Iris Season

Iris on front walk

I love this time of the year when the irises bloom--there isn't a more regal flower than the much hybridized bearded or German iris! This year my irises started blooming much earlier than usual, the buds were up in the last weeks of April, and the flowers began to open the first days of May.

The colorful clump of bearded irises by the front walk was planted right after we moved here, and last spring I expanded the bed, which was becoming overcrowded. Odd how this year I seem to have only one flowering spike of the white variety, but since the yellow and the purple bi-color bloom earlier than the other varieties, a few more white flowers may yet emerge. Plants are notoriously capricious that way: producing record blooms one year, then sparsely or not at all on other years.

White bearded iris.

The bed by the driveway

On the other side of the driveway there are more yellow and pink irises, and some Dutch iris. I transplanted the Dutch iris a few years ago after noticing that they weren't flowering much--the more vigorous lavender was crowding them out--and they've taken a couple of years to settle in their new locations before starting to bloom again.

Pale lavender Dutch iris.

Dutch iris in the back bed.

The old-fashioned irises from my mother's garden in Falls Church continue to grow more lush in the "Little Indians" bed in back. My sister Bea, who had grown these in her Maryland garden, gave me a few rhizomes about six years ago when I was starting to expand the bed that runs along the property line with my neighbor. Although smaller and not as showy as the current spectacular hybrids, this variety has a wonderful scent that permeates this corner of my garden.

Irises in the Little Indians bed.

The long island bed in the back yard includes a few more irises. The dwarf iris 'Bluebeard' bloomed very early, around mid-April, and is now done for the year. One of the other two varieties, 'Blatant', was attacked by a large rodent that tunneled underground and ate some of the rhizomes, and has not bloomed this spring--a real shame, but since it's a re-blooming type, I'm hoping it will recover enough to bloom in the fall. The other variety, the stunningly tall 'Victoria Falls' is particularly lovely this year.

Iris 'Victoria Falls'

The backyard island bed.

The red honeysuckle 'Major Wheeler' is laden with blossoms--we sighted the first hummingbird on May 1st, and the hummers have been visiting regularly since then. The double-flowering quince has been displaying blooms since early April and it's still going--the coral color complements 'Major Wheeler' beautifully.

Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) in bloom.

Newer plants in my garden are the Pagoda dogwood blooming above, and a hybrid Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium 'White Nimbus') planted two years ago which bloomed for the first time this year. The hybrid bugle ground cover (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop') planted last fall is just starting to spread among the variegated Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium 'Brise d'Anjou') planted last year, but both are growing slowly--it'll take a few more years before this bed begins to fill out.

Meadow rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium 'Nimbus White')

Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop' with variegated Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium 'Brise d'Anjou')

I've grown flowering onions (Alliums) for some years now, the large-flowered purple 'Globemaster' and the yellow Allium moly. Last fall I planted another dozen Alliums 'Persian Blue' (Allium caeruleum) in one of my new beds, and the flowers are lovely, but not the deep blue color I'd hoped for. Perhaps it's the PH of the soil, but mine are a deep magenta; still, it composes beautifully with the blue-green foliage of the daffodils under the Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'.

Allium 'Globemaster'

Allium moly

Allium caeruleum.

Next up will be the roses and other late spring bloomers, can't wait to see what they'll be like this year!

A Walk in My Woods

I really miss the Virginia native Plant Society (VNPS) hikes this spring, so on 4/29 I decided to do a spring walk in the woods in back of my house, to see how many plants I could identify on my own. I usually don't go in there after the trees leaf out because I fear the poison ivy and noxious insects, but at this time of the year it's fairly safe.

There are several dogwoods in bloom that can be seen from my back yard. The big trees are mostly black and northern red oaks in their dotage, with some hickories (Bitternut and Pignut). The fact that there is a quite a diversity of plant species leads me to believe that my patch of woods is a small strip of native vegetation that was left undisturbed when the neighborhood was built, probably because the slope down to the drainage ditch is so steep.

Over the years I've managed to identify some of the understory trees. The distinctive flowers of the Witch Hazel trees (Hamamelis virginiana) are visible in the fall and winter months; there is a large patch of them on the east corner of my lot extending into my neighbor's.

Witch hazel

Another understory tree on the opposite (western) side of my lot is the American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). About three summers ago I noticed a particularly abundant crop of the characteristic hop-like fruit on several trees in back, which allowed me to identify them. My explorations this spring reveal that these are growing all over.

Hop-hornbeam 

Pignut

There are several hickories too--Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) and Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)--the nuts fall into my yard and the squirrels bring them too. There's also the ubiquitous red maples, perhaps silver and other maples I have yet to identify, bird cherries (Prunus avium), a few dogwoods, and possibly a Serviceberry that bloomed sparsely earlier on.

Further down toward the forest floor are a bunch of what I believe are Late Low Blueberries (Vaccinium vacillans)--much browsed by deer--and some shoots of bedstraw.

 Blueberries

Going down the steep slope towards the drainage ditch I found a few Lady ferns, (Athyrium filix-femina) and patches of Winterberry (Gaultheria procumbens) and star chickweed (Stellaria pubera) on the forest floor. There were also goldenrod shoots, blackberries, and the usual annoying honeysuckle vines.

Chickweed with Wintergreen

At first I wasn't sure what the plants below were, but farther down I found one plant with flowers and was able to identify it as Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum). I'd seen two lovely specimens of this plant farther up the slope a couple of days earlier, but when I started to look for those, they'd vanished. Eventually I located two decapitated stems--the deer had eaten them!

Solomon's seal

The day was so warm and lovely that I continued downhill crossing my neighbor's woods towards the creek that flows from a neighboring farm. There is a small clearing here where more sunlight reaches that can host moisture-loving species typical of our area: Golden Alexanders (Zizia aptera), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), and Bluets (Houstonia caerulea).

Golden Alexanders

Spring Beauty

Bluets

Walking along the spongy creek bed I noticed a distant clump of shrubs and small trees with bunches of white flowers. These looked so familiar, I got closer to confirm my suspicions, and they were native Black Haw Viburnums (Viburnum prunifolium), exactly like the two planted in my yard.

Viburnums

Doubling back towards the drainage ditch, I found a plant of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), a clump of Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a Buttercup and more Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum).

Golden Ragwort

May-apples

Rattlesnake Weed

In my own back yard again, I continued through my woods toward the other end of my property, coming across lots of patches of Squawroot (Conopholis americana). This plant lives as a parasite on oak tree roots, and has no leaves.

Squawroot

I also came across a small woody plant with unfurling leaves that I thought might possibly be a native azalea, although the leaves seem a bit large for such. I'll try to keep track of this one as it grows to see if I can identify it.

Unidentified

I continued walking through the woods under the Hop-hornbeams before emerging onto the grassy hillside on my other neighbor's property for the conclusion of a fruitful afternoon exploring my woods.

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' Painting

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' (Salvia guaranensis 'Black and Blue').

Last summer I grew this tropical Salvia 'Black and Blue' as a potted plant on my front walk, and found that the humming birds loved it! Every morning during the heat of August and early September, the Ruby-throat humming birds would come to feast on the nectar of the lovely intense blue flowers. And the flower buds are, true to the plant's name, nearly black.

I started working on some drawings of the plant back then, but also took lots of photos of it in my studio as well as outdoors, knowing that I might not be able to complete the painting before the plant died back in the fall.

Graphite drawing - Stage 1

Graphite drawing - Stage 2

I started with a graphite sketch, as usual--one flowering spike at a time, then adding another, trying to keep the overall design of the painting in mind as I went along. I then traced over it to re-work the arrangement of the flower spikes to give a sense of the fullness of the plant in bloom.

Graphite drawing - Stage 3

After studying my drawing, I felt that the composition was too heavily weighted towards the left side; to achieve a better balance, I added one more spike facing right and more leaves.

Graphite drawing - Stage 4

I shaded my drawing to study the contours and shadows, but my composition still lacked a focal point. Eventually it occurred to me, why not add a humming bird? I don't usually include pollinators in my botanical paintings, unless this is the stated theme, but I wanted to try my hand at painting a bird.

I've never caught a humming bird in any of my photos despite the frequency of their visits--they move so fast and are notoriously elusive. But there were plenty of hummer photos available on-line and in my gardening catalogs to be able to find some suitable images for my painting.

Watercolor - Stage 1

After tracing my drawing onto watercolor paper (Fabriano Artistico hot-pressed 140 LB) I laid down the light washes of color you see on the right side of the painting. My palette of colors was fairly limited: Vanadium Yellow, Indranthrene Blue, Cerulean Blue Hue, Brilliant Blue Violet, and a touch of Quinacridone Coral. Then I started building up the color on the flowers and buds, and to show the intricate veins and contours of the leaves.

Watercolor - Stage 2

At this stage I began to paint the humming bird, using two reference photos. I completed all the work on the flowers and leaves before getting back to finishing the humming bird.

Watercolor - Stage 3

After I had darkened the feathers on the humming bird I remembered that I still had some of Daniel Smith's wonderful Interference Watercolors--green and red were the colors needed. A tiny bit of each dry-brushed on the feathers gave it just the right amount of iridescence to look convincing! Unfortunately, the iridescent effect can't been seen except when looking at the painting from different angles--it doesn't show up in the final photo.

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue' - Final watercolor painting

The finished painting is shown above.