Shots in the Dark

Lisianthus is one of my favorite annuals. I have a few different kinds this year.

Just a few shots at night. These are some crazy coneflowers.

Color in the garden

Just some shots of what was blooming last night.

Liatris

Common names include gayfeather and blazing star.
Liatris is an insect magnet, attracting Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies, and lots of bees.

Liatris is unusual because the flowers bloom from the top down rather than the bottom up, as is common with most upright spiked flowers. This makes them a great cut flower, because as the old flowers at the top begin to look spent, they can just be snipped off and the stalk will continue putting out fresh blooms farther down the stem. They also make nice dried flowers.

In the fall I make sure these plants are marked because they are one of the last plants to come up in the spring. Another thing I have learned is not to plant in an area that stays waterlogged in winter. This will result in the corms rotting in place and no plants. Bury the corms no more than 2 inches below the soil line and less if you are using mulch.

I really enjoy watching the butterflies and bees on these plants this time of year. In the fall the birds love to pick at the seeds.

Hosta's of the Year

I have two new things to share with you. First thing: no more dial up internet. We finally got rid of our dial up internet and moved into the 21 century.

Second thing: this new bed. This bed used to be my native Minnesota bed. I really love the native plants of Minnesota. I just don’t like them all in the same bed. This new bed is the start of the” Hosta’s of the Year”. Last night I planted the 2008 Hosta “Blue Mouse Ears”, 2004 Hosta “Sum and Substance”, 1999 Hosta “Pauls Glory”, 1998 Hosta “Fragrant Bouquet”, and the 1996 Hosta “So Sweet”. I will add the other "Hosta’s of the Year" when I find them.

The bird house stand was made by my dad 4 years ago. It was a Christmas present. That year our family had to give recycled gifts. The license plate is was found in a shed at my grandparents farm before they sold it. The date on the plate is the year I was born. My uncle, Dave, gave it to me, and my dad added it into the design.

This bed is a work in progress. I will be adding stepping stones and will build it out when I get more hosta’s. It is the start to a project I had wanted to do for a long time. I am excited to start collecting these hosta’s.

Strawflowers

One of my favorite flowers! Check out Mosaic Monday with Mary from The Little Red House! Click on the link to see the others who are joining Mary this week!

Ornamental Crabapple

Just a few shots after the rain.

Day Lily

Common Name: Day Lily

Scientific Name: Hemerocallis

The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words hēmera "day" and kalos "beautiful". The flowers of most species open at sunrise and wither at sunset, possibly replaced by another one on the same stem the next day. I love them!

Swamp Milkweed

Asclepias incarnata, with common names such as: Swamp Milkweed, Rose Milkweed, Swamp Silkweed, and White Indian Hemp.

Another cool find while camping at El Rancho Manana. I was surpised by the color being this pink. I didn't think it was a swamp milkweed until I got close enough to see it.

Swamp milkweed prefers damp soils in full sun to partial shade and typically, is found growing wild near the edges of ponds or along ditches. It is one of the best attractors of the Monarch Butterfly, which feeds on the flowers and lays her eggs on the plants. The emerging caterpillars feed on the leaves.

Swamp Milkweeds stem often turns rosy red, matching its flowers. Each flower has a slit allowing an insect's legs to slip inside and emerge with a pair of pollen sacs that will pollinate another flower. So, only a few flowers become pollinated.

Turk's-Cap Lily

Turk's- Cap Lily

Lilium Superbum

We just got back from camping at El Rancho Manana, near Richmond, MN. The woods were filled with this plants. It is also called Michigan Lily. These were once common along country roads but has decreased due to the mowing and draining of ditches. The curled flower petals resemble a Turkish hat, that is where it got its common name. This was a neat find for me, because I had never seen it before.

Talking Trees

We went camping this weekend and the trees were so funny. Can you see the face on this one?

This one looks like it is singing.

This one has been crying.

Fun with Friends

My friends and I had a great time at Thompsen's Greenhouse and Garden Center.

Janet's garden

Here are a few shots of my friend, Janet's garden.

Roadside Find

Asiatic Lily

I love Asiatic lilies!

Delphinium

This is a new delphinium for me this year. It is called "Summer Nights". I guess this has been kind of a blue week with the all the blue flowers posts.

Balloon Flower

Balloon Flower
Chinese Bellflower
Platycodon grandiflorus


Balloon flower gets its name from the way each flower bud swells before its starry petals unfold.
Flower buds resemble a balloon or Chinese lantern, which is reminiscent of its native habitat of eastern Asia.

The term platycodon means "flat bell" which describes its opened flowers.

Globe Thistle

Echinops
Globe ThistleEchinops comes from the Greek ekhinos, which means hedgehog or sea urchin, and opsis meaning resembling. Echinops means 'Like a Hedgehog' in reference to the spiny heads of seeds.

Globe thistles can be used fresh or dried. They are suitable for drying if they are harvested before fully blooming.

I really love the bright blue color in my garden.

Coneflower

Echinacea
Purple Coneflower


The prominent, bristly seed head inspired the generic name of the plant, taken from the Greek word echinos meaning hedgehog.


Native American plains Indians relied on echinacea as an all-purpose antiseptic. The Sioux tribe valued the root as a remedy for snake bite, the Cheyenne tribe chewed the root to quench thirst, and another tribe washed their hands in a decoction of echinacea to increase their tolerance of heat.


In the late 1800s, it was included in a cure-all that was bottled and patented by Dr. H.C.F. Meyer and promoted as Meyer's Blood Purifier. However, the growing field of medical research did not take Dr. Meyer's patented cure-all seriously.


It was only after a family business, Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, produced its own Echinacea products that it gained widespread popularity in America as a treatment for colds and infections. However, with the advent of modern antibiotics during the 1920s, Echinacea's usefulness as a healing herb declined.

Mosaic Monday

Thank you to Mary at Little Red House for hosting Mosaic Monday! Head on over to her blog at the link above to see the other bloggers participating in this fun event.

A few shots of my garden

Meet my new friend

Every time I am working in the garden, my friend, Graden the toad, is there too. I am not sure what type of toad he/she is but it is fun to have a friend in the garden.

Sea Holly

Sea Holly

Miss Wilmott's Ghost

Eryngium






It starts with a deep green and changes to a dark blue.

Common Name: Sea Holly
Sea Holly is a salt-lover, and delights in a saline soil. It is also a sand plant, addicted to a sand soil and found by the sea shores. It also has the character, like that of Holly, and its Thistle-like appearance.

Common Name: Miss Wilmott's Ghost
This plant was called 'Miss Wilmott's Ghost,' after the British gardener Ellen Wilmott. Wilmott was so impressed by E. gigantium that she carried its seeds in her pocket to scatter in gardens that she deemed uninteresting. The seeds sprouted and grew after her visit.

Rain

We received a beautiful rain Tuesday night!

Followed by a beautiful sunset!

Gaillardia

Gaillardia
Blanket flowers

I had posted Gaillardia on June 30th, when it first started blooming in my garden. I love this plant. The color is beautiful!

Gaillardia is from the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to North America. It was named after M. Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French who was a patron of botany. The common name refers to the inflorescence's resemblance to brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans. Gaillardia is sometimes commonly called blanket flower in reference to the resemblance of its rich and warm flower colors and patterns to blankets woven by Native Americans. Others suggest that the name blanket flower was originally derived from the habit of wild species plants to form colonies that blanket the ground.

Butterflies are attractive to the flowers and goldfinches like the spent flower heads.

Shasta daisy

Shasta Daisy

The Shasta daisy is a creation of plant breeder Luther Burbank, who had a strong passion for a New England "weed" - the ox-eye daisy. For 15 years he interbred wild species of chrysanthemums from various parts of the world. Luther Burbank publicly released the Shasta daisy (which was originally classified as a Chrysanthemum) in 1901. One of the offspring's of Luther Burbank's perfect daisy is Alaska, which is the most common sold today.

Breakfast at Bernice's

Breakfast at Bernice's.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea is derived from a Greek phrase meaning "water vessel".