Out on the Streets ...and Country Byways

Those of you who are regular readers of Veg Plotting probably have seen her series of quarterly reports entitled "Out on the Streets," in which she documents public plantings, both good and bad, in her area of the UK. She has invited anyone who wishes to, to participate and recently wrapped up her second series at the end of June. True to form, I am late . . .


I had enticed VP by my exclamations of delight over some of the street plantings I saw in Chicago during Spring Fling. But, of course, when I downloaded all my Fling photos, not one street planting was in the bunch! So we'll have to do with my hometown images. I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos. Most were shot during midday on very sunny days, and I also found it difficult, as Frances recently noted, to get broad views of an area with sufficient detail. But the most challenging part of taking these photos was avoiding serious injury on busy highways and streets:)

Note: I just noticed that these photos are sooo much better when you click on them to enlarge them, if you want to see the plantings in more detail.


On one of my regular routes into nearby Champaign-Urbana, I kept noticing this median planting. Naturally, I never had my camera with me when it was in full bloom, but can you tell what's planted here? Yup, you're right--it's a mass of Stella d'Oro daylilies with a few orange tiger lilies bravely waving above them. When I first received some passalong Stellas quite a few years ago, I was thrilled with them, and I still do appreciate their prolific blooms in June. But somewhere along the line, they became the plant of choice for commercial plantings. It's easy to see why--they're low maintenance and multiply (and multiply!) each year. But surely whoever designs these commercial landscaping projects could get a little more creative . . .



. . . or at least plant them along with other plants. They seem to be a favorite for fast-food restaurants. The line at the McDonald's drive-through was busy this day, allowing me time to capture yet another photo of Stellas . . . and nothing else growing.

On the other hand, the local Humane Society is fronted by a mass planting of native prairie plants. They were in glorious bloom last week. I must admit when this garden is not in bloom, it looks like a patch of weeds, but I think the idea of native plants seems to fit the philosophy and purpose of the Humane Society.

Back in my small town, there are several good examples of how to plant public spaces. This median planting does contain some Stellas that are no longer blooming, but as you can see, there is a lot of variety here. Perennials and annuals are combined for all-season interest.

Since the long shot didn't show up well, here's a close-up of just one area. This area, along with several other places around town, is planted and maintained by a group of volunteers who meet monthly as the Village Gardeners. Sigh, no, I don't belong, though several people have invited me to join. It's one of those things I keep putting off, thinking how can I work in another garden if I can't keep up with my own? Maybe next year . . .

At the four-way stop on the "main drag" through town there are a few more plantings by this group. This square area has been planted in annuals the last few years. Although I'm a big fan of coleus, I'm not sure I like this mass planting of it, though you'll notice a few other flowers, including lantana at the borders. I talked to one of the Village members who assisted in planting this, and she told me that the different garden areas in town are assigned to different members who choose what they will plant. Last year this was a mass of pale pink supertunias, which was beautiful.

My favorite area, though, is just across the street from the coleus. This is primarily a perennial bed, with a few annuals planted each year. Every time I look at this, I see something different--today I noticed a magnificent orange bloom coming from the canna in the center. Sorry that there are cars in every photo--who would have thought this intersection would be so busy at 2:00 in the afternoon?? Apparently, no one worries about the price of gas anymore now that it's well below $3.00 a gallon:)

The Village Gardeners also maintain a few smaller beds around town as well as some large planters throughout the business district. Village workers keep the beds watered, which is a help, but otherwise they are completely maintained by volunteers. I think we're very lucky to have such a willing group, but my friend told me their numbers are dwindling. I really should join . . .

Lately, I have been enjoying my drives into town along country roads and highways. A few miles out of town there is a long stretch of tiger lilies, or "ditch lilies" as we usually call them, that have been blooming for a few weeks. I should have stood to the side of them to take this photo from a different angle, but they're along a busy two-lane highway with no space to pull off. As bad as this picture is, it was the best of the bunch. I took it while parked across the way in a cemetery . . . and I didn't want to stay too long:) My husband commented that in most cases wherever these lilies appear along the roadside there was once a farmstead. If you'd like to know more about these lilies, check out Marnie's latest post.

At one time roadsides were all neatly mowed, either by the county or state transportation department or by the landowner. But state cutbacks in funding and the price of fuel have reduced the amount of roadside mowing. Other areas are left to grow naturally for another reason as is this area full of milkweeds.

While we gardeners know that various species of milkweeds are an important food source for butterflies, this common milkweed is the bane of farmers. My summer job as a teenager was "walking beans" for my father, which meant pulling out all the weeds in a beanfield. It's taken me awhile to appreciate the beauty of a milkweed:)

As I said, the economy is not the only reason for less mowing of roadsides; we are seeing many more places like this around the area as people realize the importance of native plants, or what some people would consider weeds, to the balance of nature. These three photos were taken not far from my house on a recent plant expedition with Beckie. I asked her if she would mind if we stopped so I could take a few photos. Further down the road, she asked me to stop . . .

. . . a roadbank full of these pink flowers intrigued us. I carefully pulled off to the side of the busy country road so we could inspect these more closely. A kind woman driving by stopped to make sure we were okay. How nice of her, I thought, but I wonder what she must have thought of two women trekking through the ditch to look at wildflowers:) Beckie and I had our suspicions . . . could it be? . . .

A little hard to tell from the fading and curled up blooms, but Beckie and I both agreed this certainly looked like phlox pilosa to us, better known as Gail's "Perfectly Pink Phlox Pilosa"! Checking a website devoted to wildflowers in Illinois, I found that phlox pilosa, otherwise known as "prairie phlox," is a native in this area. This is the first year I have ever noticed it around here, though, and it is flourishing in quite a few areas. Don't tell anyone, but today I walked down the road with my spade and dug some up. It may not survive in my garden--it was hard to get all of the root---but I know where I can always find more, provided the prairie police don't stop me:)

I think I may have gotten off the subject of "Out on the Streets" a little, but my mind does tend to wander when I begin driving through the countryside. I spy a stray galliardia along the roadside and look up to see this . . .

Isn't this a riot of color? This is just down the road from the "Roadsides for Wildlife" pictured above and is planted next to the homeowner's lane. It's not a public planting or even an "au naturelle" area--obviously, the homeowner planted these coneflowers, brown-eyed Susans, galliardia, and lilies on purpose. But I love the way they look spilling down the embankment into the ditch. This was definitely my favorite place out on the streets and country byways.

Life's a journey, not a destination.

--Aerosmith

ABC Wednesday: Utterly Ordinary Plants

This week we have come to the letter U, which is for Ubiquitous . . .

. . . as in the Ubiquitous Stella d'Oro daylily.

Stellas can be seen everywhere these days in commericial plantings, from the curb in front of a business to even the drive-through at the local McDonald's. As a result, many gardeners refuse to plant these lovely lilies. It's too bad, really, because I love these plants! In fact, I even wrote a poem about them in a post last summer. They are easy to grow, bloom all summer, and provide an attractive green foliage when they're not blooming.



The problem with them in commercial landscaping that I can see is that they are often planted by themselves or are not taken care of properly. Sometimes you will see mass plantings of these lilies, but they look best when used as a border in front of other taller plants or interspersed in a variety of plants. It's easy to see why businesses might plant so many of these, because they are so easy to maintain. But they do need to be divided every few years; otherwise they become straggly and less attractive. My Stellas will be dug up next spring and divided, to be shared with the daughters-in-law.

Another plant that is becoming ubiquitous as well is the Knockout Rose. This is also understandable--this rose is so easy to grow! I had no intention of growing roses when I first started gardening several years ago, but my daughters gave me two of these as a birthday gift that year. I was appreciative and found room in the flowerbed for them, but I was very doubtful I could keep them alive. Five years later these beauties are still going strong, surviving sub-zero Illinois winters, drought, yearly attacks by voracious Japanese beetles, and two clumsy transplantings. They don't need special rose food, cones during the winter, or careful pruning. While their flowers are not as spectacular or fragrant as the hybrid tea roses, they're the perfect rose for a non-fussy gardener like me.

And who doesn't recognize the common geranium? Several years ago I was reading an article about container planting in which the writer expressed his disdain for the ubiquitous geraniums and vinca vines stuck in pots. Mea culpa. I've since learned a lot about container planting and experiment each year with new varieties of plants and new combinations. But there will always be room somewhere for these tried-and-true beauties.

There is a reason these plants are seen everywhere. They all provide long-lasting blooms with a minimum of fuss. Another ubiquitous flower I've omitted is the petunia; other than the wave petunias, though, I don't plant these anymore. But the three I've listed here are flowers that will always be seen in my garden, even if they are "ordinary."

The saguaro cactus is a plant not seen outside of the Sonoran Desert area but is certainly ubiquitous in Arizona, which is where I've been for the past week. I've had little time for blogging while here (most of this post was written quickly before I left), but I've taken lots of pictures and will have much to share with you when I return. And I hope to catch up with everyone's posts this weekend.

ABC Wednesdays are brought to you by Mrs. Nesbitt's Place and the ABC Anthology.

GBBD: A Sonnet for Stella

Sonnet I (For Stella)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love you from the breadth of your bright green foliage,

Waving in the breeze every summer day,

To the depth of your trumpet-shaped flowers that reach for the sun

And beckon the nearby bee to search for nourishment within.

I love you for your constancy:

While others show a flash of beauty and then fade away,

You are there from June to September.

I love you for your understanding: whether rain pounds you

Or the gardener neglects you, you forgive and never fail.

While others may call you ubiquitous or a cliche,
You are always welcome here.

And when your time is done, the green remains,

Growing ever stronger, doubling my joys in years to come.

(With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and to any poetry purists who notice this sonnet neither rhymes nor has iambic pentameter.)

On this June Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day Stella d'Oro is the rising star in my garden. Her blooms just began to appear this past week, and, as you can see in the photos, her real show is still a few days away. While Stella is the most popular of all the hemerocallis, there are so many new hybrids in many different hues. I would love to have some of these, particularly the pink, but Stella has grown so large this year I will have to divide her up this fall or next spring. Planting other varieties would require more garden space, which means . . .more digging. I'll have to think about that.

Stella has been in my garden from the beginning, but a new star on the scene is the "Oranges and Lemons" gaillardia in the expanded roadside bed. This is a fairly new variety, I believe, that promises to "bloom profusely throughout the season." We'll see if it fulfills that promise. I'm just thankful it is blooming at all and didn't get pneumonia from the wet feet it had for a week.

An old standby is my yarrow, Achillea "Appleblossom" (I think). This will bloom all season long. In fact, I usually shear it off a couple times during the summer, and it just comes back and back. I'm glad I knew its nature before planting it and planted it next to some large landscape rocks with boundaries to contain it.

Another new plant that has been blooming since I bought it this spring is this Rozanne geranium. I finally planted it in its permanent home, and it seems to be adjusting rather well.

The Knockout roses looked much better last week when I captured a photo of "the perfect rose" for a post. Even though they look a little blowsy right now, they will rebloom all summer long right into fall.

I wish I had taken some photos last week of some of my other flowers. Though they are still blooming right now, the first blooms are withering and not as colorful as they were earlier. These include a "Walker's Low" nepeta...

and a "May Night" salvia as well as "East Friesland" salvias (not pictured)....

The clematis, which I believe is a Nelly Moser, still has some tenacious blooms hanging on.

This is a great time for gardening. While some flowers have lost that first blush, they will be back soon. And other plants are budding, ready to take center stage for awhile. These include my original "Endless Summer" hydrangeas...

...and my first love, the purple coneflower.

Wishing you all lots of blooms to enjoy.

And a Happy Father's Day to any dads out there reading this (and those that aren't).

A special wish to my own dad who is a young 82!

And a happy birthday to a little princess, my granddaughter who turns 5 today.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Gardens; visit her to see more of what is blooming in everyone's garden this June.