Calla 'Plum Pretty'

I took this picture yesterday of Calla 'Plum Pretty'. I hate to admit it, but I'm pretty impressed that I have gotten it to grow and bloom. I had tried them a number of times over the years, planted them out in the garden and had them up and die on me. Last summer I was again seduced by one of these and brought this one home. I kept it potted up and figured I'd just enjoy it. As I hate to let things die at the end of the season (this one only cost me $1.50 so it was cheaper than some of the annuals at Lowes so the money wasn't exactly an issue) I took the pot into the greenhouse and just set it in a back corner and let it go dormant. I ignored it all winter and in the spring I started watering it again to see if it would come out of dormancy. It wasn't quick, but eventually it reappeared, quite a bit larger than before, so I repotted it and set it outside where it now has two bloom. Needless to say I am quite pleased.

On a less lovely note, this also greeted me yesterday - deer damage in the gardens at Lake Amanda. This one was Hosta 'St. Elmo's Fire'. I thought since the neighbors collectively shot 11 of them last fall and the woods are lush this year with all of the rain, that the deer damage would be much less. I guess I was wrong. I have been spreading milorganite around which has helped somewhat for some people and seems to keep rabbits at bay, but no so much the deer, even though some people have reported it does. Guess our deer didn't hear about it. I will be spraying Liquid Fence this morning and starting to lace monofilament fishing line through the beds to keep them out. I used the fishing line around the ponds last year and it worked pretty well. They don't see it but run into it and so back off.

Wish me luck.

Hosta 'Fort Knox', with lovely gold leaves, also became salad. They will recover and not have problems, but it sure makes the garden look a mess right now.

Jane

Grey Tree Frog

This little guy was sitting on the edge of a large tub of water the other day just singing his heart out (I don't really know if it is a he or a she). It took way too many tries to get him with his throat puffed out like this. The funniest thing is that I've seen these tiny frogs in the yard many times, usually either on a tree or sleeping in a flower pot during the heat of the day. They are always multiple shades of grey. This one is all green. They are loud all out of proportion with their size which is only about an inch and a half long. When I came back awhile later he was still sitting there but not singing and his color had turned back to grey. I first thought I had a new kind of frog, but it turns out that instead I have a frog that can change colors. He's not too afraid of me if I just keep a few feet away and even keeps singing when I'm around. I wish those really tee tiny Spring Peepers would do that. I still have never actually seen one of then, just hear them singing.
Jane

Iris - Tall Bearded

These are what most people, especially non gardeners, think of when you say iris. Big and colorful, the tall bearded, the tallest and largest of the irises that look like this are probably also the most varied colorwise. The first one is Batik which looks more purple in person, but you get the idea. It is always noticed since it is unusual, at least it used to be. Now I see it in lots of catalogs and breeders have developed a whole series of these in different colors.

Next is one of the historic ones (I consider those before 1950 historic though I don't know if that is an official designation) which I added a few years ago. The older ones don't seem to have all of the hardiness and toughness bred out of them in favor of some other characteristic. It's name is Dauntless.

I don't know the name of this one, but it is a form called plicata which just means that it has an edge. Funny, they don't use that term in hostas that have edges.

Another oldie, this is Rosemohr.

This one is named, but I can't find the order and it doesn't seem to have a permanent tag in the garden. In addition to gorgeous color, this one is about twice the size of a 'normal' iris. It's hard to tell with nothing else in the picture for reference, but the typical comment when people see it is - Wow, that's the biggest iris I ever saw'.

The next one is 'Tom Johnson', and though I don't know who it was named for, it is really velvety and I love those orange beards.

This last one I have a love/hate relationship with. Some days I like the color combination and other days I find it kind of jarring. It came in a bag of iris that were supposed to be another color (can't remember what it was supposed to be, I think just lavender) so it was a big surprise when it first bloomed. It has turned out to be quite hardy here and lived in a row of tree peonies.

Tomorrow another day away from iris before we return to them to look at some really cute frogs.

Jane

Phoebe

I know I said more irises today, but I just couldn't resist taking a picture of these Phoebe babies in their nest in the back barn. She builds here every year and you can see the places all along the beam where she has attached nests. They must be almost ready to fledge because there just doesn't seem to be any room left in the nest at this point.
Jane

Iris Siberica

No names here since these are all my seedlings. We are at the southern edge of the range for Siberian Iris and some do well here but others just up and die. I found that some of those best suited were those that I bred from those that are happy here or those that self seeded into spots in the garden, helped along by birds or little furry things that bury seeds.

This one is a nice shade of blue, but in person a little more purple, probably. The dark purple ones don't seem to come true to color when photographed. I had trouble with purples of some shades back when I was doing film pictures too, though I'm not sure what the answer is to the problem of getting the colors right, I can let you know what they should be.

This is a lovely light blue one. Most Siberian's seem to have that veining at the top of the falls, though some more than others and it shows up in the darker ones much more.

I like the two colors in this one

This is probably my favorite and just stands out in the bed with it's icy pale blue color. These are all what would probably be called old style Siberians since they have rather narrow petals and lack ruffles. Some of the newer ones (which don't grow well this far south) have very wide almost overlapping petals with lots of ruffles - almost look like another kind of iris altogether. Wish I could grow some of them here, but with so many pretty flowers, I shouldn't complain.

Jane

Iris Ensata

Today I put up pictures of Ensata (formerly Japanese) Iris. This first on is Bellander Blue and is really tall - at least 4 feet. And yes, it is this blue. These grow happily in shallow water or on dry land if they get enough water (an inch a week in rain or watering). They grow in full sun or with a little shade. They are some of the most extravagent looking of the irises with large flowers with big petals. Colors are in a wide range with many patterns. Just a few here for a sample. They are just starting to bud, so these pictures were taken last year, but I'll put up more when this year's bloom starts. I just love these.

This is Blueberry Rim with an edge and spots.

Frosted Pyramid is pure white with only a tiny gold signal on the petals.

Extravagent Plumes has a much wider purple edge and is mostly falls. (the lower petals)

Pinkerton is one of my favorites and a hard color, it seems, to photograph. It is a lovely pale pink though it looks a bit lavender here.

Last but not least, Summer Storm which is one of our darkest ones. I'll be out taking pictures today or lots of other irises, especially Siberians which I had intended to do today until I realized that I really didn't have all that many good pictures of them. The irises in Lake Amanda are also blooming their little hearts out, so I'll get them too.

Jane

Spuria Iris

Today's irises are all Spuria Iris. This first one is 'Shelford Giant' which was hybridized by David Reath who was much better known for his peonies. Spurias are dryland iris and do much better in the southwest than they do here, but in a raised bed in full sun I can manage to keep them happy. These are tall, generally, mostly measuring about 4 feet to the top of the bloom. Foliage is medium green and wide and stiff. Bloom on them is probably not for another month, after a lot of the other iris are finished. They don't seem to make a large dense clump like the Siberians do, but rather a looser grouping which does expand year after year.

This is 'Blue Spiderweb' another Reath Spuria Iris. Pretty blue color. Spurias come in lots of colors, but the older ones especially tend towards the darker colors and even sometimes sort of metallic.

Selfs (flowers all in one color) seem less common in Spurias. I do like this bright yellow one. For this and the rest, I don't know their names and some may be seedlings. They were here in the garden when I married Hank, and have been moved several times so the tags are long gone. As far as moving them, they're like most other irises and should be moved after bloom when they're semi-dormant and getting ready to do their new root growth. Here that would be late July or August. Just the time I want to be out in the hot sun digging up huge, heavy clumps of irises!

Pale colors also seem to be less common in Spurias. I must like them better because I don't seem to have many pictures of the darker ones.

This would be very typical of a Spuria Iris color and one not found in lots of other types except for the Pseudacorus.

This one is sort of a metallic purple showing the very typical petals, very narrow at the base and then spoon shaped at the ends.

More iris tomorrow, maybe the Siberians which are coming into full bloom right now.