rylaff and clare
Boy would I ever like to go shopping in your gardens!
December blooms
LOL! Thank you, everyone, and thank you Lisa for letting me share your lovely thread.
Steve, they do just fine in full sun here, but they do need a lot of water. There are big brug trees planted in the ground everywhere here. As they get bigger, they do fine with less water.
Bravo to you both!
Ok, that's it, Lisa. What do mean "Wait till Spring?" I think it is Spring at your house. LOL!
Wow! Beautiful pictures rylaff and Clare. Thanks for sharing.
Clare, do you prune any of your brug trees to keep shape? I guess yours never die back in your zone?? They are all beautiful!
Barbara
Lisa,
With the Christmas season here, I would love for you to talk about your poinsiettas that are growing outside. Could you give us all some tips if we want to grow one outside? I know they need long nights of darkness so how do you accommodate that?
Thanks, girl!
Barbara
My outdoor poinsettias do very well (I'm in zone 9b). The only problem I've had is with one in the front yard, although probably 12 ft tall, the streetlight stays on all night, so it never really got true darkness. It didnt develop as much red as the others.
MerryMary
Hi Barbara, yes, they grow and bloom year-round here, and I do have to prune them because the branches will get very long. Here's a picture below of a branch that got so heavy with blooms that it pruned itself!
Forgot to say 'thank you' on the last post for all the nice compliments:-)
Since Lisa is so generously sharing her thread, I thought I would post a few more today. This is the same Duranta erecta flowers that Lisa posted. Kay sent this to me, and I just love it. It is an easy plant to grow, and the flower smell like vanilla to me.
It looks like Lisa like purple as much as I do. This one is Alyogyne huegelli:
I love blue flowers too, and the fragrance is one that I will always want to have in my garden, plus it's my sister's name:
I'm not sure which Brunfelsia this is, probably B. pauciflora:
This is a hard one to photograph. I have several Buddleia asiatica trees, which bloom on old wood in the wintertime. This is in contrast to other Buddleias which bloom on new wood in spring and summer. The flowers are white and smell like Freesia. It is not in bloom yet, but the buds are forming now:
This is Brugmansia 'Snow Cone':
This is Brugmansia 'Pink Beauty,' which just got a trim yesterday:
This one is Brugmansia Candida Double White:
This is a Fuchsia that I've had for about five years. It is trained as a standard:
This is Bouvardia ternifolia, which is in bloom all year, but it is not fragrant like its relative Bouvardia longiflora:
This is Blue Felicia, commonly called "Blue Daisies."
These are two Hebes, starting to bloom:
This is the red salvia again growing up into a Ceanothus. I think the Ceanothus is called 'Julia Phelps':
I'm still getting a couple of roses here and there:
This one is Leptospermum scoparium, commonly called Tea Tree:
The orange blossoms and lemon blossoms smell heavenly:
I think this is actually a Thanksgiving cactus. It's not covered in blooms this year like it was last year, but it is getting there:
Okay, last one. This is the Mucuna vine that I posted earlier. It is covered in racemes and is just starting to bloom. It is intertwined with several passifloras on a trellis:
Clare, that's it! I'm moving to your house! If you and Rylaff ever get together as neighbors, can you imagine how absolutely fantastic the yards would look?! Beautiful!
I felt the "ouch" with the pic that had the broken brug branch!
I think I get it now witht he pruning.......I shouldn't be bashful about it (early in the season) to get the shape. Also, looks like you trim all yours to tree form?? Why did you put the white double in a pot as opposed to the gound? Is it more cold sensitive?
Whew! Too many questions!
Thanks for all,
Barbara
Hi Barbara, thanks for the kind words. I used to be bashful about pruning too, but brugs seem to respond very well to pruning, and it does seem to improve the shape of the tree. Yes, I do like the standard (tree) form. I live on a rented property and have planted as much as I can in the ground, but I keep all the special things in containers and the other things that I can't fit in the landscape.
I really like the fragrance of the CDW, and it's been on my back patio for the past couple of years, but I decided to move it out front recently. It does not seem to be more cold sensitive than the others. My B. Ecuador Pink is the most cold sensitive. The B. versicolors in general show the most cold sensitivity, I think.
Barbara, mine grow year round on the east side of my house. they are right up against the house and are sheltered on one side by a fence and another by a large bush. They get no light at night. If it gets really cold they do die down to the ground
I'm so jealous you still have color, I can't wait till spring..
Thanks, Lisa, I think I'll try it with the poinsietta after Christmas.
Clare, thanks for the info.
Camarillo CA- I am so jealous! Is there anything that you can't grow in your area? We have great spring, fall and early winter but our beastly summers prevent me from coming close to your treasures! If your fuschia is missing in the morning it's probably me.
Thanks for the compliments, everyone. April, I would gladly give you my Fuchsia, but I'm afraid the hummingbirds would miss it!
My family is originally from Southern Calif and were growers- my grandfather and his older brother grew orchids in Santa Barbara & Glendora, the younger brother grew various flowering plants in Carlsbad and Encinatas- those folks and what they built are unfortunately long gone- I should have listened more.
That's neat, though, April, about your family history and that you remember them:-)