Thursday, April 18, 2013

Columbine

We had a dozen different varieties in Houlton when I was a kid.  Blue with white throats, purple, pink, red, white etc.  They seed readily, but I think they may also revert to the pink readily.  They are more homely than the ones you find in nurseries.  Notice the insect trails in the leaves.  The wild ones are very pretty in dark red with yellow throats.

Iris

This is supposed to be black.  The buds certainly are.  I had one called Licorice Stick that was much darker.

Peony

I like the single varieties as they don't collapse so quickly.  Plant peonies and give them plenty of manure in a big hole, and these will be there for life as well.  Consider a cage for support.

Iris Beverly Sills

One of my few named varieties.  The blossoms are huge.  See other iris posts for culture.

Peony

This is one of Grammie's.  These are very top heavy and really need a cage for best display.  In the family for nearly a hundred years...say by 2020 or so.

Seven Sisters?

I doubt it.  This is just one of the root stock roses that something nicer was grafted on...Aunt May was not a gardener, and just tended what came up.  Many of the tea roses and other hybrids were nurtured long after the nice rose died, But then, I can remember Aunt May with them, which is very desirable.  Still pretty if not a great name.  Mom always wanted me to rescue the Seven Sisters that she remembered as a child, but this was where she remembered the bush to be.  Long gone I guess.

White Rugosa