Monday, June 16, 2008

This is for MMD!

Here is my "Sarah Bernhardt."
I planted her early last Fall,
and I was very happy when she grew this Spring.
The blossoms, however, were on very long stems and were quite heavy.
They were also on the ground and past their prime.
So I picked them and made a bouquet.
It's the only photograph I have.

They were brighter pink at one time.
This is an uncompressed photo, so click to make it large.

8 comments:

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Shady, yep, those sure look like ours which I've tentatively IDed as la belle Sarah. Even though grounded, they still smell great though, no? Those Iris you have in the bouquet are outstanding!

Shady Gardener said...

IVG, I am usually unable to bring flowers indoors due to Someone's Very Sensitive Nose... but Sarah passed the test! ;-) The contrast between the variety of blossoms was fun. Did you notice astilbe and aruncus in the bouquet, too? The astilbe were picked a little early and wilted quickly, but the aruncus lasted longer than anyone!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Thanks, Shady! I definitely do not have Sarah. There's no yellow stuff in the middle of mine. I really like the old fashioned Iris in there.

Lisa said...

It's gorgeous!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Shady, I did notice the Astilbe, but to be honest, that's a plant that leaves me absolutely "cold" in terms of wanting to plant it in our increasingly sparse shady areas. It does look nice in the arrangement though! I was wondering what the other plant was ... I'm not familiar with Aruncus though, so will have to do a bit of research there.

I hope you are high and dry down there ... we're out of the worst here now, but the downstream rampage definitely seems to have begun today. This is the worst flooding I can recall in my life (though I lived in FL in '93) here in Iowa. We got by pretty lightly in comparison to others with just a briefly flooded basement. Yeah, it's a mess we're still working on, but in comparison, that sounds petty to what others have been experiencing.

But our sweet corn is up about 2" now! Our first time planting it, so we're excited!

Shady Gardener said...

IVG, Aruncus is one botanical name I remember easily, but I'm sorry I didn't give the common name... Goatsbeard. It's habits are very similar to astilbe, but it grows very much larger!

We are high and dry. I'm very thankful. Congratulations on your sweet corn. Do you have a very big patch? What type did you plant? I don't remember the name, but we love the white and yellow kernal combo! Way too much shade for corn here. :-)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bouquet, especially when the photo's enlarged. Sarah has to be one of my favorite peonies - right up there with Karl Rosenfeld and the red-accented white Festiva Maxima (which my mom grew for years). I sure wish there was a bit more space in the back forty to grow these beauties. ~ Deb

Shady Gardener said...

I don't have room, either... just for the one. :-)I'll have to look up your other varieties!