Flower Fest - F for Fringe Tree

Life has been very hectic lately. And the Holiday Season is also upon us, making this the busiest season at work, too. So much to do, not enough hours in the day. Because of this and the wonderful weather we're having - not! - it's zero F (yes! F! not C!) and we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground - I am not featuring a Colorado wildflower for Flower Fest - F. Instead, I have for you the beautiful Fringe Tree.

Chionanthus virginicus, also known as the Old Man's Beard, sports fragrant white flowers with fringe-like petals. The Chinese Fringe Tree is wonderful to have on small lots as it does not grow taller than 10-15 feet. In the wild, it can grow up to 30 feet.

I took these pictures at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, last summer.

This is my entry for the letter F in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is F. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, fringe tree, Chionanthus virginicus, old man's beard

Flower Fest - E for Erigeron peregrinus

Erigeron peregrinus. Sounds quite royal, doesn't it? In a way it is.
These are flowers that grow near the top of the world, almost! They are subalpine daisies, also known as subalpine fleabanes, found in montane to subalpine meadows. I saw these teeny beauties when we went camping at the Moraine Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park in the middle of September. We got snowed out on that trip and I was truly amazed to see small patches of color on the ground, despite the weather. A closer look revealed these gorgeous teeny daisies. If you click through to the larger image, you will be able to see the ice on the flower.

Subalpine daisies are part of the Asteraceae family, the second largest family in flowering plants. Also known as the Wandering daisy, this wildflower is found mainly in the western parts of North America.

Erigeron peregrinus blooms are between 1/16th of an inch to 2 inches in diameter. The flowers I saw were all under 1 inch. These plants can be annuals, biennials or perennials. The photo below shows how easy it is to miss seeing these flowers! Yes, that is elk poo, works as a natural fertilizer, I am sure!

I was very worried that I would not be able to find a Colorado Wildflower for Flower Fest - E. I was also worried that I may have to pick up a set of watercolor pencils and try my hand at a watercolor. But, a deep perusal of my digital images and the help of SW Colorado Wildflowers' web site, I found my entry for E!

This is my entry for the letter E in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is E. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Erigeron peregrinus, subalpine daisy, subalpine fleabane, wandering daisy, wildflower

Flower Fest - D for Delosperma Cooperi

A hardy perennial, originally from South Africa, the Delosperma cooperi is an evergreen succulent that is about the only plant that I have successfully grown since moving to Colorado! I hope I am not saying this too soon as we still have the winter ahead of us! Maybe it's because they tolerate heat very well and do not need much water. Perfect candidate for a xeric garden, just what we need in Colorado!


I have the cultivar known as the Hardy Pink Ice Plant in my little rock garden. The pink blooms are more a metallic deep shade of magenta than pink. These little beauties are late-risers and open up every morning by about 10 a.m. - well, they used to do that before the last winter storm dumped about 10 inches of snow on us! They retire early, too, with the sun.

The dainty flowers are about 2 inches in diameter and the plants grow to about 6 inches in height. The leaves are long and cylindrical in shape, almost like slim but fleshy fingers! Cuttings of these leaves will take root and spawn new plants. They do also propagate by seed.



This is my entry for the letter D in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is D. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Delosperma cooperi, hardy ice plant, xeric