Garden proof of inability to resist a new bloom

<p>I stole a few hours to work in the garden today before the rain came.</p><p>As I removed the dead stalks from the Baptisia Australis, I remembered the first time I learned of this tough native perennial, also known as Blue Wild Indigo. I was touring Johnson County Garden Club member Wilma Rasdall’s magnificent gardens years ago, when she showed me her luscious clump of three-foot tall purple blooms.</p><p>She said something matter-of-factly like: “You MUST have this in your garden.” Wilma was absolutely correct and I now grow this purple-spired Baptisia from a start from her garden, in addition to Baptisia ‘Lemon Meringue’ and Baptisia ‘Cherries Jubilee’ which has a yellow inner keel and maroon buds, which become a muted orange/rust color as the flowers age. An added bonus is that they attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds and the flowers are followed by large clusters of showy seed pods that rattle in the breeze after they mature and dry out.</p><p>When I passed the Monarda, another native plant that attracts pollinators with it’s bright red and pink firework-looking flowers, I could smell the wonderful leaf-scent of oregano with hints of mint and thyme. Another start from Yvonne Snyder, who told me: “You’ll love this Bee Balm,” and I have.</p><p>I believe Doris Winton of Winton’s Iris Hill in Franklin who specialize in Iris, Daylilies, Hosta, peonies, coneflowers and many variety of perennials has her stamp all over my gardens. I think of her every year when I look out my front bay window and see the 30 healthy Hosta ‘Golden Tiara” lining both sides of my curved front walkway. I could never resist her: “Oh, you’ll love this one” — and she was always right.</p><p>I was in Tennessee at a Bible Bowl competition with my youngest daughter in 2012, when fellow Bible-Bowl and Greenwood mom Sherry Weir asked: “I was talking to my sister Carol (Michel) and she’s got a lead on some Empress Wu Hostas — they’re supposed to be gigantic — do you want her to get one for you, they’re $17.” I surely did!</p><p>Carol Michel fed my growing Hostaholicism. Hosta ‘Xanadu Empress Wu’ is a fast-growing plant that grows to 50-inches high and spreads 108 inches or more. It was registered by Virginia and Brian Skaggs of Indiana in 2008. It was also granted a U.S. patent in 2010. I may have more than six, but only because I was researching where they would best grow.</p><p>Carol will be presenting today at 9:30 a.m.: “Ready, Set, Garden — Planning the Best Garden Ever.”</p><p>Maybe I’ll see many of you garden-lovers today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. The Johnson County Garden Club and the Purdue Master Garden Club of Johnson County are hosting their 15th Garden Celebration in Scott Hall at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. With more than 50 vendors, free gardening seminars, and a free tree while supplies last, it’s well worth the $2 admission.</p>