FIRST FLOWERS OF SPRING!!! May Flowers :)

Oh yes, sorry Jeff, I should have clarified that the dianthus comment was for Catmint. < =/ (no, really, I DID put the crack pipe down!!) ;)

All I can say is WOW you guys, such gorgeous pictures!!! Nothing new to share today from here... though I do have new pips (is that the right word?) of Caladiums poking out of the soil out back. I'll share pics when they actually start to "look like something". I've got another Iris out front -- well, now she's 2 (she was just 1 last year), a lavender and yellow one.. don't remember her name, but she's the one I got for myself on Mother's Day last year. Anyway, she's got big fat buds and should be blooming any day now. I FINALLY see some plumbago coming back now too - Pheewww! Thought I'd lost those! And the Paeony is getting taller and taller, and fatter and fatter. The buds are still buds, but they are really fattening up nicely. Gita, should I feed her?

Have a great day all, off to work I go! =)

I have a lot of cosmos seedlings right now--both c bipinnatus and c sulphureus--if you'd like some, Typ.

My peony buds are getting really big and fat also, Speedie! Every morning I go out and look and see the fat buds and wonder when they're going to open! :-D Pics of your iris when it opens!

Sally I think your iris look beautiful in the photo!!

Thanks for the offer, Cat. I need to think about it. I don't know if I have enough room back there for cosmos.... Really need to get out there with my hedgetrimmers and beat back The Beast of a Japanese holly hedge. It's great to have for privacy, but I hate trimming it!

There is a whole discussion thread on "another" website comparing these two varieties, if you google "salvia may night vs caradonna". Seems like they both have advantages and disadvantages. Very cool that you have both, Cat, so you can keep us posted on how they compare.

Sally, can you please take some closeups of your irises today before the torrential rain we are supposed to get tonight? I really want to see them up close!

Typ, what are people saying are the advantages/disadvantages of both? Don't think I'll join a whole thread about it, but would love to hear a very brief summary.

Roll call this morning: discovered that the Solomon's Seal had bloomed and I didn't even know about it, since it's a bit hidden!

1) Solomon's Seal with blooms already fading a bit
2) Did someone say they want SPIDERWORT?? I can't get rid of it. I wouldn't mind one plant of it, but it keeps trying to take over this one gardening bed.
3) L sempervirens, although I cannot take credit (or blame) for its blooms since it is a recent purchase... ;-)
4) Purchases from earlier this spring: NG Imp, Lobelia erinus, and Nemesia fruticans 'Opal Innocence' (one of my favorite recent purchases-- the shades of color on the blossoms are so interesting)
5) My 'Peach Flambe' heuchera blooming now. I really like this cultivar as well, although I don't see it around much.

hmmm. Colors don't look as bright in these photos as they do in real life--esp for the Peach Flambe.



This message was edited May 15, 2014 6:39 AM

I noticed a ton of little green caterpillars decimating a columbine last night. I picked off as many as I could ~20 or so and killed them. Tonight I'll spray if it's not raining. They were really hungry >:(

Typ, you've got a lot going on in your garden, looks great! That last picture looks professional with the heuchera upfront and hosta in back.

Same to you Cat! I didn't have much luck with the nemesia I planted last spring. The blooms are gorgeous but it seemed to peter out as the perennials grew in.

Here's a good article on the very basics of photographing in the garden.
http://www.finegardening.com/take-photos-look-good-your-garden

I think my suggestion for many of you here is to get closer to the plants. Use the macro or super macro setting on your camera and half-click the shutter button to focus the shot: look through the viewfinder if you have one, or look at the screen to make sure the thing you want to see is in the center of the viewfinder (Your camera probably beeps when it finishes focusing) before pressing all the way down. Gita, I know your pictures in particular have really improved lately. What are you doing differently?

One cannot stress enough the power of good lighting on getting the right colors. Overcast skies are my fav!

I use Picasa to import, view, and edit my photos:
*Most of the time, all I do is crop the photo to 5"x7" or whatever artsy-fartsy shape I want. Crops out the junk that I don't want you to know exists in my garden! ;)
*Sometimes to get the colors where I think they ought to be based on what my eyes saw, I will hit the "I'm feeling lucky" editing button, which automatically adjusts the colors and stuff. It's not a fool-proof button though, so be judicious. I don't get caught up in manually editing each shot.
*I export all of my favorite photos to a folder on my desktop, and select just the best to show you guys.
*It only takes a few minutes to do and I get to enjoy my garden all over again after dark because that's when I generally do this work. The more often you do this, the easier/faster it gets.

Hope this helps!

Hi Seq. Yes it's a cool season tender perennial. If I can get a second bloom out of it in early fall I'll be happy.

Cat and Seq, I got a single Nemesia plant this year. I had never seen it before, or at least never paid much attention to it but it is really cute! So cute that I thought I ought to give it a chance. So far it's a pretty little thing. I certainly hope it fills out though. Cat, I really like the 'Opal Innocence'. I don't know if mine has a name but it has reddish-purple flowers with a yellow throat. I'll have to dig up a pic. If it does well this year in full sun, maybe I'll try to grow it from seed next year. I like how low to the ground it is and how the whole top is covered in flowers.

I don't think I'm going to grow a single petunia this year, which is weird for me.

One more thing, Cat. I transplanted all of the yellow celosia seeds into my front yard bed a few nights ago. If they all grow, it's going to be spectacular! :)

Why no petunias this year Typ?

Walked around my little garden this morning. I have a knockout rose with one bloom as yet, starts out yellow and fades to cream. Over on the side of the house the old irises are starting to bloom too. No idea of the variety, I just call it old fashioned, I remember seeing this color when. I was a kid so it has to be old, haha.

Seq, I think I'm petunia'd out from last year. Things got a little... out of hand.

Catbird, I have one of those Knockouts. Mine is nowhere near blooming though! Love that iris. Is it near the knockout? the two look like they make a nice combination.

Typ--

I am not doing anything different than i have done before with my camera.
Holding steady and framing it right Light IS an important factor.

On my little camera--I have to pause with the shutter b/f I take the picture to focus.
I have always done that...Yes--there is a small beep...It is a fraction of a second....

In Macro--if I am too close (less than 4"), there is a red frame that shows.
Then I have to back off a bit--and when it is focused-there is a green frame.

I do wish I had a super macro--so I could take a closer close up.

Just for fun--I should take some pictures with my old digital--which is the size
of a 35mm camera. I think it had a super close-up option....

G.

Oh man, for me petunias are a yearly must. That is, of course, in addition to a bunch of other stuff :) I only got 12 of them this year though.

I may join you in Petunias Seq. Any particular kind?

This wind! Looks like somebody sat in the Yarrow patch, just as it's gettin ready to bloom.

Oh, did someone ask for pics of Irises?? < =D OK, ya didn't ask me for mine, but.. I got a gift at work today and I wanted to share. Keep in mind that they're all tuckered out already, and they were dug up last night and needed a drink. I have no idea of the ID of them... one is white, and then there's these other 2...

First one - is rust coloured.

Second one - hard to tell, but the center of it is a pale yellow, with very dark wine coloured falls.

How exciting, three more different varieties to add to my Iris family!! =) These were from my co-worker's Mom. Sunday I will dig up some for her to take in on Monday. =)

wow, I'd call that a lovely dark rose, not rust.
There is an old Iris like the second one, called Wabash. Specifically you have to check for "purple based foliage"

Nice, Speedie! Sounds like you are an iris lover? I have tons of 'Indian Chief' if you would like some! :-)

1) this year
2) last year

Typ, your petunias are beautiful! :-) I sowed some wave petunia seeds from SSG under my dogwood. Fingers crossed that they'll grow for me!!

This message was edited May 15, 2014 7:04 PM

First three are castoffs from Jill several years ago-
Peachy pink one
Purple with ruffles
Pale yellow
Then a very old one from Moms, one of the Indian ones? Princess? looks pinker than your Chiefs
And a white one that Mom got more recently, it has a larger bloom then the Indian

Gita's little purple iris was earlier it is done now, mere foot or so tall
Robin this looks like an older one, came from my dads yard, could I have shared this with you?
a medium bearded from John
reblooming yellow, maybe 'Harvest of Memories'
'Wabash'

oh, forgot to get the huge blue one, and waiting on two more. ANd previous pics had the hart's heirloom. I guess I have enough irises. LOL Most can be divided this year, LMK

The wind has blown down the big ones that are not staked. The smaller older ones stand up better.

Sally, those are gorgeous. I love that peach color, and the contrast on the Wabash is really striking. The old one from your Mom does look like it's related to the Indian Chief! But yes, pinker.

Breathtaking, Sally. I wish I had a yard big enough for divisions of all of them.

Sally, I had no idea you had so many different colors of iris! I really love that creamy yellow one.

Catbird, I'm still waiting for my Knockouts to bloom. They're so close!

What a gorgeous collection! Your photos are terrific, too; you really did them justice this time!

thanks all!
Muddy, real camera instead of cell phone. Phone does work pretty well many times.

I'm not sure what type of petunias I get Sally. I just get the same colors: fuchsia/dark fuchsia, dark purple, lavender/purple. I don't like the red ones because they never seem to do well for me.

Beautiful irises! The only one I have is a variegated one that I got for free from HCG with an order last year. It seems to be doing well but too young for blooms.

Only my older, established iris have bloom buds on them--ready to open.
The ones I dug up and re-planted have leaves--but no buds...They were so
heaved up from the winter--I am sure they will spend the summer growing roots.

I planted 2 new ones last year--from the 50% off box outside at HD.
They were kind of dried up. They are alive--but showing just the slightest bit of growth.

My striped blue and white one will be open any day now. This is year 3 of it.

I can wait.....G. Will post pictures...

Back home, so I'll post some Rhodo photos for Pat.

And some Columbines.

Beautiful Greenthumb!! I love the woodland look :)

What kind of Rhodi is that pink one?

This message was edited May 16, 2014 11:00 AM

Lovely, greenthumb, especially that pink rhodi.

Blooming new today:

1) Salvia greggii (just see now that the blossom is out of focus :-o
2) My Amsonia hubrichtii--yay! been waiting for this one for a while now

This message was edited May 16, 2014 3:15 PM

Greenthumb, it looks so peaceful! I love that gigantic rhodie.

Catmint, I don't know if my amsonia will bloom this year. They spent the winter in their pots and were only recently planted in the ground.

Amsonia hubrichtii takes many years to get to a reasonable size and really show off, I am told... Mine is flowering, but nothing that would grab you from across the room.

If by pink folks are referring to the third photo, it is R. 'Fantastica'.

Nice seeing all the photos everyone!

Here are some of the things blooming here:
#1 - Pink columbine from Holly - hey Catbird, the hammock is calling your name :)
#2 - Centaurea montana with Geranium macrorrhizum (Big Root Geranium) from Sally
#3 - Primula sieboldii
#4 - Athyrium niponicum var. pictum (Japanese painted ferns)
#5 - Centaurea montana 'Amethyst in Snow'

You sure have a lot blooming, Terri. They all look lovely, but I especially like the last one.

More..

#1 - Columbine 'Winky Pink' and Hosta noid
#2 - Lilac 'Palibin'
#3 - Lilac 'Palibin' blossom
#4 - Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko'

Nice, Aspenhill! The columbines are so pretty and I love the 'Picta' with the rocks in the background.

Lovely rhodies and columbines, Greenthumb.

SSG, I got my A. hubrichtii at the end of last season as a little thing and planted it then. It died back to the ground over winter, and I've been pleased with how it's grown so far this season. I'm happy to see it bloom, even if we're not quite to the 'statement' phase--of course, I don't think anything in my yard has quite reached that stage yet--LOL!