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Acid Loving Plants
Growing Acid Loving Plants
Growing azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries, holly, pieris,
heather, and other plants that love acidic and organisc soils.
One of my fond memories of being 12 was catching my first shad.
Each spring the shad...
Brighten Your Path By Installing Decorative Landscape Lighting
Landscape lighting can add a beautiful quality to any home. There are many choices available to someone who is considering it. Landscape lighting, and any outdoor lighting, can help protect a home as well as keep people from stumbling in the yard....
Getting Your Hands on a Good Pair of Gardening Gloves
The next best thing to gardening is owning the best pair of
gardening gloves. Gardening gloves is the basic gear that the
gardener in us needs. And a good pair of gardening gloves should
always be found in a gardener's tool box. Why? Because...
How to Attract Butterfly Activity...
The flittering of the butterfly through your garden is no accident if you planned your garden carefully. The adult butterfly flitters from flower to flower - sipping nectar from many flowers in your gardens, while other adult butterflies search for...
How To Make Your Own Moss Landscape Rock and Garden Statues
Moss can make some garden elements and even entire shady gardens
look and feel aged and established. The trouble with garden moss
though, is that sometimes it may not even grow at all on its
own. And if it does, it could take a very long time to...
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Blue Wild Flowers for Your Garden
Planting wild flowers in your garden, or simply scattering wild flower seeds around an area of your yard are both ways to take advantage of Mother Nature's treasured gifts. Wild flowers are carefree, colorful, and tend to attract bees, butterflys and birds. So planting wild flowers not only gives you an easy maintenance flower garden... it also promises to be a constant source of interesting activity throughout the year.
The following wild flowers are blue to purple in color, and some say this is a favorite color of bees.
VIRGINIA or COMMON DAY-FLOWER (Commelina Virginica) - Spiderwort family
The Day Flower has blue, one inch wide or smaller flowers which tend to be irregular. The flowers are grouped at the end of the stem, and are upheld by long leaf-like bracts. The leaves are lance-shaped and 3-5 inches long. The upper leaves form like a hood of sorts about the flower. These wild flowers prefer moist, shady ground and flower from June through September.
The day flower tends to open in the morning and looking somewhat "alert". In the afternoon, or after the bees have visited and fertilized it, the petals roll up and quickly wilt into a wet, shapeless mass which will leave a sticky blue fluid on your fingers if you touch it.
SPIDERWORT; WIDOW'S or JOB'S TEARS (Tradescantia Virginiana) - Spiderwort family
The Spiderwort's flowers are purplish blue in color but on rare occasion they can be white. There's usually several flowers about 1-2 inches wide, and usually contain clusters of drooping buds between long, blade-like bracts at the end. This one can grow from 8-36 inches tall, and has long blade-like leaves. It prefers rich, moist woods, thickets or garden space, and it flowers from May through August.
Like
its relative the dayflower, the spiderwort opens for part of a day only. In the morning it is wide awake and pert; early in the afternoon its petals have begun to retreat and wither away. New blooms appear each day throughout the season though.
WILD HYACINTH, SCILLA or SQUILL. QUAMASH (Quamasia kyacinthina; Scilla Fraseri of Gray) - Lily family
The Wild Hyacinth tends to produce many pale violet blue flowers, though once in awhile they can be white. There tend to be equal groups of 6 flowers on long, oblong-shaped branches. The plant tends to grow 1-2 feet tall, and has grass-like, short leaves. These wild flowers prefer meadows, prairies and stream banks, and they bloom from April to May.
These wild flowers tend to be low maintenance, and they propogate on their own, without being invasive. In addition to attracting bees, the Wild Hyacinth also tends to attract ants, wasps, flies, butterflies, and beetles.
Whether you prefer to start your flowers from seeds or potted starter plants, wild flowers are a wonderful addition to any type of garden. Creating a stand alone wild flower garden is also a fantastic way to make a great, naturalized impression in large or unused areas of your landscape.
Watch for future articles where I'll introduce you to many other wild flowers in a variety of other colors too!
About the Author
© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard, The Garden Source Network - http://www.garden-source.com - A premier online publication featuring gardening articles, tips, advice, resources, shopping and supplies. This article may be freely published on any website, as long as the author, copyright, website address and link, and this notice are left intact.
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