Now, this Creme de Cassis is the only one I really wanted in the gardens, but, for about 5 years, I've been trying to get them to grow from seeds (trades) but I always got the wrong seeds that bloomed pink or other colors. This plant finally grew from seeds from T&M and they came out true, at first I thought I got the wrong seeds again, but the first blooms took a while to get the cream edge. I took this photo at night. I think I have other photos of this during the day.
I also got some zinnias growing, will post a few here.
Zinnia 2
Don't know where #3 went, hopefully I'm not repeating it
Here is 4
5, there are many of the lilliput zinnias blooming now along with the Giant California zinnias that I haven't taken photos of
5 & 6
7 a lavender one
last zinnia for now, I'll try to take photos of the dwarf zinnia some are yellow, really full and tiny. The tithonia started blooming as well as other plants I sowed late. I'll take photos as soon as I am able to. Got lots more zinnias now, they are really blooming their heads off and the swallowtails are coming around now, I was beginning to think they were not coming this year.
16 tons of gravel! Wow! Everyone's back is going to be sore moving all that gravel around! I bet it will look wonderful when it is done! Pace yourself! :-)
I love your zinnias! I am growing some of the lilliputs, too! They are so cute! I love your white and red flecked ones! And the colors of all of them are so cheerful! I became a hollyhock fan this year after my very first one bloomed. Knocked my socks off. It's a bee magnet too! :-) The Creme de Cassis is absolutely elegant! I hope you gets lots of seeds! :-)
A, I love your Zinnias and Hollyhocks.
Makes me want to grow a few of each. :-)
Thanks guys,
I love the butterflies and all the bumblebees, and carpenter bees they attract. We also had millions of praying mantis, some live on the same plant all their life.
Have a couple of varieties of passionvines, but, not all have bloomed yet.
A, pretty light shade of blue on the passionflower.
Antoinette - Those Passiflora blooms look very similar to the wall of vines I grew for years until a bad winter wiped them all out. Very pretty to have so many blooming close together to get the photo! How many other passi cultivars are you growing? I love Passi's and have 5 different cultivars myself! My favorite is Aurantia. Do you have that one?
Becky, there was a fruit on the incarnata but it fell off, caruela, lady margaret, and another one. Don't remember right now which one. I have the tags buried in those areas. Incarnata and careula have very good pollen and make good crosses with the ones that won't produce fruit. I found it very difficult to root the passies in Southern Cal, It was to hot and dry in my area for rooting cuttings no matter how much moisture I added with tents, then the roots were not real healthy either when they did root. Not all produce seeds as readily as some of the smaller blooming types. I had a very tiny morifolia that had fruit on each flower and was great. But Vitifolia was another matter, I used pollen from incarnata for those crosses. Those were the days!
A - I've heard and read that careula is a great Passiflora to use as a cross. And I am sure Incarnata is, too! :-) I've had very little luck getting cuttings to root, so I stopped trying. You must be right about the smaller blooming vines do seem to have a high fertilization rate. The Cotton Leaf Passi that I am growing seems to be producing seeds from every single bloom! :-)
I haven't gotten anymore fruits on any of the passies yet, and come to find out the two men we hired to move gravel killed several of the bees, they are afraid of the bees! I am not and don't kill any pollenators, so I am a little (very) sad here. I've harvested lots of sunflower seeds so let me know if you want a mix, I only separated a couple but plan to mix them all up and take packets to the senior center and art studio classes. Let me know if you want a mix this year. I did get quite a bit despite the finches eating them. They are so determined, they even ate the ones I had covered with mesh, they figured a way to get the mesh loose.
Going to take a weekend break from the rake, DH is working on the yard today and one man we hired is also working with him. Maybe we can finish be the end of next week the way this heat is going.
Thanks everyone, have a great weekend.
Antoinette - I would love a sunflower seed mix! Absolutely! I am smitten with them after growing a few for the first time this year! They are the annual garden giants, IMHO! Funny about the finches still getting to the seeds even when covered! Birds will do whatever they have to, to get food! :-) The squirrels got my seeds and that was okay, as that is why I planted them in the first place - for the wildlife and I did manage to keep a small few seeds, too. Sorry to hear about the bees being killed. I don't kill anything but the milkweed bugs, the bugs going after my veggies, and the wasps. Though the wasps are too fast for me - so killing one is a rarity!
Glad to hear you are taking a 2-day break from all the sweat and toil! Enjoy it!
Okay, you got it, I'll be making packets when they dry completely. I even ate some of the seeds from the Giant sunflowers.. they taste pretty good when they are not roasted.
Thanks, A! I really appreciate that! Love those sunflower blooms! :-) :-) :-)
Gourd, are you ever creative!!!, So beautiful what you did with your yard. Can't wait to see, what you will do with the heads from mold, that I read on another of your thread.
Love your sunflowers and Zinnias. Wish I had a field full of both, but no space left. I feed birds and butterflies and love taking pictures of flowers and anything that moves. ;)
keep up the good work.
Thank you burn and welcome to the mg forum,
I am wanting to mosaic those heads with some Mardi gras masks made out of mirror... soon, right now I'm working on some day of the dead skeletons... the finches, mockingbirds and doves are wreaking havoc on the sunflower seeds, they even go into the baskets I am using to dry the flower seed head in. I've got lots of the sun flower mix if anyone else wants some, let me know, just dmail me your address and I'll be mailing some out this coming week.
I got these blooms today and they were a complete surprise since these are reseeds from a couple of years ago, I empty the soil out of several pots into these 10 gallon pots and look at this mg, I think it is Fuji no murasaki, it was much darker than the photo, I had to use a new camera because my neat little fuji conked out, (I did order another used fuji fine pix today)...
this is with a canon cool shot
Here is a photo of todays 2nd surprise mgs while I was checking our Chocolate Mimosa trees, these were also reseeds from years past I guess... every time I dump the soil into the larger pots, I usually water them a couple of time to see if anything sprouts and these guys bloomed today.
Here is my skeleton (mariachi band) I think I will label them "Them Bones" when they are on display for the Day of the Dead presentation if I finish them in time. I keep changing the pattern and don't know if I will put a door in the background or arches... it will be a surprise. I drew these fellows and changed them somewhat, added a female band member too... let me know what you guys think I should do for the background. I can take lots of critiques.. I've been drawing patterns for a couple of other folks but they are all different. You can see the big door behind the female and center male. I'm not sure what I will do yet.
Here is my I. pandurata seedlings in with the surprise mgs.. I think there are four seedlings in here, and they sure did well in this horrible heat.
Awesome blooms Antoinette!! Cool "Them Bones" !! You are an artist!
Thank you...I am hoping that this mosaic sells (it is made for outdoor use or as a backsplash where there is water or moisture) if it doesn't sell, it will be mounted behind the sink in the Studio.. I feel sorry for whomever inherits this property when we are gone..lol
Tithonia Mexican Sunflowers (the mice have killed three large plants of this one by eating the roots)
This year I acquired some plants that I love, love, love.. Here is the Peppermint Stick Arundo Grass that is new and starting to multiply.. It can take a beating of the sun and not fade.
This Arundo grass also has variegated leaves but does fade some and has not multiplied yet. I want these as windbreaks next year so they are in the raised beds. These arundos are supposed to be not as invasive as the regular one you find in the ditches. The sugarcane has also grown and multiplied but I didn't take a photo of it.
Some Hardy Hibs blooming
Here is Moy Grande a rooted cutting from NancyAnn (than you for this and the Arundo)... I am really surprised at how large this flower really is.
I made my first Hibiscus CROSSES yesterday, wish me luck guys... I used Moy Grande (good pollen Daddy) and the one pictured above. Let pray for seeds.. I also selfed Moy Grande.
A, love all your surprise mg blooms. The Arundo grass is special.
Them Bones is great. Wish I could do that.
.
ATBTY! ~ ŁazŁo ;--)
Oh Lazlo, what a beautiful gorgeous Human Hibiscus!!! She's a doll. Look at her eyes!
Would you like some sunflower seeds for her, kids love to plant things.
The cross I tried to make did not take, the spent flower fell off...
She is back in her home in India. There are lots of kids in my apartment complex and everybody's got a patio, so of course I would love to have sunflower seeds for the little ones as i hold saturday morning classes for just that purpose . . . get them growing God's gifts of greenery and colour - early as possible . . . I get interesting things left on my porch after some folks come back from visits to India or S. Korea . . . And one child's father brought me something extraordinarily interesting after their home visit to Mexico. But that's a completely different story . . . more pretties from my garden then to say g'night. ATBTY! ~ Łaz
Alrighty, I'll include a good amount in the package I'll be sending next week. How lovely to have children all around, they are like little sponges when it comes to learning. And how nice that you are teaching them. Nice looking froggie there on that mushroom!
A.
A - Your Fuji no murasaki and the other surprise MG blooms are beautiful! WOW! Nice volunteers! They are doing really well, too! I hope to see lots more next year, too! :-)
I used to grow the Tithonia Mexican Sunflowers and just loved them! Rats got to them here, too. Sorry to hear about your problem with those varmits!
Your Peppermint Stick Arundo Grass is really lovely! Nice bright colors! How tall does it get?
Beautiful Hibiscus! I bet the hummers love them! Bummer about the cross. Keep trying! It may work eventually.
Is the "Them Bones" artwork made out of glass or tile or what? A lot of detail in it! It's lovely! I don't have an artistic eye, so I sure can't give you my opinion of what would look the best for the background. But I do love the female dancer in the band! Really awesome! You really have the talent, Antoinette!
Lazlo - Love the child photo and the toad stool! Too cute ... both photos! That is so wonderful that you are teaching children about gardening! You are helping these children to grow up and appreciate nature and hopefully to try to preserve it! I applaud you for all you do!
Becky, I sent you some Tithonia seeds...
You know that the pollen took on those HIb crosses. I found the flowers on the ground and thought the whole thing fell off, but NOT... there are the two I crossed with swelling seedpods (I think) I took a photo of them.
The Peppermint Arundo is about 5 feet tall now, and I am hoping it is not invasive.. It is in full sun and has not faded on bit.. very happy about that.
THanks about my "Them Bones", I've got to get on the stick and finish them up.
Here is the Arundo today, I swear it has grown several inches with this rain.
The fields around my house all have the type of white corn that is for cattle and this is what I see in every direction when I look at our rockwalls.. it is all around us. When the stalks start to get the corn cobs on it, they mow it all down stalks and all, then sell to the cattle ranches around here. I love when the wind blows the tops of the corn stalks. Each year there is something different (crop rotation) and the only thing I don't like is when they harvest the onions, boy does that smell linger on for days.. This are is still a work in progress... we are redoing everything with gravel.
