Author: Flower Roberts

Lablab Leaves Follow the Sun

| Flower Roberts

These are my last Lablab purpureus seeds. These plants have been a long time coming. I searched for them several springs before I ordered seeds off the internet that turned out to be a close cousin to Kudzu. I finally found a package in person at a reputable garden center from a trusted company. The common name is Hyacinth Bean ‘Ruby Moon.’

I am aware that flowers and leaves use the sun’s energy for photosynthesis and heat. I have seen fields of flowers turning their faces as the sun crosses the sky. I have never witnessed such an obvious example of this in seedlings until I witnessed it on this very day on the deck of my own house.

The first seeds went in the ground. Only one germinated. It seems to be waiting for something to happen. It is still a tiny, deformed sprout. I will allow it to continue its struggles.

Next, I soaked some more seeds and started them in small pots. These are now in a big pot climbing their trellis. I fear they will need more space eventually.

These last beans are my shot at getting a stand in the ground. I admit to hovering over this tiny, shallow terra cotta pot. It could dry out within hours. Because of this helicopter parenting, I noticed the leaves in the afternoon were flat like little umbrellas. Then at sunset they were tilted with their surface area facing west.

It amazes me how much information is programmed into a seed’s DNA. There are no mama plants ordering them to face east, stand up straight and bend west as the sun descends.

In the morning surface area faces east. Notice the shadows.
Near noon the leaves are catching the sun overhead like two little green hands.
In late afternoon, one leaf is horizontal west and the other in vertical west.

This is an adaptation called tropism that may have given the Lablabs an advantage over other vines…such as Kudzu perhaps?

FLOW

Each Face a Delight

| Flower Roberts

June is daylily season here in North Carolina. I must work hard to have uneaten blooms. It is worth all the effort to see these beautiful faces. I say their names as I visit each plant to dead-head its withered blooms.

I will share a photo of each with its name. Trying to pick a favorite is difficult. There are qualities other than bloom color that make them desirable…stem strength and length, hardiness, colorfastness, color bleeding…

Here are the ones blooming this first week of June.

Mac the Knife- fire engine red with yellow
Sammy Russell – smallest bloom of all here, deep dull color
Nutmeg Spice- looks different in different light, love the contrasting colors and how the pollen matches the throat
Peacock Alley – sweet open blooms, white margin
Lavender Rainbow – Stop to see this one every time I pass. Outstanding large blooms
Dixie Boy – happy little bright blooms with a hint of ruffled margin
Sabre Salina – Delicately beautuful
Breed Apart – love this color combo and ruffled margin
Whooperee – A favorite of the deer herd, big juicy blooms

I have forgotten the name of the next daylily so I will stop there. There will be many more.

ATTENTION LOCAL FOLLOWERS- I will be dividing and moving these as my hip allows. Write down your favorites and I will hold some for you.

FLOW

My Return to the Garden

| Flower Roberts

All my preparations for me absence paid off. Only a few plants died and nothing was eaten. Hooray! I am very pleased to learn I can leave for a week without a disaster.

Most of the calla lilies are up and budding or blooming. I am still waiting for the yellow to show. Hot Chocolate is my most requested calla. It is tall and hardy. I love the clear spots on the leaves.

Another popular calla is Captain Romance. Its buds have an interesting gradation of color that is not as visible in the blooms.

Captain Romance is shorter than Hot Chocolate.

I will also show off the first hibiscus bloom.

This red flower has a beautiful back as well as face.

More blooms to come. I am tired of typing with a bandage in my fingertip.

FLOW BACK HOME

More Beheadings Overnight

| Flower Roberts

I admit it. I cried. The herd is one step ahead of me. The Easter Lily buds were eaten along with Strutter’s Ball buds and even one Tiger Lily.


I will show you my “Moving Rings” method of protection. This requires proper timing. Too late is too late.

In early spring the rings are low. To protect the tender new shoots as they emerge. Deer do not like putting their head inside a ring.

As the bloom stalks rise, the ring must rise higher. I place a stake against the ring and hang it around the buds.



A lot of trouble you say? Yes it is. I was here before the deer. I would never have knowingly planted a “Deer Delicatesan” had I been aware of their presence.

I will be moving my favorites, like Nutmeg Spice (below) into the safety of the bunny yard without bunnies.

Nutmeg Spice

Poles and rings are everywhere. Not the scene I had envisioned. Ghetto Gardening is my name for it. I am not too proud to use junk to save my treasures.

We must all adapt as changes come.

FLOW

P.S. Local gardeners: I have been trying to hire a garden concierge to help care for my gardens. Hip surgery may be in my future.

If you know of a young, energetic, quick learner, please show them this blog.

That Fuzzy Face

| Flower Roberts

This Verbascum is dreamy. I want to make its blooms into jewelry and wear them.

It is not just the colors that get me, although I find the dusty plum and creamy peach delicious.

Its the little, fuzzy faces that make me want to wear it. Like a delicate corsage close to my face or in my hair.

When I spied this plant in a pot I grabbed it up and did not let go. Sometimes you just know!

FLOW

Leaving the Garden

| Flower Roberts

Next week I will be leaving the garden again. It is much like leaving pets. I circle the yard thinking of the future.
Will this pot be too small by next week? Will this stem need a stake as it grows? Will there be rain?
The deer have all ready be-headed a daylily I failed to fence in. Some roses have black spot. Many amaryllis bulbs have not bloomed.


Which brought me to this morning’s epiphany.

I caught myself saying, “They are too tired to bloom.”

I am too tired to bloom, too.

My garden has good bones. My plants have been planted and cared for properly. It must survive my absence while I rest and recharge.

I trust my work to endure.

FLOWER

The First Monarch

| Flower Roberts

I watch every spring for the first Monarch. I know they will come. I have prepared a place for them.

I have scattered Butterfly Weed/Asclepias among the weeds on the bank across the drive, where the wild and hybrids battle for space.

I can always find wildlife among the weeds. This is where I belong really, in the unkempt zone of life.

Where life does its thing without boundaries; no judgement, no primping, no pruning.

Just growing under the sun with the wild ones.

FLOW

Rose’s Lilies

| Flower Roberts

My daughter, Rose, loves Asiatic lilies.

Her garden contains only lilies and roses.

She waits for them to bloom and tiptoes out in her bare feet to photograph them.

She loves her small garden full of her favorite flowers.

I love my Rose.

FLOWER/Seizure Mama