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Daisy with expired allium bloom

Double Hollyhock

Single Hollyhock

White Cone Flower (echinacea)

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The flowers have been spectacular this year. Everywhere I look, or everywhere Anne tells me to look, I find amazing color and photo opportunities. If only I could invest in a slightly better camera. Is it Murphy’s law that dictates the more incredible scenes available, the less charge the camera seems to have/hold? I guess that isn’t really the camera’s fault…. it’s the battery. Still, the camera, battery and those responsible for keeping it charged were momentarily in synch a few days ago and I captured the cone flowers above.

Around the other side of this center-of-drive bed is a nice patch of blackberry lily (also called Leopard Lily – Belamcanda chinensis) (above). The blackberry-esque seeds come later in the season we are told. We are also told to not eat them. This patch is entirely new this year – a sweet free addition from last year’s (or was it this Spring?) Eastern Iowa Garden Exchange plant swap.

Just one more – verbena bonariensis (purple in the foreground, yellow yarrow is in the background). I like the latin name of this plant. The common names don’t seem as interesting (Purpletop Vervain? Brazilian Verbena?). These tall, slender and branching blooms are all over the place this year. I like ‘em. They can spread around somewhat invasively, but they bloom long and add height to the garden.

There are many more blooms around the garden. Just about all our photos (good ones and less good ones) are loaded to flickr – check the link on the side menu.

I had all sorts of plans these last 4 days. Not a one of them included this much rain. I’ve completed five of the ten cement piers for the deck, and I’d like to do 5 more, but there is a chance of “torrential rains” this evening. Albeit a slight chance. The storm that pushed through on Friday was outrageous with 70-85 mph winds. Some of our newly planted trees need staking now. The wind today seems to be blowing in the other direction so maybe that will help. Won’t much help the fallen hollyhocks though.

Still, the blooms are coming – you just have to look lower to the ground for them. And new blooms appear every day. This double poppy surprised me this morning. Nice, yes?

It was amazing outside all weekend! And it still is. But I am exhausted. Oh, I took my fair share of breaks to soak in some of the Spring. Never jumped in the hammock though.  Might be because we don’t have a hammock. Plus I get a little sea sick.

There is so much going on in the garden now. Our tulips and daffodils are finally open in full and the Magnolia shrub is incredible. Peas are sprouting along with spinach, lettuce, radish and asparagus. Mmmm, asparagus. I worked at setting up tomato cages and support systems. Decided I might as well plant the cherry tomatoes. Also planted more peas, soy beans, carrots, fennel and zinnia seeds.

Amidst all that planting and preparing, Anne discovered a nice natural patch of trout lilies. I can’t say I had ever seen a trout lily before, much less one in bloom.

When we receive seed catalogs in the Fall and Winter month, it feels like no seed ought go unplanted. It also feels like we have a duty to explore new vegetables and flowers that we’ve never grown before. Toss in a bit of a challenge and we can’t really help ourselves. That’s how we wound up ordering and planting two varieties of artichoke. 

The challenge of growing artichokes in this climate is their biennial nature. Under normal circumstances, artichokes like to endure a cold period before setting chokes. So you need to set them outside early in the season so they are tricked into thinking they survived the cold. But you can’t let the little plants freeze and you can’t let them bake in a cold frame. We did the latter. It was a beautiful day and we went to work without raising the lid of the cold frame. Almost all of the artichoke we started from seed died that day. The few that survived, we planted. And a couple, as you can see, set chokes. Delighted as we were, we are not sure when to harvest. But I’m pretty sure this one is past it’s prime.

It’s always been one of Anne’s favorite, the purple cone flower, echinacea. And it happens to be a midwest native prairie flower. Or maybe that is one reason it’s on Anne’s favorite list. It’s on my favorite list because it’s pin-cushion head and frail leaves, and because of it’s herbal medicinal qualities. Not that I take advantage of them, I just like that such an attractive plant can also have practical qualities. Same reason I kind of like burdock, except that burdock is invasive and gigantic. Burdock fascinates me, but I can’t really like it. Echinacea both fascinates and pleases my senses. That’s a good combination!

Whatever the reason, hollyhocks are looking fantastic this year! Of course, for us anything is an improvement as this is just year two for these hocks – and they do not flower their first year. But everywhere we look, hollyhocks are looking grand. The life of a hollyhock is relatively short – maybe only two or three years. But it should drop seed if the dead heads are allowed to remain on the stalk. They prefer well-drained soil and full sun – or so I’m told.

Cardinal Climber

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Zinnia