What's Blooming This Week

Victorian Poppy, Papaver paeoniflorum

Yes, this is also called Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, but this is the variety grown by the Victorians in their gardens.  This plant was here when we moved in.  Over the years, this annual, has shown up all over the yard and garden.
About 25 years ago, we saw a program on how to harvest the opium and process it.  So we tried it, short of actually ingesting the product.  I harvest the seeds for poppy seed cake, poppy seed bread, poppy seed muffins, etc.

Oriental Poppy, Papaver orientale

My Aunt Vi used to grow these.  My step-mom Dorthy gave me the start for this.  If you want to transplant these, do it in August.  Otherwise, it's a crapshoot for the thing to survive.

Love-In-A-Mist, Nigella damascena

This is 'Miss Jekyll' after renowned English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.

I have no idea what this grass is.  It has a pinkish cast to the flower head and I like it for that reason.  Being allergic to grass pollen, I decided not to get close enough to the flowerhead to identify it.  Yeah, Plant Taxonomy was a bitch when the professor pulled out the grasses!

Borage, Borago officinalis

These flowers will turn pink as they mature.  It's a fun herb.  I just allow it to bloom all over the garden since bees just love it!

Subterranium Clover, Trifolium subterraneum

A lawn weed.  I like them because the plant fixes nitrogen and that nitrogen is released to the soil when the plant dies.  Hey, it's cheap fertilizer!

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium

This came in my eco-lawn seed.  I would recommend not getting a seeding mix with yarrow, it creeps into the flower beds and is highly invasive.

Mole or Gopher Plant, Euphorbia lathyris

This plant does not work against moles or gophers.  It does work against me.  I am severely allergic to this plant.  The only reason it is growing this year is because of the foreclosure, we are not doing anything in the garden, at all!  Usually I would have hit it with Round-up when I first found it growing.

Mop-head Hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla

These flowers will slowly turn blue, then fade to yellow, then dry on the plant for winter interest.