Blogging elsewhere

I know I posted when I lost my job, but I don't think I ever mentioned that I found work.  I started in March at Caan Floral and Greenhouse in Sheboygan, WI.  One of my duties there is to write blog posts, which I've started to do this week.  I'll try to remember to link to them, as I'll usually cover different topics there than I do here.  Hummingbirds is my first topic.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Shooting star, Dodecatheon media, looking great as it does every spring.  

Epimedium 'Fire Dragon' is in full bloom now.  It will look great
 for the next 6 weeks or so.  The foliage will remain clean all summer.  

Weeds can make a great looking garden combo with absolutely no help from
 you. I never planted pink forget-me-nots, but they come up every year and look
 great with Heuchera 'Swirling Fantasy'.  I pull them after flowering to keep
them from taking over all of my garden space.

 Polemonium 'Heaven Scent' is a fantastic hybrid from Brent Horvath

 at Intrinsic Perennial Gardens that has great purple spring foliage and fragrant

 lavender flowers. This is my favorite jacob's ladder.

 I found this beautiful mutation of Polemonium 'Heaven Scent' this year.
  The flowers are near white with a lavender blush and
contrast beautifully with the dark foliage.  

A beautiful dark Primula.

Some species Tulips that I can't recall the name of blending well with Heuchera 'Green Spice' and Acer palmatum 'Aureum'.

Iris lutescens campellii

In general, I like Iris.  For some reason, I find this diminutive species irresistible.  I think because it has the beauty of the tall bearded and standard dwarf bearded iris, without being in your face.  It's a quiet beauty that is always a pleasing sight in the spring.

Iris lutescens campellii is a neat dwarf iris found in dry areas ranging from Italy to southern Spain.  It has small lavender flowers with a darker purple signal and beards that are white with some yellow.  Foliage is typical blue-green iris foliage that is slightly curved.  Because of its small  size (4-6" in my garden), it makes an excellent addition to the rock garden or trough garden. 

It can also be used in a mixed perennial border as long as care is taken to make sure it isn't over crowded by other plants.  Make sure it has well drained soil, as like most bearded iris it doesn't like excess water.  While drought tolerant, it doesn't want to be too dry either, and will perform best with some irrigation and fertilizer in the summer months.