Again a special thanks to Karen for sharing her MG's with us at the summer swap!!! It's made its way over to "join" my Blue Mist Shrub...colors are pretty together, I think. Glad they "met" LOL
How about some purples?
Snail vine blooms...
Hey, our snail vine never bloomed yet!!!!!!!!!! I was looking forward to it. I thought it was in a good location...seems happy... climbed away, but not a single bloom. Did yours just start to bloom now? Just wondering if it is a late bloomer
I have the "other" snail vine, Vigna caracalla (I think Chantell's is Phaseolus c.), and it is just now getting some buds on it.
Mine is vigna caracalla too, first time trying it ~ I didn't notice any buds this morning but I'll go and look closely again, thanks. So I guess it is a late season bloomer. I read it gets a tuber. I was planning on digging it up like I do dahlias; is that what you do?
I rec'd this one in trade - so it was already growing down in FL - maybe that's why the blooms are opened already. I rec'd seeds of the Vigna caracalla in trade...cant' wait to start that one though...have heard wonderful things about it's scent!
I've tried overwintering them in pots (about the size of a trade gallon and probably way too small), and they've died back completely and then resprouted... so I'm thinking that either digging and storing the tuber as fully dormant or trying to keep it semi-dormant should work. This fall, I plan to dig mine up from their half-barrel planter and put them into smaller pots, then store them in the basement where they'll get a little light and very occasional water until spring. We'll see how that works out!
with this recent cool down of temps...certainly makes everyone have to start thinking about how the tenders will be over wintered....ugh!! If I only had an "extra room"...that would do it...LOL
tell me about it...we bought several plants in yesterday and my mom walked into the living room (who never notices anything) and said, "it got very 'GREEN' in here"!!!!!!!!
a joke in our house stems from when a rep from home depot came out once to give us ideas on curtains ~ she gave us no ideas, just made the comment, "you have alot going on here". So yesterday that was our saying around here!
That's when you break into a huge passive smile and say, "Oh thank you!!!"
Oh, how dare you all be hiding this thread! Hart, and you started it, knowing somewhere in the recesses of your mind that purple is what I lust for....
Can a wanderer wander in and share some purple?
Is North Carolina part of your region?
NC and I think parts of California. LOL Please share some purple. Are the purple things I sent you last year blooming pretty for you this summer?
Yes, some did. The roses are happy, but not blooming yet, and the ditch lilies I was so hot on-well, two or three blooms only! maybe critters ate them?
I'm looking at NC as a state to relocate to, maybe Virginia. NC seems to be doing a lot of teacher recruiting, so I might be able to rekindle my short-lived teaching career.
Such nice people in your neck of the woods, from reading the threads!
Gosh, I'll ask my friend Joyce to ask at her next retired teachers meeting who around here is hiring. I think most jurisdictions in Virginia are always looking for teachers. Do you prefer city or country? Mountains or seashore? Or in between?
NC is beautiful and has pretty much the same choices - city or country, moutains, seashore or piedmont.
country, temperate climate, little snow, great dirt, enough water, and where a crowd of dogs would be welcome. I like seashore, but not crowds, so would prefer in between or mountains. Want some intellectual/social stimulation, options, affordable housing, at least an acre, would go for just a barn with utilities right off (while I'm rambling on....
lol
and a job. I think I have to find the place and then the job, because it is so complicated to move with all the dogs and wherever I go this time, is IT! :-)
Oh yeah, I have to be someplace where I can paint my house (or barn) purple...
OMG....purple...that would be great!!! Come on over to good ole VA!! Just avoid an area that has a HOA - thinkin' they might not be as fond of a purple barn...LOL
Unless you live in an area with a homeowner's association (and having lived in one subdivision with one, never again for me) or in an historic district that requires paint color approval, I don't know of anyplace in Virginia or NC either probably that would prohibit a purple house or barn.
You might want to look into the Northern Neck region of Virginia. It's rural but close to the Chesapeake Bay, probably one of the cheaper areas to live or buy a home. If you're really adventurous, you might want to consider the Eastern Shore.
Northern Neck would have much milder winters than we have here in the mountains, much better dirt. I'm sure the climate would be similar to Southside and we seldom had much in the way of heavy snow when I lived in that area.
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/nneck.html
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/eshore.html
Good descriptions of the geographic areas of Virginia
http://gen.culpepper.com/Archives/va/default.htm
This might help - Virginia teacher jobs
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/JOVE/
Hart, you're always on top of finding information. (Can you track down my H? Rumor was, he signed a contract in ND...but haven't heard from him in at least a month.)
Thank you!
What do you know about Lumberton, NC? I don't mean to hijack your thread. :-)
Here is one of my favorite purples this year, but I can't seem to get the color right in a photo. It's much deeper red-purple than it shows here, not so pinky. It's Gladiolus Plum Tart.
All I know about Lumberton, NC is that it's further than you should be from Frederick, MD!
I had some of those glads too... wonderful, rich color... like the red-purple of an emperor's cloak (you know, the dye they used to make from murex snails... dip once for royal purple, dip twice for the even more royal magenta).
That color is gorgeous! I love dark reddish purples.
I don't know much about Lumberton. Used to know a couple who moved to Virginia from there and they had loved it there. It would be a lot warmer than it is here I'm sure since it's in that piece of NC that jags down as far south as SC. Looks like it's really close to the beaches and you can't beat NC beaches.
Ought to be some info here:
http://www.lumberton-nc.com/
http://www.ci.lumberton.nc.us/
http://www.robeson.k12.nc.us/robeson/site/default.asp
This message was edited Sep 18, 2007 5:11 PM
:-) Those sites I've been looking at. I found a house there - well, a mobile listed on realtor.com- 3.25 acres for $30,000! Holy moly! If I could scamble out of here somehow, that could be just the ticket. Fence in an acre and the dogs will be in heaven. Many schools in the vicinity, too.
(that's a very sweet thing to say, critter!)
Yes, royal purple, exactly-deep magenta. I want to get 100 of those for next year (uhmmm, yep, already looking for those specials), but of course, I don't know where I'll be. Glads in pots didn't work this year.
Searchable classifieds for the local paper here
http://www.robesonian.com/
Any way you could fly out there for a few days and scope out the area?
Not yet; no one to stay with the dogs. That's always an issue, but I'm working on it.
Which airport would be best to fly into and rent a car to cover a lot of ground in the region.
I'm sure there's a large airport in Raleigh/Durham. I don't know if there are good sized ones in the other smaller cities in NC that are closer to Lumberton.
Norfolk would probably be kind of centralized if you wanted to see both NC and VA. It's the furthest south in Virginia but also quite a bit east of where you're going. There's a large airport in Richmond too that would probably be easier to go north and south from because of I-95 but it would be further from NC than Norfolk. All the airports up in northern Virginia would put you many, many hours from Lumberton.
Well, that's down the road a bit....
Here is another wonderful purple, my other favorite glad - purple flora. Very rich purple, almost like velvet.
It's with Jubilee (orange) and Summer Sun
New England Aster, A. novae anglea
This native really took to where we have it in a pretty dry spot by the street.
It is now about 4' tall. I just bought 3 pots of smooth aster to try too ~ symphotrichum laevis 'bluebird' yesterday. Bluebird has paler lavender petals and a more yellow than orangey middle
Rosmarinus officinalis 'Gorizia'
they call this a 'blue' flower color but it is very pale lavender
I bought this rosemary in '05 and in '07 I was shocked to see it bloom! It has been hardy for us so far and is about 4' tall
Nepeta, six hills giant catmint
Vigna Caracala 'corkscrew vine'
Finally a cluster of blooms!!! it climbed to the top of our porch post so it is too high to see if it has a fragrance ~ drats.
At first I didn't think I was going to like it...looked like a cluster of large white grubs! But then they are beginning to open up and they are purpleish and yellow, showing some color ~ it is really pretty but only one cluster. Has anyone else tried this? I'm wondering if it just dosn't get many blooms or if our season is just too short here.
edited to correct name to corkscrew vine...parks seeds mislabeled their pkt 'snail vine'
This message was edited Sep 29, 2007 8:57 PM
Purple dome aster
4paws I like the purple dome asters, they are nice, they look like a double blossom :) I never tried those
this is
Hyacinth Bean
Lablab purpureus
They are pretty - good thing for cropping, because the rest of the plant isn't as pretty, thanks to puppy invasions.
Rosemary is one of my favorites - especially Tuscan Blue, though for some reason, mine haven't done much blooming yet. They've grown a lot and have been in the ground for at least three years.
Costa Rican Sage
just started blooming a few days ago :)
...oops...probably should have posted this in the BLUE thread!
This message was edited Oct 10, 2007 1:38 PM
That's pretty...and just started blooming? How long will it bloom?
I hope It will bloom until our first frost, it is still blooming away now...it is a late bloomer here like pineapple sage; is really tall - 5' or so
this actually has been coming back for us as a perennial the past few years but in our zone it is considered an annual. Depends on the severity of the winter I guess. It is in a sunny southern exposure, up against the house surrounded by a patch of 'blue' salvia guarantica. I'm thinking of trying pine mulch this winter but I didn't use any last year and was happy to see it return. In CA you might get longer enjoyment from it :)
:-)
Though I think I'm heading east next year, but I'm hoping to stay in a similar zone.
"Inspiration" dahlia
Haven't had much to post here, but wanted to share a picture of my trailing Plectranthus blooming. Picture doesn't do it justice, it's the darkest, deepest purple with a little white spot on the lip.
I like that! do you have to bring it in over the winter?
Definitely! I've had some Plectranthus before that I overwintered inside and it did okay. First time for this trailing species, but very easy to root from cuttings :)