Flower for the Day Last Iris 6-3-18

This beautiful late bloomer is the last of the iris. About this time of the year I have an irresistible urge to get more for next year.

Flower for the Day Hoya 6-2-18

Our Hoya plant is over thirty years old. It loves being potbound. It never bloomed until one summer when I took it outside.

Now it blooms inside and out and in any season. The star shaped flowers grow in umbels.

Flower for the Day Dames Rocket 6-1-18

Dames rocket (Hesperis matronalis) grows plentifully in the wild flower gardens. For years I thought it was phlox 

which ordinarily blooms later in the year. It is in the mustard family and its claim to fame is its many common names: damask violet, dames violet, dames wort, dames filliflower, night-scented gillyflower, queen's gillyflower,summer lilac, sweet rocket, winter gillyflower, and mother of the evening.

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.