FIRST FLOWERS ALMOST SUMMER 2015

Muddy--

I WS seeds of the R. Indian Summer as well as another Rudbeckia.

I planted them all out--here and there. They are still small seedlings.
Hope they grow (looks like they are) and bloom this summer.

I got my seeds from Karen. She really loved them...

G.

I got my seeds from Karen as well. I was really (pleasantly) surprised when they bloomed the first summer.

That's a pretty penstemon Muddy! How much sun is it getting now?

Gita, which variety of Black Eyed Susan was it that you gave me at the fall swap? They are doing very well!

Gita, if YOU will make the effort to look up the botanical names of plants, I'll be HAPPY to make the effort to look up the common names of ones I post! When I know the common name off the top of my head, I post it. If I don't know the botanical name, I often look it up so I can post it -- especially if the common name might refer to more than one plant. "Sweet Peas" I wouldn't bother to post by botanical name, but "Sweet Daisy" I'd definitely look up. :-)

I've got my 3 little Spigelia (Indian Pinks) plugs in a hanging basket, in partial shade on the deck. I might just leave them there, putting the basket in a sheltered spot with the containers that get held over together... They'd draw hummers when in bloom, and if they are picky about drainage etc. they should love a HB.

Sequoia, my Penstemon 'Fireworks' is getting full sun. I'm going to try to remember to pinch it back next year so that it is fuller and shorter!

Gita, ditto what Critter said. I don't always know the common name, and some are worthless anyway, and I don't always feel like taking the 15 seconds it takes to look it up. (Edited to add that it also only takes at most 15 seconds for any reader who wants to know the common name to google it.)

In addition, some names, like "Indian Pink", are totally non-descriptive of the actual plant. "Spigelia marilandica", on the other hand, at least indicates that it is a U.S. native that probably was discovered in Maryland.

By including the full botanical name of my Penstemon 'Fireworks', I was able to make it clear that I didn't make a typo and didn't mean to write Penstemon 'Firecracker' instead.

By the way, your use of "Brug" made it difficult for me to figure out what you were talking about when I first started reading about your brugs. If you do what you ask others to do, you would type out, for example, "Brugmansia x candida 'Maya' (Angel Trumpet)" or, at the very least, "Brugsmansia (Angel Trumpet)".

This message was edited Jun 18, 2015 10:09 AM

I am sorry--I won't ask anyone again.

It never occurred to me that people actually DO NOT know the common names
of plants!!!. I thought everyone did....A surprise that you would have to look them up???
I was also under the impression that people were using the horticultural
names as an option--or by choice. NOT thatsome, actually, DO NOT
know the common names! I am having a big "AHA" moment here....so--carry on!

Yes-looking up each name would take way too much time. Sorry again...
To do so--I have to leave the DG Post I am typing on and often lose it completely
when I try to get back to it. One reason I hesitate having to look things up.
I am not as "fluent" with Computers as many of you are. I have barely touched
the surface of what one can do on a computer! I am just OK with same old, same old...

I agree that using acronyms and shortened versions of names can be difficult
to grasp what it is--unless you are familiar with what it stands for.

Few Brugmansias actually have a true name, as they have been hybridized to death.
If you go to the Brugmansia Forum you will see what I mean. Many grow them from seeds!
I only grow two--:Maya" and Dr. Seuss.

I am guilty of using several abbreviations, not realizing that some of you "new folks"
were not around when these were the common" way to refer to a particular plant.

EX: CC= Christmas Cactus aka as Holiday Cactus aka Schlumbergia....etc.

We all use:.... DH...DD.....DS....or SO.----Or--DR (dining room); LR (Living Room)...

I see David has been having some fun at guessing what abbreviations stand for...

SO! Please forgive me for asking what I asked. I shall not do it again...I hope....

PEACE! Gita

Peace! Just a suggestion: Ask your daughter or son-in-law to show you how to use a separate tab so that you can search for common names or whatever else you want to look up while on DG. When you click back on your DG tab, you will be exactly where you were.

Thanks--I think I do know how to do that....just not 100% secure on it.
There are too many ways to accidentally delete/close something....

--The "X" in the upper right
--The "x" in a tool-bar tab when you opened a posted link
--The arrow in the top left which takes you back---but sometimes to a totally
different site--like from DG to XFinity....
I know a lot of it depends how many times you hit the 'close'...
but my insecurity in all this makes me just do the same simple things I know to do.

Aina--my DD-- is not the best teacher. She is very impatient with me not "getting it"
fast enough.

Muddy--I'll Muddle along.....:o)

If you hit the back arrow by mistake (or intentionally), you can hit the forward arrow to get back to where you were. I just did it right now to test my instructions, and it worked.

Yes! I have used that. But it goes away after one hit--and you cannot get back.

Got a few new blooms to show you. The Lilies are in season.....

1--Asiatic Lily--"Dimension".

2--One of the Lilies I grew from seed--from Nancy (long gone from these threads).

3--Here is another one. I have no names--as she hybridized them herself.

4--Not sure--but i think these came from someone too.

5--Chinese Trumpet Lily--"Regale"--Very fragrant!

Wow, that lily grown from seed is really pretty. I love that combination of yellow and almost-black.

There are some plants for which I only know the common name, like crape myrtle. I can recognize the Latin name for it, but I'd need to look up the spelling beyond the first 3 letters.

And there are others for which I only know the Latin name, like Cryptomeria. Whatever common name they have for it is completely useless to me, since common names for conifers are needlessly confusing, like false-holly-this, false-juniper-that.

I usually need several tabs open for when David and Jeff post their uncommon plants. It's a good learning experience!

A few from my yard yesterday.
#1 Alpine Catchfly from Jill, it reserved nicely.
#2 Shasta Daisy 'Crazy Daisy'
#3 Leucanthemum 'Banana Cream' and Speedwell- Veronica spicata 'Sunny Border Blue'
#4 NOID thought it would be Gaillardia Burgundy but it's not.

A few photos today:

1 - Dahlia 'Gipsy' - first bloom, already chewed on.

2 - Lysimachia clethroides - Gooseneck Loosestrife - lives in container to keep yard safe.

3 - Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Milkweed

4 - Lilium 'Graffiti'

5 - Acanthus spinosus - Bear's Breeches

A few more

1 - Clinopodium vulgare - Wild Basil

Some unusual woodland plants in bloom today, naturally present

2 & 3 - Monotropa uniflora - Indian Pipes

4 - Chimaphila maculata - Spotted Wintergreen

Ooh, that dahlia is beautiful.

David, what chews on dahlia blooms?

That acanthus is fabulous! Is it fully hardy for you?

Not sure what chewed the petals, but there are now some predatory nymphs on the flowers, so damage may be behind us.

We have at least three species of Acanthus that have survived the past two winters, A. spinosa, A. hungaricus, and A. 'Morning Candle'. A. mollis did not show up this spring. :-(

That looks like Justin Bieber damage...

Indian Pipes creep me out. I think they look like freaky mushrooms, very unique though.

Lychnis miquiliana
NOID lily - was a freebie from American Meadows and didn't get tall enough to make it out of the vegetation jungle. Very pretty though
Stachys - NOID variety from someone at the swap
NOID lilies

Perhaps Stachys densiflora 'Hummelo'?

Yeah that sounds about right. Thanks GT.

Those Bears Breeches are unusual. They have that layered look---
like a skirt over a petticoat....very pretty.
g.

They are indeed very pretty, but I wonder what on earth whoever came up with that common name had been smoking in their Indian Pipes.

This message was edited Jun 18, 2015 9:22 PM

Here are some after, before, before, after photos of my hillside garden:

1 - close-up from yesterday
2 - same view a year ago
3 - garden in July 2014
4 - yesterday

It's gone wild!

Jeff, I'll second GT that the Stachys is 'Hummelo'. I have it and have shared at the swaps.

Muddy, what a difference a year makes, Wow, maybe we should call you greenthumb too!

My handle, "Greenthumb99" is probably pretentious. It was my username on a non-gardening site, and when I joined Dave's Garden I used it here too out of sheer laziness. Muddy and I should switch.

David, you are being too modest. I've seen first hand the results of your greenthumb. But, I think you probably get pretty muddy when you are out yardening, so maybe we can call you muddy too LOL.

Haha... I like both your handles, GT and Muddy ! And both are fitting and interchangeable between the two of you, I'm sure.

Muddy, what a transformations. That was a lot of work but time very well spent ! Your entire yard is awesome !

Muddy, you've done a fabulous job!

Lookin' great Muddy! I just recently took some comparison photos myself. The yard pics I took 5 years ago I replicated last weekend to see the progress. It's pretty cool to look back on how you've made an impact.

Thanks everyone! I was glad I had some comparison pics; they're good for the times when all I see are the things I should be doing to make it look better.

greenthumb, we know you're not pretentious, and the name does suit you!

I picked the name Muddy1 because I'm usually the muddy one, a description I like because being muddy means I've had a fun gardening day.

Sequoia, let's see your before and after photos!

Before I joined DG (2003) I was a member of Garden Web for a couple of years.
There was a man there whose user name was "TNgreenthumb".
It is there that much of my knowledge and fascination with Brugmansias started.

When "our" David here joined DG--I thoughthe may be the same person.
I think I even asked you if you used to be on GW.

Re user names...When I had to choose a user name --I wanted to have
"Gardengal"--but it was taken (DAH!), So I inserted my name.

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Would someone else like to share how their DG name came to be?

The first two are the backyard looking toward the house 2010 first, then 2015.

The second set is at our curb taking a photo of our Blue Atlas Cedar (BAC). 2010, then 2015. I tried to keep the photo sets as close to the original location as I could. It's because of this the new BAC photo looks like I'm too close.

2010 east side of house
2015 east side of house
2010 front yard
2015 front yard

2010 looking into the back yard
2015 looking into the back yard
2010 west side looking to back yard
2015 west side looking to back yard

In regards to my DG name, Sequoiadendron is my favorite tree as well as its cousins S. sempervirens and metasequoia. My favorite number is #4. Easy peasy.

Jeff, I absolutely enjoyed the time progression pictures.

Thanks, me too. It's so fun to look back on what you've done. I take many pics but I make it a point to go around the yard and take pics of everything once a year around June.

Jeff--
I know a Sequoia is a tree---and the suffix "dendron' is usually
for some trailing plant--like "Philodendron"--but what does a
Sequoiadendron look like?

OK! OK! I know I can google it.....OH! The "Giant Sequoia".....

Yes! It is so very stately! g.

No if only that was in my backyard!

I love progress pics! Jeff, your 'Sekkan-Sugi' has grow so much! Mine's finally starting to put on some nice growth this year. I LOVE the near-white new growth on it.

I really enjoyed seeing the before/after in person at Muddy's.

Sequoia - WOW!! You did such a great job designing your yard. Not everyone knows to put in trees first! You were lucky to have a blank slate when you moved in so that you didn't have to inherit someone else's gardening mistakes.

I know I've asked this before, but what is that tree in your front yard bed? I can't believe how much it grew in 5 years!