I was pleased to see alot of things not for our Zone here growing, but it is almost to Oklahoma, so maybe I would pushing the zone if I tried to grow some of the things they had growing..
This is the house/river view
This message was edited Apr 13, 2011 12:04 AM
As a Soil Sister, the first thing I would do is remove all the native wild honeysuckle that is eating all the shrubs and trees, immediately.
Martha that Rose is so beautiful, and so is the Hibiscus shot , Rita and what is that butterfly sitting on, Lin?
I have so much to show you, but don't want to eat up the thread, so here is one last shot for this day.. the dogwoods were all in bloom there..
Good to see you RJ, and thanks again all of you for my birthday wishes and beautiful tropical flowers shots.
Hey guys ! Debra sounds like you had a good weekend !
Rita - Holy Cow ! Sounds like you had a rough couple days ! I hope you are feeling better very soon and your plants too !
The Ligustrums are blooming......the scent is wonderful ! You can see some Plumaira "sticks" just under the fence line. One has leafed out the other is being stubborn.
Oh and lots of Oak pollen on the trees still. Lots of things are taking their time...we are back to the "We need rain" mode
Close up of the Ligustrums...
Orchids are all back out on the porch and once they are done blooming they will spend the summer out under the oaks. - Thank Goodness !
another one....wish we could upload multiple photo's...
MJ
Glad you said that about the plumies, I was beginning to wonder about mine. Some of them lost their leaves this winter (protected them better last year because they were smaller). No leaves yet. So they are slow to emerge? I am really hoping mine bloom this year, I raised them from seed and they are at least 3 if not 4 years old.
I feed them Orchid blooming fertilizer.......Better grow 11-35-15.
Good morning everyone!
Debra: It looks like you had a fabulous weekend! Thanks for sharing your pictures from the Arboretum, it looks like a lovely place. I had to google and read more about it! I'd love to take an extended trip around the U.S. just for the purpose of visiting Arboretum's and Botanical Gardens.
MJ: Your orchids are stunning! I wish I could put mine outside but I lost so many to the dang squirrel's a few years ago ... no way am I going to hang them in the trees again. I like how you have your Ligustrum trees shaped, very pretty!
I think this is Amaryllis 'Minerva'. I lost thousands of previous photo's when my laptop crashed last year so I'm not certain but pretty sure she's Minerva, LOL.
Linda, here is my A. Minerva, as stated on the label when I bought it:
Here's another shot of A. Minerva:
The red bottlebrush is starting to produce abundant flowers:
I just purchased these Ornithogalum umbellatum last night at Lowes - $1 per pot:
Here's another picture:
These Snapdragons are a perennial here, the pink Zinnias are so pretty:
These tree ferns are hardy here, too, but I keep one in a pot 'just in case':
This noid yellow lily just amazes me - it's gorgeous:
KJ: I wonder if my Amaryllis is Minerva? I am not good at comparing photo's so I'm not sure if it looks like your beauty or not. I know Minerva is one that I had, along with Apple Blossom, Pasedena, Aphrodite and Red Lion and it's not any of those, so I'm just assuming it's Minerva. Love those Ornithogalum's ... LOL, that is a mouthfull! I had never heard of them so had to go search plant files, and after looking through a few entries I found it: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54047/ I love the vivid color!
Debra: I forgot to answer your question, the Gulf Fritillary Butterfly in my previous photo is on a Wisteria Bloom. And, I also forgot to say what a great photo of the Swallowtail on the Lilac bloom in your picture! I wish Lilac's would grow this far south ... they are so gorgeous! I can't wait for the Swallowtail's to appear in my yard. They love the Purple Cone Flowers which are growing like crazy now ... blooms should be soon! This picture is from last June:
Lin; buy yourself some snake away and place it all around the area where the bird nest pole is ASAP!
Snakes won't go in that area! You will still be able to hear the babies till they fly away!
So I plant one of the Orinoco Bananas and the first leaf out is OK... the second is a Flag Leaf (leaf prior to flowering)
and there she is in all her glory... would have preferred to have 6-7 leaves out for aethetic reasons (prior to flowering) for a cool looking bunch of bananas, on a leafy tree, that will ripen this season!
Do not know if 1-1/2 leaves will photosynthesize enough food for the plant to have a legitimate bunch. At least it did not bloom at the end of last season (would have lost everything to the first freeze) prior to ripening.
Another photo
Congratulations! That baby must have been sitting in there all winter just waiting for you to put it out in the warm weather.
Two of mine that were in ground, Goldfinger and Sum X Cross, have recently put pups out. I thought for sure they were dead so these tiny leaves were such a nice surprise.
Ardesia;
That is wonderful news for you! You probably don't have to mulch as much as I do to save your little munchkins!
Let's consider mailing each other a pup in a few months!
Good night all!
wonder why my two wisterias won't bloom. i admit they were cuttings about 18 inches three or four years ago, they grow like crazy, not enough light? not enough food? I WANT THEM TO BLOOM, DANG IT!
ee elana las year
Just off the top of my head, isn't wisteria one of those plants that people just ignore, and then they bloom wonderfully? You're probably being too good to them, Debra.
Let them grow lots of leaves in spring, then as the weather gets hotter, gradually withdraw watering to just enough so they don't wilt. i.e. stress 'em a bit.
Worked for me in Salt Lake City . . . dryer air there than you have, though. I coddled the vine for its first two years, and had no flowers. Then I had a summer where I had to go to Canada to take care of my mother, and the whole garden got neglected. Automatic watering once a week, that's all. Guess what? Gorgeous wisteria blooms all over. I left it alone from there on out, and it was fabulous.
Haven't tried wisteria since we moved to Florida - when you got passionvines, who needs 'em!
Homer: Thanks so much for that tip on Snake Away! I went to Home Depot and bought it. I wish I'd known about this stuff years ago ... could have saved a bunch of bird eggs and babies!
That Oronoco Banana plant looks huge, great growing!
Debra: That is a beautiful garden photo! My Wisteria is in an area of the yard where it gets full sun all day. Maybe you can move your container outside to a sunny spot for the summer? I've never fertilized mine and I think it would be a sturdier plant and bloom better if I'd feed the poor thing. It's been in the ground for quite a few years and hasn't gotten very big. I gave my neighbor a good sized cutting yesterday and she gave me a cutting of a fig tree.
Dyzzy: Oh my goodness, that is one beautiful Passiflora!
Get Wisteria 'Amathyst Falls' - it's a guaranteed bloomer and smells spicy and blooms a long time - LOVE IT!
KJ: Amethyst Falls is the one I have and I think it stinks, yet my neighbor loves the fragrance! It's odd, I have a very sensitive sense of smell but when my Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is in bloom my husband and everyone else says that it's extremely fragrant yet I only detect a very, very slight smell.
Amethyst Falls is American Wisteria which is not Invasive like the Chinese Wisteria.
"American Wisteria" is W. frutescens: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1351/
"Chinese Wisteria" is W. chinensis: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55392/
"Japanese Wisteria" is W. floribunda: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55391/
gee, that was so long ago, I ordered two kinds and they came as unrooted sticks, guess I will go beat the heck out of them or cut them back one or the other. Everyone elses wisteria is huge and in full bloom here already. *sigh* NOT FAIR.
I sure do like all the tropicals that you all have sent me, I sure do want to keep them inside, but the front porch is perfect for a tropical garden and Joe even agrees LOL.
Rita,
I am sorry to hear of your fall off the ladder! Those darn snakes, if they would just let you know what kind they were...!
Debra, have you root-pruned your Wisteria? Sometimes that will shock a plant in to blooming.
I have some Wisteria...in pots...that need to go in the ground...somewhere...LOL...
Have this blooming...brought it up from my sister's house after she passed away.
I don't think it's an Amaryllis maybe a Lily ? has just a faint fragrance
Martha, how are you this morning? Yes, it's a very pretty Amaryllis - one I don't have. All I have are red (red Lion and Grand Cru), red and white (Minerva), pink (Apple Blossom) and orange (grows wild) - can't believe I don't have any other colors! I paid a goodly amount of money from a local guy, who sells Amaryllis from his home - for what was to be a yellow Amaryllis, but it's just a red one. He is no longer in business, so I can't return it, but oh, well.........
MJ: Wow, that is a beautiful Amaryllis! I got bulbs of Amaryllis Pasadena, Aphrodite and some other one in a co-op here on DG a few years ago. I had Minerva, Apple Blossom and Red Lion that I'd purchased from Home Depot. I planted my bulbs outside but eventually they got buried too deep in the mulch. Last year I dug most of them up and gave them to my sister and brother in law who live in South Florida. I had given them a blooming Amaryllis for Christmas one year and they fell in love with them.
I kept a few and planted them in containers and was surprised to see this one budding up. I hope to see blooms on a couple of the others this year!
I had some amaryllis today too.
This is H. johnsonii
This is Nymph
Had some species glads open today too. Gladiolus Byzantinus
This message was edited Apr 15, 2011 10:54 AM
Alice, they are just BEAUTIFUL!
Ardesia: Really pretty, I love both of those Amaryllis, Nymph is so different, really pretty ... and the Gladiolus is really beautiful!
