International Mosiaculture Exhibition In Montreal (2013)

A yearly competion using a framework covered with plants and flowers brings forth stunning sculpture. Click here.
I think my favorite may be the woman with swans.. No wait, it's the piano and turtle.... No wait.... you take a look!

Iochroma

I won't attempt to give a species name to this plant as there are several hybrids and a great deal of confusion in its taxonomy right now. As far as I can tell it does not even have a common name. It is in the Solanaceae family which has such unlike members as tomatoes and eggplant along with poisonous members as Brugsmania (angel's trumpet) and Datura (jimpson weed). Like Brugmansia and Datura which is used by medicine men in South America, it is likely poisonous and hallucinogenic. Iochroma is native to the mountains of Ecuador. 

Iochroma is not hardy in my zone 8a garden, as I well know from trying it outside several years. I always take cuttings which root easily and overwinter them in the greenhouse. Up until this year my results with Iochroma in the flower bed were fairly dismal. The plant remained small and produced few flowers. This year I put a rooted cutting into a five gallon pot and gave it lots of water and some fertilizer. Wow!! It grew to 2 or 3 times the size it usually becomes in the soil, and had flowers at the end of every branch. I had found the key! Plenty of water! A few days ago I decided to move the pot containing the Iochroma into a spot that would get less sun as the days are getting hotter. The next day all of the flowers were gone (eaten off) and about a third of the leaves. Yesterday all the leaves were gone and the whole plant was just bare stems. I suppose the culprit could have been a squirrel or a deer, or even some insect larvae (tomato horn worm type?), but whatever it was, I hope it has a belly ache now!

Blackberry Lilies

Blackberry lilies (Belamcanda chinensis) is a perennial that spreads by both rhizome and seed. Often called leopard lily because of it's freckled blooms, it is now in a controversy about its scientific name. It is not a lily, and has recently been moved into the iris family and it's new name there is Iris domestica (the specific epithet chinensis had already been taken in the Iris family). Sometimes they are called candy lilies which I believe was a variety developed and sold by Park's Seed long ago.

These plants form a clump that increases in size as years go by, and the larger the clump, the more attractive it is. Many people grow them solely for the seed pods which open in late summer to reveal clusters of black shiny seed (hence the blackberry name).The seed hang on pretty well and can be cut for use in dried arrangements. I  like the seed, but also enjoy the flowers. Each flower lasts only one day, but the next day, more flowers open.

The spent flowers twist into attractive adornments as you can see in the above picture. The large seed pods that are seen there also will soon put on a show of their own. The blue-green leaf fans can be up to 2 feet tall, with the bloom stalks standing another foot above the foliage. The flower colors range over the orange yellow pallet with some purple thrown in for good measure. As with any seed grown plant, you can never be sure that it will look exactly like the parent, but it will resemble the parent. The solid yellow flower is said to belong to a different species, but that seems kind of iffy to me.
 Blackberry lilies are easy to grow from seed and if started early enough, will flower the first year, and many years afterward. They are tough warriors and require only a minimum of care. I do not plant mine in the flower bed, because they don't require the care flowers in the bed get. I plant them out in the edges of the field and roadside and let them go their own way. I have some that still live and bloom in spite of being rundown by the bush hog countless times. I read that they don't do well in clay, which gave me a hardy laugh. Apparently the writer has not spoken with any lately.

Balloon Flowers

These balloon flowers have been growing in my "corral" for at least 20 years-ever since it was built. The original idea was to build an enclosure to keep the deer out of my flowers. And, it did work, to a certain extent. The adult deer do not come in, but the fawns go right through those parallel  boards and nip a few things. Once I disturbed one that was bedded down inside the corral and it almost scared us both to death.

The fence does not deter rabbits, however, and they have killed most of my lilies that used to live there by repeatedly nipping out the tops.

 I have never had any  attacks on my balloon flowers-not deer, not rabbits, fungus, or insects.  They are hardy to an incredible degree and  blue flowers are always welcome in my garden.

 Balloon flowers do need support, at least the taller ones. I put a smaller tomato cage (the kind made from welded rings) around the plants to keep them from falling to the ground. They lean on this support and are beautiful for months if  I keep the spent flowers cut off. Starting in early spring, I keep watch on the stems and tuck any that have a wayward bent back inside the cage. I leave the cage on all year, because before they come out in late spring, it's easy to loose track of where they are and dig into them.

 Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandifloris) can be started from seed (I started mine this way), but can also be propagated by root division, although this needs to be done gently so as not to  tear the thick roots unnecessarily. They are said to root by stem cuttings also, but I've not had luck with this. I am trying again this year, and so far so good. The cuttings have not keeled over (yet).

My balloon flowers are growing in partial shade, in fairly dense clay. I do not fertilize them with any regularity, so they are mostly on their own, doing a good job of taking care of themselves.
I have never seen these for sale locally, and suspect that the best way to get them is by ordering plants or seed. They typically will not bloom the first year, but after that they should bloom for the rest of your life with a minimum of care. Interestingly, in spite of their trouble free hardiness, I can't remember ever having seen them in anyone else's garden. Maybe a public garden. If you grow them, let me know, and where your garden is located.

Golden Lace (Patrinia scabiosifolia)

This is Golden Lace (Patrincabiosifolia)

I have been growing it for at least 20 years. In the beginning I had several plants, but in recently years the number has dwindled so that I only have one now. I had forgotten the name of it and requested naming help from a group of specific epithet wizards I found online.  I got the name in minutes from the picture I sent.

I knew almost nothing about Golden Lace, except it is extremely hardy and is able to survive benign neglect for years on end.  Here you can find a lot of info about the growing Golden Lace, as well as about its area of origin (Far East), and see beautiful combinations of it growing with other flowers, as well as using it in arrangements. After seeing these pictures, I want to use it in my garden more. It is a great see-through plant, and stays in bloom for a very long time.

Young Groundhog

Yesterday the dog announced to me that something unusual was afoot. This groundhog was what it was. It was a youngster, quite small. I took this picture through the screen on the porch. He seemed unsure of what to do and was just sitting still and looking around while the dog barked. Eventually he (it) wandered off. My only hint of why it may have come to visit was that the day before I had some bush hogging done and perhaps that had disturbed its nest or made the territory look unfamiliar. Even though I do not relish groundhogs in my yard eating up my plants and digging burrows, I did feel sorry for it and wondered where its mother was.

Night Blooming Cereus

I have had a bumper crop of night blooming Cereus! I counted 24 blooms. Twenty one of them opened the same night! I have 5 plants growing in pots. I leave them in the same pots till the roots split the pot; they seem to bloom better that way. I put them inside the greenhouse when the weather cools off, usually about mid-October. Since the plants are so large and ungainly I coral them with a rope. In the summer I stand them against a rickety wire fence. The treatment seems to agree with them. Over-watering is not a problem since they are so root bound. I do water them several times per week and fertilize haphazardly. They generally open about 9 PM and by 7 AM they have turned to mush. Short-lived, but so beautiful and fragrant! They are about the size of a dinner plate