White Gaura

White Gaura

Oenothera lindheimeri

(ee-no-THEE-ruh) (lind-HY-mer-ee)

Synonyms: Gaura (GOW-ra), Apple blossom Grass, Lindheimer's Beeblossom, Wandflower

This plant changed its scientific name a while back and I still use the old one. I am so not a trendsetter or rider. It is now classified as an Oenothera and I am not sure why. That is a genus, which sends a bit of a chill up my spine because of tendency to run a little rampant and be invasive. However, I have leaned to grow Sundrops and know how to manage them now (borderline iron fist). This plant is much more graceful and a better garden citizen then most Oenothera.

This is a tough plant that is long blooming. It absolutely needs full sun to flower properly and good drainage. It is drought tolerant and can grow in dry areas but I have found it likes a bit of moisture too, especially during establishment. It can be short lived but worth having as a supporting character in the border.

Since I haven’t posted in some time here is a bonus photo

Garden Peony Coral 'n' Gold
Paeonia lactiflora
(pay-OHN-ee-uh) (lak-tee-FLOR-uh)

This photo doesn’t quite do justice to the color of this flower. It’s a Mr. Lyman Cousins’ “Innerglow” hybrid. Known for their luminous qualities and fragrance. A true winner.

Garden Peony

Garden Peony
Paeonia lactiflora
(pay-OHN-ee-uh) (lak-tee-FLOR-uh)

This Peony was blooming last week long after all the others had finished. I am not sure why the picture came out the way it did as it was high noon when I took the photo. Peonies are a much requested flower for us. They grow and bloom nicely so it isn’t a problem to add them to the garden. Staking them would be the only hassle in growing them but once you have a support system in place it an be used over many years.

It’s funny because a little while ago I posted that I thought white flowers were no longer in vogue. It seems since then almost all I have posting have been white flowers. The way this Peony was glowing surely helps the case for white flowers as the color showed off nicely against the dark green foliage.

We have been managing a big garden in Greenwich, Connecticut for the last several years and when we started there were Peonies planted in all different areas. Two years ago I got the idea of putting them all in one central bed for two reasons. One was the ease of maintenance and the other was to be able to view and cut the flowers easier for the owner. It has worked out well and I was able to sneak in a couple of new cultivars at the same time.

Todays Flowers - French Hollyhock

French Hollyhock
Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina'
(MAL-vuh) (sil-VESS-triss)

Striped flowers always seem to capture my fancy and this one is no exception. French Hollyhock seems to grow best in lean soil that is well drained. They self seed profusely and the mother plants usually die out. It has over wintered for me before but I really don’t count on it. It is well worth it to grow it as annual as it blooms all season.

This is a wild rose that was blooming alongside a road into an industrial park that I was turning around on. I just decided to grab the camera and hop out of the truck and take a picture. It had a hint of fragrance but I am not sure if that wasn’t from having literally thousands and thousands of the same flower blooming all along the road. This flower wasn’t much to look at from afar but when viewed up close it was easy to see that it was really beautiful including the touch of blush and the way the stamens are arranged.


Since last Sunday I included a Peony picture here is another of the Peonies growing in the garden. This one is called ‘Gay Paree’. You can see the colors are great and they grow on about a 30 inches tall plant. It has a good fragrance. There is only one of these in the garden and it has been a little slow to develop but usually has a couple of flowers. It is considered an Anemone flowering type.


Here is a list of common names for Malva sylvestris from The Malva (Mallow) Pages

English (Australian): Tall Mallow

English (British): Common Mallow

English (American): High Mallow

French (Jersey): p'tite mauve

Spanish: Malva común, Malva Silvestre

Portuguese: (Brasil) Malva Silvestre

Italian: Malva, méiba, nalba, riondella

Romanian: Nalba de culturä, nalba de padure

German: Kultur-käsepappel

Dutch: Groot Kaasjeskruis

Swedish: rödmalva

Norwegian: Apotekerkattost

Finnish: Kiiltomalva

Estonian: mets-kassinaeris

Czech: sléz lesní

Slovak: slez lesný

Slovene: Gozdni slezenovec

Croatian: Sljez crni, Sljez divlji

Serbian: crni slez

Hungarian: Erdei mályva, mályva, Papsayt

Welsh: Hocysen Gyffredin

Basque: ziga, zigiña

Maltese: Hobbejza tar-raba

Korean: Dang-a-uk


For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers .

Miss Mary Garden Peony

Garden Peony
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Miss Mary’
(pay-OHN-ee-uh) (lak-tee-FLOR-uh)

This peony was introduced by William H. Krekler in 1967. It is a really nice red single flowered type. These pictures were taken in my friend’s garden and I guess I had never visited when this peony was blooming. He has been dividing it and keeps planting the divisions down the side of a long stonewall. There were a lot of flowers in the patch last week and it gave an overall very nice effect.


If you like Daffodils this site may be of interest:
First Daffodils

There is a lot of beautiful photography over there. The landscapes that the Daffs are growing in are better than the flowers in some instances.

Today's Flowers - Louisiana Iris

Louisiana Iris
Iris 'Bold Pretender'
(EYE-ris)
Today's Flowers

This Iris was introduced in 1983 and still looks good today. The color combination is nice and it is a good bloomer. Louisiana Iris are quite hardy and really needs a moist site to survive and be happy. In fact it can grow right at the edge of the pond or in boggy conditions. It blooms in early summer. This one gets up to about 36 inches tall. It is a great color to have in the Iris collection.

This second flower is easily recognized as a Columbine. It is a new introduction to the Music Series called ‘Red and Gold’. It has large flowers and intense colors. Columbine is sometimes not perennial around here but usually seeds itself so you still have some long after the mother plants have gone. Like the Louisiana Iris it is native to the United States and the species Aquilegia caerules is the state flower of Colorado. In fact it is protected there and the law prohibits “digging or uprooting the flower on public lands and limits the gathering of buds, blossoms and stems to 25 in one day. It is unlawful to pick the columbine on private land without consent of the land owner.”


Since it Sunday and that means Today’s Flowers so here is an extra shot of some Peonies. We have been working at a garden that has a lot of different cultivars and they are really doing outstanding this year.


I have to work today as the business we are landscaping is closed so I am not sure how many people I will get to visit.

For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers .

Pink Peony Bud

Garden Peony
Paeonia lactiflora
(pay-OHN-ee-uh) (lak-tee-FLOR-uh)
Wordless Wednesday

Red Tree Peony

Tree Peony
Paeonia suffruticosa 'Hoki'
(pay-OHN-ee-uh) (suf-roo-tee-KO-sa)

This amazing plant was in bloom at Planting Fields last Sunday. It is always a surprise to me how many people aren’t familiar with this cousin of the herbaceous Peony. It is an easy plant to grow and generally doesn’t need staking. ‘Hoki’ is a particularly striking version of the Tree Peony. Its vivid flowers were easily spotted a hundred yards away and it stood out among the Tree Peony collection, which had several other outstanding cultivars. It also had a nice fragrance.


This Tree Peony grows to about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Tree Peonies are actually woody shrubs and not trees. They can take up to three years to get established and start flowering heavily. It has woody stems that should not be cut back.

Ox-Eye Daisy and Some More Work Shots

Ox-Eye Daisy
Leucanthemum vulgare
(lew-KANTH-ih-mum) (vul-GAIR-ee)
Synonyms: Field Daisy, Marguerite, Moon Daisy

Another post where everything is growing at work. The Ox-Eye Daisies have been seeding like crazy over the last few years and I have been encouraging them to do so. Anywhere that is usually mulched is fair game. We have transplanted several hundred also.

When I wanted to learn more about the folklore of the Daisy I found these sites. The lore is certainly impressive and covers much of history and many different groups of people.

sfheart.com

Pinkie’s Palour (Scroll down for Daisy)


I wanted to take more pictures at work but my battery died. That is a bad thing about the D70 battery, it lasts so long that you sometimes can forget to charge it. It has lasted 1200 shots when new and can still do 1000. I did squeeze off a couple before the camera wouldn’t fire anymore. This is a separate Peony area with all the same type. There are about 8 more bushes behind me in the frame. Don’t know the variety but it is one of the best I have grown. There is another Peony area with one or two plants of about 15 different cultivars.


Here is a closer view of the Peonies. I am not sure where the Foxglove came from but I have been encouraging it. There is one little Ox-Eye there and that will be like 5 next year and then 25 and so on.


This is the Driveway Garden at another house. It was one of the harshest gardening sites I have had to deal with but over the years we have managed to build it up. Without the irrigation I don’t think many of these plants would’ve grown.

Peony

The Peonies are blooming now. Some of them have gone by already but the main collection is now in flower. They are such a grand flower and such a classic. I don’t like the extra work of staking them but right now it is worth it. There are about 30 species of the herbaceous types and ten of the woody species. I have only grown a couple of them and they are the ones that are fairly common. Funny I made a post 364 days ago on Peonies.


Sometimes the buds are better than the flowers but this Peony was nice in both. The flower reminded a little of the sun and the bud looks a bit like an egg.


This is what I have to put with at work.
:lol:
This Gibraltar Azalea is a funny one. I often forget about it until it blooms. It looks like it is giving the little Blueberry bush a hug.

Peony

Peony

Just a classic flower today. My Peonies were beautiful this year, and I hope yours were too.

“The peony is beautiful, yet it is supported by a stalk.
Chinese Proverb