meadow 5-29-18

In the meadow behind our house are many miniature flowers.

Sometimes these little flowers bare fruit.

Now the whole meadow is filled with these wild strawberries - but you have to look close.

Flower for the Day Allium 5-25-18

My allium group has dwindled this year. Even the individual flowers are underwhelming.

After many years it is time to replenish my allium bulbs for next year.

In Praise of Allium

by Denise Levertov

 

No one celebrates the allium.

The way each purposeful stem

ends in a globe, a domed umbel,

makes people think,

'Drumsticks,' and that's that.

Besides, it's related to the onion.

Is that any reason

for disregard? The flowers – look –

are bouquets of miniature florets,

each with six elfin pointed petals

and some narrower ones my eyes

aren't sharp enough to count,

and three stamens about the size

of a long eyelash.

Every root

sends up a sheaf of sturdy

ridged stems, bounty

to fill your embrace. The bees

care for the allium, if you don't ­–

hear them now, doing their research,

humming the arias

of a honey opera, Allium it's called,

gold fur voluptuously

brushing that dreamy mauve.

Flower for the Day Lilac 5-24-18

The pungent scent of the lilac cannot but announce its presence.

 When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

By Walt Whitman

1

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,

And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,

I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

 ……

16

…….

For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and lands—and this for his dear sake,

Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul,

There in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim.

Flower for the Day Lily of the Valley 5-23-18

This trustworthy flower has been around since Biblical times. I grew up watching them grow outside my dining room window.

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) is perennial and forms colonies by spreading underground rhizomes. New 

upright shoots are formed at the ends of the stolons in the summer.These grow the next spring into leafy shoots.

The flowering stems have two leaves and a raceme of 5-15 flowers on the stem apex. The stems are tall and thin arising from the base.

 

The flowers have six white tepals fused at the base to form a sweetly scented bell-shape. It is not easy to see

what the bell encases.

The cut flowers show well.

Flower for the Day Iris VI 5-22-18

Through the Sturm and Drang of May different iris continue to bloom. The colors expressed 

are striking, the design amazing, and the classic form extraordinary.

Don's Blog We find out who's been eating my porridge 5-21-18

I caught the culprit dead to rights.

The evidence is still on his mouth.

Flower for the Day Columbine 5-21-18

The columbines have been blooming of more than a month.

Cultivars have added new energy to the columbines.

Mountain Psalm

Let me walk into the mountains 

where the air is fresh and sweet, 

where wind whispers through tree branches 

around which creep the nectar honeysuckle and wild grape, 

in the morning stillness,  pure as breath from God 

that moved upon the waters when earth was born; 

I will bring my weary spirit and find rest. 

I will walk along the hollows, 

trace the finger paths of God 

where He carved the rugged creek beds 

and fed the soil with flowers,  columbine and orchid, wild; 

there He will feed this world worn child. 

Let me tarry in the mountains, 

listen to creation sing 

lay me down upon moss carpet 

beside a spring, sparkling and clear, 

drink in the peaceful quiet, feel earth's healing touch. 

I will linger until evening  when soft mists slip through the vales, 

swaddling heights with haze blue beauty 

as tender twilight swells, sunlight fading, 

bending low to lay a glow kiss on mountain face. 

Copyright, July 11, 2016  Faye Lanham Gibson

Don's Blog - My Own Private Herd of Seven 5-17-18

They come every evening at sundown. Any ideas? That is one of my wildflower gardens they are trimming.

Flower for the Day Iris V 5-17-18

This iris is my favorite so far - messy edge and true color.

But then I always love deep purple.

Flower for the Day Iris IV 5-16-18

Its Iris Week again. More bloom every day.

An Iris Blessing

May your blooms be floriferous and in good form,
Distinctive, with good substance, flare, and airborne,
With standards and falls that endure, never torn.
May you display many buds and blooms sublime,
In graceful proportion on strong stalks each day,
Gently floating above the fans and the fray.
May you too reach toward the moon and stars,
Bloom after bloom, many seasons in the sun,
Enjoying your life, health, and each loved one,
Until your 'living days are artfully done.

- Georgia Gudykunst

Flower for the Day Peony 5-15-18

How about a "Peony" break from the iris. This is my favorite peony and we had them when I was growing up. 

The depth of cold of the red is unmatched.

Today

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.
Billy Collins

Flower for the Day Iris III Real Time Blooming

These all bloomed last evening to greet me this morning.

 The images speak for themselves.

Flower for the Day Iris II 5-10-18

Every day now new iris are blooming.

This is why they are called bearded iris.

Iris, Most Beautiful Flower

Iris, most beautiful flower,
Symbol of life, love, and light;
Found by the brook, and the meadow,
Or lofty, on arable height.
You come in such glorious colors,
In hues, the rainbow surpass;
The chart of color portrays you,
In petal, or veins, of your class.
You bloom with the first in Winter,
With the last, in the Fall, you still show;
You steal the full beauty of Springtime,
With your fragrance and sharp color glow.
Your form and beauty of flower,
An artist's desire of full worth;
So Iris, we love you and crown you,
MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOWER ON EARTH!

Edith Buckner Edwards
AIS bulletin January 1961

Flower for the Day Gnome Garden

With iris and daisies exploding it is easy to see why the gnomes wanted to come out to their garden.

Flower for the Day Wall Flower 5-9-18

The Wall flower is usually one of my earliest flowers. It is a dependable perennial and has now spread to several non contiguous areas. My birds are very handy seed spreaders.

Wallflower

Each day she pokes through the soil
wearing moss coloured clothes
and twigs in her hair,
then the wailing starts;
she doesn't want to be grown.

Claire Bircher December 2010

Flower for the Day Spanish Hyacinth 5-8-18

These little blue hyacinths greet you as you come to our front door. The flowers are exquisite if slightly messy 

but last only a few days. The foliage lasts for about 6 weeks.

Flower for the Day Azalea 5-7-18

Our azaleas were a gift from Don Ingram over forty years ago. He told me how to care for them

and they still create a spectacle.

These are called Karen.

Genitallia on an Azalia 

Remember taking a cruise to Australia; 

And I did  forget to bring my genetalia; 

Gently put down;  Without a sound; 

Were found lying on a flowering azalea. 

Jim Horn 

Are you laughing? A smile would be helpful.  

Copyright © James Horn | Year Posted 2018                 

Flower for the Day First Iris 6-5-18

As expected we have our first iris today. It is a double blooming cultivar. It will bloom again in the early fall. 

Iris 

 by William Carlos Williams 

a burst of iris so that  come down for  breakfast 

we searched through the   rooms for  that 

sweetest odor and at   first could not   find its 

source then a blue as  of the sea  struck 

startling us from among  those trumpeting  petals    

Flower for the Day Late Spring Finally Produces 5-4-18

About a week ago there were almost no blooms. Now we are into our May explosion, finally.

In the mean time the gnomes demanded to come outside and who could deny them. Here are a few gnomes behind the phlox beds. The phlox have been battered by the recent rains. In the field is a swing (back left)which is available for those who feel the urge.

The tulips have run their course. This is a parrot tulip.

and a tulip on its way out with color that has some depth.

We will have iris in 1-2 weeks - I see buds coming out now.