Monday, May 19, 2008

Remember the Bangles' song 'Manic Monday'...

It was definitely a "manic Monday" with all sorts of things going on. I spent most of my day running for plants from Ahren's Acres and Stonefield Plant Farm. We're making many trips this week to accumulate our palette of seasonal plants so we can start laying out beds. Some visitors asked today why are beds weren't planted up. I wanted to point out that not only do we still have bulbs finishing up in those beds, we have 100,000 plants representing 800 varieties and a dozed themes to pick up, sift thru, organize and plant.... I did get a nice shot of wild hyacinth above (Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube') that is planted as a bulb in fall. It is native to North America and has been utilized as a food source by Native Americans (the root). We love it in damp soils in full to part sun. There are many species and varieties available out there.

Yesterday I went to a talk by Allan Armitage in Lake Geneva. Dr. Armitage has written many books on annuals and perennials and is a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. He is an entertaining speaker but I had hoped to learn about new plants. It was a good talk but I didn't leave with too many new ideas. I thought the rock pyramid at the entrance of the Country Club (Hawks?) was pretty cool and I've seen the same thing at Northwind Perennial Farm, a nursery not far from there that incidentally helped arrange this talk by Dr. Armitage. The plant below has some weird common names. Called the pine goldenpea or spreadfruit goldbanner, this perennial (Thermopsis divaricarpa) always amazes me with it's bright, clear yellow blooms in mid spring. Hardy here, this plant is native to Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. It is quite heat tolerant and is a real "color beacon" in spring.







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