Meadow Rue

Lavender clouds. Yet another flower that we should have more of but that we don't see very many of. This photo was taken earlier this year (at the end of June). The close-up is by Ed and it is the truer color. I've grown these for about five years and they don't seem to be much in the business of self-multiplication. Usually, they don't even set much seed, but this year they seem to be setting a lot. I have previously tried to grow them from seed with no success, but I usually had about 2 seeds. Maybe better luck this next spring?

I originally bought two plants from a neighbor on the Sunshine Coast who sells extras from her ever-expanding garden as a home business. I planted one in the shade and one in the sun, and the one in the sun does better, but they have both done well. They get to be about 40 inches tall and the blossoms last about 3 weeks. The foliage is similar to columbine.

Welsh Poppies

The birds, I assume, brought Welsh poppies into our yard. A couple of years ago, they began to appear in a zinc washtub that had up until that time been devoted to parsley and chives. By now, they have, through reseeding, eliminated the parsley and chives. And, in unknown ways, they have moved about twenty feet away, where they have set up housekeeping in an abandoned charcoal grill that was filled with dirt. Although the foliage does not look like a California poppy, the flower itself reminds me of one except that it is canary yellow instead of orange or reddish orange. It blooms and blooms throughout June and July and August, and each flower ends its days by putting up a spectacular seed pod.

In normal vision, it is somewhat less spectacular, but in this enlarged close-up, you can see how it works and how it packs hundreds and hundreds of tiny black seeds in the pod. (Click on the photo to see an even larger version.) This flower is a gift in many ways, and the pod is a wonder of design.

Queen Anne's Lace

Why do we think this is a weed? I would be happy with a yard full of this in the month of July!