Neighborhood Garden Tour 2011

Monarda (with a twist!)

I almost forgot the tour this morning even though I had a postcard reminder displayed prominently. Last year, 2010 Neighborhood Garden Tour I promised myself that I would spend more time at the free neighborhood event and once again I failed. I didn't see every yard, but I got a free sample of a dwarf variegated goatsbeard, and a promise of a one-of-a-kind daylily to be divided sometime after blooming. To be offered a hybridized and registered daylily that no one else in the world has, from my former college instructor who named it for the college and purchased it...that was worth the tour time in itself! It is not yet in bloom, so I have to wait until later this summer for my promised division. If I catch the blooming, I will post a photo of  the special daylily later.

The monarda bloom above had an unusual growth so I thought that was photo-worthy. Below, a photo of a nice hosta trio. This homeowner claims sixty distinct cultivars and knows their names. Quite amazing.

Hosta diversity

I do not know what buttercups are, but it seems that I should, being a country girl. At first glance I thought they were evening primrose, oenethera missourienses, or Ozark sundrops which are blooming yellow around town.

Buttercups? Apparently not! Yellow loosestrife?

 There was lots of greenery in the shady gardens of this established, heavily canopied area. I didn't take many green pictures because I still seek color with my lens. I did see many wonderful plants, mostly in one spectacular garden, many of them green and dark. I took this photo of  'Othello', just to see if it was different from 'Desdemona', but I still just can't tell them apart.

Big Leaf Ligularia - Ligularia dentata 'Othello'

Before leaving, I took this photo (is that a bug? earwig?) of one of my own hostas that is blooming--white and wonderful: