The Fullness of the Season

Herb's bed in July

 

The fullness of the season manifests itself at the height of summer, and the sequence of bloom in my garden hasn't slowed down despite the heat. Herb's bed is so colorful with the red Crocosmias, blue Centaurea, and blazing meadow stars! Several monarch butterflies showed up during the peak of bloom of the blazing meadow star (Liatris ligulistylis)--that's the most monarchs I've seen in my back yard in the decade that we've lived here. 

Monarch butterfly nectaring on Liatris

Monarch butterfly

 

The monarchs flying about the garden performing their mating dances with consummate grace made for a beautiful sight! The humming birds too have been enjoying the flowers, though they have proved much more camera-shy than the butterflies. The other evening Herb and I were standing on our front porch when a tiny humming bird approached and flew within a foot of our faces--it was a female checking us out. Deciding we were probably not dangerous, she went about her business of sipping nectar from the few fragrant petunias and other plants along the front walk. The tropical salvias, one of the hummingbirds' favorites, haven't been very floriferous thus far, so there's not much to nourish them at the moment.

Coneflowers (Echinacea hybrids) and bee balm in the back bed.

Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

The back bed with Buddleia lindleyana in front

The display of coneflowers in the back bed becomes more colorful every year as the plants multiply. The bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), another pollinator favorite, is looking better than ever; each year it expands further into its corner of the back yard.

 

Bush Clematis 'New Love'

I was determined to not let the deer eat my shrub Clematis this year, and covered it with garlic spray. The spray doesn't seem to deter the deer when it comes to other tastier plants like my roses, unfortunately. 

 

Joe Pye weed 'Baby Joe'

Hydrangea 'Tiny Tuff Stuff' with Gladiolus

Vitex agnus castus on the right.

Along the east garden, the hydrangeas have fared better with a bit more rain this year than last summer. The other hydrangeas near the house are about finished blooming, except for the variety 'Tiny Tuff Stuff' above. The Vitex shrub is displaying its purple flowers that look like a summer-blooming lilac.

 

Caladiums on the porch

This spring I bought an assortment of Caladium bulbs for the porch which are doing very well--love the different colors and patterns! These remind me of the shady patios of the houses in Cuba during my childhood.

 

Hanging basket on porch

 

The hanging baskets on the porch haven't been as successful--I'd envisioned the baskets lush with tiny tomatoes, herbs and flowers by this time, but the Nasturtiums (they have edible flowers) have grown way too much and the flowers and herbs not enough. The one above is the better looking of the two, but the plants still haven't grown enough to cover the coconut fiber of the containers.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed several of my arborvitae--the two flanking the house and one of the "Little Indians" were dying back and discovered that they were heavily infested with bagworms--I've never seen such a concentration of these insects before!

The two arborvitae flanking the house are huge--about twelve to thirteen feet high--an impossible job for Herb and I to tackle. I was fortunate to find an arborist in the area who came to spray for the bagworms right away. I hope the problem has been taken care of in time to help the trees survive!

 

Male pumpkin flowers

More male pumpkin flowers

This summer I've been growing an heirloom pumpkin vine, 'Galeaux d'Eysines,' in order to see what the vine and flowers looked like. I wanted to add these to my painting of the pumpkin that I started last fall. It's fascinating to learn that pumpkins have male and female flowers, and that although they appear similar on the surface, they are easily distinguishable: the males have one large structure in the center that carries the pollen, while the female buds have an ovary that looks like a tiny pumpkin at their base. Inside, the pistil divides into three lobes.

 

Female pumpkin flower bud

Female pumpkin flower

Pumpkin developing on the vine.

Nature always allocates its resources wisely, so the male flowers outnumber the females by a ratio of about ten or twelve to one--I expect to have maybe one to three mature pumpkins at the end of the growing season, unless something eats or finishes them off before harvest time. I'll be finished with my painting by then, and it would be nice to be able to taste the pumpkin--last fall when I bought the warty "peanut" pumpkin it took me a couple of months to paint it, and by that time the pumpkin wasn't very appetizing. I cooked it and used the pulp to bake some pumpkin bread, but it would be nice to be able to taste the flesh when it is fresh. I understand it's delicious!

 

My unfinished painting of the Galeaux d'Eysines pumpkin.

Korean Stewartia

Stewartia koreana, watercolor, 12"h x 10"w.

 

After seeing and sketching the American Stewartia ovata in Colonial Williamsburg I want to do a more formal painting of it later on. I thought painting another Stewartia would be a good way to practice for it, allowing me to study which pigments best render the colors accurately, and use lighting as a way of dramatizing the image.

I had taken photos and sketched the Korean Stewartia at Blandy Farm the week before I went to Williamsburg, and found one photo with glints of sunlight that I particularly liked. I then used it as the model for this painting, which I plan to submit for Art at the Mill's fall show in October. 

Above is a photo of the painting in progress--I didn't take any other progress photos, just this one. As with any painting, the practice is a process in learning how to use the colors and shadows to model the objects to give a realistic sense of depth and three dimensions. I love the delicate texture of the creamy petals against the dark foliage, and feel better prepared for painting the native Stewartia ovata.

Blue-Tailed Skink in My Garden

Blue-Tailed Skink

 

Yesterday evening was beastly hot and humid, more so than usual, so I went out to water the plants on the porch and the potted plants that summer on my front walk. As I was walking back to turn off the hose, I noticed a small lizard on my front steps. I figured it was probably one of the many eastern fence lizards that live in my garden, but as I carefully stepped around it, the lizard turned to display the most beautiful bright blue tail. I realized that this must be a skink, a type of lizard that is common in Virginia.

Looking it up at the Virginia Herpetological Society website today, I learned that this is a common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) and that all juveniles have blue tails. The website states:

"The function of the blue tail in this species has been studied by Cooper and Vitt (1985) and Vitt and Cooper (1986c). The blue tail of juveniles is an antipredator adaptation that serves to attract the predator away from the vulnerable part of the lizard, its body. Juveniles escape potential predators by disappearing into the leaf litter, lashing their tails back and forth above the leaves. The blue tail, contrasting with the brown background, attracts predators (birds and small, lizard-eating snakes) to the less vulnerable appendage. Once broken off, the tail twitches for a period of time, distracting the potential predator further. This increases the probability that a juvenile will survive to maturity. At onset of sexual maturity the tail color changes from blue to a cryptic gray-brown. This change occurs at a time when energy requirements for tail regeneration are also important to the growth and reproductive output of the adult (Vitt and Cooper, 1986c). Tail loss at this time decreases a female's ability to produce and brood eggs and a male's ability to win aggressive bouts with other males (and presumably to reproduce with the females in his area)."

 The skink was probably attracted to the moisture from watering, and came to check things out.

 

Hanging basket on porch.

 

Second hanging basket on porch.

This year I bought some side-planter containers for my front porch, and decided to "theme" them by planting mostly edible plants: one tomato plant in the center surrounded by trailing nasturtiums in assorted colors in the top portion, with herbs, coleus and petunias in the side holes. Thus far the nasturtiums are stubbornly refusing to trail, leaving the coconut fiber containers somewhat exposed. Not what I'd hoped, but who knows, they may yet be covered by the end of the summer? 

 

Flower of eggplant 'Tung Ping Long'

Eggplant

I'm growing more vegetables this summer, and as a botanical artist, I can't help noticing how lovely the flowers of some are, like this Asian eggplant. I tried growing these from seed a few years back with no success, so this spring I bought a couple of plants and a few fruits are starting to form, despite the plants being riddled with flea beetles.

 

Pumpkin 'Galeux d'Eysines' male flowers

 

I'm growing a pumpkin vine for the first time ever, in order to be able to add the leaves and flowers to my painting of the 'Galeaux d'Eysines' pumpkin that I started last fall. It's fascinating to learn that pumpkins bear both male and female flowers on the same vine. The male flowers are much larger and showier, and emerge about two weeks before the female flowers, but of course it's the female flower that will produce fruit. My vine is only now developing a few female buds. I hope some flowers will open before the deadline to submit my painting comes!

 

Coneflowers in the back bed.

Monarda 'Jacob Kline' with coneflowers.

My coneflowers continue to multiply and spread, making the back bed more colorful each summer. The red bee-balm (Monarda 'Jacob Kline') has finally grown enough to make a good display. I planted another one in a sunnier bed but this one seems to be doing better with a little more shade.

 

Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

 The Crocosmia 'Lucifer' is like a red beacon--I divided the bulbs and replanted them in a couple of other places like Herb's bed.

 

Blue Centaurea with red Crocosmia in Herb's bed.

Some of the flower seeds I planted this past spring didn't sprout (too dry I guess), and others seem to be taking forever to get going--I wonder if I'll get any flowers from them. But, a few rare seeds have recently sprouted: the two seeds of Florida Coontie I brought back from my trip there have finally emerged--it only took four months! 

 Coontie (Zamia integrifolia) sprout

 

And one of the Flamboyant (Delonix regia) seeds my friend Raquel sent just surfaced some months after planting--it's so wonderful to see!

 

Flamboyant seed emerging.

Flamboyant sprout on second day