It is difficult to select only six flowers from the many blooming at this time of year.

1. Morea bicolor, yellow African iris is not very yellow. It is an impressively resilient and reliable perennial, though, and is quite easy to propagate. It really deserves more credit.

2. Morea iridioides, African iris is at least as resilient, reliable and easy to propagate, so is therefore very common. Whenever we have use for more, we simply split big colonies.

3. Canna X generalis ‘Mango’ canna performs very well and proliferates very efficiently. It begins its bloom before any other canna here. I just am not so keen on its floral color.

4. Echinops ritro, globe thistle looks like an Allium in this closeup picture. You might be able to guess where it is from. It is the first that I have grown since the summer of 1986.

5. Crinum bulbispermum, Orange River lily typically does not bloom quite like this. The florets should have darker pink or red centers. Could this be another species of Crinum?

6. Hemerocallis fulva ‘Flore Pleno’ daylily has been growing like a weed. We relocated a few only a few years ago, and must already relocate some of their now crowded progeny.

Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.

Gardening is full of surprises. These are a few that I noticed last Thursday. I could have found more surprises, but that would have been more than six.

1. Jasminum humile, yellow jasmine is a real dud. It does not bloom nearly as profusely as I expected it to. Upon closer inspection, though, the flowers are surprisingly fragrant.

2. Lobelia erinus, lobelia self sowed and grew amongst weeds. However, no lobelia grew in the surrounding landscapes. The source of the seed is a mystery. What a nice surprise.

3. Digitalis purpurea, foxglove blooms either white or bright pink. Occasionally, lighter pink blooms are observed. This feral specimen, though, is surprisingly light peachy pink.

4. Aquilegia canadensis, columbine refuses to grow well where we plant it, but manages to bloom enough to toss seed to grow where it wants to. It should be no surprise but it is.

5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation was planted as a cool season annual a few years ago but has been retained, and surprisingly lives as a perennial as annuals change around it.

6. Camellia japonica, camellia bloomed well through winter, and then seemed to finish, just before surprising us with this last errant bloom. This is my favorite of the camellias.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

Rhodies are in bloom now, but will need to wait while I show off five other blooms.

1. Sambucus nigra ‘Purpurea’ elderberry is already blooming. Is this early? It did not get pruned while dormant in winter. I must see if the native blue elderberries are blooming.

2. Disocactus flagelliformis, rat tail cactus is more out of focus than the elderberry. It is one of only a few potted plants that gets moved into the landscapes only while blooming.

3. Rosa spp., rose was not blooming for last Saturday when six roses were featured here. This particular rose was removed from its landscape a few years ago, but not reassigned.

4. Iris X germanica, bearded iris came back with me from one of the lodges that I spent a night at on one of my several trips to the Pacific Northwest. All our irises have history.

5. Epiphyllum spp., orchid cactus, like the rat tail cactus, was relocated into a landscape as it began to bloom. It has been here for several years, but has not bloomed like this yet.

6. Rhody has been absent from Six on Saturday for quite a while. He makes it difficult to get a good picture of him. Perhaps I will take some pictures of his rhodies for next week.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/