Commelina dianthifolia is lovely, and I love blue flowers! It looks very like a Tradescantia.
By special request.
I'm sorry ,I don't know the name of the species of babiana ..I bought some bulbs at a sales table .They grow so easily here and are dormant under theground in Winter .They reproduce rapidly ,but are never a nuisance ,and from a few I have hundreds now ,which I dot around -usually next to goldish things for effect.
Emelle.
Don't be sorry for not knowing the variety Emelle, but you should be sorry for making Janet and me have to buy something else, LOL :)
It sure don't take much to be an enabler around here, just post a pretty pic!
Is'nt it nice to be able to carry on a conversation from 3 far away spots on the globe!
I'm back, had to 'finally' do some food!
I got the Magnlia sieboldii from ebay as a young plant, it as grown fairly quickly and i think is about 3' tall. I bought one a few years ago and kept it in a large pot for a couple of years until I knew where to put it, but the thing had been grown in peat and you know what happens to those! You get side shoots which get smaller until the thing dies, roots died and rotted. I next bought some seeds which haven't grown for at least 2 years, I tipped the pot out around the tree so if some grow I can say it has seeded around.
There is that tall lily behind the Viburnum to the left African Queen, it may be the top you can see, unless it's the trunk of the Acacia. The Viburnum had a lovely scent too.
The Commelina is much smaller thanTradescantia but yes similar in looks, I had a couple set in the vegetable bed amongst the carrots, they grew bigger and one in the old baby bath tub did very well, it's still there. I have more seed so will sprinkle some in the new bed so it can do it's own thing, I put some there last year at one end of the start of it (done the previous year) and couldn't remember what it was when it grew!
I have some Babiana that I like lined up but the leaves and growth habit on yours Emellle looks great. Many are hardy to zone 8 but they may not like not having enough sun, next time I order from silverhill....
This is the lily you will remember Neal peeking above the Ceanothus, it didn't do well last year but the year before was very tall.
Thats it! Thought the leaves looked like a trumpet.
The lily is absolutely scrumptious ! You have the perfect ability to place things so naturally ,so that each complements each other .I have just popped out to get the weekend groceries . Hubby watching NZ play Australia at cricket on TV - I rushed back here in case I had missed something -It is Friday afternoon - I think you are still in Thursday mode .
I thought the darling little blue flower was a tradescentia ,too ,sometimes it is called Moses in the Bullrushes. here .
I like blue in the garden very much ---Here I have tradescentia peeping out from under a 'sparkler 'small standard rose ,and carex in the foreground.
Oops I didn't know how to go back and fix the photo once it went through 'send' -It is just the spiky leaves of tradescantia just before it starts flowering . -the blue in the photo , now I look at it ,,is perennial cornflower and pansies .
Emelle.
Emelle, your garden has the same element of surprise as Janets'. Just wonderful!
So kind ,Gemini - -It is such a surprise to me when something turns out quite well - often it's quite accidental !
After the story of my fairy garden is finished ,on the other pages here ,I will write about how I formed the rest of my garden ,most of which has the challenge of shade.
Regards to all
Marion ...
Joyous,
You're digging out from the same blizzard that just hit us. 48 hours later and we're still under a snow emergency. C'mon spring!!!
Emelle, autumn starts for you soon, beginning of March? What kind of seasonal changes do you experience in your part of the world?
Wallaby, I am moving in with you. I love your garden. I won't take up much room. Do you have an empty cupboard somewhere? Let me out to play in your garden, and to watch Doctor Who and Little Britain. I'll be perfectly content. I don't eat much. I'm good with a shovel ...
-Joe
How can you resist such a gorgeous guy ,Wallaby ? Or is he just a gnother gnome ?
PS -on TV here ,we have seen all the snow and the traffic come to a standstill .Thinking of you ...I am always touched by the cheerful optimism shown by folk in these conditions .
Emelle
Truly Wallaby1, you live in paradise-now I get up early, grab my coffee and run to the computer hoping you have posted another awe inspring photo-thank you so much for sharing
Emelle I have happy accidents too! So often I walk around for ages looking for a spot to plant something so I can have the pot for another plant! Some ides were just there in my head and had to come out that way. Was it the cricket you didn't want to miss or DG? Tehe....ducking.
I feel that my garden should be full of flowers all year with all this praise, it is always a surprise to see it spring into life after looking so dead in winter.
Joe, now empty cupboard I could almost manage, I use very few clothes now and have thrown a heap out. Wardrobe space yes, spare room space no, floor space no, where else would I keep many of my plants over winter, I already risk too many in the cold greenhouses and garage. A spare digger always appreciated! Little Britain is a scream, do you get 'A pint of lager and a packet of crisps'? So crudely real, but they repeat it so often.
pmulcaire, I musn't disappoint you then!
While on the subject of Tradescantia, you can see mine without flowers too! They do make architectural foliage, the Corydalis in the middle is unnamed other than 'clone 2' a C flexuosa x elata, it flowers later and for a long time, and is much more reliable than flexuosa. Over in the bed at the rear is Centaurea montana echoing the blues.
wallaby, I do love your wonderful pictures. I had a lovely Viburnum plicatum Mariesii for 20 years or more at my other place, Got very large probably 15 x 15 ft.
Neal I think you and I are both out of luck trying to grow Choisya as it is listed zones 7-8.
The sun is shining for the first time in over a week. Makes me squint he he. Love it anyway. Still doesn't look like spring but better than in the east and mid-east. or where my daughter is in VA.
Donna
"Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" SEVEN SEASONS! I love a new program! I'll be watching it into the summer. :)
The internet is my TIVO, I shall not wont. :) If it's shown somewhere, it's downloadable.
HEY, I just found the Little Britain Christmas Special. I have more good stuff to watch, although I am disappointed in Torchwood. I think in the first four episodes they have established that every character will snog anything that walks. I hope the show eventually moves beyond that. :)
Thanks for mentioning "Two Pints" to me. I look forward to watching it. :)
-Joe
P.S. I could never displace plants in need of shelter. I guess I'll just have to wait for someone else with some extra cupboard space. :)
Joe I have seen some of Torchwood, but I'm usually engrossed in other things (DG) so miss a lot, I don't think I was over impressed. There are two interesting and down to earth series which have been in the past and reflect the different sections of society here that you might like to watch. 'Cutting It' is about the Northern hairdressers scene in Manchester, it is said by people in the business to be like reality, I can't imagine it but this country is like many in cultures. The other is 'Cold Feet', the loves and lives of some professionals and their acquaintances, which I think could also be true to life judging by the stories we hear in the news! They are not showing now but you may be able to find them.
Donna the V Mariesii is a lovely shrub, I will miss the scent! I will have to wait for the magnolia, it's scented too.
Another of the same Corydalis from the bottom end, with Geranium maculatum Espresso.
'Kath and Kim' is my absolute Fave : I visited my daughter who lives in Melbourne and O My Goodness Me ! ! They really DO talk like that ! I have heard that Americans find it hard to understand .
And I love the above photo .I have trouble trying to grow corydalis ,as they are murdered by snails ,but they are so perfect in cottage gardens .
Emelle.
Perhaps you need to be a gardener to be or what we see as normal!
Corydalis flexuosa can be a tricky one, I have some in a spot where it remains perennial, a mole killed off another very good patch. I grew a lot from the original plant and planted them in the hosta bed when it was new, the foliage grows over winter and flowers for a long time in spring, it was spectacular but with the hostas growing over them they eventually disappeared, they got a sort of rot.
I have Geranium Ann Folkard and Summer Skies growing a little further up, plus more in gaps between the iris, poppies and tradescantia etc. They fill in nicely.
I'm assuming Summer Skies is the light blue one, and it is marvelous! I've never seen one like it!
Yes it is Neal, it's fairly new. It is also one of those difficult colours to capture without it over exposing, but I have one closer which looks about right.
It is exquisite ..... ,I see things on this site that I covet ,but have not seen for sale where I live .Thank you for showing us these delights .
emelle.
This country seems to be pushing out new plants all the time, so many people seem to be into serious breeding. We also have the large co-operatives in Holland which supply many places here.
Rozanne is another new one, it has large flowers and has trailing growth, the leaves almost look like a weed. I had one nearby I thought was a self set so I left it, it has the same spotty leaves!
Happy Birthday Wallaby!
Have a wonderful Birthday, Janet! I always find Aquarians to be great folk!
What a surprise! It got me laughing anyway!
Thank you oh wonderful people and friends!
Oh, my yes - happy birthday to you! Your posts are such a joy to all of us - enjoy your day to the fullest!
Happy Birthday, Janet. Hope it is the best one yet!
Happy Birthday Wallaby!!
Deb
Although i don't post much, I wish you a very happy birthday. At work I am often reading the boards during my lunch break and when people walk by they stop to see the lovely photos. i say i'm looking at one of my English pal's gorgeous gardens...needless to say the pictures sure impress them! nancy
Happy Birthday to an extraordinary gardener.
Check this out please; http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694081/
Josephine.
Now I'm getting a little teary, it's so thoughtful of you all to send wishes my way, gosh I almost don't mind being nearly ancient now!
Love the pics too, and I see someone come out from lurking here!
teacup I guess we will have to keep impressing them, plenty more pics where they came from!
Thank you Josephine! That post must have taken me ages!
Happy Birthday Wallaby1, been away for a couple days but want to wish you the best and great success in your gardening this season.
Joy
I'm a little late but I wish you the best birthday. Was gone most of yesterday. Went for a short drive to the NW it was such a beautiful day, warmest day so far this year 56 degrees. Keep sending photos as we all enjoy them so much.
Here is a scenery photo I took yesterday.
Donna
That photo reminds me of when I was visiting friends out there (many years ago) and they took me around showing all the devastation caused by the Mt St Helene eruption. Beautiful bird.
Great photo, Donna!!!!! How far over to this side of the mountains did you come?
Beaker, you'd be amazed at the re-growth in the Mt. St. Helen's area - Mother Nature is truly, truly amazing!!
Thank you Joyous, I hope you have a great season also (new Phormium,?etc.......)!
Donna you are having better weather than we are! It must be pleasurable to be able to drive in wide open country, not something easily done here. Is that a Bald Headed Eagle? It's a good shot! I can feel myself wanting the open spaces........and I have a reasonable space already!
A spring shot, 24th May 2005, the Azalea in the middle is Vuyk's Scarlet, it got fried in last year's heat, there is a small growth left which I hope will live! This is between the legs at the back of the pergola. In the middle is Fatsia japonica.
edited, I got the month wrong!
This message was edited Feb 19, 2007 4:24 PM
Very Pretty photo wallaby, Everything looks so happy . I hope my few azaleas and 1 rhodie are okay. They got dumped on with the hard frozen snow off the roof and the ice. My soil is so very alkaline, i have to add lots of compost, and acidifing material to grow anything that likes a somewhat acidic soil.
I only drove about 75 miles and stayed pretty much on the level, until I started down the hills to Oroville. Saw about 20 deer in an alfalfa field, and altogether 4 bald eagles, 2 large hawks, 2 kestrels. Was a pretty sunny day. Todays is cloudy and windy, and supposed to rain this week.
Here is another view , snowclad mountain, actually in Canada, with the sun shining on the snow.
Donna
wallaby, a very good thread, but is taking a very long time now for me access with my dial-up.