Mine looked horrible all last year! Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly why, only that it looked awful! LOL
FIRST FLOWERS SPRING!!! Memorial Day Edition
LOL Here's mine from when it was dying back last summer. Definitely pathetic! :-)
Seq- I think that is NOT a Digitalis purpurea which we know as the spectacular showy garden foxglove. May D lutea?
D purpurea is biennial so it is expected to bloom then croak, hopefully self sowing
http://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/all/digitalis-purpurea/
Someone could try cutting the blooms off before they're too far gone and see if you fool the plant into trying again. I doubt it. Think of all the energy it must take to make that huge fabulous spike.
Afternoon sun can be a b!tch for shade plants, and not enough for really sunloving plants. Moisture in the soil might sway it one way or the other., Good moisture would help the shade lovers tough it out
thanks, Sally--and I see it says to protect them from afternoon sun! argh!
I don't know what kind it is Sally, it might be the last year for it though. The bloom stalk is nothing like it was last year. This year it's sort of sparse looking.
SSG: I bought a bunch of different geraniums this year and this is just one of them. I never realized that they handled such a wide variety of conditions including shade. I'm pretty happy with their turnout so far. The Silene Virginica is a native wildflower to our area. I really like it.
What is the green plant in the heuchera garden Catmint?
Mt Cuba Center is doing a 3 year trial of Heucheras best suited to Mid Atlantic gardens. You can check last years results here. Seems our heat and humidity do them in and mine that haven't died never look as good in subsequent years as when first purchased, Sigh,
http://www.mtcubacenter.org/plant-trials/category/heuchera-evaluation-2012-2014/
As to biennials, a number of studies of plants has found that in any given year in a large sample population of plants there will be some that bloom and then die the first year and some that will delay flowering until the third or fourth year. Much of this genetically determined and enviromental factors also play a part. Smart plants have that survival of the species thing figured out.
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en-US&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=do+biennial+plants+deviate+from+their+2+year+life+cycle&btnG=Google+Search&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=
Here's the red honeysuckle.
Since I m a shade gardener, I love to see the colorful blooms you all get with more sun. OOver the years I have found some plants that will reliably bloom in my yard and others that provide color with their foliage.
Pic 1 & 2 Large Deutzia shrub (8' x 8') What looks like sun reflections on leaves are actually racemes of white double flowers..
3 Late blooming azalea grows low and wide flowers are palm of had size. Wouldn't this look great paired with Geranium 'Expresso'!
4 Leaves of Eupatorium 'Gateway' above Asclepias tuberosa with buds!
Seq, that is an English primrose, Primula vulgaris, no longer in bloom. The tiny flowers that appear to be part of it are actually bending over it from the Allium planted in front of it.
Coleup, that is very interesting about the different heuchera cultivars. The list included only about half of my cultivars, which is understandable given how many cultivars there are at this point!! :-o I didn't always understand the ratings they gave based on the comments they provided--e.g., critical comments coupled with high performance rating.
I got a 'Caramel' last year because of all the positive comments I heard about it, but it has definitely not been my favorite. I saw a 'Silver Scrolls' at the nursery yesterday and had that 'gotta buy' rush, but bravely resisted... ;-)
Nice blooms, Coleup! My butterfly weed is nowhere near budding... :-(
Ric and I saw the trial gardens it was a pretty neat set up,they talked about the Hellebores and they sure looked good. It was a couple of years ago they also had a few plants that I really liked that were going to come on to the market in a few years. Can't remember what they were now. LOL I think Ric has a pic of them in his computer.
Holly, that must have been super cool seeing the trials!
I know we tried once before, but a field trip to Mt Cuba would be a great MAF outing!
Holly, I think one of those plants was Viola 'Silver Gem' and maybe Phlox 'Triple Play"
Catmint my Butterfly Weed with the buds is a three year old plant. The plugs I got are still struggling and most have not survived. Sigh
It was quite the tour we got to go to the GH's for part of our tour since we were a GH group. They are not usually open to the public and they were really interesting. They take great care not to cross contaminate. The bus dropped us off at the GH then we got back on to go to the gardens.
Yes it was neat, being a greenhouse group we got the behind the scenes tour through all the growing areas, it is really quite the place to visit.
Coleup, I spied some Tovara. Wink, wink. Love mine.
Jan, that honeysuckle is as spectacular as I remember. I couldn't remember what cultivar you had, but I saw a pretty one at the local nursery and bought it a few weeks ago - 'Peaches and Cream'. It hasn't bloomed yet - maybe later June into August, but this is what is should look like:
http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/64638-product.html#
yes, definitely time for another field trip! :-)
Lovely honeysuckle, Terri! Very pretty color.
My butterfly weed plug is finally perking up and looking a bit better. For a while it had almost orange colored leaves. :-o
I looked up red honeysuckle and came across Major Wheeler and that rang a bell in my pea brain. Guess what, I also saw that North creek sells it by the flat???!!!!! Say WHAT??!!!!!!
Jan's honeysuckle sure is a beauty!
I try to look up the Mt. Cuba trial data whenever I'm tempted to buy another heuchera. It would be a fun field trip to check it out in person!
Jan, that's a very pretty red honesuckle! What cultivar is it?
Catmint: Jan's honeysuckle is "Major Wheeler"
thanks, Terp--sorry I didn't put that all together. well, Jan's looks much nicer than mine does! :-) maybe next year mine will be fuller-blooming.
It's hard to capture the beauty of Jan's honeysuckle in pictures. It's supported by a teepee-looking trellis which makes it looks like a waterfall of honeysuckle. Gorgeous!
yes, it does look very beautiful!
AAWWW shucks!!! Mine only gets the one big flush of color, then is done. But it does look like a waterfall or floppy hair. The goal with the teepee support was to have a little place for the grandies to play. I thought I had taken a pic of the whole thing. I'll keep looking.
I've been watching a mystery plant, and it suddenly shot up stalks and bloomed. Oh yeah, Verbasum from greenthumb!! One white and one yellow. Pics soon. Also white yarrow, and watching the lacecap hydrangea so I can share pic with gardadore, who got a little one from me.
And first daylily, I think it is named Suzie Wong.
Pictures in the morning...
Sounds good Sally, can't wait to see :)
fig trees are coming along; noticed walnuts on the black walnut; and, sooooo many beautiful blooms this morning: roses, clematis, jasmine, Coronado hyssops, Snowflake ‘Brido’ Oakleaf Hydrangea... absolutely beautiful day! the rain yesterday was just what the plant doctor ordered ^_^
Today, so many buds on everything too including a huge hollyhock (didn't realize they need so much elbow room!!), Holly's comphrey, and salvia black and blue. Fragrance in the air from the hedge in full bloom and honeysuckle weeds that snuck in and are blooming all over the place
Look forward to your pics, Sally!
I did my first foray into the yard since yesterday morning, and found several new blooms--yay!!
1) Penstemon digitalis blooming now as well as P barbatus 'Prairie Dusk'. I didn't realize their blooms were such a similar color! May need to move some things around for more color contrast...
2) Penstemon 'Dark Towers' blooming now, too!
3) My Clematis bloomed--yay!
4) Oenathera 'Fireworks'
5) My agastache 'Purple Haze' and yarrow 'Island Pink' both opened up--yay!
Sounds heavenly, Wind! Photos, please! :-)
Yes, the air is full of the white/yellow honeysuckle. If I cam smell it, you KNOW it is fragrant!!!
Pretty penstemon
thanks, Jan. I know--photos can never fully capture all of it! :-)
Suzy Wong and my yearly sunflower. This sunflower is living proof of the benefits of starting early, full sun, with warm soil. It grows incredibly faster than any other sunflowr in my yard.
Yarrow
Sundrops- Oenothera fruticosa?
New Solomn seal suddenly yellow? Is this normal?
Strawberry 'begonia' showing its saxifrage flowers
Oakleaf hydrangea from Jan growing well
Verbascum white Moth Mullein- sorry David I lost the tag, may be another species
Verbascum yellow
Penstemon, Jill's- sp digitalis?
This message was edited Jun 6, 2014 9:52 AM
MMM....I love that honeysuckle smell! Your flowers are pretty Cat! Agastache and Penstemon are my favorite.
Rose Camelot, Aldi cheapie
Strawberry Allstar, good old faithful June bearing
Spiderwort bed- ready to share this fall
pink Brug looks very happy here, cool moist soil and pm sun
Arizona Opuntia- this pad almost fully separated but pumping every last drop of sap into opening its buds
Hyd. Strawberries and Cream is happy, and so am I!
Drooping Leucothoe, a coleup ' Why not just try it?' special...loks like success!
And grand finale, my most promising caladiums spike so far
Looks great, Sally! Suzy Wong is so bright and cheerful looking. And I love the leaf pattern on your begonia!
Poor Solomon's Seal. Did you just plant it there? My plants sometimes look like that right after being transplanted. :-( Hopefully, as long as it's in a nice moist, shady spot, it will recover...
Woohoo on that caladium!! :-) LOL on the Coleup 'why not just try it' special--I have some of those, too. They're all looking great. :-)
Beautiful rose and cactus! And what a luscious strawberry! My strawberry plant has some babies on it now.
This message was edited Jun 6, 2014 9:58 AM