Golden Trumpet, Yellow Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica)

Golden Trumpet, Yellow Allamanda
Allamanda cathartica

I'm about to get some of that zone envy...Did you take this pic with your new camera? It is really nice and clear. I used to have an Allamanda but it froze one year in a greenhouse catastrophe. We have virtually nothing blooming in the yard...it is 23 degrees this morning. I am truly glad I have my small greenhouse, although it would be better if it was attached to the house, not way out in the yard.

Thanks. Yes, I took this photo with my new camera. I am very pleased with its performance. It's going to take me awhile to learn how to set all of the adjustments. It has a very good lens and the photos hsve more pixels per square inch so they are much more sharp than the ones taken with my old camera. I used to have to touch up the edges on a lot of the other photos so they would be clesrer which took a lot of time. The colors are true and it does not need a lot of adjustment in full sun situatiosn. I now think it is a blessing my big old dog broke my other camera. I can now take shots of objects at a distance that are very clear.

I had an Allamanda bush variety several years ago and it froze. This plant is growing in a church's garden. The well designed garden areas surround the whole church with different areas having different types of plants planted in them. The gardener is a very talented man.

I wish I had at least a small greenhouse or a dog proof back yard. A lot of my plants are in containers so I have to bring them in before a hard freeze. Since my husband has the whole garage full of junk, I have to put the plants in the living areas. I have now brought them in and taken them out 3 times. We had a frost last night, but it was not as cold as predicted. I brought some of the plants in last night, but I was too tired to bring in all of them so I am glad it was warmer than predicted.

I still haven't had time nor felt good enough to plant my winter plants. They are in containers also just waiting to be put in the ground. Usually, I have this task completed by the first part of November.

Good to hear from you.

I can certainly relate to your comment about DH having the garage full of junk. It is a constant struggle to keep my yard cleared of it...we live out in the country so there are no laws about things like that to help us women out. I read one day in a comment that a gardener filled up an old motor with succulents because her DH left it out so long. I thought that was funny...

Yes, DH has so much junk in the garage that he can't find anything. Say he is looking for a hammer. He can't find it ... of course, I have have moved it. So, he buys another one. My son and I used to clean the garage when that used to be possible. We would sort everything and place like objects together in boxes. One box had 15 hammers!

I swear that a man came to pick up a car part from DH 3 weeks ago. The poor man had to search in the garage for it. We haven't seen him since then, but I hear a faint, weak voice calling for help when I go in the garage. The junk starts seeping out into the living areas and I can't stand it. I rented 2 huge storage units and hauled a lot off. They are full to the brim. Plus, I would move half the stuff out of the garage so that DH had room to walk and maybe organize things. Alas, the areas I moved stuff from, he filled up with more junk.

Then, the stuff starting finding its way onto the patio and into the yard. When I ask him to move junk to storage and he finally does it after I threaten him with death, he moves a couple of things. However, he goes nuts in the storage units and brings back twice as much as he took. One time when we were looking for something in the huge storage unit, he stated, "Man, this is great. It's better than the Dollar Store because I can find all kinds of neat stuff here and I don't even have to pay a dollar for it." I didn't think that was funny.

I tried to make him buy the house across the street. He could live there with the big old dog and have junk wherever he wanted it. My house could be neat and clean and he could visit me when he wanted too. He didn't go for it. This is the main fault my husband has and it drives me crazy because I am neat, organized and buy only what I really need (plants are an exception of course). But, I am glad that he doesn't have the same faults my first husband had. It could be much worse, I suppose. He could be hauling women home instead of junk.

You are too funny, Hazel!
It must be one of Murphy's laws that whenever a woman finally cleans up her husband's junk, he just goes crazy with delight in having more space to clutter up again. And yes, my DH can never find the right tool, either, and often goes out to buy another one. Like you, I have fantasized about seperate but close living quarters (a duplex, maybe) where he can have the 5 cats, the darkness, and the clutter. We could date on weekends, or something.

He buys electonics stuff (among other things) which is treasure to him off eBay that needs repair that he thinks he can fix and resell. He can fix most of it, but never gets around to it. Or he fixes it and never gets around to selling it.The UPS guy has become like part of the family. Several times I have told him that I didn't care what was in the boxes and that I would pay him to mark off our name and address, then deliver them to another house.

Beautiful plant. So bright and springy looking. I can't wait for spring to get here.

The blooms are a deep goldenish yellow which really stand out against the deep green foliage. Because it can freeze, it needs protection here. Thanks for your comment.