November 1, 2011---blue gentian!

I discovered blue gentian blooming in the garden yesterday; what a thrill! Louise Witherspoon gave me the plant last fall, and I planted it with little expectation it would survive. (Both Louise and I marveled that she had bought the plant for almost nothing at Lowe's; talk about finding a treasure in an unxpected place!) I completely forgot about it over the summer, then, while weeding yesterday, there it was standing strong among impatiens that had melted away in the cold. Would one of its flowers hold up if I cut it and brought it inside?  It seems so, becasue the flowers I cut look as perky this morning as they did yesterday afternoon.  Such an incredibly beautiful blue. Beside the gentian, to the right, is an osage orange; to the left, parsley.