Thank Dawg It’s Friday (TDIF)! Welcome to the first Nature Friday of June. We’re joining our favorite quartet, blog hosts Rosy, Sunny, Arty and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard to see what’s going on with Mother Nature through the eyes of Blogville’s finest. Be sure to click on the link to check out what others are sharing.
When I left the Mile High City to visit my dad, it was definitely early spring with cooler temps, late spring snow storms and our urban garden was barely awake with mostly spring bulbs taking center stage. A good week of wet, cool weather brought the garden to life. When I returned home, I barely recognized my yard. The Lupine had gone ballistic and the garden had taken on a rather jungle like atmosphere. I just stood there in awe taking in all the various colors and verdant greenery.
Just before Norman and I returned back to Denver, we were greeted with the strangest phenomena we’ve encountered in southeast Colorado. Fog. I don’t ever remember seeing fog over the years at my parents house but it provided an interesting shroud over prairie landscapes.
It remained rainy and cool the entire time I was away (both in Denver as well as the Pueblo prairie) and when we returned home we encountered a very unfamiliar jungle.
It was as though the lupine said ‘enough of this snoozing’ and promptly exploded into shades of blue, purple, violet, red and pink. For a second I thought I’d gone to the wrong house. These late spring bloomers showed their appreciation for all the rain that fell while we were away by exploding into colorful blooms. They completely covered the garden flagstone path that meanders through the yard. Even the ‘resident pony,’ otherwise known as Norman, was dwarfed in the lupine display.
While lupine is a general favorite amongst the neighbors, the real beauties making their presence known around the ‘hood are today’s featured plant…the tall bearded irises that are beginning to compete with the lupines. When I first moved into this house, I planted a small corner space of these beauties that have steadily expanded over the years.
Bearded irises come in a variety of colors ranging from pale to deep. My favorites are the darkest of the dark or anything with a bluish tint.
The tall bearded iris was once called “the extrovert of the iris world.” -M.Hamblen & K.Keppel, The World of Iris (1978). And no wonder. Just look at these lovelies!
Bearded irises are very easy to grow. Simply plant rhizomes in a sunny spot (but not too deeply) in well drained soil. Give them a bit of space, don’t mulch, and divide every 3-5 years. Remove spent blooms but leave foliage until autumn. Some varieties have variegated foliage which provides additional interest once the flowers have faded. With low water needs, bearded irises are perfect for xeric gardens. Reblooming hybrids are becoming more popular, blooming both in late spring and early autumn.
With all their gorgeous looks, what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy tall bearded iris in your neighborhood.
We hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the bounty nature provides this time of year.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Even if you call a jungle, your yard looks pretty to me – si lush!
Thanks. Those flowers won’t last long…we’re on the 4th day of 90+ degrees with no end in sight. Not ready for the heat already.
Your adventure was very interesting. I love your garden having gone wild. The Lupines and Irises have beautified the whole property. It is like they planned to give you that sort of surprise upon your return. I am all about gardening. The whole thing – garden is adorable. Did you cut some Lupines to put in your vases?
You know, for the first time I did cut a vase full of Lupines. They won’t make it to the end of the week but they look lovely on the dining room table. 😊
ooh I never put lupines in a vase. I didn’t know they hang on for a long time. Do they fade quickly in a vase?
They’re not very long lasting but really pretty all the same.
At least I know something about Lupines now. But I still love them. I will still put them in a vase one day.
This was the first time I’ve done it and will definitely do it again. They make me smile whenever I pass through the room they’re in. It’s great to take a few lingering moments to experience some beauty in a hurry-up kind of world. #stopandsmelltheflowers
Charlee: “So much color! So many flowers! Your yard must be literally crawling with birds and butterflies and bees!”
Chaplin: “We will literally pay you to let us come and stare out your windows for a few hours.”
You guys would be most welcome. Don’t forget the #%&@ squirrels in that garden TV. They are the bane of my existence all summer long. Messy and destructive tree rats!
Wow, beautiful garden, must bring a smile to everyone in the neighborhood! Norman looks so gosh darn cute among the flowers!
Thanks for the kind words. It looks lovely for a couple of weeks before the heat sets on us, then it’s only annuals for color. 😊
Yes, year-round color can be a challenge!
Indeed…it’ll be colorful again in late summer/early autumn once the plumbago takes center stage. Blue blooms and mahogany foliage.
Your yard is beautiful! Love the flowers!
Thanks, sis! The rain while I was gone was the perfect fertilizer for it. 🙂
Oh my…..how incredible your yard looks with those lupines upright and shouting out their color – have always loved iris but never planted any – you’re making me rethink that decision!!!
Hugs, Pam
One of the best dumb luck decisions I’ve made on the garden. 😉
That was a gorgeous welcome home display!! It kind of reminds me of an English Cottage Garden!
I should try lupines, too. We have an ugly mess on the west side of the house…think HOT and dry…and maybe they’d do well there after getting established. We live in garden Zone 5b, does that give you an indication for their hardiness?
We have lots of old fashioned irises.creamy, yellow, dark red(almost) and purple. Those were all here when we got here…
With your gardening zone, I think Lupines would do well there. Given the right amount of water (of which I’m kind of stingy with) and the fact that the garden faces west, our conditions are quite similar. I could mail you some seeds if you like. 😊
I got the seeds you sent to me…I hope to have some pretty plants eventually! Hope they will do well.
Thanks SO much!!
Hope you have loads of success with the seeds!
OMD, they are so beautifuls!!!!! Ma hasn’t tried growin’ Lupines or Irises , do they grow well in pots? she has a brown thumb and sometimes kills those she loves 🤣
Norman, you are lookin’ most handsome my furiend! Ma wants to gives you a hug….yeah, I don’t likes it eithers, so just run….BOL!!!
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
I have to pull baby Lupines out of pots all the time! They end up in the weirdest places!
I am wild for both lupines and irises! I planted lots of lupine seed last fall, but I’m not seeing any sprouts yet. I’d love to have your garden! I have iris seeds but I’m afraid that the time to plant them has passed. Maybe next year…
I’ve cheated on planting both Lupines and irises time wise and had decent results. Got pretty lucky I guess. Your Lupine seeds may surprise you yet. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. 🤞🏻
I’m very familiar with fog. It’s all in my mind.
Hahaha. I hear that!
I have never been successful with lupines but they are so beautiful!
We like the bearded irises. The purple ones are mom’s fave too. Mom had miniature purple irises. We won’t talk about the disaster that ended most of them. An early bloomer so one of the first ones to show activity in the garden. Your Lupines are delightful. A friend gave mom Lupines one year cause the friend said they attract aphid. Mom planted them and was marvelling hoe good they looked then the aphid moved in and that was it. No more Lupines. Mom has a nephew that lives in the Yukon and he named his daughter Lupin. She can’t help but see this cute little girl with a swarm of aphid over her head…..in mom’s imagination. mol
Shoko
I’ve noticed a few aphids over the years too but ladybugs seem to take care of most of them so I don’t worry. They’re so prolific I have to cull them after they’ve bloomed and before they go totally to seed 😉 They’ve spread like wildfire since the original two plants were installed. 🙄
Mee-yow wow those Lou-piness sure are tall~~~ mee can JUST see you sweet Norman!
An Miss Monika all yore Bearded irisess are furabuluss!! LadyMew like you lovess them all two!
**purrss** BellaDharma an ((huggiess)) LadyMew
Thanks, BellaDharma. Appreciate those kind words.
Wow! and Wow! So, if you had been home, would the yard still have been taken over by the lupines or would you have done something different? Inquiring minds want to know.
I credit the rain for this amazing crop of lupine. And nah…I probably wouldn’t have done anything different. But I’m definitely gonna have to thin that ‘herd’ out! 😆
What a beautiful welcome home!
It was a very nice surprise.
Oooh…Rumble in the jungle. Those flowers are fabulous – I got to see Spring all over again. It’s already moved on the summer here.
It’s quickly heading in that direction here. 90F today and tomorrow 🥵 Have a great weekend.
WOW! The fog we see(almost everyday this time of year) but OMD…what gorgeous lupine!! The lupine in our area bloomed very early this year, so I really enjoyed seeing yours!
So glad you liked them. Much like the tulips this year, these flowers definitely benefited from all the recent moisture.
Now that’s a flower garden. Good work, Monika. Love the way Norman sneaked into the background. Great closeups of the irises! Never imagined fog out your way. Have a good weekend.
He likes to keep his eyes on me and manages to sneak out the door before it latches. Dang moose bulldozing his way out! 😁
I love iris, Monika. The lupines look terrific too.
Thanks John. They both seem extra happy this year.
Looks like they were waiting for you to come home to show their beauty😸Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend🐾😽💞
I love surprises but this scene blew me away.
That’s a lot of jungle for sure, but I spotted Norman right away. He’s so handsome.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to Elsa and a smooch to Norman. ♥
He’s kind of hard to miss, even in the jungle 😆
What a great garden to return to!
Yes, presuming you like the rain forest 😆
Gorgeous flowers. I love Lupine!
Thanks. All those lupine for 2 puny plants to begin with. Guess you could say they’re prolific reseeders 😂
Probably why Lupine does so well in the wild. I first met them on the coast in Northern California and fell in love with them.
They’re such a beautiful woodland plant v
Wow and wow and some more wow!
Love your xeric garden.
Have a fantabulous Friday and weekend, Monika.
Aww, thanks. We’re all about easy, good looking with low water needs. Have a ‘furbulous’ weekend!
Which is what I am planning on doing in my own yard. Baby steps.!
Thanks!
Luckily irises multiply readily (as do the lupine).
Makes it all the easier to get that xeric going!
And without having to mortgage your soul while you’re building it out. 👍🏻
Truly! 😀
such beauty
Thanks. Have a great weekend.