Okie Dokie, I can never start a new thread without having something to show off :)
We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1358264/
Ken Janeck Rhodi
Girard Fuchsia Azalea
Golden Chain Tree
Woodland Phlox
Bloomerang Lilac
I have some more too....
Tiarella Susquehanna and friends in our Honeylocust garden
Tamarack Larch cone....so pretty
Kalimeris Incisa 'Edo Murasaki'
thanks for the thread.
Thanks typ for enlightening me to Wave Pansies. But I agree, I prefer them being their natural selves. If they sell them for fall I might try them. Last year's fall pansies mostly froze in my pots but they usually do well in my sunny driveway bed.
Oh this morning was incredibly beautiful with birds singing and warm spring sun. This is why I rather not go anywhere else in June, even though it is a great month to visit lots of places, especially South where it gets so hot in summer..
You have such beautiful and unusual plants, Seq! I love the colors on your Ken Janeck Rhodi.
Here's a pic of the totally ordinary but wonderfully flowerful Azaleas and a Rhododendron in my front yard. They were already big when we bought our house in 1992 (except for the one of the left; that was a replacement). It doesn't look like it, but I do prune them at least once a year, even though it's tough to find a time when birds aren't nesting there.
In case anyone's wondering, the black stakes are holding down netting so the birds and squirrels don't mess up the grass I'm trying to grow where a silver maple used to be.
The azaleas and rhodie look wonderful, Muddy--love this time of year! :-)
I'm so envious of all of your azaleas/rhodies. That genus refuses to survive in my garden.
I got a large azalea from craigslist last year, and it's slowly dying one twig at a time, the way all the other rhodies have died.
That Ken Janeck is beautiful.
Oh Muddy, they are all gorgeous!!!
I've contemplated Rhodis and Azaleas for years, always thinking "I know JUST the spot for them"... but,... is it just me, or does the sun seem to be moving differently this year? I mean, when I look out at areas that were rather shady last year, I seem to find it more sunny than I remember. .. I dunno, maybe it's just me, and the fact that we had that tree removed from the back yard last summer (LOL!!! Ya think??), but I've noticed this a bit at work the past few days as well. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed this too?
Oh shame on me, I forgot to comment on that as well - Jeff, your Ken Janeck is spectacular, and I LOVE your dianthus!!! (I'm a big fan of dianthus anyway, yours are so beautiful!)
Haha, speedie, it's just you! :) I think it's the lack of that shade tree that's messing with you.
http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~physics/PhysPhotOfWeek/2012PPOW/20120427Analemma/CompleteAnalemmaSiz600.jpg
This analemma shows where the sun is at certain times of the year. There's a lopsided figure 8 shape that the sun follows.
I feel like such a knucklehead. I guess it's just gotta be that tree; too weird getting used to all the new sun all around the back. Thankfully it hasn't affected the tables out back where my more shade-loving babies are. Bright enough for Clematis, gentle enough for the Hostas and Columbines. I guess I'll just have to put the crack-pipe down. ;)
Lol...speaking of crack pipe....where did you see dianthus in my photos? I like dianthus too and have a few but I didn't see any there.
Thanks for the compliments on the pics :) I'll have some more rhodies coming online soon. I'm excited because it looks like there will be more than I though blooming this season.
I posted some photos of my dianthus
Oh thanks...I just went back and found them :)
We have a raspberry swirl coming online soon and I just bought an eastern star yesterday. Looking forward to seeing both of them in bloom.
Muddy--
Your big, white Azaleas look just like mine...
I have had them for ages--and i also cut them back every 2 years.
--really back---down to the base stems.
They never blink--just re-grow and bloom their heads off....
Not sure of the name???? Lake something??? Delaware something????
Here's mine. Are these the same?? G.
Delaware Valley is a white azalea. Very beautiful :)
Seq: I love your Kalimeris Incisa 'Edo Murasaki.'
Thanks! I just installed it a couple weekends ago. I hope it does well as I really like it too. It's planted a foot away from our Arnold's Promise Witchazel so it won't get any afternoon sun. It's also next to Plumbago and a Cranberry Cotoneaster, so there's a lot going on right there but I'll protect it.
Bec---
Can't underestimate the rich nutrition in clay soils.
As bad as they are drainage wise--they do have a lot of minerals and
other nutrients that make things grow like crazy.
My plants were so huge the first years we lived in my house and had
my new garden. The soil was mostly clay amended with woodsy compost. .
My daughter, who has become quite the gardener, now lives in Dundalk renting the
1st floor of a house that has been a rental for years. .
The beds there are neglected, never grown anything in them, filled with clay and stones.
The only thing that was in the front-of-the-house bed was a mess of invasive Ivy--
AND--a statue of the Virgin Mary. She worked her tail off to get all that Ivy out!
The amazing thing is--EVERYTHING she has grown there in the 3 years she has
gardened--has put my garden to shame. Things are 3x as big as mine and keep on
growing. I am blown away.
Her tomatoes are loaded with fruit --her Columbines are tall and sturdy and gorgeous....
Her Montauk Daisies formed clumps close to 3' in just 2 years.
Yes--old clay soils are pretty good, in their own way.
Gita
Missed roll call this morning, but excited to go out after work and find several new blossoms:
1) My rhodie bloomed! this is one of my handful of pre-existing shrubs--seems early this year
2) My coriander is blooming! Think I've finally found the right spot for it in my yard--it's been growing like gangbusters
3) My Indian Chief iris opened up! There are open blossoms all over with more to come. Waiting anxiously for the ones that Sally and Gita gave me to open--they have buds
4) My heuchera 'Kira Green Tea' is in full blossom now--so pretty
5) I did not expect my Irish moss (new from early spring) to bloom, but here it is with tiny white flowers! It's also gotten bigger, so I guess it is happy. :-) I like it--glad I got it.
A few more photos, not new blossoms today, but enjoying them nonetheless.
1) Swan River Daisy 'Blue Zephyr' (Brachyscome)--I purchased this on impulse early in the spring and it didn't take well to the transplant. Lots of leaf-shedding and shabby looks at first, but here it is blooming for me now--glad it's rebounding
2) My May Night salvia in full bloom--really love this plant. It's also a big hit with the pollinators, although I didn't see any this evening.
3) My Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' is also blooming. You can really see the difference between Caradonna and May Night in terms of size and general lusciousness! Candytuft and Sweet William in the background. I should definitely have picked up as my 2nd salvia one that's *not purple* (ahem) just for variety. oh, well...
nice coriander and heuchera! I'll have to look in the am to see if our rhododendron are blooming. I saw that our weigelia, hardy geraniums, Salvia lyrata and chives started blooming today, so pretty. The hummers love the salvia and weigelia. Our azaleas are all looking gorgeous now too.
And, I do believe that our established vitex is actually "alive"; it finally just started showing a leaf bud! yay... now if only our huge pom pom type hydrangeas would show a leaf bud or two in their long brown stems besides just growth at the base...
I'll try and take some bloom photos Friday or this weekend
It's nice when a plant makes a late appearance--I'd given up on my balloon flower and then all of a sudden just a few days ago I noticed it coming up!
CatMint, I didn't know there were Salvia that bloomed this early. I can picture the bees all over them!
Gita, my white Azaleas do look like yours, so they're probably the same. I think white Azaleas are my favorites. I have one in the the backyard that really lights up the hill it's on.
Well, I tend to fall in love with every azalea color I see--LOL! Below is a photo of one of my white azaleas. The only thing about it is that it's the color that for me fades/browns the most quickly in the sunlight--almost as though it's more delicate.
Muddy, for whatever reason my Salvia Caradonna and May Night are already in full bloom! They came up very quickly. Of course, my allium still hasn't bloomed--LOL. What kind of salvia do you have and when does it bloom?
My Salvia 'May Night' is blooming too. Catmint, are you saying that May Night is better than Caradonna? For some reason, I heard the opposite.
Did my own role call this evening. Overcast skies make for great photographs!
1. My yellow NOID Iris. SO CLOSE!
2. Native honeysuckle. About half my buds are "broomsticks" covered in aphids. I'm trying to restrain myself because I heard hummingbirds eat aphids. Hurry up and find them, Hummers!
3. Hosta 'Guacamole'. Holey Moley she's getting big....
4. Hosta 'Limey Lisa' (foreground), and 'Kabitan' in the back.
5. Heuchera 'Purple Palace' with the limey hostas in the background
Catmint, my alliums bloomed a week or two ahead of the salvias. Very strange!
My part-shade May Nights are looking pretty lanky and not as floriferous as yours. I may need to move them to a better spot.
I have my first allium Schubertii blooming! What an interesting little flower. I need to take a picture when there's better light.
Typ, I checked the allium leaves again tonight, and they *are* looking yellow and ugly! Just like last year. I think I didn't even notice them this year because they're hidden behind lily, daylily, and ornamental grass leaves.
Hope these are loading. Iris A Palooza today!
Harts light blue heirloom with brug and ee
Mixed bed
any requests?
And carex gregii from happy. Unusual.
1. Sempervivum tectorum 'Sunset'. A new baby. Still has some perlite stuck in there.
2. Allium 'Purple Sensation', full bloom.
3. Colocasia 'Royal Hawaiian Black Coral', another new baby.
4. Heirloom Peony with allium in the background.
5. Cretaegus viridis 'Winter King' (Hawthorn). blooms are just after their peak.
Typ, strangely enough, aphids don't attack my native honeysuckle at all. I've been seeing aphid damage on a viburnum and a hydrangea, but that's about it. Knock on wood!
My roses, on the other hands, are already half way to being torn up by the sawfly caterpillar.
Such beautiful blooms everyone is showing. The Hawthorn is amazing. We have more rhodos blooming and hopefully David will get some pictures. Also iris and alliums. We had the schubertii a couple of years ago, but they didn't seem to come back the next year. Really cool, and we did save some of the dried flowers which were very cool. Those things were huge.
SSG, Lucky you! I wonder why mine is under siege every year? This year has been better than last year, definitely. I lost most of my first flush of blooms last year but I think this year I'm *only* losing about half. I guess that's good? Sorry about your roses. What eats sawfly caterpillars? :(
Sally, all those irises must be breathtaking in person! Gorgeous.
This message was edited May 14, 2014 8:46 PM
ssg, I always have the worst time with tiny green caterpillars on my knockout rose, must be those. They shred the thing!
Well pooh, my irises look FABULOUS in person and blech in those pictures! See my Journal.
Typ, your hosta guacamole is gorgeous! So full and the colors on it are so vivid. I also love the last photo with the heuchera in front and the limey in back--very nice contrast and very artistic looking. :-) Your allium is beautiful, too, and I really love your hawthorn--I didn't know they had such pretty blossoms.
Well, I'm not prepared to make general comparisons between May Night and Caradonna, but in my garden the May Night is much nicer! They're in the same general part of the garden with similar light and soil conditions, but the Caradonna is smaller, less bloomful, and not attracting as much pollinator interest. I guess we'll see how the Caradonna does over time! Maybe it's a slower starter and just needs more time--I did get it later in the season last year so maybe its root system is not as well established.
yes, SSG, we'd love to see photos of your a. schubertii! I'm beginning to think my allium will never bloom--so close but never seems to happen!! :-o
Sally, I love the iris around the birdhouse--so inviting, and such a pretty color.
Coriander, marigold, sweet basil, spearmint, allium, and garlic chives are all supposed to help repel aphids. Also, you could plant cosmos near the honeysuckle, which could help attract several types of beneficial insects that feed on aphids--lacewings, hoverflies, and damsel bugs. Coriander attracts ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies.
Tachnid flies and spined soldier bugs feed on sawflies.
I really like this source for learning about different beneficial insects, what they feed on, and which plants attract them: http://ferncreekdesign.org/beneficialinsects.pdf
Ooh Catmint, thanks for the info! I should do that. The problem is that most of those plants are very short, whereas my Honeysuckle blooms from about 3-6 feet up. I usually try to just pinch off the broomsticks. But like I said, trying to attract the hummers so leaving them this year. I also tried spraying the broomsticks with a hose, but that does nothing.
Fennel attracts damsel bugs, hoverflies, ladybugs, and lacewings. It gets relatively tall.
Good call, Cat. I will look for that next time I go to the plant store. I want to grow fennel for the butterflies anyway.
Glad to know the sawfly has natural predators, but there's no way I'd be able to tell the difference between a spined solider bug and a stinkbug!
Sally, I read somewhere that you should just handpick the green sawfly caterpillars. I just don't think I'm motivated enough to do that. :)
Boy O, the ones I see are really tiny - I can hardly imagine picking them.
I was doing some potting the other day and fond two good sized green inchworms drowned in the water I was soaking things in. Where the heck did THEY come from?
Typ, some Cosmos grow to be huge. Two years ago, I had some monsters that were over 5' tall. Last year I grew a different kind and they were only 3-4'.
CatMint, about the Salvia: I only have 'Black and Blue' right now.
This message was edited May 14, 2014 10:24 PM
I remember a friend raving about her May Night. But she only had that, no Caradonna to compare to.
