Well, here we are at chapter 4. I'm afraid I have nothing to contribute at this point, but Part 3 was getting too long for comfort. I'm sure some lovely pictures of asters, salvia, etc. will be here soon.
Blue flowers blooming now, Part 4
Are there any other colors that I missed? I only have the Russian sage left in blue, everything else is now warm tropical colors. VERY different from the spring!
The browalia I had in my containers self seeded into a nearby bed so I've got unexpected
blues. I'll have to get my camera out tomorrow!
Tam
Oh, I found some blues to share! Not my garden but taken at a winery in Napa last year.
**
^^
Nice pictures, Sue. What a great kickoff for the new thread. I personally wouldn't mind seeing some of your warm tropical colors here too. I don't think there's any need to be militant about the blue at this time of year. We'll all be starved for pictures of any color soon.
Tammy, I'm looking forward to that Browalia, and I'll take a walk around my garden in search of blues tomorrow too.
Tropical colors you say? Oh boy, been on computer all weekend nursing a cold, getting the spreading behind plague as I type! I'll post a couple but maybe we should start a autumn colors thread so these would fit better.
AH HA, spotted something blue! There, in the middle. Don't ask me the name, my memeory is shot and I forget to add labels too.
Variegated Lirope of course , thanks Pixydish!
This message was edited Sep 12, 2005 10:56 AM
That succulent on the edge of the bowl is a little blueish.
Calif-sue, that looks like a variegated Lirope to me. You photos are just intoxicating! I can practically smell the tropics just looking at them! OH to have that kind of heat... the kind that warms the bone. We didn't get nearly enough heat for me this year. You've got a piece of heaven there for sure! And I do love the abutilon! When I start feeling cold, I'm just going to pull up these photos!
Wish I had something to add photo-wise, but alas.
Where's my sarong? I want to dive right into the middle of that tropical paradise. It's making me thirsty for a Zombie. Does anyone else remember that drink? It was pineapple juice and seven kinds of rum. I'd want it served in a coconut, of course.
We don't need a different thread. The Tibouchina buds are a great shade of blue, and I would call many of those wonderful succulents "blueish." Thanks, Sue.
Pixy, I thought you were having California weather in Washington this year. What happened?
Calif-Sue --
I'm in Florida and I'M drooling! Have been back at gardening for about a year and have so much green. Just took off banana pups (big dogs in a couple instances - lol) Need to concentrate on more color. Have some zinnias still bloomin though. Your arrangements are beautiful, and thanks. :)
My creeping bellflower that I dug from the ditch back in June is blooming again...
Nice bellflower!
Zuzu, you must be referring to our California weather back in February! Yes, it was glorious! Sunny skies and 60 degrees for weeks. I knew then that we were in for it in the summer. True to the nasty nature of the weather gods around here, by march the rain had begun and it didn't stop until the middle of July! The temperatures were cool and the skies were always overcast. We had the lowest light levels ever recorded in June. People were practically in tears. So this year we had all kinds of mildew and blackspot very early on. The iris all had spots on their leaves from the cool and rainy weather. Flowers on the camelias lasted about a day before turning ugly and brown.
Then one day the sun came out and people danced in the streets! I cut my shrub roses back for the fourth time due to mildew, and they finally started putting out leaves that looked normal. August was warm and sunny and dry just like normal. But, alas, the party is over. The clouds are back and it simply poured down rain on Saturday. At least I don't have to water.
So THAT'S where all our rain has been! ;-)
Just posted these this AM in the coleus thread but thought I'd share here.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/544561/
Gorgeous Canna, Sue. I have one in the middle of my fishpond with the most beautiful red leaves.
I love all of the Coleus pictures. Thanks for the link.
Hi all! This is Cantina reblooming right now. It's so iridescent I'm not sure you can call it blue. And it smells sweet too.
It is iridescent! What a beauty. I don't have a single iris in bloom right now, but there are some Siberians forming buds here and there. I hope to see some blue ones among them.
Immortality and Harvest of Memories are blooming right now. Harvest will bloom into November unless I didn't divide it in time. I didn't know that siberians rebloomed! I didn't know that you could grow Siberians in zone 9. I was told to grow LAs. That's a laugh. What I really wanted was to grow JI. But I'm excited about the la's anyway.
I have a million Siberians. Whoever told you that was wrong. I have to keep my Louisiana and Japanese iris in the fish pond, though, unless I want watering to be a full-time job.
These Siberians aren't reblooming. They were planted this spring and their internal calendars obviously went haywire. I guess they'll adjust eventually.
Now see. And it was an iris vendor who told me that. Wonder what was the problem. Andway I bought several very beautiful BLUE LA's.
Here's one "Fly away Blues" from The Iris Garden.
Oh, I love that iris, doss!! I really must get some irises for next year.
Oh, how have you gotten away without iris for so long. ???
I love Iris City Gardens, Doss. They have a great selection of blues, and their red Louisianas are a fantasy come true.
Those iris are fantastic! I'm going to look for that "fly away blues"! Although, my Louisiana Iris hardly bloomed at all for me this year. Maybe be was too cold. But it was certainly disappointing.
I, too, have a million Siberians. None of them rebloom, although I can cut the foliage way back and get new growth.
Ohio, if we stole your rain, you are welcome to take it back! I've already had enough of it, thanks. LOL
Sue, beautiful cannas! And no bug damage on those leaves! I wish!
Actually, I have had irises in the past, and I don't know what happened to them. That was before I was really into gardening. We do have one iris now, which desperately needs to be divided. It only had two blooms on it this year, with a TON of variegated foliage. It's purple and I have no clue what kind it is. It's truly been neglected.
When we were in Arkansas this spring, I did a no-no and dug up a miniature iris from Magazine Mountain (tallest point east of the Rockies). It's still alive, enjoying its life here in Ohio. They were everywhere, just begging me to take one home, so I did.
I really love the graceful Siberian irises, at least I think those are the ones I like. Grasslike foliage, Bird-of-Paradise-like look to them? Can you tell I know almost nothing about irises? And my mom grows such beautiful ones. Of course, she grows beautiful everything. Her gardens have won awards, as has she.
Now that's something to live up to. A mom who wins awards is a hard act to follow!
Yeah, but what a great teacher, now that I'll listen. HA! And I'm the recipient of many of her 'hand-me-downs.'
She's going to be in a book that will be out in October: "A Day in the Life of the American Woman"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0821257064/qid=1126644068/literaryworld
That's a story for another day! :-)
What a mom - you've got to appreciate all that. And we all could learn a little more from our mothers.
Since Sue has taught me to appreciate the beauty of the canna - here are a couple blooming to day. The shorter leaves are almost blue so the photo almost counts.:-)
Those cannas look so tropical, and I have fond memories of my dad's canna bed. He planted those things faithfully for so many years. I don't think he wanted to, but he did it for my mom. :-)
Your family's sounding better all of the time!
Here's Clematis Durandii - true blue - it's great once it gets established. I'm going to try letting it ramble through my iris beds. It's planted, now we'll see how they get along.
clematis The President is also blooming today - although not grandly.
So instead I'll drop in a more encouraging clematis. Negritianka with rose Portlandia. Negritianka was put in this year on a south facing wall. It's bloomed since the beginning of August and is still in full bloom with more buds to come. It's more black than this photo says - not so iridescent but everyone who sees it loves it.
I'm so jealous of those of you that live in the warmer zones. You have such exotic plants, not to mention that long growing season!
I do have a great family, doss. I used to think my parents had the perfect marriage. Now that I'm an adult, I know that it isn't, but it's pretty darn good. ;-)
Oh, you mean the perfect marriage that we all thought that we'd have and be the perfect people that we all thought that we were supposed to be and have perfect children? Ah that. Here's a not very perfect photo of something dark blue that is blooming. I don't know what it is but it's very pretty. You probably won't be able to tell either. I can blame it on the wind that was blowing. But it is a great deep blue. And it is a perennial.
I love that shade of blue!
That's a Heliotrope, Doss, and it's beautiful. Your C. durandii and your Canna leaves are luscious shades of blue. I can believe Negritianka is blacker than that, because that's the Russian word for Negro woman.
And you have Portlandia!! That's so exciting. Do you love it? It's on everybody's wish list this year, along with Midnight Blue, which is now on your wish list, according to something I read somewhere else in this forum. Tell us all about Portlandia. Jamie and I are particularly excited about having it next year.
Hmmm, love those Heliotropes, I can't resist smelling them every time I pass them in a nursery but I resist buying them, I got a black thumb with those.