'Phoenix' bird or paradise

Ooooo, love that third one, mosquito and all. LOL

That's one of my fav's too, it's a dwarf so only gets about 2ft. high. I have white ones like that, too. Got them both a Lowe's last year, I think, maybe the year before. But I've seen the dwarf cannas there every spring.

Look what I snagged at Lowe's today - Canna 'Tropicanna' with the most gorgeous striped leaf variegations in red, yellow and green. My daughter has grown this particular one for 3 years now, in a huge pot on her patio in Utah. Used to be called 'Durban'. It has orange flowers, too, but the real feature here is the leaves. It's a big one, gets 5 to 6ft tall if you water it enough.

The blazing sun washed the colors out a bit in these pictures. They're more vivid than shown.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2012 12:58 PM

This message was edited Apr 28, 2012 1:00 PM

Absolutely fantastic! Elaine, you did it again...made me a fan. For that, and so much more, I thank you ;)

The next one that opened is quite a bit bigger of a flower, similar to the 3rd pic of yours 2 posts up. You were right, I feel like a pro and all I did was dig a shallow hole :)

Is it usual for them to keep sprouting up more and more stems? I planted 7, but I think i've got to be up to almost 15 separate plants by now. No complaints! keep em' coming.

Other surprises, 1 of the sweet peas managed a flower. And, what i thought was a white/yellow single hib turned out to be a double solid white. (Kind of partial to the single-flowered, they don't 'hang their heads' like doubles do)

Elaine, some of the prettiest Tropicannas I have ever seen were planted where the afternoon sun could shine through the leaves. It was an awesome sight.

Yes, the cannas will keep putting up new stems all summer, and they sort of 'creep' along as they do this, too. Each stem only blooms once, but sometimes will have 3 flower scapes before it's done. When it finishes, if there's another stem coming you should cut off the one that bloomed.

IF you were to dig up those rhizomes next winter you'd be amazed - where you planted a little 2 or 3in. piece, there will be a huge long rhizome that looks like a cow's horn. In fact, if there is a particular one that you like best, you can dig up part of it, put it in a pot, and very likely keep it blooming all winter, even if the others don't keep going. You just have to keep it warm and sunny, and keep watering and fertilizing. They grow more slowly in winter, of course, but those glorious flowers sure are welcome in December and January!

Way to go getting the sweet pea to bloom! Don't they just smell fabulous. I see a gladiola in the background there, too. Next year plant the sweet peas in October for a better chance at blooms.

I love that little coral/orange canna.

Cheers Elaine

Cool, thanks for that! They can fill all the space they want, and its in the front of the house on the south side, so in winter they will be bathed in sun and out of the majority of the cold wind.

Didn't get much scent from that one little sweet pea unfortunately, and then those high winds earlier this week ended its bloom kind of abruptly. Will def try them again this fall.

I'm pretty happy with the results of the glads...even tho they were all planted the same day, they spaced themselves out and I've had some nice colors. Sure wish they kept blooming!

Found a new fun plant a few weeks ago (well, new to me) called Torenia. Its beautiful, but even in just morning sun that poor thing dries out and droops quickly! Its a pretty purple and white. andddd...it was cheap! :)

Yeah, I had a whole border of those adorable Torenias one summer. They were gorgeous, but divas and about September they gave up the ghost altogether.

They really like dappled shade under trees, or something a bit cooler than any direct sun. Also need generous water, fert, and need deadheading. (keep the spent flowers clipped off) I think you might keep them going longer than I did if you keep it in a big pot, and move it around to give it the optimum light, and cool situation.

Still my hands hover over them when they're on sale at the garden center . . . but I don't have room for them any more. My dappled shade border is all full of orchids and begonias . . and bromeliads and caladiums . .. and, well, you get the idea. It's a pretty wild jungle out there.

I thought I was safe putting it in with the 'morning sun club' where I put some geraniums, petunias, and those lobelia, (which have actually achieved almost 3 inches in height since January) I'll keep em watered...there's something somewhat therapeutic about hand-watering in the evening after dinner. Don't know why, I like to think of it as quality time with my kids :)

lol, I'm guessing by 'divas' you mean the toneria were a little....testy?

So, I'm wondering if you know about a certain kind of weed I have that I lovingly call the 'stinky vine of death.' It's all up in the red hibiscus in the back yard, and when I pull it it releases this stench of rotting food, or even a dead raccoon/squirrel/etc. Downright noxious, and has little heart-shaped leaves along the lines of morning glory. It's easy enough to pull off the hib branches, but the roots are ANCHORED in the ground. I should have taken a pic today while I was at it, but honestly didn't want to touch my phone with that funk on my hands. Any ideas?

Hm, doesn't ring any bells, how 'bout a picture of it next time you're out with the camera? When you pull it, and it breaks off at the root, go back in a few days and hit the new leaves sprouting from the root with Roundup or something. I use a paper cone so as not to hit any good plants with the spray. I honestly hardly ever use Roundup, but I do keep it around for certain weeds. We have gravel driveways and pathways. It's just too tough to keep the weeds out of them, and REALLY miserable to hand-weed.

You should wear gloves when you're weeding, btw. It's too easy to grab something that will bite or sting you, or there is poison ivy, oak and prickly stuff around as well! Speaking from experience here . . . I buy 6pr. of nitrile gloves with mesh backs (about $6 from gardeners.com) each year and keep pairs of them sitting in strategic spots around the yard so I'll put them on when the spirit moves me to weed.

Elaine...sorry a few days always goes by between replies, sometimes I just cant look at the computer after a day at work!

So, got a pic of the stinky vine/weed (1) and that's good advice about using gloves to weed. I haven't run into anything so far other than a small orange ringneck snake in my travels in the yard. I find i step in those (&*(^ sandspurs more often than anything!

unrelated, but fun...
(2) the next canna (3) glad (4) and its c. pulch time :))

Hm, I am still stumped on the weed. But . . well, kill it, man! Kill it! Seriously, "any plant that is growing where you don't want it" is the definition of a weed. (but I will be at the Extension office all afternoon tomorrow, so will pick some brains on that puppy) Meantime, I'd be very careful of getting the stinky juices on your hands, arms, or skin in general. Lots of those sappy things are allergens or irritants. Even some of the various jasmines have milky sap that sticks and stains clothes and is a major skin irritant.

Glads are gorgeous and that's a luscious pink one, Pulch's are pulchritudinous (is that a word? spell check says it's ok - huh!) and the cannas look like Las Vegas showgirls with too many feathers on . . . if you want to buy more next year, look for the "Futurity" hybrids. They flower the same but tend to be more "self-cleaning" which just means they drop their spent flowers so they look nice longer. If you can't find them I'll send you some of mine.

This one is a hybrid named 'Stuttgart' that was supposed to have variegated foliage, but it never has had anything but lovely blue-green leaves and these pretty, delicate flowers. They're very small for canna flowers, and look a bit gangly since the plants are nearly 6ft. tall but I like them. And another shot of my stripey circus one.

Cheers Elaine

Elaine..help!

I met up with an old co-worker friend today who also now is into gardening (seems a few i know have come to it late 30s/early 40s) and we did a little trade. She admired the pics I put on facebook of the C.pulch blooming last year, so I took her some seedlings. In return, I got a foot tall rooted plumeria, and a desert rose cutting. From what I've been reading, the plumeria shouldn't be too hard to please...but the desert rose...?

I've read conflicting stories online tonight, some say they basically plopped the cutting right into sandy soil (in sun) and it will do its thing, others describe these elaborate methods to root it. As its a succulent, I'm tempted to believe the plopping proposition, but I need advice. The look of it really caught my eye...yes, the flowers...but that strange, almost potato-y stem with a thick base was just way too cool. I'm branching (ha!) into unfamiliar territory again and seek guidance for success.

Back to the smelly weed, a neighbor who stops by every few nights so our dogs can run around together called it 'skunk weed.' Yes, it does stink, but really smells nothing like skink...and I remember a skunk weed from Ohio that was anything but a vine. hear anything around the office?

Your stuttgart canna's smaller flowers are like the coral ones of mine.The 'Las Vegas Showgirls' surrounding those 2 have flowers nearly 3x the size. Being that I prefer random to rhyme or reason, I like the contrast. But, I could see some being unhappy with the irregularities. And...where did you pick up the striped one again? The more I see it the more I likey.

Hoping you have a nice Mother's day tomorrow :)

Hey Phil - congrats on your trade! Yes, the plumeria is pretty easy, and will be beautiful in a few years. I got one from my daughter as a gift - it was just a big thick stick in a plastic bag that she bought in Hawaii. This year it will be 4, and it is 5ft. high and wide, and covered with lovely fragrant flowers.

Desert rose, I have not ever tried. The name implies it is drought tolerant, but I think you should get it going in a pot until you're sure it has roots. The big potato-y thing is a caudex, which is a water-holding body part, like an above-ground bulb. It will sustain the plant for a while but not forever. So, if it were mine, I'd pot it up in cactus mix for now, put it somewhere sunny where the sprinkler will hit it, and see what happens. You don't want it to stay wet, but it shouldn't dry out for more than a day or two, either. Once it starts putting up new growth, then you can "plunk" it where you want it. I looked it up on the "other" forum's plant database, and the two comments that stuck with me were "cuttings will root but rarely form a caudex" and "prefers to be under-potted". Neither bode really well . .

I got the Stripey canna "Tropicanna" at Lowe's. They had come in the day I was there, and it seemed like every customer in the place had one they were buying. So . . . they might be gone, it was a couple of weeks ago. But more than likely they'll get more at some point.

I had no luck with a name on your stinky weed. The one guy, Urban Hort. agent who knew all that kind of stuff has just up and moved to Chicago taking his wealth of local knowledge with him (where it won't do anybody any good, I might add). So . . . as I said, doesn't really matter what its name is. Yank it, cut it, spray it, kill it! Wear your gloves and don't get the stinky sap on your skin.

If you really REALLY want to ID it, you're probably going to have to let one plant flower and maybe even go to seed. Then take it in or send digital pics of foliage, flower and seed pod to your Pinellas County Extension. Or to me.

Thanks! I guess I'll just have to hope for the best on the desert rose. It's in a sandy/stony pot now (my own cactus mix) and I let the 17 raindrops we've had in the last few days get it 'damp.'

The plumeria is just about a foot tall, and has the beginnings of a few leaves on it. My friend said it should immediately perk up after getting into the ground..where it now is as of yesterday. I hope I can make them both happy.

No, I don't really REALLY need to know the ID on the weed, its just that I don't remember being graced with its presence last year, while this year it is prolific. Does Hillsborough not have its' own extension office too? Not that its a biggie...I'm pretty much 2 miles from the Hills/Pinellas county line.

And..who moves TO Chicago from FL??? God, that seems like a sentence to me. If I ever have to feel it colder than we get here someone please shoot me!

To continue picking your brain, I saw what had to be the biggest grasshopper of my life today. Pretty colors, but I'm wondering what it is this guy is destroying of mine...?

Phil, that's a lubber grasshopper. They get to be the size of your thumb, 3in or even larger. Seems like we're having a heavy year for them. When it suddenly gets especially dry they move into suburbs where homeowners are irrigating their plants.

Yes, he's pretty too but he will eat just about anything he lands on that's green and juicy, except a few plants with strong essential oils (smell and flavor) like rosemary and basil. So keep your eagle eye out for those guys or foliage with big bites out of it, and stomp them if you find them! If they find something they're especially fond of, they can do a lot of damage in a short time, too - voracious is the word. In some cases, where you have a neighbor who (illegally) waters his grass way too often, the lubbers will chow down there, and do huge damage. (serves the lawn grower right imho) Trouble is, then if he doesn't kill them all off for destroying his precious grass (I'm not a fan of grass, did you guess?) they have to move onto somewhere else when they get hungry again.

I'm sure Hillsborough has an Extension office too. Whichever is closer to you, that's where you can go to get your questions answered. I know a guy - DG member "hawkarica" real name Jim Hawk - who lives in Odessa and is a Master Gardener, too. He works at least one day a week at the Pinellas Extension office answering phones. Last I heard he was there on Mondays. If you want a wealth of information, see if you can call there when he's on duty. He's a great guy with a terrific sense of humor, too. Inside scoop on Master Gardeners, sad to say not all are created equal. Sometimes you'll get somebody on the phone who only wants to give you a web address to look up yourself and get you off the phone. That's not what sociable types like Jim and me do. In Sarasota we started having an annual plant sale, and we have a big group of our MG's who only work on running the plant sale so they really aren't much use as helpers for the public (like we're supposed to be). It's a sad state of affairs, again just my opinion.

As far as the new stinky weed appearing where no weed had gone before, all it takes is for one animal or bird to drop a seed . . and there you go! RRgg! Right?

17 raindrops huh? I am in Salt Lake right now and it's, well, a desert. My lips are cracked and my hair is a haystack. Dry as dust here. But I really was hoping my garden would get a little rain while I'm away.

Not all MG's are created equal???? Elaine, say it isn't so. Almost 30 years here and I have seen 'em all. LOL It gets harder and harder to find qualified volunteers who want to work in the extension offices and more and more folks are going back to work also. That and the universities are cutting back on their support, it is a sad situation.

Sometimes we see those lubbers up here, they must come in on plant shipments.

Alice, we're pretty lucky that UF has been generous with their support all along. They don't send live people to give talks to us so much, but we have many great opportunities for CEUs with their polycom presentations, and they're excellent.

But so true about finding people with the right mind set to be volunteers these days.

Happy days, I just called my cat-sitter and she says we got over an inch of rain yesterday. Fantastic! We even got rain here this morning, in the deserts of northern Utah.

Don't know if you're still out west or not, but we probably got another inch+ tonight...after a record high of 96 today the seabreeze was active! Best thunderstorm(s) so far this year, at least here in my area.

Was down your way last week, tried to go to the Amish restaurant on my bday. The wait was over an hour...too hungry and hot to wait, so perhaps another time. Have you been there before Elaine?

I'm with you on your opinion of grass...even though I live in a community that currently forbids other yard 'filler.' It's ridiculous that a stone yard is a no-no, but patchy, half dead lawns are ok. I'd love an 'Arizona yard' here, and the lower water bill to go with.

I'm way late with pics, but wanted to show you my newest acquisitions. These are all from 5.17
1...the plumeria, which the leaves have already grown since it went in the ground almost 2 weeks ago.
2. desert rose, which hasn't dropped anything other than its spent flowers after getting cut and potted.
3. Dr Moy coming along :)

Looks like your green thumb is growing, too Phil. Way to go! Don't you love the leaves on Dr. Moy? Mine are nearly 5ft. tall now. Way bigger than they ever got last year. You could give them a good dose of time-release fertilizer for the summer about now. We have an ordinance here against fertilizing between June 1 and Sept 30 so mine all get fed this week.

We are getting 'washed' nicely tonight, too. Lots of flashing and booming going on right now. I got back from Utah last night, and it had not rained in a week, so this is very welcome watering.

"The" Amish restaurant?? There are at least four in my immediate vicinity. Yoder's on Bahia Vista and Dutch Heritage are the two we've been to in livid memory. We go occasionally, but it is very Plain food. Great in winter when you want comfort food. In summer I go for more California style and I like things I can't cook at home when we go out so . . the more creative stuff appeals more often.

Btw, Florida passed a senate Bill in 2009 that prevents HOA's from forbidding you to install "Florida Friendly Landscaping".

http://floridafriendlyplants.com/Blog/post/2009/07/12/Its-the-Law!-Florida-Friendly-Landscaping-is-Legal-Everywhere.aspx

So if you want to reduce the area of lawn at your house, and install what is defined as "Florida Friendly" plantings the state backs you up. Generally any drought tolerant shrubs, perennials and groundcover plants are included in the definition, but you can get an excellent book from any County Extension office that will guide you on that score. It's online here:

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/files/FFL_Plant_Selection_Guide.pdf

I currently have no lawn. I just nibbled away at it until it was all gone, a square yard or so at a time. Now that we have a well, I'm not quite so water-conscious but still all my irrigation is micro-sprinklers on timers, and our water bill this last month (hot and dry as it's been) was just over $22. OK, I'm done bragging and will jump off my soap box and go to bed now.

Accckkkk, my water bill last month was $146 and, although it has been super dry, we are not ready to irrigate regularly yet. That's it, I am ready to move.

Beautiful begonia btw. I have 5 new ones coming next week. WooHoo

Alice, there are still raging bargains to be had in the housing market here, just saying . .

Our water bills will more than double once they see fit to link us to the sewer system. We are on a septic tank still. They charge times 1.5 for outgoing water, go figure. So a $22 water bill would be $55.

Can't wait to see your new begonias! I am just getting up to speed from my trip again, and finding spots for all the great ones you sent me last fall.

This message was edited May 25, 2012 10:39 AM

Elaine, I am liking the Dr Moy's leaves...They're lightly variegated, which appeals to me. More than that and it looks like someone spilled paint all over the leaves. Once they get out of the ground, they are pretty zippy growers, too!

"The" Amish restaurant we tried to go to was Yoder's. Haha...didn't know there was a collection near you...The Amish and Florida just don't seem to mix in my mind. But, after seeing the place on man vs. food a while back, me and my gf have been meaning to get there. We were stunned there was such a wait, for plain food! I'm usually all about anything that's spicy enough to burn my tongue off, but we thought it would be akin to a Bob Evans-ish experience, and she (country girl) likes all that meatloaf/dumpling/noodley/potroast/gravy type stuff...me..eh.

Thanks for that info about the F.F.L.! I'll arm myself with that when the time comes that I'm able to make that decision. Although our water bill isn't as high as Alice's (ouch!)..even with a pool, I still just get pissy watching the spray hit the sidewalk and road, no matter how much I try and adjust them. I water the absolute bare minimum that I can get away with, and think I made good choices with Xeric plants...but that stupid grass just dries up like mad. Thankfully we don't have a really large yard, just enough to be a pestilence.

Time for the random question...Shouldn't the confederate jasmine be done blooming by now? Trust me this is not a complaint, but back in April they bloomed big time, but ever since then there are still occasional shoots with 3-4 blooms on them. Just a nice bonus, or...the unexplained...?

Hm, I had a huge mass of that jasmine at our last house. Trying to remember . . . I know it put on a fabulous bloom each spring, but I think it actually did bloom again sporadically through the rest of the warm weather. I believe it blooms on new growth . . . puts on a big spurt when the weather warms up in spring, and a big flush of bloom, then if you keep watering and fertilizing it, it keeps growing and blooming more.

Funny story - that thing finally "ate" a whole shed, really it was an old, old garage in the back yard that I used for my garden shed. When DH and I finally armed ourselves to prune it back, it was all entwined with a humungous bougainvillea, and we ended up with a truck load of prunings out on the street about 3 weeks in a row. The jasmine vines were leaking sticky, irritating staining white sap, and the bougie was full of those evil 2in. thorns. I felt so bad, I waited for the pickup guys to come by the week after they finally took it all away, and gave them all gift certificates for Einsteins. The punch line came at the end of that summer when the jasmine had grown back almost to where it was before we pruned it. That was a wet, rainy summer and we'd just stimulated it to grow and bloom by all that pruning!

We paid somebody the next time it needed taming. Beware the wild, uncontrollable jasmine! It's great if you have a chain-link fence or something else really ugly to hide, though.

You were right, Yoder's is quite akin to a Bob Evans, but well, more plain. Capital P Plain. Great desserts, though. Homemade pie. That house with the jasmine was about 6 blocks from Yoders. We used to walk over late-ish for pie and ice cream. Then waddle home.

Just had to share these pics of my Tropicanna - it's getting over the top with different colors of leaves here.

Oh, and it has a blazing orange flower with hot pink and purple stems . . . does it get any better??

To be honest I really like the plant better without the flowers - and you know I love flowers but . . . it's over the top.

Dyzzy the flower is nice but the leaves are incredible.

Ardesia, ouch! mine just doubled from 30 -to 60$ every 3months and I thought that was bad. Of course we have a septic and a well for all the irrigation. I have eliminated all grass wiith crushed coral walkways lined with bromeliads. Rerouted all the sprinkler heads now it is alot more efficient.

Yea, it is a real ouchy each month. We only have a tiny, 20" strip of grass along one side of the driveway and I do not water it. It is just that our water rates are over the top. When our home was built we were able to have a separate meter for irrigation and there were no sewer charges but along the way the rules were changed so although I still have the two meters, we are charged for sewer on all water usage now. Criminal IMO. Sadly, no wells allowed on our neighborhood island, all the ground water is dedicated to the golf courses. Although I use drip for my many. many containers, because of the nature of our soil, drip irrigation does not always work well for the landscape. On the upside, contrary to what a lot of South Carolinians say, we do not pay any property taxes to speak of. Our taxes are only a tiny percentage of most around the east coast pay.

My Dr. Moy hedychiums are getting ready to flower. I just love the leaves all by themselves, but in this case, the perfume of the flowers is worth waiting for.

Although in previous years these have only been about 4ft. high - must have been the mild winter, who knows - they are over 6ft. tall this year!

Elaine, both the tropi-canna and Dr Moy are looking good! The 2 of mine that are up are about 4 and 2 ft tall, so I hope to see that bud soon too!

Not even thinking about irrigation right now, over 5 inches of rain have fallen here since Monday. Much as the water was welcome, its kind of getting depressing not seeing the sun this long, in June to boot! I guess the upside is both fire season and the drought are history. once again, I'm amazed at the reaction of all the plants to the rain. Even one of my bougainvillea, which I understood to be dry lovers, I swear is growing an inch a day.

Alice, I didn't know there was no property tax in SC, interesting.

Oh we have property taxes all right, they are just very low by comparison with many other areas.

Yup, I think they getcha one way or another on things like property tax and utilities.

Phil the term "dry lover" and also "drought tolerant" on plants is a relative term here in FL and sort of misleading. Our sandy soil drains and dries out extremely fast, so drought tolerant plants do great when it rains buckets. They will survive with little or no water, hence the word "tolerant" but they won't look beautiful. I've seen people bringing dessicated plants back to Lowe's, whining "but the label said drought tolerant!" so they had just thrown it in the ground and left it to its own devices. Those labels should read "drought tolerant once established". It's virtually a desert here in April-May and October-November when the sun's hot and it doesn't rain.

Now it's June, and when the sun's out it's a blast furnace, plus the days are long so the plants will grow inches per day with good water. They'll survive, but can't use all that heat and solar energy to grow unless they have enough water. You should think about increasing your irrigation times for the weeks ahead if it doesn't continue to rain. Your bougies would take this much water right through the summer and do fine mainly because they drain between the rains. If we had heavy soil it might be another matter.

Our "normal" summer pattern in years past was a downpour every afternoon, and all those dry lovers (really dry survivors) grow and bloom and thrive if it does that. Maybe we'll actually see that pattern a little more often this year . . . sure would be nice!

My coleus has a flower, and the first of the Dr. Moys is opening, too. Smells so lovely!

Out taking pics of some other plants today, and encountered this sport amongst the Dr. Moys - a lot more white variegation than the other stems. The flowers are opening like crazy now, and the scent is all over the garden. Yum.

Elaine,

I've been tied up with work the last couple weeks, sorry I've missed your nice pics and posts! Can't wait til my Dr Moy looks like that, and 2 of my c. pulch are blooming beautifully, (red/yellow) no signs yet from the pink or the yellow/white...Then this little B***h Debby blew into town, and I'm amazed at the amount of damage to my babies from the wind and rain! We had about 15" of rain here between Thurs and Sun...the pink CP is over on its side, and the well established red one next to it's roots are pulling up. I'm in shock...these are well established plants! Oddly, no notice of any dying of the branches yet...so I'm hoping when the wind finally calms down they might right themselves some. Any tips? No use trying to stake them or anything yet, we're still having 40-50 mph gusts every few minutes. Its really disheartening, to say the least. Any damage down your way>

We've had lots of rain and wind, too. Still honking out there but not too much rain today. I haven't had a really good look yet, but as far as I can tell, no damage.

If it's any comfort to you, I had to stake my C.pulch when it started to up-root in a wind storm last year. It is permanently attached to the fence behind it now. Seems like they're fairly shallow-rooted, and when the ground gets saturated like it is from all this rain, it's easy for them to pull out of the ground. Get some sturdy stakes, hammer them well down into the ground, and set your plants back up.

Meantime until the wind lets up, you need to pile some mulch, loose soil, or even an old wet towel or something over the exposed roots so they don't dry out if the sun comes out for too long. Get a jug of Quick Start root stimulator for when you re-plant them. When you get them staked and set to rights again, give them a little bit of a pruning. Reducing the leaf canopy will compensate a bit for the torn up roots. Then water them in with the Quick Start fert right away, and again in a week or so.

Mine never even wilted after its uprooting experience. Have faith! Meantime, your gingers and cannas will be loving all this water!

Elaine...thanks for the tips. Once again, weeks have gone by and I haven't been back to DG...how does that happen?

As it turned out, most of the plants righted themselves to a degree. And, the one that didn't is no worse for the wear. It's putting up a new large branch to balance itself, or so I guess. The first of my seedlings from last year has finally bloomed for me. (pics) However, as irony has it, it isn't red. I only bought red seeds...hmmm. No complaints tho, I like it just the same. Now, the pink and yellow/white...(tapping foot) come on!

How is your summer going for you? I am busier with work than I was this time last year, and I miss playing in my yard :)

Hey Phil, good to hear your garden recovered from the deluge. The yellow C. pulch is really nice. They're such elegant flowers, who cares what color they are? And when you get a whole shrub full of them, it's over the top.

I've been collecting some seeds from mine lately, and what a funny story! Had a few of those brown seed pods in a plastic container on my sewing table. It's across the room from where I sit at the computer. A couple of days during Debby's wrath I was stuck indoors, kept hearing this odd crackling sound. I thought maybe the cat had brought in a mouse, or something. Then one night as I was in bed reading, I heard a couple of distinct "pops" and the sound of things bouncing off the windows and walls. When I pattered out to find out what the heck it was, found one side of a seed pod on the floor by the table. Turns out those pods twist and pop open throwing the seeds all over the place when they dry out! What a riot. I'm going to put the lid on the container next time I collect some so they don't all fly away. I'm finding those seeds everywhere.

Anyway, I have lots of gingers and cannas blooming like crazy now that they're all standing up again. I finally cut down the huge Mexican sunflower plant that was looming over my little C. pulch so it is coming on like gangbusters now, too. Once I hack through the waist-high weeds (brought on by the rain) with my machete, I'm finding lots of lovely things out there in the jungle.

Elaine....i've been bad again!

I haven't ever heard the seeds popping yet. and this year i'm letting them just do their natural thing and leaving the pods on after sept or so. maybe the birds will eat some and start them in random places.

Can't believe summer is almost over already, got a job promotion in June, which was nice, but I haven't had much free time anymore. Happily, since most of the hard work was done last year everything has pretty much come into its own this year and I'm very satisfied with how it all looks. Me...a landscaper. Who'd have thunk it?

All the pics of your blooms (from a month ago) were beautiful. Especially the white/orange one. Can't stop loving orange.

Speaking of orange, had a nice surprise this week. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. :)

Also broke down and bought some morning glory seeds...good childhood memories attached.

Hey Phil, I just got home myself from a trip up to Canada to visit family. My body clock is all messed up and it feels like 10pm instead of 1am. Congrats on your job promo, I figured something mundane like that had interfered with your gardening career. But it's fun to just let the garden develop sometimes, too.

The gingers look fantastic, helped on by all that rain we got in June, of course. Mine have never been so tall. Hope you got to smell them, they really do smell just divine. Don't forget when the flowers are spent, to cut off the stems that have flowered to encourage the plant to put up new stems. Sometimes on new starts, I cut the flower head off and wait until I see new growth at the base before I cut the stem and all the leaves off.

You should do the same with the Cannas, too.