Summer is about to begin.. show those blooms!

And a few more:
I tried another that, for some reason, wouldn't load.

1 & 2) Agastache Blue Fortune
In the pics, it fades into my neighbors fence, but they actually show up quite well in person. This is a common variety, bought at Lowes last Autumn, but it made it through Winter and has thrived. I had a beautiful deep wine-colored one from Bluestone that never made it through it's 1st Winter.

3) Lobelia Cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
Just barely beginning to bloom
The white hue on the foliage is from me being a little too agressive with the Liquid Fence. It's a plant Deer don't like, but I spray pretty much everything.



This message was edited Jul 26, 2013 10:33 AM

Great flowers all !!!
nutsaboutnature ; always wonderful your compliments and flowers , you can grow Liatris and Salvia . Neither grow to well for me .. My Hosta doesn't bloom either . We all get to have the flowers we do ,nature decides ..
The bloom registry is about signing my name to something I will enjoy signing (rarely get to) then my name will follow a plants name .(cool , selfish , want thing) , to make me happy .!!!
Cindy ; still , the tomatoes are slow , and I seem to recall last year you got cucumbers , and I got like two or three . I think the weather likes playing with either of us ,

No blooms to show, but will make your
mouth water with what I am eating
right now for lunch.
Steamed green & yellow beans.
Sliced tomato.
Cole slaw made with our own cabbage
and carrots.
Baked Kennabec potato from a neighbors
field.

Think of the cartoon coyote , when he's licking his chops.
Sounds good ! you got me lol

Well, it's been raining all day...I'm not complaining one bit...and the high is supposed to be about 75° ~ Nice!

Well, good luck (and congrats) on the registry!

Sounds yummy...What type of potato is a Kennabec?

No rain here although I'm hoping for some this evening. Oops - it's finally drizzling now.
nuts - my 'Kobold' is blooming as well and I am delighted with it this year. It languished for a few years but perhaps taking out those trees, letting more sun in, did the trick.
Stu - I did read in The Times yesterday an article about garden pests and it said that JB traps can lure the critters in from up to a mile away.
juhur - my cucumbers got whipped by those cold spring nights and never recovered. And the seeds I sowed direct never sprouted. So no cukes for me this year. I need to pull more perennials and shrubs out of my garden bed so that the veggies have more room. All the original plant tenants doubled in size once they got more sun.
Cg - I'm longing to fill up on veggies.

The flower a rose of sharon from old seed thrown years ago and three years of letting it grow as a weed and today a bloom.. the white bloom

Cindy' I have gotten two cucumbers , have a dozen vines over 7 ft and not cucumber one on any of them ..
#4 red tickseed

Kennabec is a white potato that's been around forever.
Probably the best potato there is for baking.

Just finished picking strawberries.
76 pints, I think.
These are Seascape everbearing.
Same as the ones sold year around in the stores.
Only difference, we pick them ripe, not green.
Our list is long for market tomorrow.

Still no significant rain here so I'm still watering. I was doing some cleanup chores in the wild part of the garden yesterday but couldn't pull too many weeds because the ground is dry and hard. I'm overrun with Brunnera plants, self-sown but digging was pretty much out of the question. I did finally pull the plug on a Chinese wisteria that I bought years and years ago (before I knew that the species rarely blooms here). Trained it as a standard, tried pruning it at all the right times but not one single bloom. I didn't dig it up though - just cut if off - so I'm sure I'll have sprouts for years.
Have to say that even though the 4 o'clock flowers are now opening during the day, the JBs have absolutely no interest in them. I grew two different varieties but they must not be appetizing to them. Now that my porcelain berry vine is pretty much a "lace" vine, they've started chomping on Deutzia 'Magician'. Hopefully they'll be gone in another week or two as they've already been here for a month.
CG got me wanting to eat my fill of veggies so I made some Michigan green beans with local, organic potatoes. Yum! First cherry tomatoes are almost ripe enough to pick. Yippee!

Well hoping your all having good luck with your vegetables and flowers too .
My Coneflowers all have asters yellows (pooper ) but I have not seen a JBeetle, in a week (allright woo hoo!!!)
I dried some seeds from the Larkspur I pic'd earlier , inside the pod were seeds ,(I thought) only these little dust size critters started sprouting ,, (barely visible) WOW and like I thought dust particles were small!!!
So now I have learned, the seeds, inside the seed pod,, are the actual pod ..
tiny tiny tiny woo,wee are those hard to see !!!
Well anyway I planted a few , will see how their doing in a few weeks ..
be good every one , and be great if you feel that way ... motivation to keep on going ,,, all right !!!

Cindy, I really love my Kobold. I only bought one plant from Menards that year I bought all the other plants. I didn't know anything about it and figured to experiment. Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy more. Glad to hear yours is doing so well!

I guess the rain has been missing all of you in Indiana. We've had lots this year. It's usually the other way around where most of it goes south and misses us.

We have that same hard ground in most of the beds and they've all been amended. It seems as long as there's still clay in there it still gets hard. The best one is our raised bed, but most of the soil & clay was completely removed and replaced.

Sounds like the JB's have passed the word around to stay away from your 4 o'clocks!
Yum! Your green beans and potato dish sounds delicious!

Beautiful flowers, juhur! Love the reds and the white is very delicate looking. I don't have too many new ones right now. I wonder what happened to your cucumbers? Have you even had blooms?

Sorry about your Coneflowers.

One of my varieties is doing pretty well. The other one, 'Ruby Star' is too, except now I'm beginning to think it's no longer a Coneflower, but rather an "Alien" came in and took over it's Coneflower body! The leaves look like Coneflowers and it's in the same place, but it's grown 5 ft tall and the buds don't look anything like Coneflowers. I'm really wondering if the soggy soil killed my Coneflower and we have a volunteer "something-or-other" growing in it's place. It doesn't look like anything else around here, including weeds (but the "alien" story was fun!).

I've been told that the seeds of Lobelia 'Cardinalis' are also like "dust" particles, but I've never tried to collect them.

Thanks for the info on the Kennabec potatoes CG!

YES The Lobelia Cardinalis seeds are Those and Lavender , Miniscule they are ... Coneflower difficulty will recover in a season or two , I least I got to see most of them bloom nicely before any of that happened ,
First Autumn Clematis bloom is here !!! Fall is coming early this year !!
So Folklore would say ...

nutsaboutnature ; I forgot until today there were two white cucumbers today I picked a green , and there are three small white cucumbers hanging on the plants ,, not many and it is something though ..
By the way I am still jealous of your Agastache (lol) nice flower !!! in that pic ..for sure ..

This message was edited Aug 7, 2013 6:43 PM

Very pretty, juhur and also dainty. Glad your Coneflowers survived.

My Echinacea 'Ruby Star' must have drowned earlier this spring. What's growing in it's place is Goldenrod! It's considered a Native in Illinois (apparently we have about 20 varieties that grow wild here...there are at least 100 varieties). I've decided to let them bloom this year since it's a favorite of BF, bees and other friendly insects. After that I'll probably remove it so it doesn't spread as it's a small bed and we're probably going to make it a raised bed by next spring.

Yay! Great that you got some cucumbers!

Thanks for the compliment on the Agastache! That seems to be an easy variety to grow. You should try it...'Blue Fortune'.

It's late. I'm going to bed. G'nite.

Today a Mammoth Wonder (the pic) , Tomorrow , I Wonder ?
Starting some fall flowers and greens , mustard is planted and growing .
Gaillardia are just about ready to plant , moving ditch lily around , 100's of them .
White yarrow seeds are planted, Lavender Vera seeds are planted ,
Mallow Hibiscus scarlet globe and several in stratification .
Feverfew , there are now 100's of small seedlings in pots ,
White Coneflower and White Campanula seeds , may get started tonight ,
Fall planted Perennial growing is not recommended here lol ...

Oh my...You've been busy ...I envy all your energy!!

How come Autumn isn't good for planting perennials where you are? I always heard Autumn is better than Spring for many plants.

By-the-way, your Mammoth Wonder looks Beeeyoootiful!!!

...I wish I truly had the energy ,,lol blooms;

Oooh...Love those REDS!!

Wow, is that a variegated Butterfly Bush? Sure is purty!!

Yes it's that . "Monrell" As far as I know . Bought that for $1.90 about five years ago . Never has done as well as I hoped , Only out of many tries it is the only butterfly bush I have ,,That says a lot ...lol
I am trying cuttings this year , They look good , More of them together might make them happier ?

Visitors still like the Zinnia , you have seen the pic , only oh well , it's a mood lifter ,, lol

Took a vacation up in the UP where it's much cooler but loved it.
JBs are still here but in smaller quantities. Picked first tomatoes this week so I'm happy.
Newest project will be to edit my sunny bed this fall to make room for more veggies. I've held on to some poor performers for sentimental reasons. Others take up too much room (like daylily foliage which I do have in other spots). As for propagating, it's mostly cuttings this time of year - Hydrangea 'Limelight' and two different elderberries for DD. Not a lot of digging or planting going on right now.

A few seedlings
Brassica nigra #3
gaillardia 2&4
feverfew .. the pics fuzzy#1
Lots to do this time of year , hoping for next year being #1 lol

juhur, Thanks for the Butterfly Weed ID!
Love your Butterflies AND I love Zinnias! Your seedlings look to be doing well.

What does Aster Yellows look like and do you have to destroy the whole plant or will it come back okay the next year?

This year my some of my Coneflowers had seedheads with no petals. Otherwise the plant looks very healthy and most of the blooms have petals. Someone on DG said they thought that might mean it has Aster Yellows, but they didn't know for sure.

Cindy, we LOVE the UP!!! We spent a week one year in October just driving from one end to the other. Some of the most beautiful Autumn color we've ever seen, plus a lot of other great scenery.

juhur, here is a pic of one of those Coneflower seedheads I told you about with no petals.

I just looked at different pictures of Aster Yellows and my Coneflowers are not distored like the pics. I don't have mutations of flowers growing out of other flowers, etc. Just most blooms have petals, but here and there some don't have petals.

I posted my pics a while ago on the Coneflower forum, but I think I might post a question to the Garden Pests and Diseases forum.



This message was edited Aug 11, 2013 11:21 AM

Cutleaf coneflower hortensia

lavender4ever;; I love that cutleaf coneflower The one I bought years ago was suppose to be double . all it became was a single bloom garden invader . the thing is everywhere ..

nutsaboutnature I saw that pic of your coneflower without petals , I have seen that only have no idea what caused or causes that . You would know Aster Yellows with big green bloom strings growing fom the center of the blooms .
I am trying tricks to save a couple of my Coneflowers , I have a couple uninfected purple blooms for seeds and am starting some white swan from seeds now though .
Trying osmotic anti microbial , made basically from Ammonia and Listerine . It has the disease frozen on a plant , we will see later if it is successful as to saving a plant or two .

I blame mass cloning for disease succeptible cone flowers. The future of cone flowers, are in the hands of the backyard breeders. In the old days , before cloning, plants were all trialled before production. Now it is a race to make money with the newest color or type.

Lovely Coneflower, lavender4ever!

Thanks to you both for your input. I did post it on the Garden Pests and Diseases forum, but so far only got one response. That person said it looks like it could (possibly) be the beginning of Aster Yellows, but it seems no one is really sure.

I don't think I'm going to destroy the plant on speculation since it's the only Coneflower I have now (others drowned in some Spring flooding). I'll take a chance to see what it does next year or maybe try to dig it up and isolate it for next year. I don't know yet.

juhur, are you using the seeds from some good blooms on an infected plant or from a plant that has not been infected at all?

Both from the purple , including three small plants purple , already growing '

The white swan is from commercial source , haven't germinated yet . Yes sometimes they need stratified . not always though. I done Coneflowers a few times previous . lol like a 100 ...lol

I really hate losing old plants , one of my Coneflowers is planted 2005 ,


In Memory, to a bloom

Sorry juhur. It's hard to lose plants when you work so hard on them, but with all your talent, you'll have new ones in no time and they'll be better than before.

I really like that yellow coneflower! I do have one (Rats! Forgot the name and MS office is goofed up where I have my plant list) - 'Sundown'??? or something similar - and a few of its blooms are missing petals but only sporadically.
Had first 'Black Krim' today and it's waaaay better than last year. 'Reisentraube' is a real trooper and keeps on producing.

Here we go Blooming today free of disease(so far) and the replacements in case treatments fail .. Never give up to anything , except to try and attempt with patient resolve .


A Black Krim ripening ,, Raccoons have got them all so far ,,

Congrats on the 'Black Krim', Cindy!! Hmm...'Reisentraube'...I've never even heard of it, but it sounds cool!! It's getting close to dinner time. Aren't you even going to share?

Looks like you have a great start, juhur! By-the-way, have I told you how nice your pictures are looking? You're getting better and better with your camera!!

I have my "first ever" Snapdragons blooming! I bought a pack of 6 from Menard's this past Spring, but by the time I got around to planting them they looked terrible. Figuring they might not survive, I stuck them in a small part sun space created by some plants I lost early this spring.

They just started blooming about a week ago...'Red Rocket'.

1) My Snapdragons

2 & 3) A couple more shots of Agastache 'Blue Fortune'
I highly recommend these, by-the-way. I had a beautiful deep wine one that never came back after one season and I've heard similar things from other gardeners. These are real common, were bought at Lowes and came through the winter beautifully. They're thriving in their first year. I bet they'd even grow well from seed. These are growing in my raised bed along our neighbor's fence in part sun.

4) One of a bunch of Sunflowers that the Squirrels planted
We pull out or mow most of them, but these are in the very back of the yard where it doesn't matter. They're small, but that's okay. The birds will still eat the seeds.

5) Lobelia Cardinalis

Oops...I hit the wrong button! See the next post for the rest of the pics.


This message was edited Aug 13, 2013 2:33 PM

Okay, here are the rest...Duh!

3, 4 and 5

Love the cardinal flowers! What are your growing conditions? I was never sure that I had the right conditions for it.
I too am liking the snapdragons - first in 20+ years. I'm liking dahlias (first ever) better but they are turning out to be bigger plants than I allowed.
'Reisentraube' was a freebie last year from Baker Seed. Don't know much more than that.

nutsaboutnature Pretty flowers ...
Cardinal flowers here are just starting to bloom , Snapdragons aren't going to bloom . Well maybe survivors for next year might ..
I really like the setting with the pressure treated lumber fence , is that a country or cottage garden setting , and it does , sing - eye ,,the Agastache ..
Hibiscus blooms here , five of them open all together , their last blooms of the season this time anyway , they sometimes re-bloom only I doubt it will stay that warm this year , 52 Degrees for tonight ...a little cool ...
I have been planting plants for next year , been thinking about asking the gopher -ground hog if it wants to help .. but , it would eat more of of the plants than planting them .Besides the creature ain't that friendly

This message was edited Aug 13, 2013 3:51 PM

hey munchies;

Gloriosa daisy and volunteer black oil sunflower.

Thanks, Cindy and juhur, for the compliments!!

Cindy ~ I have the Cardinal Flowers in two different areas. One is the raised bed in part sun and the other (the larger of the two) is in the bed that was under water for a couple weeks early Spring. That bed is hard-packed clay that I keep amending, but it still hardens up. It's mostly shady.

The first time I tried Cardinal Flower, I bought two plants at a native plant sale. They grew really well at first and looked very healthy, then one at a time, they wilted and died.

The next year I bought three plants from Bluestone. The first year they barely grew and didn't bloom (something I'm told is normal). Last year they thrived and bloomed like crazy. They grew to about 4-5 ft!. I read it's a good idea to let the seeds drop since they're not long-lived so I left them standing. This year they look really good, but not as tall, but one of the plants in the flooded bed died.

I might try Dahlias in large containers one of these days. That way I could put them in the sun and also easily dig them up for winter.

juhur ~ I wish I could tell you my garden was perfectly planned and follows a theme, but I'd be lying. It's kind of a mixed up bunch of plants that I stick here and there as I find room. Most of the time it's way too crowded because I don't have enough space. The fence in the pictures is our neighbor's. My raised bed is along that fence.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the bed is long and narrow. If we knew how much I'd love it, my husband might have built it wider, but it was a lot of work. He dug out most of the clay along with big rocks, tree roots, concrete chunks and other construction trash that the builders buried when these houses were originally built. The bed had to be built up in the back and kind of terraced towards one end to make a fairly level surface.

Your tomatoes look YUMMY!

It's going down to 50 tonight. Last night was cool as well. Great sleeping weather with the windows open.

It is very cool here too. Crazy weather all summer.

Beautiful, colorful pics! Have volunteer MGs but I don't think they'll have time to bloom.
I am getting some reblooming roses - nice this time of year. Time to deadhead the coneflowers and see if they'll develop a few more flowers. Hydrangea 'Limelight' is blooming. A tiny plant from BS several years ago has developed naturally into a standard form about 5 ft tall. Still have mums, yellow waxy bells, tricyrtis, anemone and hardy begonias to bloom yet.
nuts - I've grown other tall Lobelias but never the cardinal flower. I think I had read (and this was a long time ago) that while they like moisture during the growing season, they don't like to be wet over winter. Always afraid my clay soil would hold too much moisture over winter.