Bloom Day September 12

Yes it's that time of the month again, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day where garden bloggers from around the world share photos of their blooms. Carol of May Dream Gardens sponsors this event every month. Image above Echinacea purpurea-Purple Coneflower with Painted Lady-Vanessa virginiensis butterfly.

A well traveled and scarred Monarch enjoys a meal from a Agastache 'Blue Fortune'.

An Eastern Black Swallowtail-Papilio ployxenes feeding on a Bronze Fennel Plant-Foeniculum vulgare.

Clearwing Hummingbird moth-Hemaris thysbe- feeding on Nepeta faassenii- Catmint 'Walkers Low'

Monarch feeding on Asclepias incarnata-Swamp Milkweed.

Datura - Moon Flower. What photographer hasn't caputered this frame?

Front bed landscape. Dried blooms of Achillea millifolium, Echinacea purpurea, Artemisia 'Powis Castle" and Salvia farinacea. Happy Bloom Day, You'all!

Cheyenne Botanical Gardens

Another Botanical Garden post, this one from beautiful Wonderful Wyoming. This visit occurred on my visit to Casper ,Wyoming to visit my mother. I will post also as I return going back home as my camera battery died on this trip.
As I was contemplating from home on what to share about this garden in the capital of Wyoming, I had just received my first magazine copy of The American Gardener. The American Gardener is the magazine of the American Horticultural Society which I had just received as a new member. (By the way there is a nice article from Thomas Rainer (grounded design) titled Cottage Garden, American Style).
On page 13 there is a call for Nominations for the Great American Gardeners Awards and also a portrait of last year's Professional Award given to Shane Smith, Director, Cheyenne Botanic Garden. So obviously this garden is award winning. Read here about the history of this exceptional garden. So let's proceed.

Main walking Entrance to Cheyenne Botanical Gardens

 The "horns" are made of welded horseshoes and nearby there is a plaque with descriptions of different horseshoe hoof prints. The motif is very unique. This entrance is across the street from  the "Grand Daddy of them All" Cheyenne Frontier Rodeo grounds. This is also the pedestrian entrance to the gardens xeriscape demonstration gardens. As there is little parking near this entrance, I usually approach the garden from the parking lot near the garden greenhouses. 

For some reason xeriscape gardens have always been a draw to me. Maybe I'm just a xero-head or have a lack of water in the brain. I just enjoy the shades of gray green foliage of many xeric plants and their often unique, out of the ordinary aesthetic properties in contrast to many common garden plants prevalent in our suburban american landscapes. And of course many of these plants survive the hostile environmental conditions they thrive survive in. Many do well in the harsh Kansas plains that I garden in. The low grass above is a native species of buffalograss with milkweed seedlings interspersed. Behind the sign is a Ephedra equisetina-Bluestem joint-fi(more photos to come), Nepeta-catmint and Gallardia-Blanket Flower. Pathways are generous and well positioned, even thought the pink transition strip is a little bold. 

 If you read the Wikipedia write up on the garden you know that the gardens are maintained by a large group of volunteers and city park employees.

A xericscape cottage garden. Love those Alcea-Hollyhocks so prevalent in the Rock Mountain Regions.

Alcea-yellow hollyhock, Achillea millifolium, some form of Penstemon I believe, Echinacea purpurea, Perovskia atriplicifolia-Russian Sage, and others.

Stachys macrantha 'Robusta'-Big Betony

'Next Winters Bread' by David Alan Clark-In the pioneer vegetable garden.

But my favorite gardens are the prairie gardens in the xeriscape area.

Castilleja linariaefolia-Indian Paint Brush (Wyoming State Flower), Verbena stricta -Wooly Verbena , Hesperaloe, Panicum and surrounded by buffalo grass.

 Verbena stricta

Aclepias asperula - Antelopehorn Milkweed

Asclepias and Fallugia above.

Another shot of the Ephedera in the background.

And on of my favorites below. Apache Plume-Fallugia paradoxa below. Wow.

More from Bear Trap

More Images from Bear Trap Meadow-Casper, Wyoming-Early July

And there's mum. I told her to stand and wait for the butterfly's to land to photograph.

Wildflower Wednesday August of 12

Gail at the Clay and Limestone blog provides a wildflower forum every third Wednesday. Go there and share your natives with her and others from the gardening world. I'm sharing a few bloomers that are popping up right now.

Liatris ligustylis 

Asclepias incarnata

Asclepias tuberosa, Achillea millefolium

Echinacea purpuera

Spike it!

Volleyball anyone! No, spiky love of course. I have zone envy when it comes to spiky plants like Agave, Aloe, Cacti, succulents etc. Especially the blue foliage varieties. But I also struggle where to place them in my never ending always changing design themes. Am I Cottage, Prairie, Xeric, Mediterranean, contemporary, Japanese, country, industrial, masculine, feminine, texan, californian, blue, white, silver, green, native, exotic, tropical or just plan plain cornfused? Or is it ok to be ADHD? Or is it Garden Attenion Disorder, GAD? I don't know but I love to spike it.

Yucca rigida at left with Nasella tenuissima. The blue yucca was planted last October having purchased it in west Texas during my sons wedding and has fulfilled my spiky lust.....some of it anyway.

The Agave(Manfreda) Collection-the two on the left (orange pots)came from a Dallas Nursery from my son for a fathers day present(Manfreda 'macho mocha ' and Agave-unknown. Plant three (center) is Agave parryi 'truncata', found last weekend on a clearance shelf in Wichita, Kansas(can I have an amen!) cold tolerant(zone 6) and I've been lusting after this one forever. Last agave I have no idea on ID? Anyone, I'll enlarge below.

Agave parryi 'truncata', look at the pups.

Agave ? My guess is straight species parryi? I know, the picture is lousy.

 This last Agave, no label on plant? Same as the one above?

Now the Yucca's: Yucca gloriosa 'variegata' and Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard'(small plant) below in temporary positions.

And finally an image from this spring of Hesperaloe funifera, another plant purchased in West Texas during my son's wedding.

 Well how's that for spiky love? Two days ago I planted three of the agaves in the ground in the corner hell strip.