Wow, it's a sunflower parade! thanks everyone for your photo. Whoa! J. Your garden is out of this world!
What's Blooming in Your Garden VI
Hard to believe we are already winding down - seems the season just barely got started.....
Yes, Carolyn. Where has the growing season gone? Irene too is bringing cooler air. I hope it only brings cool air and not all the distruction of a storm for many folks in its path.
J that first pic of bessera is just stunning. Love it. Makes them look miles high. Speaking of which, how come my sunflower are so short and stubby? ! Lol. Maybe they take after their gardener.
Love Caladium, not perennial here but i have to post this picture because i did not know that it flowers!!! I was only expecting foliage!!!! How pretty! I am going to try to store this bulb over the winter.
I didn't know that Caldiums flowered either.....
Carolyn, elephant ears' blooms are similiar to those of Caldium's. These didn't yield any bloom this year. But when the condition is right, they blooms also.
Hot Lava coneflowers and red salvia.
Pepper23, those are nice! Love the Baptisia leaves among them too. :)
Love that hot lava! So pretty.
Don Juan today, A bit more open, and even more fragrant! I hope the new buds weather the expected storms this weekend. :(
My first gentian to ever survive in my yard, much less flower.
Goldenrod volunteer
A confused dicentra who thought it was spring yesterday.
A dwarf double pomegranate (in a pot, not hardy).
some neighbors stopped by for a visit.
Hehehe, love your neighbors Robin. Nice pix from the garden as well. I have planted one of those promagranate for my DD where she lives out west (zone 7b) it did well for many years, then last winter 'ole Man winter got the tree. I'm about to mail her one of the cuttings I took home couple of years ago.
Wish my dicentra would get confused! What a treat!
Love your neighbours. They're cute.
My dicentra dies back to the ground - usually in July....
My Dicentra usually dies back at least by early summer but the foliage is still there. I have columbine and Spirea still blooming.
Love that columbine! Is that one of the songbird hybrids?
Kwanjin
such gorgeous columbine. Would you have any seeds from the columbine? I just love the color. Please send me a dmail.
That Columbine is 'Origami Red and White.' I love that it's still going strong.
It's just lovely. I have lots of columbine seeds to plant next spring. I think some were blue and white origami. I'll have to check.
Am I too late for another sunflower photo? Always let some grow under the black oily bird feeder for the birds and bees.
Lion's Ear
Maithym, it's never too late. Welcome to our thread. J. I haven't seen a Lion's Ear before.
J -
I have never grown or seen lions ear. How tall do they get and do the butterflies and hummingbirds like them?
Carolyn
Cat's Whiskers today
Lavender MG Tree
Purple Coneflower
Catz, very nice. Cat's Whiskers are fun to have. They root easily from any cuttings. Are the Lavender MG tree hardy where you're? I've to treat them as tropical perennials here.
I have never tried root the Cat's whiskers before, now I'm gonna have to try it. The MG tree dies back to the ground in winter but comes right back up in spring. It takes no time at all before it's 5' tall and blooming like crazy. I just love it. I wish I had a white one to go with the lavender one. I thought I was gonna loose it this past winter, but there it was as soon as it warmed up a bit.
There's a coulpe different varieties available. The one pictured is L. nepetifolia, grown from seed. It just recently started flowering (whirls). This one could almost be ranked as an architechual plant as it has the potential to top 10 feet. It may self-seed here (has in year's past, usually surviving haphazardly a season or 2 thusly). Hummingbirds are definately attracted to it.I'll post plant size pics when I obtain a good one.
The other variety obtainable (that I know of) is Leonotis leonrus (plants). It is a more reduced, compact, and well behaved plant that can be a fall garden sensation. I seem to remember BF with it (last grown several years ago).
Several years past when I had Cat's Whiskers. I tried to root them with the spent inflorescents; Yes, the bare spent flower stalks. They took root even with that. Make sure you keep the rooting medium moist, and the cuttings out of direct sun. I live by a large water body, thus humidity is very high--an ideal place to propagate cuttings of plants. You know to create humidity with spraying, misting water vapor is next best thing when come to giving the plants the humidity they need.
J. we've cross posted. I'll be sure to check with my local nursery on those Lion's ears.
Milkweed
MWs in my garden have past their prime, however, I just spotted a couple monarch butterflies in the garden. They've hung around nectaring all day. Hopefully they will roost nearby and leave behind some offsprings before they move on their long journey to Mexico.
How come you southern gardeners get all the good stuff? The cats whiskers are the cat's pajamas. (Or does that date me?) It's really a neat plant.
The milkweed you have is so different than what grows wild here. Is that one you bought? I cut mine down tonite, it's sad to think we have to wait another year to see the dance of the butterflies again (and me wildly chasing for a great photo op). I felt better when I spotted two monarch caterpillers still munching, Left a few stems just for them.
vonnie
J - I am not familar with your variety - L. nepetifolia, but I do have the L. leonorus.
Lily - here is a photo of my Leonotis leonorus - we also call it Lion's tail. I cut it back hard at the end of the year, and it gets to about 6-7 feet tall. It blooms for a long time - from May to October.
And another bonus is that the Lion's tail makes wonderful cutflowers. My uncle, who is a florist, did this arrangement for my nephew's wedding reception in July and used some of the Lion's tail. The color scheme was purple and orange, so the orange of the L. leonorus was perfect. And since it was July 3rd, they were doubly apropos as they ressembled fireworks. My uncle raided my garden and came up with this centerpiece - all home grown flowers and greenery.
