Tall Flowers

Great coneflower, Rudbeckia maxima, is native to the south.  These, planted next to the rain gauge, are 8 feet tall.  It is also called cabbage leaf coneflower in reference to it's large silvery-blue leaves.

Common or wooly mullien, Verbascum thapsus, is an European native, introduced and naturalized in the US for it's medicinal uses.  This one, growing near the coneflower, is almost as tall as the cone flower.  When the girls were small, we called it "fuzzy monster"  because it has very fuzzy  leaves.  I just found out that mullien is a very good plant for moths, both adults and larvae.  Some studies suggest that moths are better pollinators than butterflies.

Ditch Lilies

Hemerocallis fulva, the common ditch lily or daylily, is the grandmother of all daylilies.  Here in Madison County in June, they can be seen along roadsides and in ditches every where.  

Spiderwort

 

Ninebark

 

Iris after the Rain

 

I snapped these photos of the purple iris this morning during a brief period of sunshine after a drippy night.  Iris is the Greek goddess of the rainbow, so these photos of irises seem apropos after the rain.  (Though it's raining again now.)

 

Their color is rather dark, but in the sunshine, so PURPLE.  💜

Their odor is delicate, but so delicious!

 

 

 

End of May

The perfect hosta--

 Unmarred by slug or bug.

The deepest purple iris--

With the most delicate of Spring scents.

I love daisies--

Nothing fancy needed.

Roadside Flowers

As I walk down the driveway to get the mail, I see the first of the year's fleabane.  It's considered a weed, but I like the little white fringe around the egg-yolk yellow centers.

Common fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus

Across the road by the old barn is a field of ragwort or groundsel.  It seems quite plentiful this year.
  

Golden ragwort, Senecio aureus

At the mailbox I decide to walk east down Heck Creek Road toward the blacktop.  Scattered throughout the woods I see more ragwort and wild geranium.

Wild Geranium, Geranium maculatum

Also, scattered on the forest floor and beside the ditch, mud-spattered, were

violets. The purple of violets is one of my favorite colors.

Common blue violet, Viola sororia

Where the road curves a bit and is shadier and wetter, I find the diminutive dwarf crested iris and rue anemone growing side by side.

Rue anemone, Thalictrum thalictroides

Dwarf crested iris, Iris cristata

A beautiful Spring day.

Early October

It's early October and the goldenrods are waning. 

The honey girls are everywhere, frantically gathering the last bits of pollen and nectar.  Winter is coming.

There are quite a few blossoms  left on the cut leaf coneflower.

 

 Though mostly just the seed heads.

It's aster season.  We have at least three species growing around the house above Heck Creek.  

The first is this tiny-flowered one.  The flowers are about 1/2 inch in diameter and the centers are pinkish when the flowers are mature.

Then there is this white one with yellow centers and larger flowers, 3/4 to an inch in diameter.

And finally we have this blue one. It's flowers are in the 3/4 to 1 1/4-inch range.

The honey girls don't seem to have a color preference.  They're buzzing around  them all doing the final gather before winter.

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Beard Tongue

We had a lot of this plant in our yard in Missouri and it grew well.  We brought one small plant with us from Missouri and it seems well-adapted to the North Carolina clay.

Penstemon digitalis "Husker Red"

The stems and new leaves are reddish in color.

Honey bees and other bees are frequent visitors. (Look how fast the wings are buzzing.)

And here is why the plant's common name is beard tongue.  Take a look at the flower's stigma and style.

Snow and Ice and Freezing Rain

The first part of March was sunny and warmish, almost balmy.  Everyone seemed to think that spring had come early and started working in their gardens.  I even thought about cleaning the beds and moving mulch back from the perennials.  But, one of the qualities gardeners need is patience.  I ended up just sitting on the bench in the sun and planning.  Early March is just too soon.  And it seemed the lion of March was not quite ready to succumb to the lamb.  This week we've got cloudy skies, snow, sleet and freezing rain with lows in the teens.