perennial

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NO FUSS PERENNIAL

I don’t fuss with perennials (anymore). To live in my garden they must look after themselves…

                                                                                              

    The Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta) does , and blooms in the autumn…..

                                                                                       

fabulous with the club moss (Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’) below.

                                                                                                 

According to Allan Armitage (THE perennial expert) they got the common name ‘toad lily’ from the fact that members of the Tasaday Tribe in the Philippines, their native habitat, rub their hands with the juice of the flowers and foliage before going to capture frogs.

Thought you might like to know.

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WILD THINGS

Time for the WILD THINGS! 

                                                                                                 

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) popping up in the meadow. The name is derived from the red sap which bleeds as the stem is cut or the root disturbed. The Indians used this sap for paint and as a dye.

                                                                                  

 Trillium cuneatum naturalized in the meadow. I cannot take credit for this…they were here before me and keep multiplying.

                                                                                            

Woodland phlox (Phlox divericata) naturalized with the Trillium….delicate & fragrant.

I encourage all these to increase by allowing their seed to ripen and disperse before the meadow is cut. Slowly & surely this is happening. Every year at this time I wonder if I will live long enough to see my vision come to fruition. But then again its about the journey, and I am enjoying this one immensely.

© All photos & text 2011

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FRECKLE FACE!

                                                                            

All of the Helleborus in my garden are seedlings.  Each one has different colouration …. all stunning, all with freckles.

                                                                                         

Only one named variety from the Heronswood ‘Party Dress’ Strain. It is a double, and  not open yet.

                                                                                          

Perhaps because there are so few blooms at this time of year they are all the more appreciated.