With week upon week of record heat, the lettuces have been bolting all summer, but here's one that I let go to flower on purpose. This extra seedling of 'Forellenschluss' strayed outside the lettuce row, so I popped it into a corner of one of the raised beds, next to the blue-flowered Witloof chicory and a couple of gladiolas. Its cheery lemon-ice flowers open and close within a few hours in the morning, and are well loved by teeny tiny bees.
Newly blooming: Monarda citriodora (wild bee balm); Lilium speciosum var. rubrum (rubrum lily); Talinum paniculatum (Jewels of Opar, self-sown); Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' (Black-eyed Susan); Persicaria orientalis (kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, self-sown).
Love the soap opera title.
So now I know what's happening to me: I'm going to flower. I'll be seedy before you know it.
Posted by: Amy | August 08, 2005 at 04:36 PM
Beautiful. This poetic gardening blog (complete with those beautiful Latin names) is balm to a frustrated gardener who lives on the third floor and has to haul soil up two flights of stairs. When I had a forty-foot strip of dirt and grand ambitions, I used to browse The Western Garden Book as light bedtime reading. Now I can browse Bookish Gardener. Thanks.
Posted by: Rachel | August 08, 2005 at 10:30 PM
Amy - That particular soap came out way after I stopped watching daytime TV, but I've always loved the title. I like the idea of going to seed; just have to figure out whether to do it like a dandelion, or a clematis, or a poppy.
Rachel - thank you so much!
Posted by: Chan S. | August 12, 2005 at 07:10 AM