Just some random photos of what's blooming now.
Blue flax, Linum lewisii. I love the delicate blue flowers on slender stalks.
Buttercup, Ranunculus repens 'Pleniflorus'? Creeping buttercup
Bud of the oriental poppy, Papaver orientale. Though technically not blooming to be added to this post, I took a picture of this bud thinking it would make an interesting picture. I was amazed to see aphids both adult and young on the bud when I downloaded and enlarged it. Click photo to enlarge.
Amaryllis "Papillio". It is not really an Amaryllis but a Hippeastrum but usually sold as Amaryllis. We dryed out the bulbs last fall and overwintered them in our unheated garage then planted them in pots when the frost date permitted. This is the first year it has produced so many flowers of very good size.
Golden Chain tree, Laburnum x watereri not to be confused with Golden Rain tree. The tree reminds us of a yellow flowered wisteria when in bloom with the same pendant cascade of flowers.
And, the seed pod of a Pasque flower, Pulsatilla vulgaris which is in the same family as the buttercup, Ranunculus and closely related to the anemones and were once included in that genus. I thought the seed pod was just as interesting as the flower itself.
posted by Ki at
5:21 PM
9 Comments:
I have never seen a Golden Chain tree and I love it. The blossoms are reminiscent of wisteria in the way they cascade down. They are a lovely shade of yellow as well.
And blue flax is a favourite ... I love the way you were able to get your Amayllis to bloom again. The blooms are plentiful and beautiful.
The blue flax is really lovely, Ki - what a color!
The Golden Chain Tree is beautiful, too, but never wanted to grow a laburnum after I read DuMaurier's "My Cousin Rachel".
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hi Kate,
The golden chain tree is my wife's favorite. I can think of several trees I like better but I think she is attracted to the color which is bright and cheerful...I'm the grump of the family as if you couldn't tell. I threatened to cut down the tree several times because it has remained fairly bean pole-ish with no spreading crown or lateral growth. And it looks really ratty in the summer without much greenery but perks up again in the fall. It puts out new leaves and blooms again in the late fall/early winter. Kinda weird looking to be blooming so late in the season.
It's managed to keep itself from being compost because of this two times a year flowering.
We've grown flax for many years. I think we got the first plant from a nursery but the ones we have now came from a wildflower seed canister 5 years ago and has self seeded every year since.
Hi Annie, I think the color is a bit exaggerated. It actually has more of a violet shade to it. The blue in the photo looks more like the Meconopsis Himalayan poppy bentonicifolia. The photo is unaltered and straight from the camera, a Canon A620. I guess blues are difficult colors for digital cameras to capture at least as far as fidelity is concerned. Anyway I think the picture makes the flower even more alluring than it already is.
Not having read DuMaurier, I unfortunately don't know the reference to Laburnum in "My Cousin Rachel". Did something tragic happen under a bower of Laburnums?
Great collection of stuff, Ki. I like the fuzzy buds on Pasque flower before they bloom, also.
I thought the buds were interesting too, Chris but I didn't get a photo of them before they bloomed. Our plant is in an out of the way place so mostly unnoticeable until it bloomed. Were you able to get a shot of the buds?
It didn't happen underneath the trees, Ki - the plot involves whether the toxic pods were made into tea.
But if we kicked out all the plants with a hint of toxicity - our gardens would be half empty!
Annie
Those aphids sure are camouflaged! I love the pasque flower seed heads, remind me of clematis. Glad to hear that your chain tree blooms despite looking ratty, cuz' mine is very much so!
Annie,
Ahhh, I didn't know the pods were toxic. Although our tree flowers quite profusely, now that I've threatened to cut it down, I don't recall seeing any seed pods. Maybe we have a sterile hybrid tree? You're right about toxic plants. I didn't know that all parts of hellebores are toxic.
I try not to knowingly plant toxic plants because we have a clueless cat who chews on stuff, and definitely not the really toxic ones. There should be a chart listing poisonous ornamental plants and the levels of their true toxicity.
If you eat too much parsley, spinach or chard, the oxalic acid could theoretically damage your kidneys but you would probably have to eat a ton of it before that happens. Anyway I happen to like tabbouleh salad.
Hi Lisa, I thought we just had a bum tree! At least it sort of redeems itself by flowering.
You're right. Now that you mentioned it the pasque flower seed pod does resemble the clematis somewhat. I love the clematis' whilygig spiraling seed head.
Those sneaky aphids were amazingly small. I had trouble seeing them even knowing that they were there.
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