What's Growing - Part 8

Here's my third dahlia to bloom. It's called lavendar perfection. I love it!

oooooh, lavendar and curly...my kind of flower!

I was looking at some Aster alpinus on a sale table and it said they bloomed in June. I never knew there was an aster for June. They were dwarf too - like 12". I shied away at the alpinus part - it reminds me of well drained and my clay is not. I'm just getting to my sunniest beds to amend and raise them.
All the dahlias are great - they are such a welcome sight in August and September. I remember last year I cut them down in early November just so I could get on with Thanksgiving preparations. This year I will let them cure in the soil till frost and I'm not dividing the tubers - just going to lift them and put them away. Surely after 1 year in my care they won't get that big :(

Nice Nancy!

My fall asters are getting there too, they last late so I don't rush them.

Thank you, Al, and I love your picture! You folks who get butterflies are pretty special, I guess, because they never come to MY garden.

Thanks Nancy, I do get butterlies - not a great variety, but still nice. You know as much as you plant for butterflies or hummers you mainly get bees - as if you can't tell.

Al, Nice shot. Do you know the name of that butterfly?

Dave - I think those are Sulfur or Sulfur Yellow - something like that. Where I grew up in the country we had a gravel driveway and there would always be a lot of them at the mudpuddles in it.

I finally found my list of Dahlia's that I planted. I had forgotton what colors I bought...it seems they are all pinkish lavender, purples and whites. Right up Grams ally!!!

Walter Hardisty: Snow White 11" bloom 4ft tall

Last Dance: White & Lavender 3.5" bloom 4.5ft tall

Brushstrokes: Lavender 5" blooms 5ft tall http://www.artsnursery.com/shopping/product.asp?classid=28&id=81

Nijinsky: Purple 4" 4ft. http://www.artsnursery.com/shopping/product.asp?classid=10&id=1239

Stacy Rachell: Lavender 4ft tall

Pink Orchid: Lavender & White 3.5ft. tall

Wicky Woo: Purple w/White tip 4" 4ft. tall http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/121610/

Purple Gem: Purple 3ft. tall http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/91408/

Senorita: White 4ft. tall http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/122449/

You've got more to open yet than I do, so you've had Purple Gem so far - right? Half of those I have heard of - pretty good.

Good question Al...I don't think it's Purple Gem...that one is more picked petaled than rounded. Mine is more a rounded type flower. But to be honest I won't be able to tell until the rest is in bloom.
Don't laugh..but the names are on the corms and I wasn't smart enough to write them on labels above ground!!!! I just thought I'd post the photos and let you ID them Al. LOL

You're right - I did go look at purple gem and the petals are wrong. Color may vary,but form shouldn't. Dig it up to look at the tuber name then LOL.
I had about 20% of the new ones I bought this year turn out to be wrong - it's maddening. I'll get back to you with the names.

Cooler weather has brightened up the coleus

probably the one hosta flower I like - I think it's plantinginea

I snapped this shot to show the mix Dahlia seedlings that I saved. They are in the messy nursery (ignore the tomato stems), heavy bloomers. Almost covered with flowers for weeks now. The foliage is not as dark as the parrents, about 16 inches tall. I think I'll keep them.
Andy P

Andy, I think I'd keep anything that is covered in blooms for weeks at this time of year, and that pretty besides! all of the dahlias are so pretty. but who the heck names a flower wicky woo?

Gram, who would name a street Wong Way? It started about 10 years ago in the town west of us, now other nearby towns have a Wong Way too.
If I had to name this Dahlia, I'd call it 'Red Sun'. Is that name taken? lol
Andy P

Andy - this is one of the bigger lists I look in - not in there
http://www.dahlie.net/dyn/index.php?lang=en

Hey, Al....is that hosta flower fragrant? There's a hosta which has a thick, white flower and is very aromatic, but I don't know which one it is.

It does, although I can't smell real well. It is supposed to be one of the more fragrant. It has lighter geen deeply ribbed leaves.

Oh I'm pretty sure that's the one I want! It has lighter green leaves too. Thanks for the name!

Al, is this it? I was hoping that it is, but the one flower that was trying to grow from it.....remember my darling little three year old neighbor Hannah? She picked it. Before it opened. I love Hannah. But now I won't know if it's the one I want it to be.

Also, if it doesn't get to flower, is the thing doomed?

there are a few named varieties of it, my spelling was off :)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/21251/

no flowers won't hurt it - it will be fine

hey, something pretty bloomed in my yard - one of my mini-roses Lavender Delight is having a new flush

...and....look, Al...helenium! I finally planted the Flammenspiel

edit for spelling

This message was edited Aug 26, 2006 7:05 PM

Hey - did I teach you that trick of planting plants already flowering ;)~

Nice rose - I don't have any.
" you can't have everything -where would you put it?"

that rose bush is about 6" high...you've got room for it

I guess - my address is in the exchange!

Thanks Al

Al, I'm pretty confidant that I've got the right hosta. I just realized that I didn't include the picture. So I'll do it now. It does look like the right one. (yay)

Sorry, Al, I don't have mail-order. You'll have to come pick it up ;-))

Nancy - I would say that's it, mine seems to grow good - I think I divided it once already.


Gram - I should make it there by 3 or 4 tomorrow morning if you don't mind waiting up.


my self seeding bed has annual asters in it too

Al - you have a self seeding bed? What a great idea. What do you have in there? I see the asters and cosmos - what else?

Well - I'm fighting the Morning Glories I had in there. There is also the flax, but the cosmos are real thick - even with thinning.

Nap, I think its strange but some hosta growers routinely cut the stalks before blooming because they think it ruins the look of the hosta. But anyway, your hosta will be safe.
Al, I think your being modest! Everyone I ever met from the midwest says you really do smell. (pretty lame but inevitable)

I'm happy with that, Dave. Thank you!

Hosta flowers can be very pretty, all by themselves.

Gram ~ A new glad bloomed and seeing how it is purple I thought I'd post it for you.

The weather is getting cooler and as it does the hot pink in my cosmos just keep getting darker. It really stands out against the white background of the petals. Most welcome at this time of the year!

Last year I planted sunflowers in every color imaginable, pink, gold, yellow, rust, and even a chocolate-maroon. This year I didn't get to planting in enough time and hoped the birds would help me out. They did as I have many sunflowers from the bird seed they dropped, but alas, they are all ordinary yellows.
Until this morning as I was walking the out-skirts of the field and noticed this growing not to far away from where I had planted the sunflowers last summer.

How does one go about submitting an image to plant files, if nothing about the flower is known but the name? For instance, my lavendar perfection above. I thought I'd go see other peoples' photos of it, and appanently there aren't any. All I know is its name and that it's a dahlia. I wondered if I ought to submit it, but I'm a gardening dunce.

(edited to say, I love your sunflower picture~!!)

This message was edited Aug 27, 2006 2:46 PM