Since I barely have time to even notice plants as I drive by them on my daily rounds, it's fun to slow down and get a good look. I thoroughly enjoy the view from the seat of my bicycle as I travel around the neighborhood and up and down the alleys. Front yards, like living rooms are for public display, but what you find in the back yard more truly reflects the plant connections made by the occupants of the house.
In my part of town, the houses date mostly from the 1930's and 40's. The garages and parking pads are on the alley. This arrangement leads to all sorts of odd corners and crannies for plant growing - both intentional and Mother Nature's choice.
Most of the color just now comes from what I call Alley Bellflower. Actually it is Campanula rapunculoides, a native of Europe that the settlers brought with them to ease their homesickness. Thinking back on that past association as well as enjoying its slender blue spikes can almost make me forget that it is a pernicious weed in my flower beds. I've seen shady, unkept yards where it has taken over and, at this season, could make the most neglectful homeowner look good. It is blooming everywhere there is a foothold. I even see its bright blue among the orange daylilies. The other star is Hemerocallis fulva, the old-fashioned orange daylily. It and a few of its descendants are the runners in the clan. In my zone 6 past life, I knew it as the Ditch Lily because there it fills roadside ditches with its blooms and holds the soil solidly against storm water flows. I reflect that you can eat daylilies too. These two are here because they are strong, adaptable survivors that go about their business in life in spite of us. My own plants, carefully set out and nurtured, are looking sad. The excess water - last evening my rain gauge said that this piece of ground received almost 3.5 inches of rain in two days -has caused my carefully composed groundcover tapestry to lose all its Lamium. It has simply melted away. Only one clump remains. It is the one nearest the oak tree next door and must usually compete with it for moisture in my sandy soil. Just now, I think that might be a blessing for the Lamium.
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