By the time I got home late this afternoon the snow was long gone. The snow white radial dishes of the Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens don't seem to cause any snow angst. Against the brown and greening backdrop, it is captivating and vibrant. White is the new yellow.
The late blooming Daffodils look to have a lot of nodders. The flowers point down on many of them. The backside of this one is quite nice. Can you imagine breeding for the backside of a flower?
The heavy snow burst yesterday did a number on many of the remaining Daffodils. They don't look like they will be standing all the way up again. The wet snow bent many of the flower stalks. There are still plenty left and some that have not bloomed yet.
The few larger Tulips up here have produced some blooms. A patch of the smaller "naturalizing" Tulips will be opening shortly.
A yellow Primrose, a Primula species, down in the sunny utility meadow.
Then the camera's battery died and it was getting to dark to put in the other one and go back out again.
Soon I will have access to more flowers for Bloom Days. Mrs Client #2 has hired me to restore this once very nice and tidy flower garden. They seem a bit hesitant to give me free range on the property. After listening to my parent's tribulations trying to find reliable help for their Florida garden, and being that I am the neighbor across the street, I can understand some hesitancy on Client #2's part. I'll just have to work my magic on them.
And look what I found in there, a Lupine. A lot of Lupine.
I was told it has a blue flower. I can't wait to collect some seed from a Lupine that is totally acclimated to this mountain.
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10 comments:
I'm still doing some work for my across-the-street neighbor. She's always telling me not to do too much pruning (her garden needs extensive, ruthless pruning), so I do it when she's not around. Then she she's always so pleased with the results.
Blue lupine, how nice. That's a plant I can relate to. I've had mixed results growing various species from seed--good luck.
Oh what a find with the lupine that has acclimated as you say. We have tried to grow that too many times to count, can get them going then mid summer they disappear never to return. What are the conditions where it is so happy? Full sun, level? And you still have unopened daffs, that mountain gives you some buffer agains the heat, I'll bet. Good luck with your magic working on lady across the street. We know you can do it!
Candytuft is a very insistent white, isn't it, Christopher ;-]
So you have a client in town and one on the mountain - hope you can work your magic on both of them. It will be interesting to see a naturalized large blue lupine rather than our Texas bluebonnets.
Happy Blooming Day~
Annie
That looks like Lupinus polyphyllus. I grew a BUNCH from seed last year. That which made it fall (about HALF (or 25 or so) seems to be coming back STRONG in spring. I was INCREDIBLY disappointed last year watching the seedlings get more and more insubstantial. I assumed I'd lose them all. I cannot believe how robustly they come back year 2.
I seed Russell Hybrids which are a mix of colors. Last year.
This spring (before I saw that my Lupins had survived) I seeded another "crop" (in Dixie cups) of something called 'The Governor'. Turns out they are just the blues from Russell Hybrids.
I can't wait to see how you transform that weedy mess! In my experience, the "wild" lupine foliage up here looks the same, but the colors can still be white, red, pink or blue. It'll be interesting to see what you get.
Frances, the Lupine is growing in full sun on a slight slope, towards the bottom of this slope. Client #2 lives in Knoxville and says she has tried to grow this Lupine there with no sucess. It must like the cool up here.
If it is the Lupinus polyphyllus that will certainly be fine. Another west coast native that likes cool and moist. We got that, even in the drought.
I'm really liking the Candytuft Annie. It is a perennial evergreen and should like my sunny hillside just fine. I am seeing a lot of good plants for my low mounding hillside of color and texture.
Lisa a little TLC, weeding and some transplanting will have that flower bed looking good in no time. It also has Iris, Peony, Rudbeckia, Rhubarb, Daylily and Spirea at the least. Once I really get in there, who knows what else I will find.
Oooh... wow. What a lucky find--the lupine.
I don't see why nodding plants couldn't be hybridized/selected for the backs of their flowers. Makes perfect sense to me.
Nice blooms. Every time I see Lupine I think of the time I saw a moose eating some by the roadside in Maine.
I was going to say it looks like Lupinus regalis, an east coast native. Heh.
Lupines are very difficult to tell apart in the wild. CA has 80 native lupines; I can only ID a few of them. Keying them out in nature, I'm told is next to impossible as they are actively speciating in many regions, particularly in the coast ranges.
I'm enjoying seeing the different flowers as they start to bloom up on your mountain. I can't wait to see those lupines in bloom later on.
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