Wednesday Wandering

Would you like to wander with me through the flower gardens to see what is in bloom?

Shooting Star

I think these are so cute and dainty.  The plant only gets about a foot tall.  Three years ago I cleared an area of brambles and started a native wildflower garden. Year three and the Shooting Stars are starting to spread a little. 

Also in the native wildflower area I have some Camassia (Wild Hyacinth) in bloom. I have several different varieties - 3 blues and a white -  and this is year three for them too. 

Camassia is in the asparagus family.

I have a patch of them in the native wildflower garden growing in partial shade. 

And I also have a little patch of them in the cottage garden growing in full sun. 

In the cottage garden alliums are in bloom now too. 

It's another flower of flowers. 

I have a couple of patches of different varieties. 

The lilacs are in bloom and gosh do they fill the air with their heavenly scent. I should bring some in the house but they never seem to last too long in a vase.  Actually my lilac bushes are very old and really need to be pruned back because some of the bushes are more like trees and I can't even reach the flowers. 

This variegated one is in the center of the cottage garden near a trellis of Dutchman's Pipe and Trumpet Vine. It was struck by lightning several years ago and split apart and died. Before it completely died I took a cutting of it and now I have variegated lilacs again. I'm trying to keep this one short and more constrained than the others. 

Star of Bethlehem

I never planted these. They just appeared one year in with the bluebells and I left them. Now it appears they are getting invasive.  There's another clump down in the woods but deer or rabbits eat the grassy leaves so they don't bloom. 

I have a little patch of Wallflowers I started from seeds but I thought they would not bloom this year because rabbits or deer sure at them down to nothing. I guess the varmints have moved on to greener pastures and are leaving my stuff alone for now.  One day from my window I did see what  I thought might be a red tailed hawk swoop down and grab something and the next day I saw a bits of rabbit fur in that area. The hawk didn't get all the rabbits though because the other day I saw one in my strawberry patch and shooed it away.

About 20 years ago I picked up a few different kinds of hosta at a Walmart clearance. Since then I have separated them many times. Sometimes deer or rabbit eat them as they emerge but most years they leave most of the hosta alone.  This one has dark green leaves with lime green around the edges and...

...this one has lime green leaves with dark green around the edges.  Both are in the shade of an old apple tree at the edge of the cottage garden. 

Out in the front of the house the bleeding heart is still in bloom.

Near the side door the Lunaria (Honesty or Money Plant) is in bloom. I love the seed pods and have made wreaths with them and used them in dried flower arrangements. They remind me of my maternal great grandmother who I only met a couple of times as a young girl. She had vases and vases of the dried seed pods and I found them fascinating. She gave me some seeds when I was maybe in the fifth grade and I did plant them but since I did not know what the plants were supposed to look like and did not know they were biennials I never did get any seed pods way back then. Braided rugs always remind me of the same great grandmother. She made lots of them from old clothes. They fascinated me too and she showed me how to make them.  I used some old receiving blankets we had and made a little rug I kept on the wood floor near the bed I shared with my sister. 

The tulips are starting to die back.  I never did get around to cutting some to bring inside to put in a vase. 

Some of the tulips look a little like poppies as they open up and start to die back. 

The weeds are starting to take over in that tulip bed so I need to get it weeded. I have some perennial dianthus in the same bed. I started them from seeds last year. Now I have a different variety to add that I started from seeds this year. 

The fragrant little Daffodils are starting to die back too. Soon some other things will pop up in this shady area.  A wild mulberry tree fell in a windstorm years ago and we never did get it all cleared out. I told hubby we could just leave it there. The pathway I had separating this area into several beds led up to it and I thought it made a perfect place to stop and sit awhile.  Although a couple of times I did sit and get ants in my pants!

Little species tulips in the fairy garden.