notes and musings from a perennial gardener
seasonal spring image
This post was updated on June 18, 2023
Many people consider beardtongue or penstemon, sometimes called foxglove beard-tongue, a wildflower best left to native settings rather than featured in a suburban flowerbed. That’s because in its native forms, the petite flowers and slim profile doesn’t draw immediate attention.
Striking hybrids are starting to change that. Let’s take a closer look.
My garden is practically exploding right now, each day bringing more flowers to admire and just as quickly, others fading away. The look changes so rapidly it’s hard to keep up. Quick, let’s take a tour before the heat wilts the show!
Come with me and my camera as I make the rounds.
With the recent warm spell, aconite, crocus, snowdrops and hellebores are springing forth in all their lovely glory. I do hope you’ve had a chance to glimpse the early risers up close and personal. They are so fleeting we have to make the effort to appreciate them before they fade away or get zapped by freezing temps.
The squirrels found and ate all the snowdrop bulbs I planted last fall, but they did let my “tommy” crocus alone. Crocus tommasinianus are the only crocus species that squirrels are not as likely to dig up, so I didn’t even attempt others. I learned the hard way years ago that trying to grow crocus with squirrels around is a losing combination — for me, that is.