The Historic District

Things in the garden have come to life at Gothichome



Our roses are coming on strong

And so has our inherited bearded iris. We have this growing every ware, in he hedge row, around trees even on the side of our bank.

Manalto, I was informed that this variety of Iris may be considered a heritage flower now. Any hints to be shared?
On another slightly off topic Manalto, we have a few members in some what he same field as yourself. I believe Windgeeseln is a landscape architect historian specializing in historic orchards and some one else who I can't remember also works with orchards.

First I have to say that your photos are terrific, especially that deep pink rose (I don't want to say rose rose) - it's perfect. Does it have a fragrance? I went to landscape architecture school (The City College of New York) but I dropped out to take a full-time job that demanded too much of my time. (Frankly, at the time, City College was so focused on proving themselves as a legitimate landscape architecture program, they left behind the environmental and horticultural considerations, so I didn't regret leaving.)

Your iris is exquisite. There are many plants which have been designated heritage or heirloom varieties, which are species, often in danger of being lost to the trade, that people feel should be preserved. The best policy is, when the plant begins to flourish, spread them around to friends who know how to take care of them, to insure that they continue to exist. Felder Rushing, a well-known garden writer, calls them "pass-along plants" and it's a good name; commercially they don't have much currency, but they're worth having, especially if your neighbors have proven that they will do well in your area.

An etiquette question: Do we refer to each other on THD by our screen names, or our given names, if provided?

Thanks for the info on the iris, Gothichome is the source for my neighbours irises. We by far have the most though. As far as the picture taking, just luck, I'm a point and shoot kind of photographer. The Hi Def setting on my iPad does the rest. Naming protocols are pretty informal here in the District. If you post both a screen name and a real name most of us will use one or the other, I will respond to almost any thing from Gothichome, Ron, or 'hey you'.

As spring marches on, the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) comes into bloom. I saw this one on Main Street in Wallingford, Connecticut; it looked striking against the brownstone of the Episcopal Church. It's unusual for its vivid pink color, the typical wild ML blooms pink-fading-to-white. It's probably a University of Connecticut selection; Mark Brand at UConn has developed many named varieties for the trade. Frankly, for most situations, I prefer the subtlety of the wild type, but "new" sells.

Mountain Laurel in Wallingford by James McInnis, on Flickr

Beautiful pictures! I love this time of year in the garden.
Hope these don't come out sideways but here are a few I took this morning of my Peonies,I'm not sure how old they are but judging by the size of the root crowns they may have been here as long as the garage which was about 1925!

Vined Porch wrote:Hope these don't come out sideways...

I believe the technical term is "cattywampus."

Beautiful peonies; they are really long-lived and sumptuous.

Here's a Japanese-form peony called 'Bowl of Beauty' blooming this morning:

Peony 'Bowl of Beauty' by James McInnis, on Flickr

Haha that is a great word ' cattywampus' ,love it,will have to remember that !
Ooh that is a gorgeous peony,so pretty!

With a screen name "Vined Porch" you must know about Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla). It's the classic porch vine, and a North American native. Its peculiar flowers can be hard to spot but it's the foliage you want anyway, luxuriant and overlapping like fish scales. I have no doubt that it's "period correct" for just about any era because it regularly shows up in old photographs, turning sunny porches into cool, shady verandas in the summertime. I remember, from my childhood, a neighbor's Dutchman's Pipe vine growing on their house but haven't seen one in years.

There has been some controversy recently because of its toxicity, but many plants are toxic. Just don't eat them.

Aristolochia durior by James McInnis, on Flickr

Yes! That's why I chose that screen name,it is a Dutchmans Pipe Vine on our porch,it is well over 100 years old,it was planted when the house was extended and the porch added in the very late 1800's,and I also read it is loved by Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies to lay their eggs.
Ours has just this past week finished flowering and now the leaves are huge but make the porch so cool and calm in the heat of the day.
Just took these pics,not sure if I have a pic of flowers on my IPad from previous years I'll have to check.

Just found a couple of lone late flowers hiding under the leaves,sorry the pics are a bit blurry,it's pretty shady there.