Diminutive Beauty to Stately Irises
Would you visit this cottage if you were a fairy? I really had to zoom in on this scene to fully appreciate how sweet this is. The veronica Waterperry has done well in this small corner. I couldn't believe it when I saw that one plant was growing up the wall of the fairy cottage. I recently added some ajuga behind the garden gnome. Hopefully, they will
fill out soon. I also have some pine straw and willow oak leaves to pull out of this garden vignette. They blow
everywhere!
Even Mrs. Patmore has some flowers, pink oxalis.
Most of our fairy like plants are in our back yard shade garden. The blossoms of variegated Solomon's Seal remind me of Lily of the Valley. These plants have thrived in this dry shade area behind the garden pond. It is attractive from Spring through late Fall when the foliage turns to a ghostly white before disappearing.
This orange columbine dwells alongside winter blooming hellebores.
It looks like the Holly ferns will recover this year. Many of their fronds died back last year due to lack of rain and heat. I enjoy seeing their furled fiddleheads as their new growth emerges.
This lady is one of our new garden sprites from an artist in Poland. A native columbine (canadensis) and an emerging painted fern are in the foreground. It was a dark wet day when I took this photo. My sister tells me that I have an excellent international troll collection. :) She is also referring to my gargoyle from France. The fairy cottage is from England. Thank you Etsy! It's a treasure trove of affordable art.
A close up of the blush pink columbine.
Its been a great year for our bluebells. These are planted behind the garden pond and beside more hellebores.
Deep down, I really identify with this frog statue, very laid back. I should have placed him here years ago. Of course, the waterfall was recently enlarged by Ian which provided the perfect platform. He replaced some smaller stones with nice large slabs which really streamlined the look and elevated the height. I'll admit I held Ian back when he first built the pond. I didn't want the waterfall to look too fake so initially, we didn't have as much height. The yellow flag irises have just started to bloom in mid-April .
The wild yellow oxalis growing in a pot on the driveway. Hmm. Maybe, I should try some of this in the fairy garden.
We recently received a lovely gift from our neighbor Carol, a pink columbine. This transplanted beautifully from a pot to a spot in our front yard thanks to Ian's careful handling.
We needed a pop of pink here. Carol must have known it, too. She told me it looked like it belonged in our garden. Note: We are waiting for the newer Kaleidoscope abelia to catch up in height to the one on the right side of this photo. One day we will have some symmetry in the foundation garden.
The wet spring has been great for many plants including the pink oxalis. This photo was taken from the driveway and looks onto Susan's house next door. Soon we will have blossoms on the Lavender Lavinka columbine. It sits behind the creeping phlox near the Japanese maple.
Now its time for the parade of irises!
Probably, "Immortality" This was a free curb alert plant.
These face west in our garden next door.
The fancy blue and purple iris that Joe and Xiao-Mei gifted us a few years ago. This sits beside the white irises.
Showing its glory!
Entering the garden gate in our backyard:
The Beverly Sills, Irises are just getting started in mid-April.
Our newest iris, Persian Berry. I planted six, but only one has bloomed as of April 19th. Maybe, next year we will see the rest.
I think its a good color with the Beverly Sills iris. I've been trying to find a color that bridges the gap between the soft peach of Beverly Sills and the pinky red salvia in the foreground. I don't know quite how it happened, but the tall blue and white irises have really multiplied. We divided the irises last year, but I thought it was both the Beverly Sills and the blue ones. The blue irises came with the house. The only problem is that the tall irises on the right side of the rose arbor are in front of the shorter ones. You'll see that in the second photo with the willow amsonia.
This year we added three Pink Preference, salvia gregii plants to add some color to this side of the border for the entire growing season. Our Rose Quartz penstemons didn't like it here. This faces west. You know the story, hot and dry. The green shrubs are Rose Creek abelia. They will bloom late in the season. In the meantime, they will make a nice informal parterre for the blue willow amsonia. I can hardly wait till the gap between the abelias closes. I added the abelia on the left a year after the first ones were planted.
It's been a lengthy post, but there are so many beautiful moments in April (our mid-Spring). I will leave you with a photo of heirloom irises that are in several yards in our neighborhood. I don't know their name, but I do have a lovely remembrance of Ludie who generously gifted them to me many years ago.
Happy Gardening!
