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Annie in Austin
Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
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Monday, March 19, 2007

That Ten-Petalled Anemone

Several commenters asked questions about that Anemone heterophylla shown in the bloom day post. I took another photo once this morning's drizzle let up.

Here's the Ten-petalled Anemone with more of the foliage visible. These leaves sure do resemble columbine's leaves, maybe because both Aquilegia/Columbines and Anemones are in the Ranunculus/Buttercup Family? This time I included a ruler for scale - it's a very petite flower! They look cute in the grass, but are not going to compete with the kind of Anemones you buy from bulb dealers in the fall, like Anemones de Caen or St. Brigid.

Since the 15th more flowers have opened.
The Lady Banks yellow rose is completely full of buds and has opened a few blossoms. I kept this rose in a series of ever-larger containers for about 5 years, then last summer finally planted it next to the patio arch. It isn't an repeat flowering rose, blooming just once a year in spring. It also comes with the warning that growth can be rampant, but I don't care. This is one of those plants often mentioned in garden books, and occasionally seen on the Southern segments of the Victory Garden show on PBS. So for me, growing it is a kind of statement of place - that I live here now.
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These iris were all just buds on the fifteenth, but look at them now!

The Iris buds burst open on Sunday morning - both the simple, rather small white iris, frequently seen as a passalong - and the larger, more ruffled, slightly fragrant pale orange variety. There's another bud on the mystery iris which froze in the ice storm , and if this one opens, I'll show it to you.

16 comments:

  1. I looove Lady Banks Rose. I love those huge sprays of tiny rose flowers. And the color is nice too... sort of off-white. Eggy, maybe. All too brief a seaon.

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  2. Lady Banks rose is so worth it, even for a short bloom season. I had an old one in my previous garden and loved it.

    I like your irises too, especially the petite white ones.

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  3. I love that little anemone. Where did I read that only in spring do we make the biggest fuss over the smallest flowers? Elizabeth Lawrence, perhaps? And now when I see irises, I'm reminded of Henry Mitchell's obsession with them. Yours are lovely, soft-looking, and very appropriate for spring!

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  4. My Lady Banks doesn't even have buds yet. I've always wanted a white one, but have only seen them in a nursery once. Everything in my garden is running late compared to yours... my irises are only just beginning to produce buds.

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  5. that anemone is soo cute-but that pinky/peach iris is very nice!
    Do you have much trouble with iris?
    Some of the garden design books say to stay away because of ratty leaves, but your always look gorgeous!!

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  6. Lady Banks rose? I hope your secateurs are sharp and ready to do a spot of heavy pruning once this rose gallops away. ;-)

    Lovely Irises already in flower. Very pretty both the white ones and the soft apricot one. And there's a mystery bud as well? You're spoiling us. :-)

    Don't keep us in suspense too long, will you?

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  7. It looks like you have the same garden arch I do.
    I love the Lady Banks. Please take a picture when it is in full bloom. I can't wait to see it.

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  8. Chuck and Pam/Digging, it's good to know I'm not alone in thinking she deserves a space! The blooms look very pale yellow to me now. Pam - I can share both those white iris and the pale orange if you want some.

    Carol, whoever said it, it's true! I always liked the HM quote, "the grubbiest gardeners are usually the ones who go wild for the most delicate daffodils..."

    R Sorrell, isn't that odd, since Pam's stuff is so far ahead of mine? My few surviving buds of Texas Mountain Laurel are just opening now.

    Sissy, that iris likes this garden - it didn't look so pretty at our last house. I groom them, pulling off the dead leaves once in awhile. I like Iris leaves mixed into borders for the spikey quality.

    Yolanda Elizabet, this baby has been pruned heavily each year after flowering. The final container was quite large allowing the Lady Banks to reach about 8-feet tall, 4-feet wide last spring.

    I doubt the next iris will be that exciting, but I'll try for a photo.

    Chigiy, this was a big box clearance item around 2000, bought to hold Christmas lights. It came in handy when we moved here in 2004, and with no deer, could plant vines and roses to climb on it.

    Annie

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  9. Annie, the Iris is my favorite. I can't get enough of them. Right now I'm kind of disgusted after we had two heavy frosts over the weekend and ate up the canna, hydrandeas, and ferns. I'll just go out and buy some Iris!

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  10. Ooh, I'd love a division or two of the white iris. (The peach is gorgeous too, but space is tight and pastels are rare in my garden.) Thank you!

    Sissy, throw out those garden books that advise staying away from irises. Like Annie, I enjoy those sword-like leaves mixed among other plants well after the flowers have faded.

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  11. I can't get enough of your iris. please keep taking photos.

    Also... I've tagged you for a meme (sorry)

    http://tinyurl.com/3anp7w

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  12. Boy, your irises are sure ahead of mine! I still really like that little anemone - what a sweet flower. Oh - and Lady Banks is really popular here too, it definitely screams 'south'!

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  13. The ten-petalled anemone looks better and better to me. I'll add it to my list of must have along with the Anemonella and Thalictrum.

    The irises look just great. I'm partial to white flowers so the white ones look great and are floriferous to boot, although the larger salmon pink one makes them look plain by comparison-looks like a dress a bridesmaid would wear.

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  14. The ten-petalled anemone is adorable. I love the pale orange iris ...

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  15. Oh Mary, not the hydrangeas! Sometimes the iris are frozen, too...but grow them anyway!

    Pam, the iris needs division and some will be yours.

    Clerk, I only have a few kinds in this garden, sorry! The meme is done.

    Pam, Ki, and Kate, the iris are blooming later than last year! The bridesmaid reference is too true.

    I looked up the anemone and it says zone 6B, but with alkaline to mildly acid soil.

    The iris color is much like orange sherbet in real life, and it has a light citrus fragrance.

    Annie

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  16. Thanks for more on the dear little anemone. I've recently discovered while searching out wildflowers, how big the Ranunculus/Buttercup family is.
    I love your Lady Banks yellow rose. Perhaps I'll find a climber this year that will decide to live in our yard.
    Your iris is looking so fresh and springy. I have a peach ruffled named Beverly Sills. The white is crisp and clean. Just beautiful.

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