FIRST FLOWERS MEMORIAL DAY 2015

Thanks Muddy! I'm putting the names in the ATP database now so I never have to ask again. :D It's interesting how the blooms are almost white.

Dr. Bonner's.. that rings a bell.. I've heard good things about it as a hand/face soap also. Went to Amazon -- option anxiety! Do I get rose, lavender, peppermint... ? The bugs will croak regardless, I'm sure!

Jill, is there a Trader Joe's near you? They sell a good-sized peppermint bottle in their stores. I used it to combat aphids on my crab apple and it worked really well.

Jim gets down to the Gaithersburg TJ's maybe once/month... so I'll order from Amazon. Peppermint did sound good for combating bugs, but i might be leaning toward lavender since if I get a 32 oz bottle there will be plenty left to use on *me* also -- and I love lavender!

Gita, check your workshop again, you gave me a bottle of Insecticidal soap, maybe you still have one there?
Thanks, I get those tiny green worms on my roses too.

Maybe Joy Original was a simple formulation, not Joy Ultra. I think tapla suggests Murphy's Oil Soap for his Neem spray. Which ought to work too. But commercial insecticidal soap is what I would make the first choice.

Sally--
Thanks for reminding me about the "Whitney Farms" Insecticidal Soap. You are a gem!

I just went downstairs and looked--I still have more than one......YEAH!
This and all the other garden products I have there were from my "haul" at the
Ace store a year ago. All the products were clearanced at 80%-90% off.
Like....99 cents each bottle!!! I have a lifetime supply of many of those products.

Re the "Joy"---the one I had was the plain soap one. Not the "Ultra".
I no longer have any of it, but it is available in stores.

I have a bunch of bottles of "Murphy's Oil Soap"--some of them are quite vintage....:o)

G.

Jill, you can go to The Common Market Co-op on Buckeystown Pike there in Frederick and buy Dr. Bonner's in any volume you want, ounce, gallon, etc, it is sold in bulk. In the far right corner across from the bulk grain bins.

Any "mainstream" dish soap has a host of ingredients, and many contain the antibacterial triclosan, which aside from human health issues, passes through treatment and effects aquatic life. It also suppresses healthy soil biota. Consequently, some states have banned sale of products containing it. Turns out the list of ingredients I post for Joy is not up to date; last year Procter & Gamble removed it from their formulations due to consumer pressure.

Aspen, your property looks gorgeous. I don't even like Hostas and I think yours look wonderful. I really like that silene on along the walk.

Those Silene look so frothy. LOVE them in the steps. Oh, and the row of hosta, and just everything. Very inviting!!!!

Some photos from today

1 - Campanula 'Bellringers'

2 - Asclepias purpurascens - Purple Milkweed - posted before, but not whole clump

3 - Fritillary butterfly on Purple Milkweed - too nice not to share

4 - Sambucus canadensis - Elderberry

5 - NoID Hydrangea

More

1 - Digitalis mertonensis - Strawberry Foxglove

2 - Digitalis thapsi 'Spanish Peaks' - Fingerhut Foxglove

3 - Penstemon tubaeflorus - White Wand Beardtongue

4 - Thalictrum dasycarpum - Tall Meadow Rue

5 - Ricinus communis - Castor Bean - Red female flowers on top of flower spike, cream male flowers below.

wonderful! Your variety is just astounding.

I didn't know that about castor bean flowers

Neither did I, thanks GT Beautiful blooms everyone is putting up.

What a lucky butterfly; so many tempting flowers to choose from!

It's nice to see that your Sambucus is blooming; that means mine should be soon.

Roses and alliums and a few pics from the GH

Lovely!!

Thanks, GT, I will bring a container and swing out to the Common Market.

GT, lovely blooms! Is that purple milkweed perennial, I like it a lot.

Holly, is that second pic a bougainvillaea? I like those.

Yes, It is a Bougie, It will stay in the GH for the summer, I use to move it outside but the pot has no hole in it and last year my inattentiveness had the poor thing drowning, to the point I almost lost it. So I think it will be pretty in the GH this year. I move a lot of the plants outside for the summer but I keep a few in the GH, too.

A tale of two Indian pinks.

The first one is blooming nicely and looking healthy.

The second one, in another part of the yard, was looking great until about three days ago when it wilted suddenly and now looks dead.

This message was edited Jun 11, 2015 11:11 AM

Lilies from ADR.

Sempervivum bloom.

Cheyenne Spirit echinacea grown from seed last year.

Hydrangeas.

gosh ssg, wonder what is going on with the Indian Pink.
Good thing you have other pretty flowers to distract you. That Hydrangea (from wind?) is the same one I have and shared with Pat/ecnalg? Mine is a nice mounded plant no more than three feet tall (I think less) and covered with those lacecap blooms.

Yikes, that poor Indian pink! I hate when something weird and unexplainable happens to a beloved plant. That last hydrangea is real pretty, what's it called?

Holly, why not drill some holes in that pot and then move it outside?

I've done that with other pots but I don't want to bother with it right now, plus I like have some plants in the GH over the summer so it doesn't look so bare. It will grow just as well in the GH over the summer and add some color. I usually leave the Orchids and some of the begonias in the GH over summer, too.

Seq and Sally, that last hydrangea is from Wind. I was told it was a noid, but I think it could be Blue Billow.

It's probably only about 2 feet tall. I'm slowly removing the perennials around it to make room for it as it spreads.

Wind has posted pictures of the mother plant, which is just gorgeous and completely smothered in blooms. And it (probably) blooms on new wood, which is a plus!

I have no idea what happened to that Indian pink. It's surrounded by healthy ajuga, hellebore, and sweet woodruff.

Yeah that's pretty weird SSG. In my limited experience with Indian Pink, they've been pretty finicky.

Very pretty hydrangea, SSG. The flowers are so unique! Some Viburnum varieties have flowers of similar forms, only all white.

Sequoia - yes, the Purple Milkweed is perennial. I started the plants from seed several years ago.

Took some photos on the way in from the car this afternoon;

1 - Blephilia hirsuta - Hairy Wood Mint - like Blephilia ciliata, but white instead of blue.

2 - Echium vulgare - Viper's Bugloss

3 - Triteleia laxa 'Rudy' - thought it had all died or I had inadvertently weeded it out, but some lives on and has started to bloom.

I agree - love that lacecap hydrangea, ssg. I think I prefer lacecaps to mopheads, but I really like them both. Your Asiatic lilies are blooming at least a week or more before I expect to see any bloom here in Lucketts.

Nice pics GT!

Donner, I love viburnums that look like lacecap hydrangeas!

I wish I'd known more about viburnum varieties when I bought mine. There's apparently a really nice fragrant species other than V. carlesii.

Jeff, we might need a new thread!

That 'Rudy' is really interesting, GT.

Speaking of Indian pinks, check this out!

https://twitter.com/adrian_higgins/status/609077053137281024

WOW!

SSG, I stole a pic of your one hydrangea for my new thread...I hope you don't mind.

We are moving here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1397842/