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April 30, 2024

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Over the past few days the iris in our yard have been putting on quite a show.  We’ve had such a problem with the deer eating our roses and daylilies that we have been planting iris around the outer edges of our property.  Deer don’t like iris, so they can grow and bloom pretty much in peace.

We have many different varieties, but I have chosen three to feature in this post,

The first is Picasso Moon, a bold yellow that is Betsy’s favorite yellow iris.  I’m not sure how it gets its name, but it sure does stand out.

The second iris is Second Fiddle.  We’ve had this iris for several years, and it is a favorite.  In my opinion it plays second fiddle to no other iris.

Daughter of Stars is a new iris for us this year.  It is very vibrant and stands out in the flower bed.  I’m sure this will become a new favorite.  

That’s it for now, but we have many other beautiful blossoms that I will most likely be sharing in the future.

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Victoria Falls Iris

November 21, 2023

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We had to transplant some of our iris this past spring as part of our (unsuccessful) effort to keep the deer out of our roses. As a result, some of them didn’t bloom during their normal blooming season. But Victoria Falls, a beautiful blue iris, decided to bloom in late October. I hope she is saying that she approves of her new location.

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Pink Parfait Rose

November 8, 2023

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We’ve had to move new roses from the yard to containers on the deck to keep them out of reach of hungry deer. I haven’t had much experience growing roses in containers, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But Pink Parfait rewarded us with a late October blossom, so I’m hoping we can keep some roses alive.

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Elle

August 8, 2023

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I happen to think that roses are beautiful, but there is something about water droplets on the blossoms that makes them even more appealing. This is Elle in a picture taken after a shower last year.

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Hell’s Fire Iris

June 15, 2023

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I’m guessing that the dark colors are responsible for the name of this iris — Hellfire. But in spite of the name, I think this is a beautiful iris, especially when the sun hits it just right. We’ve had this in our yard for several years now, and we always look forward to seeing it bloom.

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Fragrant Cloud

July 7, 2022

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We’ve had a big problem with deer this year — they’ve eaten all the buds and new growth from the roses in the front yard twice so far this year.  We’re just hoping they don’t come back for a third helping!

Fortunately we had some of our roses in containers on the deck and so far they have avoided becoming meals for our resident deer.  The first rose to bloom this year was Fragrant Cloud, has a fragrance as wonderful as her looks.

By the way, all of our container roses are now on the deck.  We don’t have much room to move around, but we’re beginning to have several roses in bloom, which we are enjoying.

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A (Late) Homage to Spring

May 21, 2019

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I realize that I’m a little late in paying homage to the beauty of Spring around our house since the Cumberland Plateau is now experiencing summer-like temperatures. But Spring is a beautiful season and we love seeing the yard come alive with color.

Crocus are the first Spring blossoms to make an appearance. Since crocus are also a favorite menu item for the critters around here we don’t have many left, but the ones we do have are always welcome.

Daffodils come next, and since the critters don’t like them very much we have quite a few different varieties showing off in our flower beds.

The white Mount Hood daffodil is a favorite, and is always beautiful.

We’re never quite sure what to expect with tulips. Every critter in the area seems to love to snack on them. But we have had several flowers bloom, some with unusual shapes but beautiful colors.

Others have a more traditional shape, but are just as beautiful.

Sometimes the interior of a tulip blossom is as pretty as the exterior.

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Spring, Wherefore Art Thou?

March 19, 2019

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I admit it: I’m tired of the cold, I’m tired of gray skies and I’m tired of rain. I want to see blue skies and some color in the ground. I want to see scenes like these.

I wish I could say these beauties were from our yard, but they’re not. One thing My Beautiful Bride and I try to do each Spring is get to Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, to enjoy the spring flowers in the Walled Garden.  These pictures are from a visit we made a couple of years ago.

 

 

I love the way they plant their flowers — everything looks just right when they are all in bloom.

And as pretty as the blossoms are up close, the entire garden is a thing of beauty when seen at a distance from an overlook on the grounds.

All I can say is . . . COME ON SPRING!!!

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Sempervivum

January 8, 2019

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My mother had sempervivum in her flower garden when I was growing up. Of course, back then I didn’t know they were sempervivum — she always called them ‘Hens and Chickens’ since the mature plant was surrounded by smaller, younger plants.

My Beautiful Bride and I discovered sempervivum when we moved to the Glade and had many rocky spots where nothing but weeds seemed to thrive. Sempervivum thrived there as well, and so we planted some around your yard.

Sempervivum get their name — ‘always alive’ — because they survive all seasons. Even when everything else in our yard has turned brown in winter, the sempervivum are still colorful.

We’ve been surprised at the wide variety of shapes and colors in the sempervivum. That makes it hard to pick a favorite.

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The Yellow Day Lilies of Tennessee

July 31, 2018

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The other day I was working in the yard when ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ came on my iPod. Now I don’t know much about yellow roses in Texas, but I have some experience with yellow day lilies in Tennessee, so I thought I would share a few of them with you.

The beauty above is Buttered Popcorn. It is one deepest, richest yellow I’ve seen on any plant. One of the nice things about Buttered Popcorn is that it re-blooms throughout the season.

Carolyn Criswell is a bright yellow day lily that we’ve enjoyed for enjoyed for several years. It is not a re-bloomer.

Lemon Vista is a pale yellow day lily. It is also a re-bloomer.

I may be cheating just a little with Star Struck since it has some orange in its blossoms. Star Struck has one of the largest blossoms on our day lilies, and it, too, is re-bloomer.

Savannah Debutante has beautiful double blossoms. This is a relatively new addition to our yard.

We have some other day lilies with other shades of yellow in them. Perhaps, if ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’ comes up on my iPod again, I will share some of these with you.

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