Playin' Outside

Yellow bulbine, Asian ground orchids, and a Pat Austin rose are three of the shows currently appearing in my garden. But, what I'm really excited to tell you about are these irises... My husband and I rescued these last year after I noticed a familiar crown shape off to the side of the road. I joked then that being moved from blazing sun and neglect in a former pasture to a place of honor in well amended soil and constant attention in my garden would probably kill them. Instead, they've quadrupled in size and rewarded us with the most interesting blooms. Many of them have petals that are exactly one half purple and one half white. I've started calling it Night and Day, both for the change in their growing conditions and for their unique coloring. Another interesting iris blooming right now is one that develops absolutely NO stem. It's hard to capture in a picture, but here's my best effort. The blooms are silvery white with a small amount of purple deep inside. I

Just had to share these with you. There's a lot happening in my garden, but I'm saving most of it for Bloom Day. These old friends surprised me on Sunday, March 8th, but I'm just getting around to showing them off. I didn't know you could get a tulip to naturalize in our heat and horrible excuse for soil until a friend at Barton Springs Nursery introduced me to Tulipa clusiana "Cynthia" several years ago. I was charmed by the idea of having these delicate beauties popping up each spring, and even happier they share the name of my oldest stepdaughter. Even if there were other tulips that could be happy here, I'd still grow these for the dark pink on the outsides of their sunny lemon yellow petals. I'm told they're originally from Uzbekistan - who'd have thought our climate would support their natives?! But, they happily signal spring each year just at that time Austin gardeners are trying to guess if it's going to be in the 8

Knowing this day was coming hasn't softened the blow nor has it prepared me with the right words. It's been my preference to just get through emotional events, then to use words later to reflect back when I've established the necessary distance and objectivity. I'm breaking with tradition today because we've all lost a treasure and I need somewhere to go with the feelings. Madalene Hill passed away yesterday at the early age of 95. "Early" because she seemed immortal to me and because I don't know what we'll do without her. "Early" because she always had more energy than anyone else in the room. "Early" because I'm not ready to let her go. My husband says that when I mention Madalene in my writing, I always say her name as though everyone on the planet automatically knows who I'm talking about - like "God" or "Elvis". And I always answer that they do. Anyone who knows much about herbs does, and they&#