I discovered Flower Friday last year while visiting Lorilin@Bugbugbooks and have been having a blast sharing some flower pictures and information. Please check out Lorilin’s blog if you haven’t already for book reviews and more!
Today’s Flower is:
Spiderwort
These are considered a wildflower, but I always thought they were weeds.
They come up every year and we’re always finding new plants.
I’ve always loved these flowers and they come up all over the place. The issue is that they come up wherever they want in the landscaping and around my greenhouse. I used to pull them, but now I just leave them.
The nice thing is that they can handle the heat and drought. It’s hard to kill these and they’re so beautiful, aren’t they?
The leaves are narrow blades and often twisty-like.
- Scientific name: Tradescantia occidentalis
- Family: Commelinaceae
- Higher classification: Spiderworts
- This flower is native to the United States
- Perennial in zones 4-9
Here are some other pictures of what’s blooming right now and also a few foods I’m growing. I thought I’d share an update of the winter rose unfrozen too. It’s finished blooming now. This picture is from a few weeks ago.
The ferns are looking happy.
More lupines coming up…
Apple mint’s coming in nicely. I’ll be sharing a tea for this one soon.
We are harvesting kale and collard greens every other day from the greenhouse. I still have a lot of flowers I need to get in the ground like these poor hollyhocks growing in cups.
The greenhouse is sort of a mess. I still need to set the blocks in for the walkway, but I might just wait until fall now that the heat is here. Here’s a picture from like a week ago. I uploaded a picture from yesterday just underneath so you can see how fast everything is growing.
The kale is growing so well right now and despite the heat, it still tastes great. The beets and lettuce are growing well, but the weeds are too. 🙂
The yarrow is starting to bloom. I’ll share a post on this later.
The oregano is just about ready for harvest and will bloom very soon.
The roses are starting to bloom.
Napa cabbage for salads. Super easy to grow from seed.
Cilantro’s ready and some has already started to bolt.
That’s all I’ll share for now. What do you have growing this year? Please feel free to share! I hope everyone has a great weekend! ❤
I wish we had spiderwort. So pretty! Love this post. I would love to have a greenhouse. We haven’t planted any veggies yet, and I am not sure if we will this year. Lots of flowers are getting ready to bloom. Two of my favorites, hydrangea and calla lilies! Happy weekend, M! 💓💗💖
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I can send you some seeds later in the season if you want! I’ve seen people take a bunch and plant them together. They look really nice. Ours are sporadic, but we still love them.
I hear you on the veggies. We took a much-needed break last year and I really hope it’s not going to get too dry and hot this summer. It just complicates everything. It’s already looking that way really, but I’m hopeful we’ll get more rain.
I don’t have any calla lilies and must get some! They are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing those. Have a great weekend, sweet friend! ❤ XOXO
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We have been so hot this spring! Summer temps with no break in sight. If it’s not too much trouble, I would love that! I have a funny story about my callas! That may inspire me to do a Flower Friday post to tell it?! They are not hard to grow, but in thunderstorms and rain, the stems will fall over. I am always staking it! Again, hope your weekend is great. Love and hugs! Xo ❤
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Yes! That’s what it’s been like here too. It’s back down to normal for now and hope the same goes for you soon. I can’t stand it when it’s super hot like that.
I think you should do Flower Friday for sure! That would be so fun. I’d love to hear your lily story too! 😁 Those remind me of a fairy flower or something like that. So beautiful. I can see why you don’t want them to fall over! 💖💜💖
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Oooh I have never seen these before! They are really pretty! What makes something a wildflower vs a weed? I think dandelions are considered weeds? but they have flowers?
I really really like the blue color of these! Great pics 🙂
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Thanks! I guess in order to be a weed, they have to produce thousands of seeds and proliferate easily. So like dandelions are an excellent example, plus they can survive in a drought easily due to their long taproot. Also, weed seeds can go dormant for years and still sprout. It’s interesting! 😙💖
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I love your flower and garden posts. I hope to get my veggie garden planted this weekend. I am getting there.
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Thanks, Carla! That means the world to me. I hope you get your garden in this weekend. I still have some plants to get in the ground too. Really looking forward to cucumbers this year.
Hope everything is going good for you! 💖❤💖
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I got the roto-tilling done today, planting tomorrow. Woo hoo! Doing great. Hope all is well with you as well.
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Excited! I hope you’re enjoying every minute. 😉😙 All is good right now since the heat has died back down for a few days! 💜
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Oh gosh that Spiderwort is lovely. I’m just picturing them in a children’s book all lanky and walking around 😄
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Isn’t it pretty? I love the way they look when planted in bunches. I could totally see these used in a children’s book too! Great idea. 😙💖 Enjoy your weekend, Nina.
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Thanks! You have a good one too!
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Wow!! Everything looks so wonderful!! I don’t even know where to start. I love your greenhouse. I wish I had fresh kale and collards growing!! And all of the beautiful flowers!! Look at that Lupine!! And I think the spiderwort is lovely even though it grows wildly. Fabulous job!!
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Laurie, you are so sweet! Thank you. 😙❤❤❤ Kale and collards are so easy to grow. Do you garden? If you haven’t tried these at home you should. So rewarding I promise. 😉 Hope you’re having a good weekend.
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Unfortunately I’m not a gardener, Mischenko. I don’t do well out in the heat. I used to do container gardening. But I’m a wimp, and the heat and bugs did me in. 😂
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Love the color of the spiderwort. I always plant basil in the summer, but it’s just not taking off this year. I tried cilantro one year, and it didn’t survive even a couple of weeks. Envious of your green thumb!
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I really love it too. I guess you can’t ever have enough blue and purple in the garden! My phone pics don’t really do it justice.
Did you try growing cilantro indoors? I’m not sure what your climate is like.
Thanks for your sweet comments. I’m an average gardener honestly. So much to learn! I’m just hopeful well have a productive year. 💛💙💛 Take care.
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I haven’t tried it indoors – maybe that would help. I’m in western KY – hot, humid, and dry conditions most of the summer. Maybe I should grow the basil indoors also?
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The Spiderwort looks just like what we called ‘milk week’s when we were growing up. When you break the stalk there’s a milk white liquid that comes out. Wonder if they’re one in the same. Beautiful pics and I love the look of the greenhouse. Nice post!
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I don’t think we have purple spiderwort around here. I think it’s lovely. I don’t have any garden space because my landlord forbids it, so I love seeing other bloggers’ gardens. 🌿
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