Garden Pic Wednesday: Hot Poker

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 Welcome back!
Finally got the guest room all cleaned and put in order.
I planted my tomatoes I took so much trouble to raise indoors outside, but they promptly keeled over and didn't take. :(
So I planted seeds in those spots and, at my Mother's suggestion, covered them with milk cartons cut for the purpose. You leave the cap off and it creates something of a terrerium enviroment. The seed is new, so maybe I'll come back to some baby tomatoes growing under there.

Today's Garden Picture of the Day is of a type of lily
called a "Hot Poker."

It gets that name for it's coloration.
The tiny unopened blossoms are orange and the open are yellow. As they open, the yellow color progresses upward.


 
(That bit of blue in the foreground is Sea Holly.)
 
I bought a bag of Hot Poker roots from Walmart last spring and this one is the first of them to bloom.
I have another Hot Poker plant that I ordered from a catalog many years ago that is green and sprawling, but has never once bloomed! Go figure.
The reason I wanted Hot Poker lilies in my garden is because they're tolerant of drought and any soil type, which means they don't require much in the way of attention.
They're also perennial and, here, the greenery just winters over.
The general theory in choosing garden landscape is to consider what takes a lot of watering and what doesn't, then to try to plant a balance with a bit more emphasis on what doesn't need constant watering.
That's why I like all my hibisus, hostas, daylilies, Easter lillies, hot pokers, sea holly, cannas, grasses, siberian iris, succulents and various shrubs and herbs because they thrive by themselves regardless of rain or heat.
This way I only need to water what's in pots and my vegetable garden.
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In other news: I was quite excited today to received notice that one of one of my "Walk by Faith" phone covers was purchased! Yay!

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Be sure and come back for the Mama Kat Prompt tomorrow!

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