Late Summer Books

Blue Pea Vine

Here's a photo for Kate who gardens in Saskatchewan. I don't know if the summer there would be long enough or warm enough for her to grow this beautiful blue annual flower, but she's very successful with blue morning glories! Blue pea vine is also called Blue Butterfly Pea, and by its botanical name, Clitoria ternatea.

Annie, Your Grass is Past

The only way I can join the bloggers who are posting photos of their ornamental grasses is to get out a photo album from Illinois and scan something from my old garden. This Miscanthus zebrina was the anchor for a bed of yellow, white, silver and blue. The grass had five blades when it arrived from Wayside Gardens and the surrounding border evolved over time. This is how it looked in July of 1992, which was about season four for the Zebra grass. Can you see some Perovskia/Russian sage at left, and a tall yucca stalk at right?

I think Layanee of Ledge & Gardens made the original post.

An Odd Way to Build a Garden House?

The wood trim was attached to the siding with a branch of an adjacent tree in between board and wall.

This was taken at the partially completed garden house in Zanthan Gardens.

Garlic Chive Insect

I've been looking at the garlic chive photos taken by MSS at Zanthan and Pam at the Micriobial Laboratory, and decided to see what was on my container plant. My camera can't really capture small insects, but this looks a little like the one on Layanee's blog. Maybe it's a metallic green bee .

For Hank

Carved from Lava rock in Mexico in the mid-1960's. Height about 11 inches.