Tuesday, May 13, 2008

If Only You Could Smell the Jasmine

I wandered out into the garden this morning intending to get one quick picture. Here is my photo essay of what happened next…

For several years I’ve been trying to convert the front yard into a red, white and blue color garden with mostly native plants. Problem was, I couldn’t get native plants with all three colors to bloom at the same time. Well happy day! This morning I realized that my



















Indian pinks (Spigelia marilandica),


Foxglove beardtongue (penstemon digitalis),






















and Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) were all blooming in the little corner bed by the driveway.






Don’t I have a cute dog?

Here she is stalking a squirrel.

Oh look, the first daylily bloom of the season. This one is Stella doro (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’)

It’s a shame how the rain knocked down the False indigo (baptisia australis). They were really looking great last week.

Oh. What’s that over there? Have the clematis started to bloom?

Is this the sweetest plant? Viticella alba luxurians is one of my favorite clematis.

The purple center and lime green edges to the petals are really striking.

Oops. You caught me. Just a quick peak through the fence to see if the neighbor is doing anything with his garden yet.

Looks like the Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) is really going to town. I can’t wait to see what this will look like in a couple of years!

Finally! I’ve been waiting for this native Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) to bloom for three years. I almost lost it in a late frost last year, but this year I covered it.
















It’s about time this Climbing hydrangea (decumaria barbara) finally decided to climb. It’s been wandering around on the ground for ages.




















Don’t you love American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens). It’s so much better behaved than its Chinese cousin. That stuff will eat your house!





















Through all my wandering, Lady strikes a peaceful pose and looks on.




Most of all, I wish I could let you smell the jasmine. This Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) isn’t native. It was introduced and has escaped gardens to grow wild in a few spots in Florida. I probably should rip it out of the pots (it’s growning up the posts of the carport). But, I just can’t do it. The scent is too sweet.