Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Garden #91 - February 2011, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Your castor bean is really gorgeous. I've never seen the flower before - the seed catalogs sell it as a foliage plant.They're pretty humungous, though, aren't they?

I've got a few nasturtiums in bloom - seeded them in November in hopes of the mild winter the weather gurus forecast. Well, it's been better than last year . . here!

The nasties just gave up pouting about the cold weather last week. Then I had to cover them again last night so they'll keep blooming!

Luckily we only went down to 43deg. We moved here from Utah 9 years ago so my sympathies to the snow shovelers! Debra, the iris is Louisiana Iris "Black Gamecock" and it is even darker purple than the photo shows. They bloom in April here. Probably would bloom soon in your greenhouse, too.They're on my "haves" list if you'd like to try some.

I have several plastic salad bowls - $2.99 from Target - with the iris in them. No need for drainage as they love wet feet. I keep them in the shade on the north side of the house, and rotate them out to the sunny step by my water garden, so I have a succession of blooms instead of just a week or two. That's a hazard of blooming bulbs down here - once it warms up in spring they are so fleeting!

This picture taken 20 min. ago.