Nice pic there, Mj. Yeah, we drive each other nuts at times, too. If we didn't I'd be worried.
Like roses and pentas living together. One is thorny and rather stiff and demanding. The other fills in the gaps when the roses aren't in bloom. Hoo, boy! It's really getting late when I'm waxing poetic.
Everyone's flowers and plants look amazing. The pictures of yourselves look great too! I will have to find one and post.
Rita - what is the purple flower with the yellow center from the previous post? It looks like it takes batteries! I just purhcased a dragonfruit plant this past weekend. We drove up to Sarasota and went to Crowley's to pick up a voodoo lily (snake plant) for my husband. We walked into the greenhouse and saw the gigantic bloom and my husband knew we had to get another one. We had one before but it did not do well - I think we had it in the wrong part of the yard.
GAGirl - love the coloring on your cheesecake philo!
Debra - is that a clematis? I saw one this weekend (one of the only ones that will grow as far south as me). It was loaded with blooms and was so pretty. I love the pics of your outdoor paradise.
Dyzzy - I too have been looking at the white curcuma this year, but have passed it up several times. I may have to purchse one at those end of the season sales. My pink one has spread out quite nicely over the last couple of years and has bloomed non-stop this summer.
We just celebrated our 22 anniversary and then the bday at 46. Not to make you all jealous...but my husband made reservations at a fancy resort on the coast and took me down there. We went out to eat at Bennies Red Barn (Alice, you been there?) Now I know you probably thinking a 'barn". It looks like a barn in and out but the food is fabulous. A old black guy owns it and he walks around singing as you eat and has a wonderful deep voice. Then we went back and sat outside in a swing and watched the stars. I have to say, that is the first time my hubbie has done that. I guess he's starting to take after his dad. His dad always takes his wife somewhere NICE for their anniversary. They have been married for I think 55 years.
My hardy Hibs are still blooming. The only one that has not bloomed is the white one - blue moon, I think. It's struggling.
1 noid
2 cranberry crush
3 -peppermint schnapps
4 Summerific something
As you can see...some little bug is eating them. I have found a grasshopper or two on them. Arrgh!
I also have this one I found out in the woods. I have a few seed if anyone wants to try them. It was about 6 ft high and the flowers are probably 5-6 in. but do not fully open.
oops, forgot the photo
Love the white one from the woods, Paula. Simply elegant.
Bunnie, my dragon fruit cactus has grown, but only put on one bloom and the rain from Debby made it drop before it opened. +-( I've seen them growing like crazy on oak trees in partial shade and fairly dry conditions.
A few interesting shots from this morning -
Brazilian plume
Another jazzy sport from Hedychium 'Dr. Moy'
Dark purple vinca
The perfume led me to the Butterfly Ginger
Flowers on my Brug. Monster White were all split up the sides this time, weird?
You people have the most beautiful plants/flowers - it makes my day EVERY day that I come here and see what you've posted - THANKS!
That dark purple vinca is over the top. makes me want to buy annuals again.
Elaine, the white curcuma will probably not put up any more flower spoikes this year but it will spread and have many more next year. They eventually make large clumps. I grew several from rhizomes this year and only one of hte white ones has bloomed for me.
Paula, I have not been to Bennies but now I do plan to go there. Also, I think the white hibiscus is one of the marsh mallows. They grow wild in the ditches around here. There is also a pretty pink variety. If I had a pair of leather hip boots (snakes, etc.) I would go and snitch some seeds from them. LOL
Mj you guys look great! Hay, Paula, love to have some HH seeds.. Elaine, got your seeds thanks so much for the fun experimenting supplies for me to play with this winter.. ( seed sowing and such)
Storm came thru and blew the stuff down, came home to the daughters who came to visit, they had picked stuff up and uprighted it.. hailed big time at work today, damaged every car on the lot again.. sheese!
Elaine, are you sure that is not the stardancer cross there with the split ptals? Stardancer has split petals..
me in May on way to New Orleans.. ugh.. need to find one of me and Joe.. u know, since I am joeswife and all..
Mm, don't think so, Deb. That is the Original, One and Only Monster that I grew from your cutting last year and planted in the ground this spring. Maybe Stardancer has been dancing with the Monster when I'm not looking??
Glad you got the seeds, something ate the seedlings I had started. Yours will be safer, getting big enough to defend themselves in your basement. I'll run out and take a new picture of the mama plant tomorrow morning. It blew over in a squall from Isaac, but is tied up again now, and looking amazing. btw, it has thorns on the trunks like rose thorns - I found out the hard way!
Alice, those vincas are sold as annuals but I've had them go 3 or 4 years for me. Even through our bad winters. Have to pinch them a bit to keep them bushy the following years, but they are tender perennials.
Thunbergia from Mj, what a bloomer!
This message was edited Sep 7, 2012 9:01 PM
GAGirl - that was so nice of your husband. Mine surprises me now and again as well. I think some of the best places are the ones that look like nothing on the outside, have amazing food and charm, and are quaint on the inside. Your Hibiscus are very pretty. I especially like the cranberry crush.
Dyzzy - I love your varigated heliconia, the coloring is so cool! My Brazilian Cloak is not blooming yet, but it does not usually bloom until it cools a little.
you know, some day I will be able to try some of those cool things like heliconia and brazilian cloak.. beautiful! What I really want to happen is the chalice vine and the firespike to finally bloom for me, and queen emma as well! Once I grow a tropical to a bloom, I am satisfied at my ability as a gardener. all the gingers I planted from seeds have produced plants, but none of them have bloomed for me, including the butterfly ginger, is it me or the climate or what>?
It is birthday week here , always a challenge.. 7th mom in law (joesmom) he is there now with her up in buffalo.. , 8th, son, 9th, youngest daughter, 10th, neice.
all of these plants you see except the banana were started from seeds here..
Caught the little devil!
These huge buds have been teasing me for about 3 days - got up at 4:30 this morning and CAUGHT THEM IN THE ACT of full bloom, the size of SAUCERS!:
LOL Debra, at first I though you meant she was your 7th MIL. :-)
Firespikes are always late bloomers and Queen Emmas, like many crinums, can often take years but if anyone can get something to bloom sooner it will be you.
Deb, on the gingers, they like heat and some sun but not a full day here. The one thing they do demand is a TON of water. I'd move them to a very sunny warm spot in your yard for this month, and water them 'til you think they'll drown! My hedychiums bloom the first year from divisions, dependably.
KayJones - way to go, catching that night bloomer, it's just beautiful!
A few more from this morning -
1. & 2. Brazilian Red Cloak - finally caught the color better; the flower heads are huge and floppy now - it's been blooming for months.
3. & 4. Brazilian Plume (also from Rita) second set of flowers it has had, and one got broken off in a storm.
5. Heliconia about to open
oh Kay!!!! wowie! Oh I can't wait to see mine do that! You Luck!
Elaine, those reds are so tantalizing! I bet the hummers are all over your place.
Alice, thanks for the gardeners boost.. you guys are the best!
Elaine, why can't my little BC bloom like that? I watch it daily - it's 4' tall but still hasn't bloomed.
That plant is a bit of a puzzle to me, too, Kay. Last year, when I grew it from a cutting, it put up one flower head 'way late - picture taken on Dec. 11th - and since it was such a warm winter, it held onto it right through the winter. Then it started really growing and branching this spring, so I planted it in the ground, gave it a handful of Osmocote and left it to its own devices. To my great surprise, it started up bloom heads again in April, and they're still going! So don't give up, it may yet start up some flower heads. btw, don't prune, the heads start up on the branch tips.
Thanks for that info.!
Does anyone know where Cassie is?
Kay, I just got a new book, "Gardener's Guide to Tropical PLants" by Nellie Neal, and she addresses the Red Cloak. She says while it will grow in a semi shady location it will develop fewer flowers. She suggests sun and lots of water, "letting the soils dry out only slightly" between waterings. She also says to fertilize regularly, as often as directed on the label from spring through fall and less ofen during the winter. Also, mulch well and turn the mulch in as soon as it decomposes and top dress with fresh.
Hope this helps. Sounds like they are hungry, thirsty plants.
Hello Everyone!!
mjsponies,what a sweet couple you guys make!! And, he loves your plants to boot, how lucky can you get? lol Maybe you can put a pergola or some structure attached to your existing greenhouse, then cover it in plastic in the winter for your Philos. That was how mine got started, a small heater on the coldest nights.
floridabunnie, that is a Blue potato bush, it will probably grow like a weed in your zone but I find it to be well behaved and a great little bloomer.
dyzzy, I am always in awe of how fast your plants are growing. They will take root easily, just stick the broken pieces in the ground and forget them.
I will have to find some seeds for that purple vinca next spring. I sometimes find rare seeds in early spring at Wal-Mart before they are picked over.
That is so unusual with the Brugs, mine are doing the same, the blooms are splitting and distorted.
GAgirl1066, I am jealous of your hibiscus blooms, every one I click is lovelier than the next.
Joeswife, I second what ardesia said, if you can't get them to bloom no one can!
Good picture of you, you seem so elegant.
Kay Jones, thanks for sharing those beautiful little devils with us, I saw a few buds on mine yesterday.
Guavas
me
Coral vine
Ken
Heliconia
Rita, you're just a PUP - pretty lady! Where did you snag that handsome husband?!!!! Your plants are pretty, too!
Lovely, Rita! The flowers, the portraits, the water, and I see you found those heliconias. They're my new favorites (this week at least).
Alice, interesting that your book says full sun for the Red Cloak. Mine is in bright shade all day long in the warm months, although it does get some sun in winter back there. Maybe an hour or two. The big one at the entrance to Selby Gardens is in the shade, too. That's the reason I put mine where it is. It does get lots of water - that is my bed for things that like extra watering. Fert? Haven't given it any since a handful of Osmocote at the end of May - not allowed to fertilize here over summer, until the end of this month. I was thinking it's probably due for a feeding once the flowering ends, but it's been in bloom for well over 3 months!
Speaking of blooming, that monster begonia, I discovered, puts on huge growth but no blooms if it gets a lot of water. If I deprive it - let it dry a bit between waterings - it stays a more reasonable size and blooms more.
Elaine...love that begonia..I would love a cutting, if you ever give it a haircut.
I am so excited...two guys came today and pulled the weeds out of my flower bed (soon to be flowerbed). I planted a few things a couple of months ago, but haven't been able to keep the weeds out. It was so bad, you couldnt even tell there was some flowers in there. It took both of them 6 hours to pull all the weeds, but it looks GREAT! Keep in mind this is a new house (tons of weeds and grass) and the bed is about 110 feet long and from 5 to 10 ft. wide. Now I can plant all the ones that has been sitting around in containers. I can't wait to see it next spring. No more than I have now, the butterflies love it!!
Paula, I hope you covered that clean soil with plenty of hay or something to keep any more weed seeds from germinating. Every time I yank a weed it exposes more weed seeds and they take off if I am not careful - which I rarely am. :-(
Rita, you continue to amaze me with all your collections and you look so pretty and happy, that must be your place in "p".
Elaine, from what the book says the red cloak will pretty much bloom anywhere but not as heavily in the shadier locations. Since Selby has theirs in shade and you live in the same neighborhood, I would follow what they do - like you did. :-) The author of the book,Nellie Neal is the regional editor for the coastal and tropical south for the National Gardening association. I subscribe to their newsletters.
http://www.garden.org/regional/report/author/11
Also, I think all begonias like to dry out between waterings. Mine did much better when we were experiencing a drought earlier this summer and I was controling the amount of water they got. My pretty stained glass from you looks so pretty in the smallish pot I have it in, but I realize I am committing plant abuse so I'll pot it up before I got out of town mid week.
The pond - we can no longer see any fish.
Bougy arborea sent up one 7' blooming stem, the rest of the plant is blah.
The snowy egrets and wood storks have taken up residence in a nearby tree. They will kill it with their poop. By nightfall there will be over a hundred in that tree.
The cotton boll is opening......
Alice, that gal can't be real reliable - take a look at the link below - third picture down - she has a handful of peppers and the caption says they are rose hips!
http://www.garden.org/regional/report/author/11
No, the caption says they are actually camellia seed pods that look like rose hips. They looked like peppers to me also but I have seen some pretty strange pods on the many different varieties of camellias so I can't say for sure. I think the National Gardening Association is pretty reliable, I have met the executive director and liked her a lot. The writer for the middle south is a very old friend of mine, she also writes for a number of newspapers and magazines.
I'm sorry, but I grow many kinds of Camellias and none of them have seed pods that look like peppers - those are peppers, imho.
I think they just put the wrong picture up.
that photo made me hungry.. just saying.. LOL
Kay, I have emailed her and asked for a clarification. If there is a mistake she would want to be aware I presume, I mistakenly said they were camellias seed pods but it says gardenia seeds pods. In either case they do more closely resemble peppers to me too.
Debra,
Let's go get Mexican...mmm.salsa!
LOL, this is OT but my dog sitter who is coming his week says she likes to make nachos so I thought I would lay in some supplies for her. I know about the chips and salsa but what kind of cheese should I buy and do you put anything else on them? Obviously they not one of my usual meals and I am clueless.
I like shredded sharp cheddar on mine - YUM!
Me too, Kay, but most people like something milder like Jack or the mixed shredded cheese. Maybe some sour cream? Loaded nachos have ground meat too.
Now I'm hungry! How did we get onto this subject? Was it the peppers? (I agree that picture is of peppers)
I'm thinking we are going to have nachos tonight.
Here is one of my ponytail palms....had another that was just as big, but someone stoled it! I was MAD!! I have another...it was taller...almost 6 ft. and when we moved it fell over in the trailer and broke the top out of it...almost cried. Thought it was a gonner but now its putting out new leaves.
2 - peace lily - domino...bromeliads....and varg rubber tree
3 - more bromeliads...anthuriums....medinilla, couple other things
4 - anthurium - has anyone ever seen a yellow like this one - know the name?
5 - close up
http://www.fablefarms.ca/anthuriums.htm
The above site sells premium cut flowers and lists 'DYED' yellow Antherium.
sales@fablefarms.ca is the email address to request a catalog - might be nice to have.
Thank you! I'll get some of that shredded cheese for her and maybe leave some ground beef in the freezer. I already have some daisy sour cream so we well be set. I knew you guys would come through. I visited an anthurium grower in HI and they had many colors of anthuriums that we never see in the trade but I don't believe I remember seeing a yellow one.
But, that was several years ago, check this one out.
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2010/11/01/ctahr-holds-open-house-touts-new-anthurium-varieties/
This message was edited Sep 9, 2012 5:28 PM
Alice - Thanks for the link to the newsletter, I signed up to receive as well. Your yard looks so inviting! I just put in a flower pot fountain (really bubbler) today. It is still a work in progress. They recommended 2 bags of rocks, so far I have purchased 5 and need even more. I put black beans or refried beans on my nachos (I don't eat meat), the mexican melty cheese is good too. I stopped Friday night and got mexican because I was having a craving. . .
Paula - that yellow anthrium is so unique! When I was visiting my parents recently I saw a purple one, which I had never seen before. BTW, I did not forget about your barleria. I was hoping it would cool down a little so I didn't fry them again! Will be sure to use newspaper as well :)
My bubbler (still needs some tweaking)
hibiscus
cats on my pipevine
eggs on the same vine
variegated hibiscus
that is a cool bubbler! love the dark red on the hib, and your varigated is really loaded with a lot of hues. cool that you have butterflys for the future going there..Love that Clero blooming too!
Paula I would be happy to have a yellow bloom on an anthurium! The red one that KayJones gave me is very happy downstairs in the tropical room.
It looks good with the other tropicals down there..
the dayblooming setosa and the night blooming lav moon vine are my favorites atm. oh wait maybe the showy ones too..
