Flower Oddities

I've planted lots of perennials since moving to this house. 35, to be exact. Though most of them seem to be not exactly flourishing, at least like they are making an effort to dig in and get established. That's the thing with perennials. They don't look like much the first year, but each after, they get bigger and bigger.

Along the way, there have been a few surprises. The first is this echinacea. I bought it last summer and brought it to Washington, still in its pot. It's been flowering beautifully this year.

But the other day I noticed this flower that decided to have a rectangular center instead of a circular one.

Another surprise was this "Shasta Daisy" that I bought at a plant sale put on by area master gardeners. The sale was in April, so nothing was blooming yet, but this little daisy seemed to nice and healthy.

Except it wasn't a daisy of any kind. When it bloomed, it was a cluster of purple tubular flowers!

I have no idea what this flower is, but it is very pretty.

I also picked up a red dahlia tuber at the plant sale. This tuber sat out in the open air and sunshine for at least six weeks before I planted it, so I was thrilled that it sprouted. Except its leaves don't look very dahlia-y to me. Maybe because it's been so long since I've seen a dahlia in bloom, it doesn't look familiar. I'm curious to see what the flowers will look like.

And finally, here is the beginnings of my Anna Hope memorial garden. It is very small compared to the first garden, but I was happy I was able to bring some offspring of the original plants from Idaho and that they now growing here.

I also ordered some plants from my favorite plant website, High Country Gardens. This Sweet Joann penstemon was the first of the new additions to bloom.