A close up of the little red flowers
July Blooms, Part 1
Oh, forgot to say: Our pool and deck are done! Finished! FINALLY! The workers came this morning and put the last coat on the deck, now it's non skid. I just went out a few minutes ago and took this picture.
I think I mentioned last week about this hanging pole system my DH devised for me but I haven't posted a pic of it yet. He bought wrought iron plant brackets, steel poles that are used for chain link fences and pvc caps (that he put on the ends of the poles), painted it all dark brown to match the aluminum pool enclosure and hung them around the perimeter of the pool! I started bringing in some of my hanging baskets a little while ago ... I'm going to love this system - so much more room for hanging plants! I have mostly hoyas hanging on this side. They get morning sun in this location.
Lin.......OMG can I come sit in your pool and just relax? That just looks SO inviting. How beautiful! Wow, I am just taken back.
That cute little plant of yours is called an Aeschynatanthus Micranthus. It is a species plant :) I have one too but yours looks happier *lol*
Awesome pool area Lin, I'm SO happy for you!
Kim
Ok, not a gessie picture but here's a close up of a Hoya rubra bloom.
Wonderful pictures of all of the plants. Great looking pool!
Thank you Kim! I am real happy with the way it turned out and sooo relieved that it is finally done! The pool had really needed re-finishing for years. We had the pool put in 30 years ago and had never had anything done to it. The bottom had become very rough in spots (very hard on the feet) and the cement was stained (my husband said from our well water which is all we had years ago when we had the pool installed.)The deck was in bad shape too. It was a huge expense but something that would have needed to get done before the time comes when DH retires and we sell this house.
With having to have a new roof on the house and all the deck/pool work, this has been an expensive summer for us for sure. The first year we haven't taken a vacation and gone anywhere for a few days but well worth missing out on that to get so much done around here.
Hoya Krinkle 8 bloom
Thanks Sally! Now I have the fun of bringing all my plants back in and arranging them. I put the furniture back on the wood deck and hung some plants out there too but all the big stuff is still all over the back and side yard! I will probably spend the entire day tomorrow out there playing! May even jump in the pool a time or two! It's been a long time since we've used the pool ... I have really tough feet from going barefoot most of my life but the pool bottom was in such bad shape it would cut my feet. It's nice to have the pool and screen room like new again!
Hello Everyone..Wow where do I begin?? I missed so much again I see..all the wonderful blooms..you ladies sure can grow!!Amy Bella looks wonderful..yep thanks to Kim letting me adopt mama bella pieces of her have been scattered about the garden..Lin don't go buying bella..remember I owe you one in your box this fall : )ooo Lin your pool and deck look marvelous along with all your beautiful plants,and I love the planter rail your hubby made for you! Kim how exciting for you Neils is going to grow out some of your crosses for you!Wow what an honor!Sally your caladiums are stunning! Bea..beautiful blooms...Brenda..simply gorgeous...gail..wow you sure have sinningia growing down pat..love all your plants,,and you sure have alot to love thats for sure..lol......Jannich that fuzzy sinningia is just the cutest thing..I want to pet it!! Syrumani..your babies are looking great!Hi Celene....Bonnie big congrats on being smoke free a year..hardest habit to quit but the plants that can be bought with the money saved is sooo great and much healthier I agree! Hoping things calm down around here soon so I can get on to post more..only so many hours in a day..lol..for now I just need to settle for an occasional quick login so I can admire everyones beauties : )Have a Great Night Everyone!
Here's the Sinningia I have that came from seeds when I joined the Gesneriad Society last fall. I sure hope it blooms at some point!
Lin, your pool area looks fantastic! How neat is the metal pole. I want to copy that one!
Look how coherent Nancy is in her comments not forgetting anyone who posted. Lordy Lordy I can only remember the post ahead of me .
Kim, how did you ever learn so much about the names of plants! You always amaze me........both you and Lin......but especially you when you have lived your life in Maine and grow such different plants outside than we do.
Glory glory we got rain today for the first time in months. When my son and his 5 friends arrive on Friday the yard will be two feet high but it is too wet to mow.
I haven't bought groceries yet........better get with it tomorrow.........still have 1/2 of the front porch to clean, also.
A little excitement in my house. I finally have new gro lights from Indoor Gardening Supply which are wide spectrum by Sylvania. We shall see how much different it makes. The only problem I have is that about 5 of the fixtures need to be replaced the electrician said. That won't get done before next week; however, they blinking is driving me nuts when I am in the same room.
Thank you Gail ... yes, I LOVE that planter pole going almost all the way around the pool area! It sure gives me a lot more room for hanging plants!
How neat, your son coming for the Fourth of July holiday with 5 friends! You are gonna be a busy lady with a house full of company!
We've finally gotten some much needed rain off and on the past few weeks. I don't like the thunderstorms with severe weather but we sure have welcomed the rain. Still aren't caught up but by the end of July we might be if we keep getting the afternoon storms. Heard something on the news about the first possible tropical depression of the season. Will be watching the weather reports on that. My next door neighbors have all their hurricane supplies already purchased for the season. We never get supplies ahead of time but have been talking about it this year. If we were to have a major storm there might not be stores open for a long time for supplies! It is a good idea to stock up during the summer, just in case! I need to make a hurricane supply list and at least begin to make a dent in it.
Most people here already have plywood cut and ready to put on. The older people (and that would me only I haven't done it yet) just put that plywood on as soon as hurricane is spotted in the Gulf and looks like it could possibly come our way. I am going to be sorry if I don't get that done soon.
This bit of rain we got today......probably a couple of inches isn't going to begin to make up for what we have missed but they are predicting rain through the weekend.
Took some pics while ago.
I was so not impressed that I put Pittman's Jolly Gem on the Marketplace and now I am sooo glad she didn't sell. Usually I don't like miniatures as they sucker but this one has never suckered once.
Some leaves I grow and then see the bloom and say, " Oh, no.....that is ugly". But I am loving this Saddle Shoes. Will have to look her up to see what size she will be.
Apache Bandana was a waste of my time! (LOL)
Newtown Quiet Resolve was well worth the effort. (but then all Newtowns are worth the effort)
Shenandoah Sugar Plum is always one of my favorites.
I saved the best for last. Shenandoah's Raspberry Truffles.
Oh, such pretties Gail! Why would you say Apache Bandana is a waste of time? I think that is a beautiful AV! Love the light edge on the leaves!
I really love that Pittman's Jolly Gem!
We have plywood all cut and labeled for each door and window ... hubby keeps it stacked in the shed waiting to go up if a cane is heading our way! I have a few of those tall glass candles from back during the storms of 2004. I need to make my list of supplies and get some stocked. I always have at least one case of bottled water on hand because I drink a lot of water but I want to make sure we have a couple of cases as well as non perishable foods and cat food and supplies for the kitties.
Well, if you already have plywood for the doors and windows, you are 3/4 of the way done. That is great............
The leaves on Apache Bandana are beautiful and that is why I wanted to grow the leaf, but her blooms are nothing to write home about!
I know that south Texas or Houston is due a good storm. Florida has had the worst of them for the last decade. (except of course for Katrina)
We've been really lucky here on the East Coast of Florida, in regards to storms. We've never had a direct hit from the Atlantic side, they usually come from the Gulf across the state or from the southern end up through the middle. I have a very healthy respect for hurricanes! I saw the aftermath of Camille in 1969 (up through Mississippi, Louisiana etc.) and Andrew in 1992 that devastated South Florida and then Katrina which was the worse ever. Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Rita all did some major damage here in Florida a few years ago too. Not much we can do except try and be prepared the best we can! I would leave the state and go somewhere, (not sure where, but probably Atlanta to my youngest sister's) if a major Catagory 4 or 5 storm were predicted for our area!
Lin, having grown up where we have good ole' electrical storms and strong winds, I love them...........the sheer power of nature. So, when I was in college I came home for every hurricane. I vividly remember when I had a one year old and was 7 months pregnant with Cassie, I begged my husband to bring me home for a big one headed directly into Portland.. He agreed (LOL) and we left Houston about 8 one night. By the time we got to Refugio the winds were at 100 mph, the rain so hard he didn't know if we were on the road except by the way the car felt. After many hours we arrived at Mother's doorstep and she was furious at me for coming. The winds were so strong at that point with the torrential rains that he tucked Ashley under his body and had to crawl to the front door of the house. Here I was on my all fours crawling to the door (all 7 months pregnant).
So, I love good storms. That is why I have always insisted on good tin roofs so I can feel and hear the storms.,(I am not talking the kind of tin you put on a barn but the heavy duty kind) I have one on my house right now. When we lived in Ruidoso, NM I don't think I have ever seen electrical storms that bad (good!!!! for me). Consequently all my kids love any kind of a storm and the grands love them, too.................
Gail, I'd love to have a tin roof! That must be wonderful! I love the sound of the rain but I don't want to watch the storm! I am scared to death of lightning! Florida is known as the lightning capital of the world! Seems like every year during the stormy season we are hearing about someone being struck by lightning. Sometimes it's idiot golfers who stand under a tree on the golf course during a storm! Duh? I thought everyone knew that lightning will strike the tallest object and travel downward? The news and weather channels here are constantly reminding folks to stay inside during severe weather, even telling people to not stay in the car but find shelter inside a building away from windows.
I have a very healthy respect for mother nature but severe weather that produces tornado's really scares me! I will never forget Hurricane Camille in October 1969. We saw the aftermath almost four months later while traveling to California. The devastation is something I will never forget as long as I live. So many lives were lost because of folks having "Hurricane Parties"! Many rented hotel rooms on the gulf for their parties, wanting to watch the storm come ashore ... no hotel was left to be seen after that hurricane. There are still so many people today who refuse to leave their homes if told to evacuate! I guess "things" mean more to some then their life.
You are very fortunate to have made it through that storm with your family in one piece! I'm surprised you didn't go into premature labor! 7 months pregnant and driving/riding through a storm with 100 mph winds?! You my friend must be a daredevil ... or would that be daredevilette? LOL. Me? Anytime there's loud thunder and sharp lightning, you'll find me hiding in the closet!
I love storms too Gail but not nearly as much as you do *lol* You are (like Lin said) a real daredevil *lol* The thing I like about storms is sitting and playing games by candlelight. We seem to do that whenever there is a storm and we lose power. We play games every day with our kids for the most part but it's really fun when we play during a storm by the light of a candle. Kind of like ambiance.
So the poor kid at Wal-Mart last night. I went looking for those peat pellet things. Couldn't find them anywhere. I asked the kid, "where are all the peat pellets"? He says "oh, we sold out of those weeks ago". I said "OK, so when are you getting more in"? He says "We're not ordering anymore". I wanted to just grab him and shake him (can you tell I'm trying to quit smoking and having a rough time my friends?) but instead I calmly said (with a little disgust in my voice of course) "you do realize that it's only the beginning of July and SOME of us grow year round right?". He said "you might want to check out Home Depot or Lowe's Ma'am". Needless to say, I walked off envisioning my foot up his a** and poor hubby had to hear me gripe and gripe and gripe about living in Maine for I don't know how many aisles after that. Now I have to go to the darn Agway and pay twice as much for stupid peat pellets. I KNEW the last time I was in there to stock up but instead only bought one package.
Need another good laugh? This Tuesday I brought my daughter to Summer Camp thinking it was the first day of Camp. Needless to say......Camp had been in session for over a week and she had already missed a field trip to Funtown! Yep, guess I won't be winning Mother of The Year this year. I was so embarrassed for her! To her it was no big deal but to me I felt like the gum on the bottom of someones shoes. I just don't know where my mind has been. I could have sworn that I read that camp started the week of 6/30? I'm really losing it now *lol* So, picked her up after Camp that day and she tells us that she "hates camp" and just wants to stay home (so she can watch TV all day, talk to her "little boyfriend", play on the computer and eat junk food). I could feel my temperature rising as I knew that this was coming, but in a very gentle manner, I calmly said to her "for $590 you are going to LOVE camp tomorrow!".............all I needed to say :)
Gail, the reason I recognize so many plants is because I am FOREVER making "pretend" orders at places and research each and everything that catches my eye. Then when someone who has the plant posts a picture, I know what it is because I've researched it before *lol* I only know certain ones though. Most of the more common things. I LOVE making pretend orders and then carrying them around and eventually throwing them away because it gives me the chance to learn new things about different plants :)
Nancy, so nice to see you jogging through! Things will calm down and fall/winter will arrive and we will all be nestled together sharing pictures again of everything we're sharing now and eagerly looking forward to spring. But for now things are hectic and we "gettin' it done" as the sun is shining, birds are singing, butterflies fluttering and mosquito's are biting *lol*
Lin, I can't believe you put that much work into the house only to sell it in a few years. Me? I would NEVER be able to leave a house like that. It looks like paradise! Aren't you just going to cry? I can't imagine having a home like that and selling it. I had to call hubby over to look at your beautiful picture as we have always dreamed of an indoor pool area like that. It's so perfect!
I won't be around tomorrow as we are leaving for Six Flags first thing in the morning and won't be home until after midnight. It is going to be so much fun! I love to ride the rides :0) Makes me feel like a kid again. Of course I get off them and have little "pains" here and there that I never had as a kid but I still love to ride :)
Gail, you are going to have a house full. That sounds like so much fun! How wonderful for you! I'm sure your son is really looking forward to it too.
What else is everyone doing for the holiday weekend? Other than 6 Flags, I think we're just going to "hang out" and probably putter in the yard :)
I'm sure I will check in here and there today but should I not be able to, I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL holiday weekend and I can't wait to hear what you all did :)
Oh yeah, before I head out. Plants.......hmmm (looking around) they all look pretty healthy but not many new blooms (all ones I've posted pictures of before). The same ol faithfuls are blooming (Streps: Gwen, Blue Mars, Maasen's White) and I cherish them every day but no "new" blooms. When my hoya Heuschkeliana opens her flowers I'll post a picture of them. They smell SO nice.....like vanilla popcorn.
Well, I guess I'm off to see who I can pollinate this morning *lol* Have a great day all :)
Kim
Hey, guess what? I did the "tour" today and found a couple of ones I hadn't posted before :)
Here is Rob's Boolaroo, a cute little fantasy trailer. Me and fantasy *lol* I love 'em *lol*
Picture of the whole plant
Here is Jean Pier Croteau and what do you know.............another fantasy *lol*
Picture of the whole plant.
Well, Good Morning Miss Kim! You sure are an early bird! I am up usually by 7 or 8 (at the latest) but don't seem to get the ambition to log on until later.
Now tell me, what are the Peat Pellet thingys? I don't think I've ever seen anything called Peat Pellets down here.
So cute about getting your daughter to camp a week late! No need to be embarrassed though - I bet many of the kids there have had similar experiences with their moms! LOL. Kids will get over it. Someday she will be the Mom and you can laugh your butt off when she's late picking up her kids or dropping them off somewhere! LOL, I bet by the end of next week she will love camp and be glad you paid for it! It might just take a couple of days for her to make friends and fit in but I bet she ends up having a great time (even if she won't admit it right away!)
Kim, I am like you in enjoying researching plants on-line. My problem is, at my age sometimes five minutes after reading something I don't remember it! I have printed out so much information on different plants and have a file box where I file it all away to refer back to. I also LOVE making pretend orders (although when I write my list down with the name of the company I usually at the time I'm writing have every intention of ordering something.) But, after adding up the total my list usually gets shoved inside a book or magazine or something until I find it weeks or months later and end up throwing it away!
I have already been out this morning trying to move some of my plants back onto the pool deck! We still have to re-paint the back of the house because of the paint splatters the workers got all over everywhere but we can just move the plants out of the way while we are painting! We have done a ton of work on the outside of the house this spring but it's stuff that really needed to be done. Oh Kim, I will be very glad to leave this house when the time comes! We have been in this house 33 years and I have been ready for a change for a long time. I can't wait for my hubby to retire ... I won't look back for a minute! Someone else is welcome to the yard work and other chores that come with an older home!
Well, I better get back to cleaning. I got my old furniture back out on the wood deck next to the pool and hung a few more plants but still have tons of plants sitting out in the yard under trees and hanging in the trees!
All I can say is WOW. I can just feel the heat and humidity in your pictures and OOOOH how the air must smell. Breathtaking!
Peat pellets are those little round discs that you add water to and they "puff" up like a little pot of soil and have a mesh netting holding the peat. I remove the mesh netting and use the peat for sowing seeds. I will need alot of them for all my strep crosses and foolish me waited too long (go figure.......beginning of July...........duh...........but this is Maine) to stock up on them..........grrrr. I said I wasn't going to do that this year but I NEVER thought they'd start running out and not re-ordering this early. Better make sure I have everything I need for the whole winter (like a hibernating bear.......need to stock up now I guess *lol*) because once it's gone they don't get more. You would not believe the difficulty I had finding perlite last year! NO WHERE to be found other than Agway which was twice as expensive but I HAD to get it there. I swear our Agway just KNOWS we can't get it anywhere else and monopolizes on that!
OK.........all fired up now...........better go take a cool shower and get ready for work.............without a cigarette..........wow, this is SO hard!
Kim
Oh my gosh, those peat pellets sound like something my sister gave me a bunch of a couple of years ago and I threw them away! I didn't know they were anything good for growing in! LOL. Wish I had saved them. I will look around down here and see if anyone sells them ... I've never seen them before at Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Lowes but it may be that I just wasn't looking for them. Will let you know. Now I know our stores have Perlite year round down here so I can always find that for you if you need it! I will let you know if I find any of the Peat Pellets!
Gotta get back to work! Chat with y'all more later!
Before you check Lin (thank you for the offer though) let me check Lowe's and Home Depot. I only checked Wal-Mart as we were there picking up groceries but I will do the "scout" trip for winter plant supplies at Home Depot & Lowe's and if they are out then give in and spend the extra at Agway but hopefully HD & Lowe's will still have them. Going to stock up that's for sure *lol*
Kim
Ok everyone ... I posted so many photo's here that aren't AV related and this thread has gotten so long that Sally began a new one for July AV blooms!
Come on over! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/871564/
Kim, just let me know if you can't find it and I will be glad to check around down here for you.
I think separate threads are nice, since there are other Gessies.
I agree Sally, but I kinda took over this thread with pictures that weren't even Gessies!
I think it would be great to have threads for "Just Strep's", "Just AV's", "Just Chirita's", "Just Sinningia's" etc. I know we could fill every thread with all the beautiful plants everyone grows!
Yes, it would be fun to have different threads.
Showing blooms that aren't Gessies is fun too though. We all love SOOOO many plants! Maybe a thread of other blooms would be fun. Then we can see them all easier. Organized.
Are you all being serious? I can do whatever is asked but half the fun in posting is visiting as we go......I will be chasing down a thread of episicas, then sinningias, then columnea, etc???????????
It doesn't matter to me, but the one thread seems to zip along and it is hard to keep up. Most forums have separate threads for diff. subjects. Again, it just makes it easy, but it is not a big deal either way.
This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 1:08 PM
No, I'm sure we wouldn't need that many threads, just a couple. Most can go into one I am sure.