Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, May 9

The pink flower is Bletilla striata, a terrestrial orchid. I planted it years ago and can't remember what the bare root looked like. I've seen it described as a root, pseudobulb or a tuber. Breck's calls it a rhizome. It is pretty dependable and not really fussy,. The plant does spread slowly but a single plant will eventually grow to more.

I love that little flower. The middle looks ruffled. I used to have some, in part shade. The rhizomes sometimes stuck out above ground. They were green.

There is also a white version of the flower.

The blue flower is Sisyrinchium angustifolium, blue eyed grass. and is a native perennial in most of the US. It's actually not a grass, it belongs to the Iris family. I was a little surprised to see it come back; I had just planted this past summer and not only were temps really low this winter it's planted in a corner that sometimes pools water. The clump is doing surprisingly well!

Lirio100

Glad you are having success with this one. Wonder who named it?

Thanks for sending in the great photos!

Last month, we posted some photos of small flowers from Don in Kansas. Today, how about some larger ones? Be sure to click over on the link to see all of them and larger photos.

Other colors, plus the photo gallery and cultural notes, especially if you live anywhere near Kansas or grow any of these plants or penstemons

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

May is Mango Month

Mahachanok mango is known for its very slender stone, allowing for a substantial amount of edible fruit

pic.twitter.com/rignOBoLpo

— Science girl (@sciencegirl) March 19, 2026

But when's the last time you thought about tamarinds?

Recent study reveals that tamarind may help remove microplastics from body.

Microplastics are now found in blood, lungs, and even the placenta — raising urgent health concerns worldwide.

But a new lab study has given hope: tamarind, a fruit commonly used in South Asian and… pic.twitter.com/A257y5TwLB

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 9, 2026

Planting watermelon this year?

Satisfying fruit cutting 🍉🍈🍍 pic.twitter.com/6IHsKTvywy

— exsasgeneration (@exsasgeneration) May 8, 2026

Design

Interesting

Only in Japanpic.twitter.com/0f3oolJv8o

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 8, 2026

22 Rare Historic American House Styles (And Why We Stopped Building Them)

I am familiar with some of these. How about you?

Gardens of The Horde

Unfortunately, the big news around these parts is our annual flooding. Between intense rain soaking the ground, and my neighbor's pond overflow discharging through my yard (allowed, as my yard has a creek, so it's the natural drainage or somesuch), it's a bit soupy.

I have a couple native plum that have more blooms, and are more fragrant, than I recall from past years, so maybe we'll see some fruit, as they're only a few years old. We have one nice little cherry tree that produced several pounds of cherries last year, and things look good so far.

Finally, I think this is a redbud along my normal walking path. Color is pretty striking.

Intrepid Liaison/Admiral Ackbar

Sorry about the flooding. Thanks for the great photos!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, May 2

I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.