Garden Delights

I've made several entries regarding vegetables so thought I would share some of my other garden delights. As I was going through the flower pictures so far, I realized most of my flower choices this year have been in the warm tones.

Asiatic Lily

Lilies are about the easiest perennial to grow! We have Tiger lilies (a common wildflower), naked ladies (Amaryllis belladonna), Stella de Oro daylilies as well as this beautiful lily. I got this beautiful what was thought to be a "daylily" from a friend who was cleaning out her garden. However, a very kind soul on the Gardenmessenger group told me it is an Asiatic lily not a daylily. I planted these lilies on the north side of the house. The colour of this lily is so deep and rich it almost looks like plastic. Now I need to research to identify the variety and how to propagate these lilies.

Water Hyacinth

Every garden needs at least one water feature. I have two but will likely add more. This year I decided to experiment using a five gallon planter with the plug left in and planted it with water hyacinth. Water hyacinth is a rather strange looking floating plant until it blooms. The leaves are thick and waxy that give no indication of the dainty pale lavender blooms to come. This plant spreads easily and is an ideal pond plant. In some southern areas it is considered a noxious weed that is to be destroyed because it spreads fast enough to block water intakes. We can grow them here as it freezes over winter to kill them off. I buy one fresh plant each spring from a local pond supply store as I've never been able to keep water hyacinth growing indoors in the winter. It hasn't been from lack of effort so once again I'll try this year.

Rose

Last fall I didn't think this rose bush would survive. A service man hacked it right to the ground! It was not a happy day for him when I found out. Thankfully the rose bush survived and has put on a wonderful display of roses. I don't know the name of this rose. This bush and a climbing rose bush were here when we moved in. Both are on the south side of the house. I'd like to turn that flower bed into a rose bed. The beautiful rosey pink roses are about 4 inches in diameter. I met a gentleman who is quite knowledgeable on roses who thought from the description it was a rose named after Queen Mary. I'll take a picture of both roses the next time I visit in the hopes he can identify them for me. In the meantime I'm reading on how to care for roses.

Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'

Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' is also known as tickseed. It is a compact, cheery perennial with delicate leaves and bright yellow flowers. It is a very pretty plant that is sure to bring a smile! 'Moonbeam' is not as delicate as it looks. I've moved this plant a couple of times with no ill effects. I have it planted on the north side of the house. This area also gets east and west sun exposure. Each year it gets bigger and puts on quite the display. My neighbour would like to try growing 'Moonbeam' so this year I'm going to try harvesting some seed.

Bonanza Flame Marigold

The Bonanza Flame marigold is one of my favourite flowers for companion planting with vegetables. I love the two toned colouration of this variety. It is a well behaved bushy plant that gets about nine inches tall. This marigold will give good colour from about the ADLF to the ADFF for our zone which means early May to late October. This year I went overboard. A total of ninety-six of these marigolds are planted in the front garden beds while four pots of the same sit on the stairs. Across the small west facing side of the el are another ten. At the back door are two more post of marigolds. Fourty-four bonanza flame marigolds frame bed #1 while each of the two of the new beds are framed with twenty of the same. The middle new bed is framed with twenty yellow marigolds for something different. Two more pots of bonanza flame marigolds each with seven plants are in the vegetable garden as well. That brings the grand total of bonanza flame marigolds planted to two hundred and six with about twenty-four seedlings left over!