Sunday, July 25, 2010

Liatris Kobold

By far, this is becoming one of my favorite plants in the garden. Pictured here is Liatris spicata "Kobold", also known as Blazing Star or Gayfeather, that I have growing behind my coneflowers. These purple spikes add a different texture to the garden and are great for the back of the border (at least those where max height is around 4 feet). The flower spike reaches anywhere from 2-3 feet tall, and forms a clump of bulbs, but some of my spikes this year are pushing 4 feet tall..

Looks like I will have to divide mine next spring as some of the original single bulbs I planted two years ago have 6-8 spikes. Butterflies love this native wildflower!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Veronica "Sunny Border Blue"

I love Veronica perennials but most of them are short. "Sunny Border Blue" is taller than most, coming in around 2 feet tall, or slightly higher. They are a blue-purple color that really stands out.

I planted one in my front border two years ago, and then decided to buy two more last fall to plant in another section of the yard. Those were "buy one get one free" and very root-bound, but they seem to be doing well this year.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Little Miss Daisy

I was only planning on taking a macro photo of this pretty daisy at a friend's yard the other day, but along came this little spider and quickly walked across the face and back under the petals. I took a batch of photos hoping I caught him, and luckily, this one photo was my great reward.