Flower for the Day Periwinkle 4-28-14

 

There are large beds of periwinkle (Vinca minor) along the north and west sides of the house.

It is an ideal ground cover. It is beautiful to behold, easy to walk on, smothers most small weeds,

handles the draught well, and stays green all winter.

 

It blooms twice a year,

and it has a spectacular lavender blue flower.

 

Flower for the Day Last of the Daffodils 4-23-14

A little different in color arrangement.

 

Th is is my favorite daffodil. Its almost like a rose.

 

Flower for the Day Red Buds on the Red Bud 4-21-14

The delicate branches of the red bud tree are striking this time of year. The red

flower buds come right off the branches.

 

 

Flower for the Day Red Tulips 4-18-14

Don't get me wrong. Tulips are ok. But I have never needed them or felt passionate 

about them. They were just there as somewhat colorful early garden space fillers.

So I drop some bulbs in before the frost and forget about them.  

On closer look when they quietly arrive they can be interesting. 

Oh my, I've fallen in love. What a feeling.

Happy Easter. Ich wunsche Dir ein frohe Osterfest. 

 

Flower for the Day Miniature Daffodils 4-16-14

Narcissus asturiensis. These are popular dwarf daffodils. They are delightfully diminutive. My gnomes love these dwarfs.

The Overflow

We have a house on Lake Aspen, one of over 100 lakes  in Innsbrook Resort, in the Village of Innsbrook, Missouri outside of St Louis. (www.innsbrook-resort.com) It is a man made lake and the dam is around the corner to the right. Each spring there are rains that overwhelm the spillway both with water and a winters worth of debris. The previous owners did not warn us about this natural phenomenon but our new next door neighbors  said, "Oh, that's just The Overflow." The water rises so quickly that the lake flows over the tie wall around the lake.  You can see trees and logs and trash that have been carried over the wall and 20 feet up the hill. The deluge has inundated our little sand beach and surrounded my new picnic table. 

But there is always the possibility of surprise in the detritus. One man's trash is surely another man's treasure. Above is a priceless 'found' object.  It is a woodpecker's nest in a hollow 

branch with three magnificent openings. It now hangs on the front porch.

Flower for the Day More Hyacinths 4-14-14

Last week they showed up.

  

This week they bloomed.

 

And nearby was a new color for me to enjoy.

 

Flower for the Day Hyacinth 4-9-14

Hyacinths grow from bulbs which produce 4-6 linear leaves and1-3 spikes (racemes)

of flowers.The name is derived from a plant, Hyakanthos, named by Homer for flower 

that supposedly grew up from the blood of a youth who was killed accidentally by an 

errant discus thrown by the god Apollo.  

 

Flower for the Day 4-3-14 Amaryllis Quandary Solved

In early February I had a bulb that showed no activity, despite the fact that its two

family members had bloomed successfully.  After more than six weeks of water 

and sun light it finally bloomed this week. Patience was required. It looks

like you only bloom when you are ready.

 

 

Bonus: Mystery Butterfly named

Last August I posted this image of a mystery butterfly on a Tilley

hat on a hike near Peaceful Valley in Colorado. Today one of 

our Flower Listers wrote that her husband had found

the butterfly in an old Boys Life magazine he was reading.

This is a Weidermeyers admiral (Limenitis weidermeyeri, 1861)

and was discovered in the Adirondack Mountains  by your favorite

19th century entomologist John Henry Weidermeyer.