These haven't bloomed well for 3 seasons, the rains are making up for it
In all the recent rains which we wish would end soon, the plants are taking advantage of the cooler weather and drenched soil. For the first time there are blooms on the elephant ears, something we haven't ever seen in our yard.
97 comments:
We've experienced some of this, too. Our elephant ears are going dormant due to the cold weather. Weve dipped overnight into the 30's. Many plants are thriving, however.
Your plants are gorgeous. I've not gotten any flowers on the elepant ears, and no roses (don't have any). love those framed photos. Perhaps you should enlarge print and frame them.
You were complaining earlier in the year of not finding caladiums, I thought. BTW, really like the bird plant, too.
My how we have different climate Byron and this is nice.
Now that I think about it, these blooms are made to lure, catch, and eat, insects, like a venus fly trap.
They hang down, as in the next photo. I am holding this one upright for the photo.
Maybe blooms are a way of self sustaining for some nutrient missing in the soil,
that would explain why they don't produce the blooms most of the time.
Definately, Jack. No snow here.
I googled the EE blooms. Nothing about fly-catching. A lot about blooms, but conditions have to begood to get them, and they appear in the fall. I will look closer tomorrow for some, as they are nearer the ground than the leaves.
everything is gorgeous. no yard tending this yr for me, being in the middle of nowhere in particular. more particularly in both places back and forth, Hattiesburg and Jigger.
Going to have an installation service on Friday the 23rd of this month in Hattiesburg and will more than likely have our annual service that time every yr from now on. you are all invited. surprise me and show up why doncha?
how big do these get?
I think no bigger than 3 or 4 feet. I bought it on an impulse buy for the color.
It is very showy in a group of greenery.
Cut this one back to where you want it to branch when you are through enjoying the blooms. It will be more full next season and more shapely if you pay attention to where you prune it. Do it like you would a rose bush and prune it just on the outside of a node. The node will give you two branches where you had only one.
Most of these will still have tags on their base letting you know what they are, in case you are curious.
pretty. love the white caladiums, and the speckled ones.
No. That's ruellia brittoniana, commonly called Purple Showers or Mexican Petunia, blooms late summer to frost. Not related to the usual garden petunia at all, so don't know why they want to call it a petunia. I guess they think it looks kinda like a petunia. If you move it to partial shade and keep it moist, it will turn into a very attractive blooming shrub.
Personally, I just call it ruellia.
Begonia with the dark leaves and pinkish, reddish buds. Ajuga hiding in the pot with similarly shaped leaves, only smaller and no buds. The green foliage on the top looks to be lantana - only the stems don't seem woody enough. Is that the salvia?
Yes, that is salvia. If you got this start from me, it is salvia elegans, also called pineapple sage. Has a pineapple smell. Edible, can be used as an herb. Blooms late summer. Doesn't like to be overwatered. Will flourish with lots of pruning. Easy to root cuttings.
I am experiencing the blues as I think on the winter coming soon. I'd rather have the summer color.
The Elsie May I got from you has taken root perfectly. No blooms, but lots of beautiful foliage. Don't know if you noticed when you were by on Saturday. I wanted to take pics this weekend now that I got a new card for my camera, but forgot and left the camera at campus. Maybe I will remember to take some of my many blooms when it lets up on the rain a bit. I love your blooms. Intrigued by the one on the elephant ears. Never have I seen one bloom. Speaking of Elsie Mae... On Sunday morning I was enjoying my morning coffee, the warmth and the shape of the unusual cup in my hands as well as the aroma and the warmth of the coffee itself. I found myself thinking, I will let Elsie drink out of this cup when she comes to see me. Alas, ... The mind is a funny thing, refusing to let go even after so many years.
They look like little dippers. Maybe they are to serve as a basin for water.
Yes, ginger. Also called Mexican Orchids.
I love that color.
I spy chickens!
This bush is very happy under that window.
Mexican Orchids, Mexican Petunias, Mexican Heather ... gosh, you have a lot of mexican plants!
I think these are Kay's favorite.
"Who do all these little Mexicans belong to?"
Now we know.
Winter is harsh where you live. when I left Buffalo, I vowed to never live where it snows like that again. I don't like cold weather. I like all seasons of growth and hibernation, as far as the beauty of it goes: the colors of spring, summer, autumn, even the austerity of winter; the very blooms while it's still shivery outdoors. But, my bones can't take all that cold. It's not for me. I don't want to live in it. This year the cold seems to have set in early. It's as if we will actually have an autumn with the promise of chill in the air. Too soon, if you ask me. I much prefer my winter to come and go during February. Get it over with quickly early in the year and not have it announcing itself before Halloween and lingering on and on and on. Brrrrrr rabbit.
Autumn colors are starting to show here, and every evening is cool/cold. Some plants like it, and the grass growth has slowed, but not gone dormant, yet. I, like you, dislike the experience of cold weather. As for its stark beauty, I appreciate the need to sell postcards, but otherwise, it pales compared o color and warmth. Nevertheless, we get what nature provides. Next time around (my next fortune), I'll move to a sub-tropical island. One season, color, and the sea. All the ingredients necessary for perfection.
Love this red rose.
I do so love the ocean. I could live on Galveston Bay, despite the threat of hurricane season annually. I love the warmth of the Gulf, the ocean spray, the gulls trailing the ferry, the memories of yesteryear. Were life perfect, I'd have owned a home years ago on my own personal inlet.
Yes, the cold is beautiful on postcards, and freezingly uncomfortable IRL.
and his railroad tie patio as well.
It all looks good.
I was being romantically funny when I said forget_me_not. I never remember the name of this one. Poor flower :(
Yes, Mexican Petunia.
New shoots off the lantana woody stems. Kay cut them all the way down when they got leggy and sparse.
I knew you said Ronnie had another name for them! Orchids, Orchids, Orchids. Ok, got it. Smells like lilac.
I moved this under the carport and nary a bloom :( Moved it back to the sun and the blooms came back??
Yes, these are the 2 pots of mixed caladiums I drove all over for. Paid a pretty penny.
Kay fights this one. It is prolific. I guard it but I think pruning makes more.
How they propagate I don't know unless the seed flies. They are growing here and there in the sidewalks at work, I just leave them be.
if i can figure out how to propagate this plant kathy will give me a start.
so cool. click on the pic to see second view.
water pot plant
http://tinyurl.com/ykacrr7
another carnivore It seems they are most easily propagated from cuttings:
http://www.petpitcher.com/nepenthes/propagation-guide-to-pitcher-plant/
hey thanks bunz.
It's going to eat you. I suggest using it to keep difficult parishoners in line.
"has anyone seen Sis ____?"
Pruning always makes more on the roses. Between you and Kay clipping it back, .... well, that's why it's so happy. :)
It would like some root room. It's more a shrub than a potted plant. What I'd do, transplant it to to the ground in partial shade (part sun, part shade, preferably morning sun) and clip it way back - maybe leave 8 or 10 inches or so, give it a dose of that 9 month feed you can pick up at kmart in the garden center (which is closed for winter but you can still browse in there. It seems a little expensive, but it only takes abt a teaspoon or so and it's a good feed for before the winter sets in - like now. It is in a bottle, not a bag. I don't know the name of it but it says nine months. Anyway ... I'd feed it and not worry any more abt it until next spring, when I'd expect a big payoff. :)
Other folks have your experience of ruellia delighting in full sun. This is what it will look like in the ground.
Sun:
Part sun / part shade:
Take your pick ... - put it where you have the butterfly bush???
I'm going to put some of it out by the front fence next year. Will get my start from the one you have (which you got from me - lol).
You should buy them as bulbs. Much less expensive!
When they start to go dormant, take them up and shake the dirt from them, place them in shredded newspaper and put them or take the pot and sit it in the laundry room until spring. Recommended to plant in dry peat moss or vermiculite, but newspaper will do fine. They should be stored where they are cool but will not freeze. They will have a better chance of survival if you dust them with sulphur before hibernating them, but plenty of people forego the sulphur and still have caladiums next spring. Your choice whether you want to separate the baby bulbs that have formed attached to the elder plants. More caladium starts if you separate them, but they will still send up shoots either way. They need to be taken up before frost. Your guess is as good as mine as to when we have frost. The caladiums will be dying back, but don't count on our quirky weather. Take them up before TG. NExt spring, plant the bulbs at Easter (mid March to mid April) - 2 inches below the soil level.
You won't have to buy any more if you do this. You'll always have new caladiums from your own stock.
Or you can just order from: http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/5978/
2 Lbs. of Mixed Caladium Bulbs - Price: $15.95
http://www.caladiumbulbs4less.com/servlet/the-Bulk-Assortment/Categories
Yeah. They throw their seed on the wind! Also, insects help spread them around.
That sounds like Osmocote. A little expensive, comes in a small bottle, slow feeder. Looks like seed itself.
No, it's not the osmocote. There is a generic brand that beats the osmocote. It's the expert brand. Those only have a 4 to 6 month lifespan. This one is 9 months. Abt a quart size bottle and one bottle would be more than enough for your whole place. It is under $10 but I can't remember if it's $7 or $9. It seems high until you consider you only need abt a teaspoon per ... and it last nine months. It's a good slow feeder for now until spring.
love this color best!
ok. :)
ok cool!
You should take these tender bulbs up soon. Put them in a net onion bags and hang them in the laundry room. Plant them again after the last frost. You'll always have caladiums in this color if you do, and not have to pay so much for them again.
Yes, the cooler temperatures have them drooping already. I will take them out tomorrow.
The name of this rose is About Face, also called Pride of Cheshire. It is a grandiflora, bred by Tom Carruth in 2003 and introduced two years later by Jackson & Perkins and Weeks Roses, both of Tyler, Tx. This one was distributed by J&P roses and I purchased it at the nursery that was next door to the bug place on the highway--the neighbor one to Oak whatever nursery. They shut down though, early this year--won't be selling any more plants.
Zones 6b to 9b. We're in 8b. Resistant to blackspot and mildew.
Grandiflora roses are relatively new hybrids (1954) resulting from the crossbreeding of hybrid teas and floribunda roses. Grandifloras produce full-blossomed flowers growing on tall, hardy bushes. They bloom almost continuously during the late spring to early summer, depending on where you live. Proper pruning of these roses can result in a healthier bush with more abundant blooms.
"Remove spent blooms to encourage re-bloom. Spring Pruning: Remove old canes and dead or diseased wood and cut back canes that cross. In warmer climates, cut back the remaining canes by about one-third. In colder areas, you'll probably find you'll have to prune a little more than that."
You can, if you have a mind to, to prepare for winter, prune out only diseased, damaged or interfering canes leaving the healthy canes to be re-evaluated in the spring. The diseased/damaged canes to be removed should be cut flush with the bud union on a grafted rose or, if the rose is on its own roots, close to a major cane. Wait until March--after winter, Easter is fine--to reevaluate and prune to shape the grandiflora to your liking. Both methods work for our climate.
You can come help me with the fence if you run out of things to do tomorrow. haha. I have to go to bed. Took some aleve and need to let my head rest. I think I just went too many hrs without eating. That, on top of wearing the dollar store glasses instead of my good ones all day. Combined, I have a serious aleve-needy eye and headache.
Talked to my kids just as they were headed out the door to take all three grandbabies trick-or-treating. Toby was Batman; Emmy, a ghost; and Jane, Cinderella all the way to her high-heeled glass slippers. lol. So perfect.
Bedtime. Talk to ya'll later.
Oh, I had to take Molineux up today and drop his roots in a bucket because I needed to plant a fence post where he was. I didn't need to take anything else up along the fence line on that short side of the drive. Tomorrow on the long stretch may be another story.
Doing the fence turned out not to be all that hard, just time consuming. The hardest part is the 80# quikrete. The shoveling isn't bad with the ground wet only one hole filled back up with water abt as fast as I could dig it. Made getting down to two feet a real sloppy, muddy job, but I managed. the other side shouldn't be as bad since I'm moving it back fm the ditch. The short side I moved toward the ditch. The twain needed to meet in the middle :")
The next-door-neighbor wanted to know where you were--I told him you work most weekends. He wanted you to get his heater to work for them. They had the air conditioner unit worked on and the repairmen blew out/cleaned out (I'm not sure which) the whole shebang and now they think that something went wrong then but they can't get their heater to work so they are looking for another hvac person to hire. They seriously need a plumber too but I definitely did not recommend you. lol
worrying after a month of being away and my plants being shut up in the heat, my inside plants were thriving and still damp when i got home... loving my little fairy water gardener. ???
no fair having fairies. our stuff croaks if we don't take care of it ourselves.
i have elves. But not lately. They are Spring and Summer elves. (brownies, actually). Currently, Santa is paying better wages than I can. Oh, well.
so sorry. i guess it helped that i ask the Lord to be sweet and don't let my plants die.
SO, it was you that asked for all this water?!!
cute bench.
From Drop Box
my plants are doing good outside as well. even my elephant ears which normally take huge amounts of water to survive. i thought i was being specific to my own yard but i guess the Lord didn't get that.
"About Face is by far the hardiest rose I have at this time. It has made it through 3 Illinois winters with no protection and been dug up twice to be put in more prominent positions. Yet, it keeps blooming and thriving no matter what."--http://from-a-cornfield.blogspot.com/ Zone 5 gardener. see also: http://from-a-cornfield.blogspot.com/2008/12/roses-roses-and-more-roses.html
Had no idea that my house was once owned by Harry and Mary Weatherly, and that they are the homeowners who planted the two tall loblolly pines in my front yard back in the late 60s / early 70s. The Maples across the street sd Harry & Mary owned this house when they bought theirs in 1972. Small world.
What a deal, indeed. Keepin' it in thuh fam'ly
Yes. We were discussing my fence building and the ongoing gardening here and got around to mentioning the pines which they volunteered that Harry and Mary Weatherly planted when they owned this place. Discussion followed my surprise.
now you know what to name the 2 pines.
I meant my neighbors Robert and Shirley Maples--in case anyone thought I might have been having a conversation with the maple trees planted across the road from my loblolly pines. *grin*
Byron, plumbago very easily roots so you can propagate more of them.
Take cuttings of about an index finger or an index finger and a half. Cut them just below a join. Snip off all the leaves except for one or two at the top end of the cutting (you want a clean cut so even if you break them off, clean the cut with yr scissors or a knife, utility knife or whatever).
As with roses, it is also best to take semi hardwood cuttings ratherthan the greenest growth but don't let that 'best' advice stop you fm trying the greener cuttings. I have a lot of success with green cuttings even when they say use the older wood. Plant in yr beds or a container in a shady area and keep moist until it becomes its own little plant. You can also use the hold-it-down-with-a-rock method to root an attached branch. That works great too. Just remove the leaves from the part you want to root and cover several inches of branch/stem with the soil and set a rock on it and keep moist. After it roots (takes abt a month), you can but it off fm the mother plant.
naw wasn't confused. i was talking abt naming the pines they planted by their names, Harry & Mary..
good idea. their last name, however, is loblolly, as in, "These are the loblollies, harry and mary." *grins*
The plant in the pot that you sd has not bloomed is amaryllis and it should bloom red.
I want to get a division from you because it is expensive to purchase (10 bulbs, $90 -- http://www.amaryllis.com/cat/7/ or 4 bulbs $50 or one for $15). I got that start fm Sissy, who was growing it under a pecan tree in the midst of her vinca--planted in the ground in the same spot. I got maybe one or two bulbs fm her. Her's thrived with the pecan leaf mulch it accumulated year after year.
It always bloomed for me--every year. I need to get it now because the planting period is the same as that of the other bulbs we have been planting. It's a cold weather bloomer. It should start blooming early in the year and bloom through spring.
I had been planning to get some other colors fm Brenda Drane at the Harrisonburg apts; she offered, but time and life happened. She had some of these Carnival ones (in pic) and some pink ones. I don't recall what other colors than the red that I already had.
Your's probably need more direct light and more compost in the pot to force a bloom.
http://www.amaryllis.com/pac.htm
Need to know if you want another maple when you come to get the bradford pears. I bought two this year and one the first year. I need to move one since I built the deck where I did. I can relocate it to the back forty here or it can go to your place. You decide. Kay also wants some lamb's ear and I think you should get a start of my other varieties of ajuga.
For the corners of your house, you should plant privet. It is easily accessible, native, grows fast, and will take any kind of pruning/shaping you want to give it, even a conical shape. "It can be sheared to any formal shape desired."
. .
"A fast-growing plant, such as privet, will give you a quicker end result, but will also need trimming more often than a box.
http://homeideas.howstuffworks.com/shrub/topiary-basics-in-your-garden.htm
. .
Plants grow. When the shapely form of a topiary becomes blurred, it's necessary to restore their form. And that's just what I saw happening on Thursday, 11 May 2006. Up on an orchard ladder, careful hand clipping removes the twiggy new growth and takes the topiary back to the original shape. I asked how often this is necessary. One careful reshaping in the Spring, and again in summer, perhaps a third time to tidy the trees for fall and winter.
http://www.bellewood-gardens.com/04_2006.html
Don't know that this is a good idea for byron having horses near by.
Wikipedia:
Privet is one of several plants which are poisonous to horses. In some parts of the world where they are not native, some privet species have become invasive weeds, spreading into wilderness areas and displacing native species. This is particularly a problem in North America, where no species of the genus occurs naturally.[6] Privet is a huge problem in New Zealand. It is banned from sale or cultivation in New Zealand due to the effects of its pollen on asthma sufferers. Privet pollen is known to cause asthma and eczema in sufferers. Privet can be removed by contacting the local government to report its presence.[7]
36% of respondents to a survey of gardeners in the UK said that that privet would put them off buying a property.[
My friend says he has fought his privet for yrs and still it is over taking his property. he digs it up by he roots.
I will need to look into this, I thought it was just a single stalked bush.
"privet, privet... privet , privet..."
There are several varieties, including a native species and a variegated species. I have three of the variegated species that I've planted since moving to grape st. Like many other plants, including crape myrtle and oleander, you can train them to single or multi-stem trees. I trained the one you have as a specimen into a single stalk. I am training one on my place into a dual stalk tree and I have several others growing as shrubs that I may limb up into single or multi-trunk trees. I like them quite a lot.
Privet is a member of the olive (Oleaceae) family of trees and shrubs, as are lilac, forsythia, jasmine, fringe tree, and the ash.
Chinese privet is considered an aggressive import. It resembles the native swamp privet. In fact, they are difficult to distinguish; however, the native species flowers in early spring before it leafs out while the chinese privet flowers a bit later after the tree leafs.
Swamp privet: Forestiera ligustrina and F. acuminata
Chinese privet: Ligustrum sinense
Maddingly aggressive is the chinese tallow, which sprouts every time a bird poops, imo.
hmmm.
my friends property that is full of it looks identicle to the one i planted in my front yard. :(
it was a wild growing wee little tree when i got. lotus and i dug it up and replanted it. it's the size of a very small tree now.
hasn't spread but then we mow the yard consistantly and all around it. at this point it looks very similar to my crape-mytles.
my bush is not single stalked.
Going to work sick you endanger the others and at the same time promote epidemics!
Use our sales event in order to ensure that you won’t fall ill this December!
Going to work sick you endanger the others and at the same time promote epidemics!
Use our sales event in order to ensure that you won’t fall ill this December!
pharmashop wrote today at 7:10 PM
Going to work sick you endanger the others and at the same time promote epidemics!
Use our sales event in order to ensure that you won’t fall ill this December!
You sir/madam, are an idiot. Your account you have set up to redirect users will be quickly cancelled
for posting unsolicited spam. Don't post your crap here again, it's stupid.
I need to get a start of ginger fm you as I gave you all of mine.
http://www.herbgarden.co.za/mountainherb/article_sagepineapple.htm
Pinch this pineapple sage back often to make it full and bushy. It was a perennial in our garden on peach street.
Wish I had known about this sooner, the herbal tea sounds delicious, and the medicinal value is something worth thinking about.
Pineapple sage leaves are edible and can be steeped in hot water to make a herbal tea.
Pineapple sage has anti-depressant and anti-anxiety properties and will balance the nervous system. It is used extensively in Mexican traditional medicine, especially for the treatment of anxiety.
Pineapple sage can also benefit digestion, heartburn and is a general tonic.
You know I dug this up and have the root just laying out in the shed.
I will find another spot for it.
What does it do for worms (not that I have any)?
keeps them from having heartburn and being depressed.
Just what my worms need, if I had any.
When it was at our place, I cooked with it all the time--in stir fries. Just chopped the leaves up like any other herb I cooked with. I've chewed on the leaves plenty, as I do with other herbs I grow. I didn't know abt the anti-depressant and anti-anxiety properties, but that makes it a useful herb in the garden beyond its culinary vale.
Things you dig up and don't have a home for can come live at my place. :)
if you had any--lol.
;0)
I picked up a six pack each of blue pansies and white dianthus for you. If you want to swing by on your way fm eola tomorrow you can pick them up. I don't expect to go anywhere tomorrow. My list is way too long.
I wish I could pick up a six-pack. As it stands now, I'd have to pick up my potbelly just to locate where the six-pack ought to be.
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