Is white truly a color?

Sedum nevii

There is something about having grown a plant for years (in this case rather poorly) and then suddenly you find the perfect spot, the spring was perfect and PRESTO! It does what you always dream it would. This happened with this rare Southeastern sedum... I remember sending seed into the exchanges once and getting a threatening letter from a Government agency asking how we obtained it! Makes it all the more desirable don't you think?



Yes, white flowers...I seem to have a lot of them. These are all pictures taken the last few days. Vita would understand. But my ex (a pretty good designer too) thought they were colorless and didn't like them. She'd hate the garden now--bristling with whiteness!

I know, I know the pink Senecio is bright, but made all the brighter next to the Saxifrage's whiteness...

Onosma 'nanum'

 I've grown this time and again under this name. Not sure I buy the name, but the plant is awesome! And white...

Bergeranthus jamesii 'white'

I saw bushels of this species in the East Cape--invariably yellow. Strangely enough the yellow form died out on me, but this white form persists!

Lilium martagon 'Album'

 Likewise my purple Martagons were devastated by a hailstorm and haven't come back, but the whites have!

There are oodles of pink, red or yellow prickly pears. I notice I'm growing several whites!

Orlaya grandiflora

 High on my list of favorite annuals, I never seem to have enough of this Greek gem. It has come back faithfully. At Mike Kintgen's garden right now it's unspeakably showy. You need to invite yourself over there!

Mike Bone and I collected this Ferula in Kazakhstan. It's regrettably monocarpic, but does self sow: this year, it's incredibly showy growing out of a wall at home...

Osteospermum 'Avalanche'

I haven't caught this in full bloom--but even half closed (a cloud passed over) this South African perennial is amazing. When it's open it's almost blinding! This one is at the Garden--and was unfazed by the devastating hail storm we had a few weeks ago. Take note!

I see these East Asian lilacs here and there around town. I think I need one. (I love the sign too)

Verbascum bombyciferum

I know the flowers are yellow, but the plant is emphatically white. I scattered millions of seed to get this puny stand out west of my house. SOME people think it is a weed. Some people need to get a grip.

Aruncus 'Zwiweltkind', Beta trigyna, Ligusticum scoticum

My shade garden would be dull indeed if it wasn't for the outrageous white plumes this time of year...

Onopordon acanthium

 I should have plucked the larkspur,which sullies the whiteness of one of my favorite weeds (I do deadhead, don't get your undies in a bundle)...notice how different the white is from the yucca beyond...

Yucca elata

 Inexorably swallowing up vast swaths of my garden, this yucca blends white with green in a fetching way...

The white phase of Dicentra formosa (I believe 'Purity' is the correct cultivar name) is a must have for the shade. Blooms for months!

All those colors are swell, but look how the Centaurea upstages them! If you've never read Moby Dick, you should do so: his chapter on whiteness is a tour-de-force.

All around the Denver area, Yucca glauca is blooming splendiferously this year. It does most years, but some better than others. I think we should declare a public holiday and go worship them! This I photographed this morning at my bank...

This a few days ago, near the yoga studio that's kept me from falling utterly apart. Hurray for white flowers! I celebrate and honor you, and love you in the full glare of day, but especially at dusk or dawn when you glow with an unearthly light that haunts and delights poets, moths and other dreamy sorts. But not my ex. She hates them!