Flowers and Plants

Lobelia siphilitica (Blue Cardinal Flower)

Photograph taken on Monday, August 26, 2019 by Henry
Lobelia siphilitica (Blue Cardinal Flower)

Lobelia siphilitica (Blue Cardinal Flower)

This is a really nice plant. Blue cardinal flower, Lobelia siphilitica, is an easily grown, herbaceous perennial, native to eastern North America and hardy to USDA zone 4. It needs fairly moist soil and does better here in part shade, where the ground doesn’t dry out so much, or in full sun in pots where it gets regular watering. It blooms over a fairly long period, which is always appreciated. One thing I didn’t know about it is that the species name of siphilitica is from “a prior medicinal use of the plant in the treatment of venereal disease.”

It does well in our garden and we have it scattered around. This particular plant is growing in a container on the driveway with black-eyed Susans behind it. Blue and yellow is always a good combination in the garden and with yellow being so prominent in ours, adding that touch of blue is great.

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Bird of Paradise Flower

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 25, 2019 by Henry
Bird of Paradise Flower

Bird of Paradise Flower

Cathy, Margaret, and I went to Brookside Gardens this afternoon. It was such a wonderfully beautiful day we were not surprised by the number of people there. Nevertheless, we were able to find a parking spot and wonder around the garden for a while. We often go there in the spring, when early flowers are in bloom. I would recommend that highly but this was a different experience. We rarely come in August because it’s so brutally hot. Today was in the mid-70s, though, and absolutely lovely. The summer flowering plants were at their best and we really enjoyed the gardens. The conservatory is always nice, of course, and this photo of a bird of paradise flower (Strelitzia reginae) was taken there. I’ve often thought about growing one of these but never got around to it. They are, apparently, fairly easy to grow, although they couldn’t take our winters and would need to come inside when it gets cold.

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Sea Holly

Photograph taken on Friday, August 23, 2019 by Henry
Sea Holly

Sea Holly

By the time I got home this evening I didn’t feel like going out looking for something to photograph. Later in the evening, as is usually the case, I wished I had, because it meant I had to find something indoors to photograph. If finding something new and interesting to photograph in the yard is a challenge, how much more so is that true in the house. Fortunately there was a vase of flowers on the dining room table and in it were the blue and grey balls of Eryngium planum, better known as sea holly. These are interesting flowers. We had some in our garden in Gaithersburg and I should plant some here. The blue would be especially nice as a contrast to all the yellow-orange of the black-eyed Susan flowers.

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Zinnia

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 by Henry
Zinnia

Zinnia

This spring Cathy planted some zinia and marigold seeds. She’s talked about doing that for a few years but this year she actually got them planted. They grew under a plant light in our dining room in the late winter and into the early spring. They probably were started a little early because by the time it was safe to plant them outside they were a bit leggy and had already started to bloom. Still, I’d say they constituted a success. This one is growing in a pot on the back patio and it has pretty flowers. Not a lot of them, but every little bit counts.

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Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Photograph taken on Friday, August 16, 2019 by Henry
Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

We had another day at Shady Grove Hospital today but before I went I took a few pictures in the back yard. There was a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on the butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and I had hoped to get a picture of that. I would have, except I had taken the memory card out of the camera and when I put it back in the write protection switch had been pushed into the off position and the camera would not take a picture. By the time I got it reset the butterfly was gone. I was able to get this photo of a western honey bee (Apis mellifera), instead.

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Cleome ‘Senorita Blanca’

Photograph taken on Monday, August 12, 2019 by Henry
Cleome ‘Senorita Blanca’

Cleome ‘Senorita Blanca’

My back was up to a full day’s work today. Although there were a few rough spots I made it through, trying to get up now and then to move around (because “Motion is Lotion” as they say). When I got home I took pictures of various flowers in the back yard. I really thought it would be pushing it to get down on the ground for photography. I did for the caterpillar photo yesterday but getting back up was a chore. So, I sat in a chair and photographed what was all around, including blue Lobelia, butterfly weed, Lantana, and a few other flowers. I like the Cleome with the black-eyed Susan flowers behind it.

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Atteva aurea (Ailanthus Webworm Moth)

Photograph taken on Saturday, August 10, 2019 by Henry
Atteva aurea (Ailanthus Webworm Moth)

Atteva aurea (Ailanthus Webworm Moth)

I took some butterfly pictures this afternoon, as well as some flower pictures. While sitting in the chair that Cathy was in when I took the picture for a few days ago I could get pretty close to a few flowers without having to strain my back. Then walking around I saw this prettily colored ailanthus webworm moth (Atteva aurea) on a black-eyed Susan. It took me a while to get down on the ground to get the pictures but I think it was worth the effort. Although it’s named for and feeds on a non-native tree, the Ailanthus webworm moth is actually a North American native from Florida, where its original host was the Simarouba glauca (paradise tree) and Simarouba amara.

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Lobelia cardinalis

Photograph taken on Thursday, August 08, 2019 by Henry
Lobelia cardinalis

Lobelia cardinalis

This red Lobelia cardinalis is growing under the cherry tree at the north end of our yard. It’s really bright and I thought it was worth getting a picture of. With my back still bothering me I wanted to be really careful getting behind it so I could get the picture without having to bend over and with the trunk of the cherry tree available for me to brace the camera against. I was very carefully watching where I was stepping so I wouldn’t trip but about half way back, all of a sudden, I whacked my head against a ceramic wren nesting box hanging from a branch of the tree. I didn’t quite fall but it did my back no favors. Still, I got the picture. Coming back out I was even more careful where I walked and I kept an eye on that nesting box.

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Cathy In The Back Garden

Photograph taken on Wednesday, August 07, 2019 by Henry
Cathy In The Back Garden

Cathy In The Back Garden

With my back still bothering me, I stayed home today. I did put in a little time at work, mostly a long phone call to discuss a proposal that is being written for a project that includes a web site. When Cathy got home from work I asked if I could take her picture for my photo of the day. She agreed and I took almost two dozen shots of het with her flowers. Most obvious are the Rudbekia (the Black-eyed Susans). There is also orange and yellow butterfly weed Asclepius tuberosa) on the right. In front of that is the pale pink spider flower (Cleome). There are other annuals in pots and there is the red teapot lower down.

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Black-eyed Susans

Photograph taken on Monday, August 05, 2019 by Henry
Black-eyed Susans

Black-eyed Susans

I’ve posted pictures that have Black-eyed Susans in them but today’s photo is just of them. To say we have a few is a bit of an understatement. The reality is that we have let them run riot and there are a lot of them in the back yard. They add so much color that we don’t really mind, especially around the patio. We’ve managed to keep one large and one small walkway through them, so we can get out into the yard. They are pretty popular with the pollinators, attracting bees, flies, moths, and butterflies. One interesting thing about them is the photos I take always look bluer than they look in real life and I have to correct for that. On the other hand, the leaves really do have a fair amount of blue in their green.

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Junonia coenia (Common Buckeye)

Photograph taken on Sunday, August 04, 2019 by Henry
Junonia coenia (Common Buckeye)

Junonia coenia (Common Buckeye)

I chased down some butterflies in the back yard today, including this common buckeye (Junonia coenia). They are resident year round in the south as far north as North Carolina and they move north over the course of the summer. Because of that we tend to have them later in the year than other butterflies and I’ve only just started to see them. They are pretty easy to identify and are very different to the other species that we have. This one, obviously was interested in the black-eyed Susan flowers that are in such abundance in our yard right now.

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Green Swamp

Photograph taken on Thursday, August 01, 2019 by Henry
Green Swamp

Green Swamp

I’ve gone to the Green Swamp a few times during our weeks at the beach. Sometimes with a largish group and sometimes just a few others. I went by myself today and had a nice time. I planned not to go too far, with the primary goal of getting some pictures. I got some nice shots of Venus fly traps (Dionaea muscipula) and sundews (Drosera sp.). It was fairly dry and many of the pitcher plants (the purple Sarracenia purpurea And the yellow Sarracenia flava) were a little the worse for that. Still, I got some pictures. I also got a good shot of a palamedes swallowtail (Papilio palamedes (. But this is my favorite photo from the trip, showing the long leaf pines (Pinus palustris).

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Eristalis transversa (Transverse Flower Fly)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 24, 2019 by Henry
Eristalis transversa (Transverse Flower Fly)

Eristalis transversa (Transverse Flower Fly)

I was taking photos of the black-eyed Susan flowers this evening when I spotted this little fly, a transverse flower fly (Eristalis transversa) visiting them. It wouldn’t stay still for very long and I had a hard time getting a good picture. Ideally it would be on top of the dark eye in the flower, but I wasn’t able to get that. I like the combination of colors that matches the flowers. These are pretty little flies and easily spotted in the garden. As flies go, I enjoy these about as much as any.

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Tiger Swallowtail and Tiger Lily

Photograph taken on Monday, July 22, 2019 by Henry
Tiger Swallowtail and Tiger Lily

Tiger Swallowtail and Tiger Lily

The tigers are out in force. We have tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium) blooming in a few areas in the yard. They are especially spectacular in the morning when the sun is on them. We also have tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) in pretty good numbers. They are mostly on the tiger lilies and on the buddleia bushes and we’ve counted more than ten together on one buddleia bush. Most of them are the standard yellow and black but about ten percent are the darker version that I photographed a few days ago.

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Red Roses

Photograph taken on Friday, July 19, 2019 by Henry
Red Roses

Red Roses

Cathy’s mom had a visit today from an old friend and her husband. They brought these flowers, which was nice, and they looked lovely in the late afternoon sun coming in through the dining room windows. I took pictures of them from a bunch of different angles. Deep reds like this are a challenge for my digital camera and they tend to overwhelm the sensor but this one turned out pretty well. No disrespect meant towards Canon. It’s a really intense color and it came out well. Our eyes are such remarkable organs with the ability to see such a huge range of color and brightness that it isn’t actually surprising that technology is still trying to get there. We’ve come a long way, though.

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Roses ‘Perle d’Or’

Photograph taken on Friday, July 12, 2019 by Henry
Roses ‘Perle d’Or’

Roses ‘Perle d’Or’

We’re getting a second flush of roses on the ‘Perle d’Or’ outside our front door. This small polyantha rose has a nice, apricot-yellow color with perfect, if tiny buds, opening to somewhat less perfect blossoms that are, nonetheless, quite lovely. The fragrance alone is enough to make me want this rose and putting it right outside our front door was a good choice. It has been killed back in parts in some particularly cold winters but generally it does pretty well and so far has not suffered any irreversible damage.

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Back Garden at Dusk

Photograph taken on Thursday, July 11, 2019 by Henry
Back Garden at Dusk

Back Garden at Dusk

It was a pretty evening today and I took this photo out our kitchen door at dusk. It’s hard to convey the feeling at dusk, because it tends to look like nothing so much as an underexposed photo. I obviously had to be a little careful not to lighten this photo any more than necessary, in order to retain that dusky feeling. You can see the three ornamental, lighted, garden globes in this photo, although only one of them is actually lit. A second one seems to work some days and not others. They aren’t all that well made, unfortunately, and don’t last very well. That’s a little disappointing.

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Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily)

Photograph taken on Wednesday, July 10, 2019 by Henry
Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily)

Lilium lancifolium (Tiger Lily)

The tiger lilies are blooming and they are really spectacular this year. My dad had these growing in his garden and from time to time we would take the little bulbils that form in the angle between the leaves and stem on these plants and we’d put them in our garden. We continued that process, with bulbils from our own plants and now we have a pretty good number of them around the yard. These are growing in the small bed where an oak tree once grew. That tree was dying when we bought the house and has since been removed. There are daffodils there and Cathy often puts annuals in the center of the bed, but these lilies are growing towards the back (the house side). They are over six feet tall and quite striking, with racimes of large, orange, downward-facing flowers.

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Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

Photograph taken on Friday, July 05, 2019 by Henry
Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

The blackberry lilies (Iris domestica and formerly Belamcanda chinensis) have started to bloom in the garden. We originally got this when I collected some seeds and planted them at our old house. We brought some here with us in 2006 and they have really taken hold. We sprinkle the seeds around and let them grow where they will. They aren’t nearly so aggressive as to be a problem and they are so pretty. I had a picture of the buds recently but this is the flower. They open in the morning and each individual flower only lasts a day, but they are born in profusion and soon we’ll have dozens of them in bloom, scattered around the yard.

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Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

Photograph taken on Sunday, June 30, 2019 by Henry
Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

Blackberry Lily (Iris domestica)

We’re in that in between time, after the spring and early summer bloomers have finished up but before the late summer flowers have really started in earnest. There are a few things in bloom, including the day lilies and the buddleia are starting to bloom and attract bees and butterflies. The gooseneck loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides) has been blooming but doesn’t add a lot of color, having white flowers. Also, I don’t care how desperate you are for blooms, I don’t recommend you put this anywhere near your garden, unless that’s all you want. Pretty soon these buds will begin to open. They are Iris domestica, the blackberry lily, which until recently also went by the name Belamcanda chinensis and sometimes known as leopard lily. These have self-seeded around the yard but are well within the limits of what’s easy to control, if they come up where you don’t want them. I highly recommend them for any sunny garden.

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