Happy Birthday Leaplings!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to all the leaplings who only get to celebrate their REAL birthday once every 4 years! We have one at our house, and it is a very special day when it finally rolls around. A quarter the age of your peers, it's the price you've had to pay to stay forever young! CHEERS!

Veronica - Speedwell

Veronica

I have several varieties and sizes of veronica in my garden. Also known as speedwell, veronica is a perennial that forms narrow spikes of tiny flowers. The flowers may be blue, pink, or white. I love the blues!

Echinacea- Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower
Purple coneflowers seed themselves in my garden as well. The name comes from the Greek word "echino", which means spiny, and refers to the center of the flower which consists of a spiny disc.

It is named coneflower due to the positioning of the petals, which tend to point downwards forming a cone shape.

Extracts from the plant provide the widely used herb Echinacea, which is thought to boost the immune system, and to decrease incidence and duration of the common cold.

Winter Sand Dunes

Boardwalk on Melmerby Beach.

Seals On Melmerby Beach

A visit with nature.
A beautiful pup.
A mother seal and pup on Melberby Beach.

A popular beach in our area, Melmerby was the birthplace of numerous baby seals several winters ago. They captured the attention of cautious nature lovers who were careful not to disturb them.

Liatris

Purple liatris

Liatris is another perennial plant that self seeds easily in my garden. Also known as "blazing star", it contrasts well with the other garden plants.It's very hardy, attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds,and makes an excellent cut flower.

I love the look of liatris in a daylily garden.

Bluegrass Music

daylily Bluegrass Music

One of my favorite daylilies, it bloomed inside this winter by the patio door.Needless to say, I collected all the pollen and froze it for future use this summer.I pollinated it with Destined To See pollen, and got three pods that are now maturing. Lucky me! It's a cross that I'm hoping will make beautiful blue eyed seedlings!

Foxgloves

Foxgloves self seed themselves freely in my garden. They used to be my favorite flower until I became obsessed with daylilies:).

Foxglove, or digitalis purpurea is a biennial and member of the snapdragon family.It is the source of the drug digitalis, or digoxin, which is a cardiac drug. It can be poisonous and potentially lethal if parts of the flower or leaves are consumed.

The scientific name means finger like, referring to the ease at which the flower can be fitted over the human finger.

Marsh Orchid

A friend's prized purple fringed marsh orchid.

Click on picture for a closer view. Each individual flower looks like a little lady in a fancy dress and hat.

Garden Art

Whimsical garden art.
Moss Man
Sculptured rock