Friday's Flowers

More pictures for my archive, all taken May 11, 2012:

Yellow Bearded Iris

Clematis, magenta

Clematis, light purple

Same plant as last shot

Yellow Bearded Iris, different clump, paler yellow

Purple Columbine

Dutchman's Breeches

Bearded Iris, mixed purple

Native Columbine

Native Columbine, second shot

Perennial Geranium

Same plant as above

Lonicera species, ornamental honeysuckle

Early May Blooms

      I took a walk about the yard on May fifth to snap some pictures of the flowers that were in bloom.  This morning is gray and rainy, so it makes it nice to be looking at these pictures.

      I love this purple clematis as it has wonderful color, yet is bright enough to really shine.  This plant has is the parent to many surrounding babies.  Though quite popular in my plant giveaway, I think there are still some available.

Same plant,  5/5/2012

      While this clematis is beautiful, the darker blooms just don't grab my attention the way the lighter purple ones do.  Yet floating a flower in a cut glass bowl would be very pretty....

      The Stella de Oro day lily is just coming into bloom.  It has been popular in the giveaway, yet some clumps are big enough still to cut off more divisions.

Weigela

Yellow Bearded Iris

Native red columbine

      And don't forget the "Forget Me Not".  There are clumps everywhere, particularly in the middle of the beds where taller plants should be.  They would appreciate a road trip.

      Heading around the corner to go to the front yard, we pass a clump of perennial geraniums   

Closer shot of the flowers

      .  What a beautiful flower, and they will bloom off and on over the summer.  They volunteer only sparingly, but are long lived.

Delaware Valley White Azalea

Rhododendron

Wow!

Artichoke Alert

      I am so excited.  I looked down into the artichoke plant that overwintered in the park garden, and what did I see?  A little artichoke, of my very own.  Wow. Cool.  This was my third attempt at growing artichokes.  Maybe it will be my first success.

Artichoke bud,  5/8/2012

      I did not really expect to see a choke this early in the year.  Figured the plant had to get much bigger.  Now I have to wait until the choke itself gets bigger.  Then I will introduce it to melted butter.  Pictures will follow to document its growth.

      The choke has beautiful purple coloring at the bottom of the individual petals.  Hope it keeps this coloring as it matures.  I have another artichoke plant in a large flower pot that I moved onto the porch for the winter.  Will move that pot out to the garden to get more sun.
      The difficulty with growing artichokes is that they need to go through a cold cycle (vernalization) in order to set buds.  Supposedly you can trick young plants into flowering by keeping them cold, but that did not work for me.  And although they supposedly are able to survive the winter in my zone 7A garden, they often rot instead.  At least they did until this year.  From what I have read, I may get 4 to 5 chokes from this plant this year, and a plant is good for 4 to 5 years.  They send off side shoots, so I hope I can separate the shoots to make more producing plants.  All new to me.
      This Green Globe Artichoke plant was sown 1/28/2011 from seed packaged for the year 2009 from Fedco Seeds.  So I have been trying to grow artichokes since 2009, maybe this is the year!  It did not set flower spikes in 2011 even though it was on the porch for the winter of 2011.
      Two plants were planted over at the park for the summer of 2011, only this one survived the winter, though the second one came teasingly close to making it.  Now I wonder if maybe the voles chewed the root of the second one.  The following picture was taken 1/1/2012.  Note the total lack of snow on the first of the year.  Pretty much the total lack of snow for the entire winter.  The plant on the right is the survivor.

      Anybody out there who has grown artichokes?  Would love to hear about your experience.  Maybe I will go back over to the park now to see if it is any bigger.

Can't Blame It All on the Voles

      The voles get blamed for most of the destruction of young plants at my park garden.  They are numerous, and they run through and under the cold frames.  So when any young plant gets chewed to the ground, it is easy to blame it on the voles.  Or was until this morning.

Wascally Wabbit, 5/5/12

      Eeks, a baby bunny.  The first rabbit spotted in my garden.  The furry varmints must have thought my garden a tempting green food farm amongst all the freshly roto tilled plots.  And this bed dedicated to beneficial insects looks particularly appealing to a bunny in search of some daisies for breakfast.

      Something has caught his attention.  Yes, that flower stalk looks quite yummy.  Maybe if I stretch out a bit, I can get that really tasty stem.

I think I can

Yummy, what a good one

      The little fella had no fear.  And no end to his appetite.  I would not be so brazen with such a bull's eye painted on my forehead.
      So maybe the voles didn't eat that lettuce the first day it was planted.  I still hate them anyway.  The little bunny is much cuter.  Anybody want a free bunny?

A Toad in the Garden

      This will be my fourth year working my plot at the park.  How could a piece of ground in a designated garden area ever have been so abused?  I found no evidence whatsoever of organic matter having been added to the soil. It was nothing but hard clay, not a worm in sight.  I had to dig little holes and fill them with my home garden compost to get anything in the ground.  As I have improved the soil with leaf mold and wood chips in the paths, critters have moved in.  I found a huge earthworm last week, and I have ranted about the voles being everywhere.  The beneficial bug bed with perennial flowers now has the Shasta Daisies in bloom, and they are hopping with lots of dwarf beneficial wasps.  Honeybees are swarming to the kale with its tall yellow stalks in flower.
     As I was in the garden yesterday, I saw movement from the corner of my eye.  A blowing leaf?  The movement was not fast enough to be one of the dastardly voles.  Surveying the bed, I could not find the leaf, so stood perplexed.  And then I saw a little indentation in the dirt, and in that hole was a toad!  A beauty of a toad, basking in his ugliness.

Mr. Toad,  4/26/2012

      See him hiding there, right in the middle.  Minding his own business, probably wishing I would go away.

      No chance Mr. Toad, this is a big happening.  My garden is smack dab in the middle of probably 80 plots that are 20 feet by 40 feet.  Never before had I seen a toad in my garden, nor in many walks around the entire community gardens.  He had to have had a pretty determined hop to get out to here.  And a pretty smart toad to set up shop in my "No Till Zone."  It is not pleasant to envision the outcome of a toad meets roto tiller encounter.  I would bet on the tiller every time.  No surprise outcome where the tortoise beats the hare.  So he found himself a very hospitable piece of garden real estate.  I am going to take a water bowl to the park today, to hopefully encourage him to stay around by fulfilling his water needs.

      Here is the view from the other side.  I was trying to find his handsome side, but I am not sure which side is better.  So why am I happy to be visited by Mr. Toad?  His diet consists of only live bugs and crawlies.  Cutworms.  Slugs.  Yummy.  Please enjoy your summer here Mr. Toad.  And many happy returns.

Plant Give Away, Three

      I just found some shots from last year on a camera card that I am not currently using.  Hopefully this will wrap up the list of plants available at this time.

Stella De Oro day lily

Siberian Iris

Light blue bearded Iris, clear yellow iris behind

Bee Balm, also known as Minarda

Better shot of Canna lily blooms

Purple coneflower, one of my favorites

Ajuga and white euonymus

Sedum kamtschaticum, also known as stonecrop

Native columbine, seed available later in the year

Scilla, bulbs available after leaf die back

      Don't be shy, lots of things are still available.  But if you just have to pay for what you get, please visit the donor tent at the Wilmington Flower Market May 10th through May 12th.  They will be more than happy to accept your money for a lot of my donated plants.