End of summer blooms

Wind -- can you tell me more about the Clerodendrums? They are gorgeous. Is it this: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/e502/clerodendrum-bungei.aspx?

Holly---
All my Caladiums are planted in the ground.....
You said you dig them up and put them in paper bags....
Do you air dry the bulb before you put it in the paper bags???

I am thinking--even a paper bag can restrict air circulation and may
cause the bulbs to rot...
What bags do you use? Grocery paper bags? Small lunch bags?
Do you find that the bulbs get bigger/multiply after growing outside??

Don't mind all the questions...
I am trying to learn something I've never had to deal with.
I don't want to lose my new bulbs--as they are so beautiful.

Thanks---Gita

I have some annuals that I've grown particularly attached to, are thriving, and I'd like to enjoy them next year as well. But space with good natural lighting is limited in my house, so I'm going to have to choose carefully.

Cat--I do the same as Holly--I take cuttings of plants that i KNOW
will root easily--Coleus takes the 1st prize in this....
I root so many--I have to re-pinch them twice. That is annoying to do--
but 6 months is a long time to nurture cuttings under lights....

I have so many new Coleus this year--it will be a tough decision.....

Gita

Well--I, and many others, have light set-ups and use them
in winter for cuttings.
Come spring--it needs to be used for seedlings.
SO? What do you do with the cuttings???? There is the dilemma.

Look at this--a jungle!
Then--I also need to keep Brug cuttings up here--which usually
sit on the top shelf.
And--baby Holiday cactus.....

Mamma Mia!!!

Had to use the flash, sun was almost down

glad, 4 o'clocks

oh my, Gita! :-) It looks like a person could spend hours in your house just admiring all the lovely plants! :-)

Gita, I let them dry out a bit before I put them in the bags and of course remove all the leaves. Last year I put some of them in shoe boxes that worked just as good. I store them in one of my 2nd fl bedrooms which is pretty warm.

I find it very worth while to take cuttings before the first frost to overwinter. Persian shield, lantana,coleus, verbena, to name a few.Since we overwinter so many large tropicals used in the yard I will have to plan a little better this year as to how many and what I keep. I'd like to believe I can make heating the GH a little more cost effective by starting more of our own plants.

Happy, Speedie just asked me too, and until now I didn't realize that there are so many different types of Clerodendrums. Ours was from a gardening neighbor and I think it is Clerodendrum bungei (Rose Glory Bower, Cashmere Bouquet, Mexicali Rose, Mexican Hydrangea) and is hardy enough to make it through Jersey winters without being dug up. They grow tall. We have them growing up against our porch in morning shade with some sun in the afternoon. They have not been "invasive" for us here in Jersey. Just slow, steady naturalizing that is easily controlled. I've read reports from people living in California who said it can get quite invasive for them.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1253/

Speedie may get a different, more tropical type: Clerodendrum x speciosum, which is a hybrid "vine" cross between C. splendens and C. thomsoniae. That species would need to overwinter indoors in our region.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60289/

I hadn't realized before either... until I started doing some research earlier this morning to try to figure out what variety I had. I think I'll just rearrange my installation plans, and just dig the pots into the ground instead of full-on properly installing them... then hope like heck DH doesn't mind the 3 things being brought inside. ;) Where can I hide them!? < =D

We'll be so happy to see you and Harry, Diana. Let me know by the 10th if you're coming for sure. I ask everyone to do the RVSP thing because it could mean the difference of making room, food and drinks for 70 or 100 people. Anyone else coming??

I've posted an ID request for this. It's unlike my other two black eyed susans so I just haven't been sure. (Plenty available for swap)

My first tropical hibiscus Magnifique bloom.

Sally--
I do not know for sure--but Karen (typ..) has very tall, Rudbeckia Hirtas
whose blooms look like yours. Other than being about twice the size
of the Goldstrum ones--these are also about 5' tall.

Perhaps you could D-mail her and ask? Gita

There are tons of varieties of hirta, and that's my guess as well -- except that according to Allan Armitage it isn't reliably perennial. Reseeds a lot though.

Roses that is really pretty I just love the Trop Hibs.

I love Hibiscus!

Hey Guys,
I was on vacation in Massachusetts for a few days so I was MIA. My garden is now sulking, mad at me for my neglect. Apparently it's been hot and sunny for the last 5 days. I think the only true casualty was the cardinal flower. Another one of my 'Indian Summer' Black-eyed Susans bit the dust too, some sort of root rot, I think.
1. 'Radsunny' Yellow Knockout Rose. It knows I'm about to get rid of it, so it's trying to impress me now. Not working.
2. My fav combo this year.
3. Zinnias for cutting. First year growing zinnias, if you can believe it. Definitely won't be the last.
4. 'Mint Mocha' Coleus (I think) and 'Velvet Mocha' Coleus gifted from Gita. Such a beautiful pair! Will be carrying both of these over this winter, for sure.
5. A baby praying mantis on my almost blooming 'Autumn Beauty' sunflower (I think).

This message was edited Jul 30, 2013 9:28 PM

Those zinnia are just beautiful.

Beautiful Zinnia, Typwc. Don't you just hate to leave the garden in the summer? It takes all the fun out of being away when you come back to see so many things gone.

okay RRR, wow! sounds like a lot of people...I'll dmail you before then. ...pretty hibiscus!

"Mint Mocha" thanks typwc, didn't know the name of that fingery coleus; I like it too from the swap

wind---
Is that a close-up of your red Canna? It IS amazing!
Do you ever collect the seeds? They are the size of big peas and black.

If one cannot send "plant material" to somewhere--seeds are OK, I think...

I have it growing in a couple of places....Gita

Thanks, RRR and Holly! It is my dream to one day have a successful cut flower farm.... learning to grow and collect seeds for cutting flowers satisfies a small part of that dream for me right now. :)

That Mint Mocha is from a group of plants Gita acquired from a greenhouse recently, and was not from the same stock that was offered in a past swap. I do have a cutting from Gita that looks a lot like Mint Mocha, but I don't know if it's the same thing or not. Also in the pot with the 'Velvet Mocha' was a little baby 'Inky Fingers'.

I had done zinnias a few years ago, I need to do them again next year...love their colors

rebloom on Immortality

Sally, that yellow flower looks like a perennial sunflower, a Hilianthus of some variety?

Jen, it is so refreshing to see an Iris flower this time of year.

thanks donner, I have it on the ID forum . I will compare with Helianthus.

My naked ladies are up!

Love that soft pink, Happy. So pretty!

Here are a few from my garden today.

1) Japanese Anemone
2) Coreopsis 'Redshift'
3) Chinese Aster (Thank you, RRR.)
4) Daylily' Frans Hals' (Thank you, Gita.)
5) Morning Glory




This message was edited Aug 3, 2013 4:23 AM

pretty blooms. I think our Anemone buds got eaten by a few bunnies or ground hogs. the plants are all still there, just no buds to bloom.

RRR another Lisianthus bloom!
loving the color of this zinnia; seeds were from a DG swap
also loving Pixie's blue phlox
We have lots of hummingbird activity!!

Beautiful Lisianthus!

The flower buds of some of my Anemones were also eaten. At the time, the stalks were already very tall, and there were no signs of them being pulled down. So my guess is that deer did it :o(.

yes, the soft pink is beautiful, Happy!

Donner, your 'Redshift' is also a lovely soft pink, and the Chinese aster is gorgeous!

How do you keep your morning glory in check? I tried it once and it now is incredibly invasive and I spend all my time trying to pull it up. :-(

Donner, the Chinese aster is lovely -- do you know what the Latin name is? I'm glad to read the caution about the anemone -- I was going to put more in the front yard (a different more shady area) but I'll hold off if it is deer candy.

The Lisanthus is stunning. I wonder if I could put it on my awful front hill (though I've vowed to keep annuals off it but those flowers....) -- I read it is drought tolerant and deer don't like it. is it hard to grow?

Happy--

Fro what I know about Lisianthus--their stems are rather thin and
may need staking. Not suitable for your AFH....

I have never grown it--but long, long time ago--in my days in the GH--
that is what I was told....
Maybe they have hybridized them better now....G.

THANK you (shouting) -- You saved me -- I can't plant anything that requires that level of TLC!

Cat, this is the first time that I have grown a Morning Glory. Knowing this plant could self-seed like crazy, I was going to cut off all the seed heads I could find. As it turned out, that won't be necessary now. The picture was taken yesterday, and the plant was dead this morning. Completely wilted. It was bitten off at about 2 inches above the ground, maybe by a rabbit.

The Chinese Aster came from RRR. I started some from seed, but the seedlings were ruined due to my unplanned trip to China in March. RRR was very kind to give me a couple of seedlings at the swap. The flowers remind me of the Asters that I saw when growing up in China, although I didn't know what they were at the time :-).

Here is the link to the Aster seeds: http://parkseed.com/aster-lilliput-blue-moon/p/00250-PK-P1/. The color of the flowers on this site is not realistic. The real flower colors is closer to the one in my photo, but pinker. I wonder if the color will change when the temperature drops or when the flowers get older. We will see.

Beautiful, Donner! I have to put Chinese aster on my wish list.

Where did you grow up in China?

Cat, I was born in Beijing, lived and went to school there for many years, but also lived in other parts of China. The place that I have lived in the longest is the DC/MD/N VA area :o).