Pure Prairie League

Pure Prairie League was/is one of my favorite country rock bands from the 70's just as the new prairie garden is maturing into my favorite garden area.

As most garden photographers understand the morning time period is a great time to 'shoot' the garden as well as view it from a golden standpoint.

Dalea purpurea-Purple Prairie Clover and Nasella tenuisima-Mexican Feather Grass.

Wildflower Wednesday September 2014

Yellow seems seems to be the color of choice for natives in my neck of the woods.

Some of the new blooms in the new native garden hellstrip are really responding to the growing conditions. Rudebeckia hirta, Verbena stricta, Eupatorium purpureum and Eryngium yuccifolium.

Rudebeckia subtomentosa-Sweet Black-Eyed Susan with Eupatorium purpurea- Sweet Scented Joe Pye Weed.

Ratibida pinnata-Yellow coneflower

In the vintage area of the hellstrip, Agastache foeniculum-Anise Hyssop, Dalea purpurea-Purple Prairie Clover, Panicum virgatum 'Dewey Blue', and Allium.

Schizachyriium scoparium'Blaze'-Blaze Little Bluestem in middle.

West half of the new prairie garden hellstrip.

A Fathers Day Garden Bloggers Bloom Day-June 2014

I suppose if it wasn't for GBBD I would barely post at all. So thank you Carol at May Dream Gardens for hosting my monthly reminder.
It has been a relatively slow to bloom spring with alternate warm and cool weather this year. When I began planting my new perennial native bed in late April the temperature extremes fluctuated from 38 to 99 in two days. Now on this fathers day I am concerned about some newly planted natives I just received last week and our planned vacation next week and how they will survive while we're gone. Hopefully my watering fiend neighbor will do a fine job.
Onward with some photos:

Hollyhock in the Veggie Garden.

The entry Cottage Garden.

Cat Pink.

Purple Prairie Clover

Butterfly Milkweed Photo from the Cowley County Wildflower Tour

Happy GBBD!

Passionate Purple

I had planned to head out to the garden to piddle, but instead I sat down to import images from my camera. Wow, I opened the first image of Dalea purpera. An outstanding landscape form from a native Kansas plant. Check these images out and go get some!

Dalea purperea-Purple Praire Clover with Nasella tenuissima and Perovskia atriplicifolia

 Petals appear from the bottom first.

 With Achillea millefolium 'Terra Cotta'

 Grouped with Nasella tenuissama

Natives gone wild?

Fathers Day Pride

 The Thursday before Father's Day I sent my son a plant request pickup as he was traveling to Dallas to enjoy a weekend with his friends. I did my nursery research by contacting Pam Penick from Digging fame, she told me to contact Michael with Plano Prairie Garden. Michael had a wealth of information available and I thank you so much for that. I was lusting wanting  a Agave parryi 'turncata' as it was hardy in Kansas. I emailed all the information to my son and he agreed to pick some up. He had all the info and locations of nursery nearest to him. So every thing was going according to Hoyle. Or something like that. I called, emailed, and text-ed on Saturday, no answer.
Sunday morning while in church I received a call which I couldn't answer. After the services I read my messages and my son had called and left a message that he had technology problems and had no list or locations of nurseries.
Egads. I called him after services and he told me the story. As he was leaving Rockwall to go home to Oklahoma City he pulled off the road at a gas station, as he had something his friend left in the car and they were going to meet them there. Across the street from the gas station was Covington Nursery, one of the nurseries on the list and he remembered I wanted an Agave. Cool huh? Needless to say, he got the last two Agaves that where half price. And a happy Fathers Day it was and a great ending to the story!
Unfortunately the plants had no labels.

I think this one is A.parryi-

I don't know this one. Any clues?

 Even though this is a little late I am linking this post with Diggings Foliage Followup meme. Enjoy.

L to R:  Foeniculum vulgare, Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Sungold', Salvia guaranitica, Brassica oleracea, and Miscanthus sinensis 'Dixieland'

Hazy and Lazy

As you can see from the photo the view is hazy, and I'm feeling lazy from all the humidity. The temperature is in the low 90's with humidity in the 70-80% range. Ouch..

Morning view: Front Hell Strip/Meadow Garden. Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue'(tallest grass), Verbascum thapsus-Common Mullein(large leafed plant), Linum perenne-blue flax(mid border), Stipa tenuissima-mexican feather grass( on left of photo), Yucca rigida(front of border), and newly planted Dalea purpurea-purple prairie clover and Sporobolus heterolpis-northern dropseed(front of border). Also intertwined is Nepeta 'Walkers Low'-catmint, Asclepias incarnata-swamp milkweed, Calamagrostis, Echinacea purpurea, and Salvia farinacea-mealy blue sage.

So many things to do this weekend and all I want to do is chill. So chill it shall be.