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/

These are some of the flowers that I observed in bloom when Rhody and I returned from vacation in Washington. (Most bloomed last week.)

1. Rubus parviflorus, thimbleberry is actually not much to brag about. It just looks more impressive in a closeup picture. This flower is not much bigger than a blackberry flower.

2. Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ flowering cherry is sort of still blooming. Well, the bloom is really beginning to deteriorate. It is the last of all flowering cherry trees here to bloom.

3. Iris series Californicae, Pacific Coast iris blooms in various shades of blue, purple, red and yellow, and of course, white. A variety of this iris series might bloom apricot orange.

4. Clivia miniata, Kaffir lily got to bloom this year. The same specimen produced a floral stalk which got broken off last year. This particular cultivar has yellow foliar variegation.

5. Cymbidium spp., orchid is blooming even after some aggressive division. At least one of its seven pups also bloomed well. Prior to division, it bloomed with eight floral stalks!

6. Rosa spp. ‘Double Delight’ rose bloomed before the other roses in its garden, although other roses are blooming concurrently in another of our gardens about half a mile away.

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/

Skyler of Tangly Cottage Gardening invited Rhody and me back to tour her garden while Rhody and I were already vacationing in Washington. As usual, I left with a few goodies from the garden. Skooter was still confined to his home as he recovers from an earlier injury.

1. Euphorbia mellifera, honey spurge is my best guess for the identity of this perennial. I could have asked but did not think of it at the time. I am quite certain that it is a spurge.

2. Ficaria verna ‘Brazen Hussy’ lesser celandine is a relatively docile garden cultivar of a potentially weedy species. I can remember when it was popular in the 1990s and 2000s.

3. Tulipa spp., tulip was blooming next to the Canoe Garden. It seems to have a red edge or picotee. I took a picture of small cat tails in the Canoe Garden, but it was out of focus.

4. Muscari armeniacum, grape hyacinth is one of my favorite perennials. It is so reliable and resilient. Apparently, dwarf cat tails were not the only subject that was out of focus.

5. Narcissus spp., daffodil were probably the most prominent flowers while Rhody and I were here. I believe that this was the most abundant sort. Some bloomed in broad drifts.

6. Pulmonaria officinalis, lungwort of various cultivars was also abundant. I had already acquired blue, white and pink cultivars. Now I acquired this purple and pinkish cultivar.

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/