Awash in GBBD 6 of 12

How can you not love Rudbeckia hirta and that bright sunny color. Lost the tag on this one.

As close as you can get to a black flower. Alcea from a big box.

Light pink and gray, one of my favorite color combos. Alcea rosea 'summer carnival' and Artemisia 'powis castle'.

Newly planted this past fall via bare root plants, Dalea purpurea-Purple Prairie Clover.

 Dalea purpurea, Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spires'-Russian Sage 'Little Spires', Stipa tenuissima-Mexican Feather Grass, and Alchillea millifolium 'Terra Cotta' in the background.

Profiles:

And I leave you with the late great giant mullien-Verbascum thapsus.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! As always follow fellow bloom busters from everywhere @ May Dream Gardens.

Yes, that's right! It's a weed. And cowboys used to use it, if you know what I mean.

Foliage Followup May of 12

Following Garden Bloggers Bloom Day it always fun to travel to Texas and provide some cover up foliage from the garden. As y'all will see the foliage in these photos will show a propensity towards the bold foliage of Verbascum thapsus (common  Mullien) and the light airy foliage of Stipa tenuissima (Mexican Feather Grass).

Top/Top right:Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue' (switchgrass) provides a background for the garden from the street and a background on the opposite side of the garden. This provides multiple views. The Panicum and Verbascum thapsus (common mullien)provide much needed structure in this garden.

The contrasting textures here provide a place to focus the eye in this mass of similar textures.

Detailed wiew of Verbascum thapsus. Warning: Mullein seedhead! As Jenny from Rock Rose can testify these seeds are very prolific. The day after these photos were taken all the seed heads were removed. According to Wikipedia this plant can produce up to 240,000 seeds. Woah. And the seeds can be viable after a century. Woah again. So I'm playing with fire here. However the seeds do better on disturbed soil and do not compete well with other plants when germinating. 

Wide angle view with Panicum and Calamagrostis.

My other stalwart in the garden: Stipa tenuissima(Mexican Feather grass). This is another plant which is a prolific seed producer. My mother says I'm crazy for growing it. Oh well. Stipa creates a counterpoint to the bold foliage of Mullien and spiky foliage I'm beginning to add to the garden.

And lets not forget the movement provided by Stipa.

Be sure a go see the Foliage Followup @ Digging and see what's growing in the foliage world.

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. 

Wildflower Wednesday - March 2012

Gail at Clay and Limestone hosts the Wildflower Wednesday meme the fourth Wednesday of the month. Gail always has something special to share and I enjoy reading her detailed post as well as the great photography.

Image above is Geum triflorum 'Prairie Smoke'. This new transplant Geum was added to the 'prairie garden' in October via a bare root plant purchased from Prairie Moon Nursery.

Cercis canadensis, the Eastern Redbud is the state tree of Oklahoma and is native here in Kansas. This understory tree is a harbinger of spring.

Verbascum thapsus, the common mullein. Although this is not native to Kansas this introduced species has been around long enough to grandfather in I believe. Most people call it a weed as it is commonly found in open disturbed soils in ditch banks and poor soils. I especially like the foliage.

Please join Gail and other native wildflower aficionados and plant natives!