Some photos of my garden today

This is an antique child's swing I bought in Sumner last summer with this idea in mind. A couple weeks ago I bought the pot and planted it up. I love the way it turned out.

This is my yellow tree peony. It's in full bloom with about 15 blossoms.

This is a new rhodie we just got last weekend. It is actually the same color as the peony altho this photo makes it look more ivory. It’s called Lemon Dream. It is ‘special,’ because it came out with double flowers when it’s supposed to be single. The Rhodie farm almost didn’t sell it to me when they discovered that it was a ‘mutant’ because they want to propogate it for a new variety but then they decided to after all. I had to agree to let them come and take cuttings. Gee, I sure hope it’s still alive when they come! I hope they come soon. It’s really pretty.

Now we are on to the hosta ‘porn’ garden. Hosta breeders are a risqué bunch and often give their hostas some pretty spicy names. So I bought up a collection with the intention of putting them in one area of the yard. Then I saw this bed at a garden faire and thought I should put the porn hostas in a bed! This is not finished because I still have to finish hiding the chicken wire, put the potted hostas in the ground around the bed, clean things up, put the name tags in, etc. The hostas in pots that are going into the ground will get huge.

The names of the hostas in this porn garden are:

Big Daddy
Hanky Panky
Immense
Love Pat
Mount Tom
Stiletto
X-Rated
Spilt Milk
Bridegroom
Second Wind

I also purchased Big Daddy and Striptease but I cannot seem to find the pots! These have been sitting around over a year waiting to go into the bed. There is one more I really want called Little Stiffy but have been unable to find.

Last but not least, here is a pic of a garden bench I bought at an auction. I also bought a canopied bed in a similar style but it’s still on the front porch where we put it for the winter. I have to have the boys carry it out to the garden. I am going to run twinkle lights on both of these.

Beautiful garden Gwen. You have such good taste in everything.The Rhodie is really neat.

Gwen, I love the swing, It reminds of a school project I had to do, in 4th grade, I took a wire A frame type thing, made a swing for a doll to set in and wrapped flowers around all the wire. Won 1st place, wish I still had the pic. So Sad.
Tils
^_^

Its not just Hostas that are porn fanatics.

Everyone who posts pictures of their plants in bloom are porn stars. Flower porn is what it is. When we see it, we have to run out to the store to get it. It matters little what the DH or DW want or like. We need it NOW!!!!!

Not only that, but if we actually have the plant which we are married to, and you post it better looking, then we all want to know "What did you do? Manure, worm castings, wooley mammoth castings? I gotta go get it".

Porn. We should all be banned from posting porn on this website to help all of us out. A four letter word is what it is.

Ban Flower Porn Now, before we all become addicted!

There is an up and coming (so to speak) 12 Step group:

1. We admit that we are powerless over flowers and flower porn.
2. We believe there is a solution
3. We turn our choices over to god as we understand god to be.
4. We make a list of the plants we have and the flowers we want.
5. We share that list with others.
6. We turn that list over to god.
7. We go shopping with that list.
8. We think if we have harmed anyone.
9. We make amends for all the harm done by plants, flower porn and plant shopping.
10. We turn it all over to god.
11. We continue to turn our list over to god,
12. We continue to only buy good plants, worthy of flower porn on DG.

Porn, not for the weak, infirm or undead. Post some today.

Gwendalou, you scored with that garden bench.
What a great idea to put the lights on it!

AnalogDog Thanks for a good chuckle! :)
FAA- Flower Addicts Anonymous

This poppy has done a number on me.
I MUST have millions of them. :)
So where are those 12 step meetings?

Blue flower porn.

It happens every time PNW folks get together. They drink coffee, discuss their troubles trade plants, and tell plant porn stories. Its been months since I could make a meeting, and I am jonesin' for one. This plant porn is killing me.

Today's meeting will be under brellies.
I was asking a woman at Clear Creek Nursery if they had any of the blue poppies,
and she said no, that people didn't have much luck with them.

I was surprised, because I did just what I was told to do with mine,
put it in a woodland type setting and left it alone.

When I described the size of the
plant and dimensions of the bloom, her eyes got wider and wider.
OMG, I am a pusher! Poor woman is going to be looking for a blue flower porn fix. :)

Gwen your pieces of furniture are great. I think we will all envy you. I had my fix today I went down and spent two hours buying plants for St. Andrew's. And I get to plant them all tomorrow.

Funny, AD. I don't think we're really too far away from that, some of us.

I love the blue poppy. Wow - the color really pops (no word-play intended). It sounds like Heidi's advice was exactly the right thing.

Neo, If you have millions of then, could you spare one or two? I just LOVE it, want it for ???? because I love blues. Too cool.

Analog, I am still in denial that I have this problem. LOL

Analog D. That was toooo funny. ROFLOL!!!!

I agree with the blue poppies. It's an addiction.

Gwendalou Your pics are great! and i love the "special" Rhody. I would venture to say that you could get a few rhody nurserys interested in it!!

Actually, I was doing some internet research on it last night and most of the sites I found it on say it sometimes blooms double. So that is its nature and is nothing unusual or noteworthy. I'm surprised this place didn't know that. It's Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens. They are pretty knowledgable! I, however, am not so perhaps I misunderstood what they meant but I definitely know it had something unique about it they wanted and they kept saying the word 'double.' I know them fairly well as I volunteer for them, so I will ask next time I'm talking to the head honcho.

At any rate, it is super pretty and it has a very slight scent too and I'm always interested in any plant with fragrance!

Gwen

Tilly, I only have the three original plants now,
but hopefully will have many seeds from the three blooms
that I didn't pinch off. I would love to share!

Ok.... so maybe not quite so special, but it still has the potential to be! It's definitely worth watching to see if you have a reliable double! Doubel flowers in a rhody that is hardy is quite hard to come by!

Neo, would love some. keep me in mined. I May have something here you might like, stop by (but let me know in case I have to work) Tues or Weds works for me, most times. LOL

Does anyone know what this is? I have never seen it in my yard before.
Is cute.

Looks like a geranium to me. Pretty!

Gwen

Geranium robertianum - a common weed in our area.
Easy to pull out & much more manageable than creeping ranunculus (buttercup with claws attached to soil).

Yep, Tilly, its Herb Robert, an invasive, Class B weed by the Weed Control Board of Washington.

Here is a page about it from the weed control board: http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Written_findings/Geranium_robertianum.html

Just pull it up and toss it away. If you are like me, add it to your weed tea, so it will die an excruciating death.

Fun thread! Yikes Tills! That certainly is a nasty weedy thing, disguised as a pretty plant. fortunately they are easy to pull. but you better harden your heart and pull it or you'll be sorry.

Gwen, your garden looks great! Love the garden art, especially the bench and the bed is probably great, too. Looking good for sure!

Just for the record, I love the smell of Herb Robert. Why people like scented geraniums and don't like the scent of Stinky Bob, their relative, I haven't figured out.

Geranium robertianum and Claytonia siberica together form a lovely little mass of filler flowers in the garden. They last a long time and when you don't want them anymore, they are easy to pull.

Herb Robert is a nasty weed. Here is direct cut and paste from the summary at the bottom of the page in my link above:

Geranium robertianum poses a threat to forest understories and to plant biodiversity in forests of western Washington. It is capable of growing under full canopy closure in very dense populations (up to 250 plants/m2) and under more open canopies in populations of fewer, but more vigorous, plants. Where it occurs there appear to be fewer native herbaceous species. It is spreading in forested natural areas in western Washington from sea level to about 4,000 feet at an alarming rate. Prevention of spread of this species into additional areas of western Washington, as well as parts of eastern Washington, is thus desirable.

Please pull Herb Robert where ever you see it in your gardens. The same holds for Buddleja (davidii, Giant Hogweed (but call me over first), and more. Many are still sold in nurseries Euphorbia myrsinites is one that I just pulled), but they are all growing wild, displacing native plants that disrupt ecosystems and deny habitat to other native species.

Why do you want the giant hogweed? I just pulled one out. It was getting to be as big as a house. I wasn't sure what it was, figured that I got some compost with some seeds in it. I could tell it was an umbellifer right away and let it go to see what would happen. When it began to eat my roses and weigela, it had to go. That was one big root!

Not all of the buddleja davidii's are invasive. Some of the hybrids don't even get seedlings. I guess it's just the straight species that is a threat. Also, there are lots of kinds of buddleja, so if you don't want davidii, there will be something else that will call your name.

Hey, next time I find a giant hogweed, do you want it??

No, I don't want a giant hogweed, just a picture of it. I just want to see a plant that big.
Here is the info on Buddleja davidii:

This popular ornamental shrub has been establishing in not only disturbed areas, but natural areas as well, where it has negative ecological impacts and is difficult to control.

* It forms dense thickets, especially along river banks and river gravel bars, which crowd out native vegetation and may alter soil nutrient concentrations.
* The seeds, so easily spread by wind or water, can remain in the seed bank for three to five years.
* This shrub can begin producing seeds during its first year.
* Once established, this shrub is difficult to remove. It will resprout from the rootstock after its stems are cut, and the cut stems can also grow into new plants.
* Butterfly bush is a Class B Noxious Weed in Oregon, is one of the top twenty weeds in Great Britain, and is a serious problem in New Zealand.

You can get move info at http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/buddleja_davidii.htm

Rob, I have a Q for you. the Butterfly bush that I have has not, And I say has not. been evasive and I have had it for 4 years. I find no off springs.
mine has long slender silverie leaves and a fuzzy tex to the leaves. can you tell me, what is it ?. I have not seen this color of flower or the leaves anywhere else. and have been looking, have a (NOID)
Would like a name.

Gwen,
Great swing and bench, love the yellow peony! Don't forget to show off the bench when it is properly seated!


Neofarmer love the blue poppy!

A...Dog you are too funny

Tilly in no way am I knowledgable about hybrid names of B. davidii. Sorry.

And the problem I am talking about is from the page from the Weeds Page on it. My last post has the link, and the seeds live and move all around, it is taking over stream banks like crazy.

Thanks Rob, I have had 2 diff. persons looked at mine, and does not inter the book of bad, has a difference in the leaves. mine are elongated and silver in tex. also a little fuzzy. they do get big, but have not seen any off spring. This was last year, will take a new pic.

Tills, you definitely have a hybrid, which is likely to be sterile. I may have the same one that you have. Mine has never set seed, and I 've never had a baby from it. I was concerned about the invasiveness of this plant, which I found out about after I bought it several years ago. To assuage my guilt, I cut all the flowers off the first year. Then the second year I left a few on to see if they set seed, knowing I had a hybrid plant. No seeds and no seedlings. So now I don't worry about it. But I would not plant the species in my yard. Nope.

I have had a few friends say they have never seen one like this, and I have 2 in diff. parts of the yard. and they do root easy from soft ( just tried it) cuttings. but not seeds, and I have been bad, and not dead headed them at all.