Specialty Gardening: Dipladenia, 1 by BettyFB

BettyFB wrote:
delrose,

Your Mandevilla vine is to die for!!! I cannot believe it is growing that big in a pot. Maybe I will try that next year. I was in Springfield visiting relatives a couple of years ago---great state!!!

MY front yard receives morning sun and a little of the afternoon sun. But I am growing the same flowers in my back yard and the backyard gets mostly the hot afternoon sun. See pictures I posted a few days ago under Photos Forum. One set of pictures is just my front and back yard. The second set I posted last Tuesday and the girls I nanny for are in the pictures. I took about a hundred pictures of them in two days and posted the best ones. They were both so co-operative and were given "Dora" dolls. Needless to say they are thrilled with their new dolls.


The tall yellow flowers are Rudbeckia Indian Summer and they are grown as annuals but do reseed themselves at times. The ones in my front yard did not reseed this year so I bought plants. I put composted cow manure in the beds before planting and a little Osmocote and fertilized about 3 times with organic liquid fertilizer--this year I am using Algoflash--got that on line from Burpee Seeds. I like it so far. The Indian Summer in the backyard reseeded and I moved the little plants when they were 2 inches high to another bed and I will post that picture. The reseeded Indian Summer look the same as the plants from last year. They are one of my favorite flowers and they look so graceful expecially in the front yard when they are blowing in the breeze. The ones in the front ,last year I let the stalks brown and go to seed and then I buried the whole thing, but none came up. We had a warm March and then a very hard freeze for 5 days, the first week in April. That is what killed them. I am surprised the seeds from that one bed survived. I lost 10 roses the worst in many many years.

If you look at the pictures Under Photos, you will see my White David Phlox. It is my favorite this year because it is really big and blooming well. My neighbor gave me a small sprig of hers last Fall and I did not expect it to do much the first year but it has taken off like crazy. Maybe I will post another picture right now if I can find the time. I am getting ready to cut the grass first .