Some Blooms in the Pacific NW...........

I took some pics this weekend, now that we are finally getting some sun, thigs are really heating up in the garden...:)

This Double Delight blossom found a buddy to lean on....Echinacea 'Magnus'.....

This one needs a buddy....getting a bit floppy...:)

Echinacea 'Kims Knee High', its about ankle high right now...LOL

A crisp, clean looking pair...'David' Phlox and Larkspur I grew from seed....I love the white and lavender together...

More 'David', this time with 'Golden Splendor' lilies....

Beautiful pictures and the healthiest Phlox I've ever seen. Every leaf is perfect. How do you do that? Don't you have pests in Washington?

Jamie, Hi from the Northwest too.
Love your picture. Yes, it is nice that we finally have some heat here to get the flowers going.
Lovely phlox with the lilies. I have some phlox and I really enjoy them on how the just stand up there so tall and pretty. I need to grow some larkspur next year. I am starting to see how pretty they can be, just like the delphiniums.
Carol

These lilies were a pleasent surprise....I was given them by a fellow gardener who didn't know quite what they were....I am sure glad I said it didn't matter - I would take them anyway...LOL :)

Wow, That is really amazing how beautiful everything looks. I am going to school for Landscape Design/Ornamental Horticulture and my professor was talking about how great Washington is for plants and landscaping.

I am really interested in the Washington area, I have heard the cost-of-living is very high although. Is that true?

Lily 'Muscadet'....

...and 'Sorbonne'...

...another shot of the phlox and larkspur, both under the verbena - which got 7+ feet tall this year...unusual.....

Hardy Fuschia 'Double Otto'....such pretty blooms I had to hold them up to show you....:)

....and the plant with Black Mondo Grass....

The energizer bunny of perennials...'Fanfare' just keeps going, and going, and going....LOL :)

Happy Gardening Everyone!!!

Jamie

Double Otto's "innards" are gorgeous. Glad you showed them to us.

Thanks for all the lily pics. Here's one for you.

Excellent photos
Kaleem

jamie--beautiful pics. You really have a range of bloom in your garden now. Washington must be wonderful to garden in (as the professor pointed out.)

About your Verbena bonarienses--is that a perennial in your area, or does it reseed itself? I bought two plants for my garden in the summer sales and was hoping it would come back next year for me...

Thanks for keeping us 'posted' on your blooms. Very lovely...

Hi everyone!

Thanks everyone for the kind words, and for sharing my garden with me!!! I love summer in the garden - not quite as much work to do, and more enjoying all our efforts!! :o)

Zuzu ~ Oh yes, we have pests!! Slugs (HUGE ugly slimy gross horrid slugs) out number people here 10000000 to 1, earwigs are a constant presence, and moles are frequent bothers - as well as aphids- I hate aphids!!! But this year I started using Messenger, and the results have been amazing. It strengthens the plants vigor, and its "immune system", a brand new type of product out this year....and I will always use it. It has been amazing the difference in my garden, and many others I know as well. Check it out.... http://www.bdlilies.com/mes3.html

Carol ~ Yes, the Larkspur are truly lovely...I scattered seed where I wanted them in the Fall, and this is the result. Never had an easier time growing such a pretty plant! I know I won't ever be without them!! :)

Z71JROD~ Washington (western WA that is...Eastern Wa is a much different climate!! Much more arid!!) is GREAT for gardening of all kinds...such a great combo of ample rainfall in winter and spring, warm, and wonderful summers with little rain, not much humidity, and 70-85 temps most of the time - with occasional 90-100 days here and there. Cost of living varies WIDELY!!! In the SW area I am in it is very reasonable, further north in the Seattle area...much more pricey. But even that is nothing like S.Calif....according to my family from there. They couldn't believe what I paid for my house here, and told me it would have cost 2-3x more there...WOW!!! So it is all relative I guess, but no, as a whole it is not a high cost of living in a majority of our fair state...:)

tabasco~ yes the Verbena is perennial, it also reseeds some, but yes it comes back . Actually it is semi-evergreen here...the basal clump of lower leaves never die all the way back, they just hang in there all winter. It looks qiute worn-out and tattered by spring, but that is to be expected. I really do love that plant, so tall - yet so airy!!

Kaleem ~ Hi there! I haven't "seen" you in a while...:) Thank-you for popping in!!!

Have a wonderful day All!!

Jamie

edited to update Messenger link....sorry Zuzu :o)

This message was edited Jul 22, 2005 10:22 PM

Thanks Jamie. That is good to hear. That sounds like the perfect climate. I'm going to have to make a trip up there sometime. It sounds like a great place!

Z71JROD ~

Let me know when you are coming to visit WA, and what areas you will be going to....I can give you ideas of things to do...and if anywhere near my area we can tour some of the amazing gardens here....:) The Oregon Garden is only 20 min approx into Oregon, and is truly an amazing public garden!! And the Portland Rose Garden (Portland is "The City of Roses"..), and many more. Just let me know when and where your trip is....:)

Jamie

And if you visit the Oregon Garden you are only ten minutes max from me. LOL

Wow, Jamie, your garden is gorgeous! I wish mine looked like that. I'm on the south end of Whidbey Island. We moved here four years ago. While the cost of housing here is way less than the Bay Area in Calif where we came from, I do think it is higher than much of the US. And even in the four years we've been here, the prices have risen quite a bit more than I would have thought. There are also a lot more high end homes being built now than when we first moved up here.

I love it up here tho. We're in a much more rural area.

Before we moved here, I had read this area was the perennial lover's dream. Unfortunately, our yard doesn't get as much sun and light as a lot of places nearby as we are surrounded by really tall trees. Our plants always bloom at least 2 weeks later than anyone else's. But at least they bloom! And we can grow things we couldn't in Calif. However, stuff in Calif grows and blooms year round, so I guess there's always a trade-off.

Still, I really like it here and would not want to go back. I'm not a big warm weather person so the cool temps here are fine with me!

Gwen

Jamie, I tried www.messenger.com and got Avaya Communications Systems. Are you playing nice music to your plants to make them grow well, or bad music to kill the pests? Either way, that was the wrong Website, I think.

Zuzu ~

I don't see that link in this thread...are you sure I gave it??? I looked all the way up, didn't see it. I didn't post a link to messenger that I remember....maybe my short term memory is getting worse...I don't know....

Lovely Alstroemeria, nice color!!

It's in your long post for July 19th, Jam. It sounds like great stuff. Just what my plants need, along with tons more water right now. My water bill is going to be horrendous this month. We don't even have any morning fog or drizzle.

Wonderful pictures, Jamie!

Jamie,
Beautiful flowers!
You are just north of me.
Need to come and visit sometime either way.

Zuzu, I love your Peruvian lilies. Too bad they don't like to be transplant or I would love to trade with you. I really like them. I am hoping to collect all colors. I like to put them in bouquets with dahlias and bring them into the house all summer long. I only have a yellow and rose color one.

Carol

Hi guys - when I started to research Messenger - it ws because of this page I have a link to above in a long post from the 19th...I just updated it so you all could read it too....it's a good starting point anyway....

Jam

Thanks, Carol. They are incredible in bouquets. They last forever.

Jamie, have you ever ordered bulbs from the place in your link?

Check out this cool mutation, Jam. This is an ivy pelargonium that never looked like this in years past.

Yes Zuzu, most of the lilies I post pics of are from this site....the bulbs are HUGE and so firm and healthy. And because of the size - they grow quite tall and flower very well from the first year!! I order from them every year - Great lilies!!!

Cool pic, and what a neat mutation....these surprises are part of what I love about gardening!!

Hello, All! I love to see what other Nor'westers are doing in their gardens...beautiful!

Zuzu - please tell me what the hot pink lily is...? I want one!!!

Jamie - how do you get your verbena to stand tall like that? Mine kind of slink down and through the other plants..pretty, but I'd like to have a nice tall one in the back of some beds...

Thanks for sharing the pics, everyone.

Tracy

Tracy~

Hi there in Oregon!! I would love to see pics of your garden!! And thanks for sharing mine with me thru my pics..:) I also would like to know the name of Zuzu's hot pink Lily...very pretty Zuzu!!

My Verbena bonariensis is usually 4-5' tall, although it used to slump a bit...I started using Messenger this year....and that darn plant is 7 ft + tall and standing straight as a flag-pole!! The fence it is planted in front of is 6 ft tall, and it clears it by at least a foot!! I have grown this plant for 5 yrs....never had such sucess. I was talking about messenger somewhere else in regards to roses, but this is another exzmple of what a simpl foliar spray every 3 weeks can do! Amazing stuff!!!

Jamie

As always, your garden is absolutely spectacular! I'm amazed and how great all of your flowers look even with the heat we had last week.

Jamie,

those fuschia are to die for. Gotta put that on my wish list.

Thanks for sharing.

Molly
:^))))

Tracy and Jamie, it's Lily Oriental Dordogne. I got it dirt-cheap from eFlowerGarden (2 bulbs for $1.80). I love their bulbs. I got double daylilies to die for from them for $5.00 each.

Jamie, guess where I went today. I'll give you a hint: I got Ghislaine de Feligonde for just $9.95. It's not blooming yet, but it has buds. I ended up with three hydrangeas and seven roses for $101, including tax. Some of the roses are blooming. I'll post them on my rose thread later today.

Do you grow Ismene? It's a pretty bulb, blooming right now.

Zuzu
What is this? very pretty.....
Kaleem

Kaleem, it's an Ismene, sometimes called Peruvian Daffodil. It looks a little bit like a daffodil, but it blooms in summer instead of spring, and it has a very thick and sturdy stalk.

I can't resist adding a picture to each post. This is one of my Hibiscus flowers, just opening up. I got 10 different rooted cuttings in the Hibiscus co-op this year.

Zuzu~

You must have gone to Vintage Gardens......and brought home more lovely roses, as well some Hydrangea I will no doubt love as well!!


Where, oh where will you fit them all?? You know what I am willing to do for you?? As a friend?? I will take a couple of those off your hands, knowing how little room you have left. Maybe your eyes got a little bigger than your garden?? It's OK, I can help.......LOL :o)


Jamie

I know I can always count on you for that, Jamie. My eyes actually got bigger than my garden so-o-o-o long ago. Here's the head on one of the hydrangeas. Look at the cool purple stuff going on in the center of each little white flower (I know they're not the flowers, but bear with me).

Here's the head of another. Just plain white, this time. Oh, I just realized that the cool purple stuff is the flower on the one above.