Mostly Current Colors

Another post with combinations of color.

This is the two purples in the driveway bed. The iris are mostly done now, but what a show! The other purple is Meadow Sage.

In the rock garden, The Dianthus 'Kahori' is in the lower left, Bloody Cranesbill at the top, and the Creeping Thyme is starting to bloom purple at the lower right.

This one was a few days ago. The Moss Phlox is just about done now, but this is phlox with the Variegated Vinca in front of it.

This is also in the rock garden, and it's more about texture than color, but it's part of why I love the Pasqueflower so much. It starts blooming in early April, and now in June we still have the showy seed heads.

And I'm going to share one more shot with a Poppy in it. This one does a better job of showing the various colors of foliage behind the Poppy and the Fleeceflower. I like that there are enough interesting plants to have a depth of field to the color.

It turned out to be a rather unproductive day. Just never got moving, really. I finished cleaning the edges of the front flower bed and watered it. Edited. Mostly read a book.

Tomorrow, I need to be out the door by 8:30 in the morning. Stay tuned!

See Fresh Color

Poppy Day

This is the most successful year yet for the Oriental Poppies!

The first red-orange ones opened on May 28.

Most of the other buds opened a couple of days ago. Usually we get a heavy rain or wind so that the flowers don't last. This year, they are holding on wonderfully.

And today, the event I was hoping for actually happened. There are red and salmon pink ones open at the same time!

Here are the pink ones alone.

And, hey. On my plant buying search the other day I found one that is supposed to be white. I don't think I even knew there were white ones. So that came home with me.

And just for kicks, a whole bunch of them have naturalized along Freesoil Road. Probably not a good thing, but it sure was pretty.

I walked to the library and did more of all the usual stuff.

Miles walked in 2026: 173.8

See Salmon

Some of the New Plants

I'm still waiting for one of the plants that I bought with the gift from the Confidence Camp friends, but I need to get the rest of them in the ground, so I'm going ahead with showing you these. Here's the pile.

Two of them are Heuchera that I've never seen before. You know I'm always looking for things that are a little out of the ordinary.

The first is 'Smoke and Mirrors,' with lovely gray leaves.

And this is the one I paid full price for, but I just had to get it. Look at the spots! This is 'Midnight Rose.'

I put both of these at the east end of the front bed, moved a couple of the small blue hosta (unknown variety), and split a small piece off the 'Wiggles and Squiqqles,' that I hope will grow. I think I'm going to have to move one of the ones I planted last year to show it off better, but we'll see. This space is definitely progressing toward looking good.

Now for three new Sedums. Well, I'm trying again with the 'Blue Pearl.' I do think I've got the correct plant this time. These came from a reputable garden supply rather than an eBay seller. (Bluestone Perennials- and by the way, these came packaged extraordinarily well). It's going into the same space where I had the one that got eaten. Daffodil leaves there, but they will die back soon.

The other two are color variations of the 'Coraljade' Sedum that I've been so happy with. Here's a reminder of what that one looks like this week. It's a patented hybrid.

And what its flowers look like- the flowering season is very long lasting, and it constantly changes tones. Here is a picture of it blooming last year.

So when I found out that there are two other colors of the same hybrid, I decided to get them. This one is 'Banana Split.' Its flowers will be shades of pale yellow.

And this one is called 'Peach Pearls,' and the flowers are supposed to be a peachy orange.

Stay tuned for progress, but these seem pretty safe since their close relatives have been so successful.

I did a lot of good stuff today- editing and cleaning the kitchen in addition to garden playing. Gave the rock garden a drink.

Looking at plant records from last year, there were a lot of casualties. That doesn't make me happy, but it's all a learning experience.

See New Plants 2025

Orange and Gold

Lots is happening in the gardens! It's hard to choose what to feature, but I'll do another piece of the color wheel. This is orange and gold.

I'll start with a treat for the front garden. I promised myself I would buy one 'Inferno' Coleus this year, and I did. I had moderate success with keeping some coleus over the winter and I've also planted those amid the old daffodil leaves. Hopefully, they will be nice enough to show you the whole lineup in a while. With one of the 'Inferno' in my possession, I can try to keep some over the winter.

Now, we'll move to the rock garden. This is one of the Sedums I've had for a very long time. I bought it in 2001- S. kamtschaticum 'Weihenstephaner Gold.' It's reliable. It fills its space but doesn't get too aggressive, and has fairly showy gold flowers in early June. I've now got it established in a second location. I'll probably grab a bunch of this and try for three.

This is a Sedum that is currently very popular in gardens, but there's a good reason for that. It looks great! The foliage gets golden orange in the sun. Here it is with 'Gold Rush' (which seldom looks gold) Sempervivum, and violet leaves on the left. It's Sedum ruprestre 'Angelina.' The SunSparklers line has come out with a miniature version of it, but my unhealthy soil keeps the full-size one from getting very big, so I'm content.

If it gets less sun, it stays a chartreuse color.

The ice plant, Delosperma 'Granita,' decided to open today! More about the ice plants in general another time.

And you must have guessed that we won't make it out of this color without yet another shot of Sempervivum 'Gold Nugget.' It continues to get ever more gold, and less red.

I edited and went shopping. Managed to finish trimming around the rock garden this afternoon and got the fence reinstalled. It's rather damaged. I am its worst enemy as I trip over it constantly. It's also my enemy. I haven't taken a bad fall yet, but I probably will at some point. Now I'm working on the trimming around the front garden.

I'll be showing you the new plants one of these days soon.

See Bright Pink

Mason & Oceana Railroad Tour

The Mason County Historical Society put on a great event today. I certainly didn't think I would get to go; it cost more than I can afford. But someone kindly paid for my ticket!

This was an historical tour of Mason County with the primary emphasis on the Mason & Oceana Railroad. We began by traveling in buses to visit several places along the line that ran from Buttersville to a bit past Walkerville. The first stop was at Buttersville where I've showed you a bit of the old grade before. But today we heard much more about the village and the mill, and salt mines, and railroad yards.

This is some of the old grade as it approached the mill- it's the brown stripe near the water. I've shown you some of this before at Conservation Park.

We were visted by several historical figures. Horace Butters told us how he started the mill and what a busy place Buttersville was at that period of history.

Then we went to Pleiness Lake. There we were visted by John and Eleanor Pleiness who owned a blacksmith shop on the shore of the lake.

The railroad didn't have a regular stop there, but the line was about a half a field away. It followed that line of trees you can see.

Then we went even farther southeast to the former village of Fern. This is what's left of the school.

And George Yoke told us how he was injured working on the trains, and how he eventually died as a result of the injury. He also told us several other tragic tales. All that land you can see behind him was once the village of Fern. The railroad ran through the town.

We made one other stop, then returned to White Pine Village where we were served quite a nice dinner and saw some additional media about the railroad and the mills it served.

And that's enough for one day!