surprise flowers

[Lavandula Girl]

Don't you just love when a flower in the garden surprises you somehow? My daughter got me a gladiolus mix to plant this spring - 10 bulbs, I think, in a mix of colors. Something dug a few of them up, and the few that were blooming, while pretty, were the typical colors. Then this morning the last one started to flower.... it's much taller than the others, and completely white, even the anthers are snow white. There is just one little eyelash thin stripe of lilac in the throat of each bloom.... it's stunning! What a wonderful surprise... have you ever been awed by something you put in the garden just because it was available? Do tell!

[Joan]

I love garden surprises - that is mother nature giving us a reward!
Years ago I planted a butterfly bush and it just died back (maybe I moved it too many times!) Well this year low and behold I have a butterfly bush growing and keep wondering how it got where it did! Nice surprise tho!

[flowerpower]

What a great surprise! Store the white corm and its babies in a separate bag to keep track of them.

I thought 2 of my roses didn't make it last winter. Cut them all the way to the ground. I just noticed new growth on 1. The other is actually getting a rose even though it is only 6 in high. That is a nice surprise!

[johno]

About 25 - 30 years ago, when I was a child, I uprooted some irises from a field and planted them at my parents' house. They have been growing and showing their purple flowers reliably ever since - until this year. One pure white one appeared this summer. It really stood out in the crowd! I'm hoping that it multiplies so I can plant some of this surprise iris at my house next year.

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

The irises I referred to in my other post are my happy surprise...I haven't seen them bloom, but they were offered to me by someone and I'm not really a big iris fan, but I took them because they were there and also were handed down through her family which I thought was neat. Anyway, I lost a friend (a different one from the one who gave me the flowers) this summer who always brought her iris blooms into her office from home, they scented the whole floor and smelled divine. Whenever I see irises I think of her. So I'm glad I planted them in my garden, they are especially welcome now.

[bluelacedredhead]

Some 25+ years ago, as a single mother, I purchased a tiny little frame farmhands cottage from an elderly woman. The closest neighbour it turned out was also in her 90's and housebound due to a broken hip. Her son-in-law only asked one thing of me in terms of cleaning up the yard right after I moved in. That was, to get rid of a 50 year old rotting workbench that posed an eyesore for his MIL when she looked out over the yards from her kitchen table..
I readily complied with their wishes, and chopped back some weedy looking vine from underneath the bench.
Next spring, to all our surprise and delight, that viney looking weed that had been growing along the ground underneath the workbench turned out to be a beautiful and bright blooming forsythia bush!!

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

This isn't what you asked for, planting something b/c it was available, but it is a happy surprise so I thought I'd post it. My husband got me three rosebushes for my birthday through mail-order, and one of them is called "Corvedale." I chose them all myself, so I was really really excited, but this particular one did not seem happy in the least. It really made my heart sink whenever I thought of it or looked at it, seemingly languishing outside the kitchen window. Of course I spend half the day looking out the kitchen window as I wash dishes, so my heart was sinking a good deal of the time. Anyway, it seems to have finally taken hold, bucked up, and gotten used to its new home, and as it has filled out I just love this rose more and more. I chose it for the beautiful flowers, but almost as nice, or possibly even better, is the amazing and unique habit of the shrub. I've never seen anything like it. I wish I was good enough at computer stuff to post a picture, but I'm not. It's kind of branchy and low, very very delicate with pretty little leaves and very dainty but strong branches. Everything, leaves & flowers, look like they are just floating in the air. I love it and it makes me so happy! Has anyone else grown this rose? Is yours the same way, if so? I want to get more of them and put them all over the property :)

[Lillian Osborne]

Oh My!

Where did you find such a beauty as 'Corvedale?'
Is it also, by any chance, fragrant?

[Joan]

Lavendula I hope you post a pic of the Corvedale this summer. It sounds beautiful. I love roses but can't grow them well in this area.

[Lavandula Girl]

I'd love to, but that rose isn't mine... it belongs to IPMHW. I've had rose issues here - I could grow them just fine in WA, but they don't seem to like my yard here. :(