Flower for the Day Wallflower 5-31-22

This colorful wallflower (Erysimum allionii) is a perennial that grows in clay and rocky soils. It is an old flower which began producing cardiac glycosides in the  Pliocene period (2.33–5.2 million years ago). It is native to North America.

Wallflowers Hide In Shadows

What you do not see    Wallflowers hide in shadows    Mirror of unseen.     Christine A Kysely,

Flower for the Day Virginia Spiderwort 5-27-22

Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) is a showy perennial that is thriving in the gnome garden.

The blossoms are delicate beauty.

And it also comes in purple.

        Spiderwort

each blue flower lives half a day

then becomes a purple tear

 

each purple tear vanishes

into the river

 

on this bright spring afternoon

our way is lined with blue

 

paddle gently   such blossoms

will not come again

 

and breathe    breathe all you can

  Lola Haskins

Flower for the Day Peony II 5-26-22

My peonies come in many colors. I like the plain white for its gravitas. The rain increases the weight of the flower

the stems bend sending the blossoms to the ground. The cut flowers are showy and have a heavy perfume scent.

 

And the ants cannot be far behind.

                               Peonies

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
                                to break my heart
                               as the sun rises,
      as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

                               and they open–
                               pools of lace,
                               white and pink–
             and all day the black ants climb over them,

              boring their deep and mysterious holes
                                 into the curls,
                         craving the sweet sap,
                                 taking it away

                 to their dark, underground cities–
                                  and all day
                          under the shifty wind,
                as in a dance to the great wedding,

                the flowers bend their bright bodies,
                   and tip their fragrance to the air,
                                     and rise,
                          their red stems holding

                all that dampness and recklessness
                             gladly and lightly,
                    and there it is again–
                  beauty the brave, the exemplary,

                             blazing open.
            Do you love this world?
        Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
     Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
                                     and softly,
                   and exclaiming of their dearness,
            fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

      with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
                                 their eagerness
    to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
                                nothing, forever?
                                     Mary Oliver     

Flower for the Day White Amaryllis 5-25-22

This amaryllis never bloomed indoors despite being brought out of the dark in February. I gave up and transplanted it to the side yard. Then  it resurrected itself, 

and bloomed white. Maybe the color rubbed off the nearby  azaleas.

It almost looks like an Easter lily.

Flower for the Day Iris II 5-20-22

Here is another set of iris. This is not a great year for iris. Even though they look great the have been lasting only

a couple of days.

And my favorite for depth of color.

                my lips opened but

                my tongue laid still inside

                blushing iris

                        Samantha Wrenn

Flower for the Day Iris I 5-18-22

Iris is the Greek word for rainbow. I do not have to speak for my iris. Here are some of them.

                                     cresting of waves

 
                                     a dance in the wind

                                      my garden's delight

                                     shanna baldwin moore

Flower for the Day Creeping Thyme 5-17-22

As you know I like garden infrastructure that blooms. We have creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum) growing between the stepping stones in the gnome garden. It is in the mint family. It forms into a nice flowering carpet.

         

the flowers of creeping thyme are small–

beneath them red ants trundle oddments

to worlds I cannot see

        Kristy Karkow

Flower for the Day Peony 5-16-22

This is a wondrous time of the gardening year. Something new blooms daily - no fanfare - they just appear.

Here is my all time favorite peony (Paeonia) - the deepest red ever.

And a regal gold corolla.

          When the peonies bloomed,

  

          It seemed as though were
          

         No flowers around them.

                  – Kiitsu

Don's Blog Grand Finale 5-12-22

It is amazing how quickly the triplets fledged. I approached and one was on 

the edge of the nest. I took a silent image and all three exploded out of the nest.

 

They all made it safely to the ground where they hopped out of sight. They'll definitely have a story to tell tonight.

It really only took a couple of weeks but was great fun. Robins do not re-use their nests so we'll see how to utilize 

this artistic engineering masterpiece.

Flower for The Day Dames Rocket 5-12-22

Dames Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) has grown abundantly in my far wildflower garden. This year it has shown up in the  front garden where it fits perfectly into the color scheme. Its height is similar to the allium so its a nice addition. It think the birds are the transplanters. It has numerous common names, including hesperis, damask-violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening, Good & Plenties, and winter gilliflower. Its a tall pleaser.

 

 

        Hesperus

Through the starry hollow

Of the summer night  I would follow, follow  Hesperus the bright,  To seek beyond the western wave  His garden of delight.    Hesperus the fairest  Of all gods that are,  Peace and dreams thou bearest  In thy shadowy car,  And often in my evening walks  I've blessed thee from afar.    Stars without number,  Dust the noon of night,  Thou the early slumber  And the still delight  Of the gentle twilit hours  Rulest in thy right.    When the pale skies shiver,  Seeing night is done,  Past the ocean-river,  Lightly thou dost run,  To look for pleasant, sleepy lands,  That never fear the sun.    Where, beyond the waters  Of the outer sea,  Thy triple crown of daughters  That guards the golden tree  Sing out across the lonely tide  A welcome home to thee.    And while the old, old dragon  For joy lifts up his head,  They bring thee forth a flagon  Of nectar foaming red,  And underneath the drowsy trees  Of poppies strew thy bed.    Ah! that I could follow  In thy footsteps bright,  Through the starry hollow  Of the summer night,  Sloping down the western ways  To find my heart's delight!

  C.S. Lewis 

Don's Blog Lights Out 5-11-22

    This was in the St Louis Audubon Society Newsletter. 

"Lights Out for Birds in May Turn off any unnecessary outdoor lighting Draw blinds or curtains in rooms where lights are in use St. Louis can be dangerous for birds. It sits underneath the Mississippi Flyway, a major migration path that 60% of North American songbirds and 40% of North American waterfowl use to travel north or south. A recent study from Cornell Lab ranked St. Louis the 5th most dangerous city during the spring migration. Light pollution poses a challenge for the many birds that migrate at night!" The Gateway Arch and grounds have their lights out this month.(Image from the bridge). Interesting.

Flower for the Day Celandine Poppy 5-10-22

Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) or wood poppy is a Missouri native that usually lasts  over a month.

The celandine poppy has taught me more about gardening than any other plant. I have planted it in multiple places in my garden over a 30 year time period. What I have learned is that plants thrive where the conditions suit them. It kept disappearing in places that I thought would be perfect. Finally I put it in a spot that supports its growth. Now it grows so well on its own that I have forgotten that it is there. People are like that too.

Celandine Poppy Haiku

Let the sun shine in

may your soul sing like flowers

on a warm Spring day

LindArtz

Don's Blog Mystery Solved 5-9-22

The mystery of the missing egg has been solved. The babies are being fed by both the mother and the father. They get a dangling worm and give it to one baby at a time. They usually take turns but occasionally they are in the nest at the same time.

Oh yes. What is the solution to the missing egg? Right after I took the image of the two newborns and the remaining egg, the third baby was born and the mother removed the egg shell.Only until several days later was I  able to distinguish the third robin. What looked to me like two small balls of feathers was three when heads ultimately appeared.

Mother has finally realized that we are not a threat so she is  not as spooky as before.

Flower the Day Lily of the Valley 5-7-22

We have had rain every day this week resulting in multiple explosions of flowers. Her is

Lily the Valley )Convallaria majalis). The plant has little sweetly scented bell-shaped white flowers

surrounded by green pointed leaves. Other names include May bells and Our Lady's tears.

The sight of Lily of the Valley triggers great memories as we had a wonderful stand of them outside our

dining room window which I enjoyed for 18 years growing up.

Lily of the Valley

Baby you've been had
I am forever searching high and low
But why does everyone tell me 'no'?
Neptune of the seas, an answer for me please
The lily of the valley doesn't know

I lie in wait with open eyes
I carry on through stormy skies
I follow every course, my kingdom for a horse
But each time I grow old
Serpent of the Nile, relieve me for a while
And cast me from your spell, and let me go

Messenger from seven seas has flown
To tell the king of Rhye he's lost his throne
Wars will never cease
Is there time enough for peace?
The lily of the valley doesn't know

Lyrics to song by Queen's Freddie Mercury

Don's Blog A Mystery 5-4-22

Momma robin and her mate have been busy feeding the twins fresh worms. She seems unconcerned now as 

we walk by and has stopped chattering at us.

Here is the mystery. About an hour after I took the image of the newborn twins and the third egg for 

the last robin blog Jan looked into the nest and the third egg was gone. There was no sign of the egg

anywhere nearby and the twins seem to be fine. 

Where could it have gone?

Flower for the Day Azalea 5-3-22

One of the advantages of tending gardens for many years is the pleasure  of seeing your plants grow up and mature. These azaleas are over 40 years old and are definitely over the hill. I have fertilized them regularly and  more recently have had to treat them for lace bugs. Some plants have died and been replaced but the stalwarts have done well. They need a lot of water and some love which they have gotten. This year their blooming has been patchy for the first time. I keep learning.

Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the Rhododendron genus.  They are quite spectacular in bloom.

 

This year they blossomed in an irregular way so you can see buds….

 

and blooms on the same plant.

Azalea Haiku

On Lake Biwa, sitting down at an inn for lunch:

Azaleas arranged in a pot,
Chopping cod in the shade –
A woman

 Matsuo Basho  (1644-1694)

Thusness

Was she young, was she pretty, or dried up and old? Did she blossom like a flower? Or merely exist?

One should be careful of reading too much into a haiku.

Matsuo Basho himself observed that a haiku may be neither objective or subjective. It merely is what it is. This quality of "thusness" or "suchness" is a principle of Buddhism called Tathātā. It represents the base reality. Thus, there in the corner of the inn, Basho spies an azalea, and a woman tearing up dried cod.

Flower for the Day Spanish Bluebells 5-2-22

These Spanish bluebells (Hyacynthoides hispanica) are over 30 years old and return each year with a few more plants.

This is about as formal as my garden gets.

It is distinguished from the Virginia bluebell by its paler and larger blue flowers, which are less pendulous and not all drooping to one side like the common bluebell. Also it has  a more erect flower stem , broader leaves and little or no scent compared to the strong fragrant scent of the northern species. 

                  There is a silent eloquence

                  In every wild bluebell

                  That fills my softened heart with bliss

                  That words could never tell.

                    Ann Bronte