What's Bloom'in - Summer

Ah, it seems summer goes so fast - the spring flowers were just coming up. Now, in midsummer, the garden gets a little crazy. The big bloomers are large and everyone is fighting for space. Every year the garden looks a little different and one flower seems to win "most in field". This year there are a quite a few Mexican Hat (Ratibida columnaris). These flowers are long-lasting and provide good color. They bloom in yellow or rust and sometimes a combination of the two. As a xeriscape flower, they provide a good, long-lasting bloom with little water and come back year after year.


Gaillardia pulchella commonly called Gaillarida or sometimes Indian Blanket, Blanket Flower, or Firewheel is one of the easiest and showiest of the xeriscape flowers - I highly recommend it for its color and long bloom. Indian Blanket Flower, the state wildflower of Oklahoma, is an impressive and beautiful native flower found growing along roadsides, in fields and pastures, sometimes covering large areas. Galardia pulchella seems to thrive in heat and is native from Colorado and New Mexico east to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Louisiana and it is really putting on a show in the garden.






Wild sunflowers (Helianthus maximiliani) grow around here in profusion and as such are shunned from the garden, but I let a few come up every year. The wild variety is small with many flowers, not much like their domesticated cousins. I enjoy them very much, so do the Goldfinches. They roost on the branches and eat the flowers. We had a Goldfinch nest in our yard this year and they produced a couple of young.


In addition, the Russian sage (Perovskia) is in full bloom; its deep purple set off nicely by all of the yellow. At about three foot tall it is a garden staple and a long bloomer to boot. Russian Sage is classified as a sub shrub or woody perennial. It performs very well in full sun and any well-drained soil. Average to dry moisture levels are ideal, and few pests bother this plant. If pruning is necessary, do so in spring when new growth appears. Prune back to just above the lowest bud.



Although,yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is not really a prairie plant, I planted it anyway. It likes the heat, does well with the dry conditions and is very showy - especially with purples. I like its rusty yellow color and it too, is a long bloomer. The flowers are very quite large and are wonderful for cutting and drying although I usually end up leaving them in the garden. Deadhead the flowers for re-bloom and cut back to the basil leaf after bloom has finished. This flower was once used to flavor beer and has quite a few medical uses, but I have it for its color and longevity.

What's Bloom'in

Making a natural prairie takes about three years and lots of time. This is year three and we're now starting to see a mature "garden". Most of the entire area was planted from seed and it just takes awhile. And, all the while there are lots of weeds to pull.

One of the showiest flowers in bloom now is a huge Palmeri Penstemon (Penstemon palmeri) This is over three-feet tall and is just blooming like like crazy. It blooms in early summer like all penstemons and is very drought tolerant. It produces 20 or so seeds at every flower and it has about 50 flowers on each stalk. The flower is very orchid like with a wonderful scent. Here's a close-up. A highly recommended semi-desert plant.
























The beebalm (Monarda pectinata) is just starting to bloom. I dug this one up and true to its name, the bees really love it. It's very hardy, but doesn't spread out too fast. Also called Oregano de la Serra, it adds a nice flavor to sauces.






















The poppies are just starting too. I love this simple cheerful flower. It is short bloomer, but seeds profusely. I don't have the carpet I would like yet, but that will no doubt come. These are Eschscholzia mexicana beside some Rocky Mountain penstemon.



















The last picture is of the Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus). These deeply blue flowers on straight and tall stalks just dominate the garden; their deep-blue screaming to out-do the sky. They too are excellent seeders and drought tolerant too.

Spring

Spring has been slow in coming here in Denver, or at least our house. We sit high on a ridge south and east of Denver at about 6000 feet so spring comes at our house a bit later than even Denver. 800 feet make a big difference in terms of temperature and, in the spring, late snowfall. We received a lot of late snow (which melts in a day or two), and quite a bit cool weather. It's actually been nice to have a gradual temperature change from winter. The days have been in the mid-60's, so it might not be so cold as one might think; besides the sun at 6000 feet, whenever it shines, really puts out the heat!

Well anyway, spring is in the yard. The Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) is blooming nice big yellow blossoms. Perhaps, we'll get some small grapes in the fall. I love the red and green variations in the waxy leafs.

The xeriscape's first major group of flowers is Perennial Flax (Linum perenne). They're growing all over in nice blue patches. Its wiry, arching stems support a profusion of delicate, simple five petal, blue flowers which bloom for quite some time. And, it resists heat and will tolerate drought.

It seems the iris is up a bit early. I have a dwarf variety (Iris reticulata) in deep purples, mid-purple, and white. I have always been enthusiastic abut irises and remember them fondly in my grandmother's garden. These bloom quite a long time and the foliage isn't quite so large, so it doesn't dominate the summer garden too much. This picture reminds me of Van Gogh's Irises. It has the same qualities of the painting. Perhaps, it is just the purple. He painted a number of iris paintings after he checked himself into the loony bin. They were obviously the thing that caught his eye. Tammi says she wants to paint them too - perhaps I should keep out a close eye...

Of course, the grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) is up too. At least what the rabbits didn't get to - that's an on-going battle. I want to rain death and destruction on the jumping, fur covered, nasty, mass producing, bastards. I can't even get started on the little rodents - my blog would get black-listed.

As you can see, I like purple and yellow. I purposefully picked plants with these colors because they are complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel). A garden is most appreciated for its color, but when picking the plants and planning the garden people seldom pay attention to that color and how works together. It's like matching clothes, or painting a room - how the color works is very important to the artistic and ascetic quality. For example; red, purple, and pink just don't work too well though they are often lumped together in a group of plantings. Besides color, leaf type and size are important. Thinking about how the eyes moves across the canvas; that is creating "waves" and "flow", is an important consideration too. That effect can range from formal, to wave-like, and even into crazy - where the effect is somewhat jarring visually. The important point is forethought.

Anyway, it's nice to see the flowers. Soon, the mountains will be blooming too - that's the true show!