tcs, I planted a whole jug of fennel thinking I wouldn't get and seedlings off of my plants because I'm alway collecting the seeds and I looked yesterday and have several out there! LOL Now to get the neighbors to grow them out for the butterflies!
Verbena bonariensis, first year bloomer ?
My first tall verbena bloom this year......funny the ones in a container started to bloom before the ones scattered in the border.....Mostly I just let it roam as its so easy to see through anyways almost transparent in the border...and pretty too.....already the few butterflies have found it....I'm growing bronze fennel as an ornamental flower in the border this year for the first time and looking forward to it.....I like the look of it
Paul from Alabama.....
And man oh man will you ever have the BSTs laying eggs on your fennel. I love the bronze fennel too. Both the verbena and the fennel have a place in our butterfly gardens. Don't want to be without either one.
Cordeledawg......You gotta a 3 acre yard?....Are you kidding me!!!!!.....if I had a 3 acre yard I'd go broke and starve trying to plant it all....I'm so jealous, you can plant trees, understory trees, shrubs, you name it.....What a nice palette to work with you got.....Geen I'm going outside with my flash light now and see if I can see 3 acres, I don't think I can see that far in the daylight or dark........:)
Paul from Alabama
Thank you Paul, I just have trouble maintaining it all. It's mostly 3 acres of weeds. You won't believe this, but I was outside today cutting down weeds in a daylily bed with a pair of scissors. LOL
Cordeledawg......Hey I believe you.....I've went after weeds with every weapon known to mankind cept nuclear weapons and might try that on henbit before its over with......:)
Paul from Alabama
Hey, Paul, I just read your Blog on your website most of it anyway. I'll be going back to finish. You and your wife have done a ton of work and made your place look as if you had 3 acres! Y'all have a wonderful yard and a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the butterflies and birds! Love the curves on your beds and the grass you left (or sodded) is so plush and cushiony looking. You have NO WEEDS! I'd trade your place for mine any day. (now that you've done all the work) HAHA just kidding!
Deborah
Ok, I'll take your henbit and you can have my Carolina geranium, and I'll toss in my alligatorweed and rattlesnake weed as a bonus.
I'm headed for bed but I just wanted say whatever you toss in is OK as long its not a "rattlesnake".......:)
Night Cordele,.......
Paul from Alabama
lol! Nitey nite!
thanks for the picture Paul --- I' still hopng I get mine to bloom... maybe then i can find it.
tcs...glad you enjoyed it......trying to find a good photo of Verbena bonariensis I had with 'White Swan' echinacea and I'll try before I send this.......
Deborah......I'm so glad you enjoyed the blogs and the website.....My wife chuckles at the blogs and that tickles me.....Anything in the photos or website you want to know about just ask.........As far as your comment about NO weeds in our flower beds go, madam you need to get your glasses checked!!!!!!.....I got them alright, a weed here or a weed there but just in case I touchup my photos to remove the weeds before posting, its easier than pulling them out in the yard........:)
>>trying to find a good photo of Verbena bonariensis I had with 'White Swan' echinacea
Ohhhh, i'd love to see that. I just got White Swan myself. it's just peeking out of the ground.
>>I touchup my photos to remove the weeds before posting, its easier than pulling them out in the yard..
LOL.... never thought of that!!
tcs.....When I told you that I would send that photo of verbena and white swan and send it to you around 7, I hope you didn't think right then at 7 am.....I meant 7 pm.....so its only 4 pm here now so I'm early, see........:)
OH -- that is so pretty.... and honestly... I didnt see a time... i just figured soon or later, if you found the image....
but THANKS... that is stunning together.
Lovely with the 'white swan'. It's pretty with the other echies, too, I think. (Did you grow your white swan from seed, PaulfromAL?
And the horticulture guy at our park said to plant VB with Canna Bengal tiger for a striking combination.
tcs.....of course I was just joking but seriously I was getting ready to post that pic I found when somebody who looked remarkably like my mother hijacked me into running some errands with her......I was right, it was my mother after all......:)
tabasco....no I didn't....quarts if my memory serves me right....but I know other folks that have grown them from seed with great success and now that I'm kinda settled in where I live I'm going to start growing some from seed, you know they come true from seed from what I hear.........One of my favorites.....in some situations, shadow, light etc. there are plum luminous....I tell you they got a lot going for them in my humble opinion.......
Paul from Alabama
Hey, Paul, Welcome to DG-- I've enjoyed your posts in this and other forums..C-dawg & TCS, long time no see! Paul, Don't let her (C-dawg) kid you about weeds LOL! Her place is beautiful!
Paul, I have some V. bonariensis seedlings that are well-past the size to plant out, yet I am hestitaing because I thought they needed heat. Yours are blooming now, though, and as I understand it, your part of Alabama has been pretty chilly this spring.
I'm wondering if I can plant those little puppies out and make some room under my lights for other things - like Cannas, Caladiums and dahlias! Or if I should wait? I am also in the same boat with Tithonia. Doesn't it need heat to do well? Shall I keep it inside?
Thanks,
Suzy
Suzy.....Well we've had some chilly nights off and on yes......but its been around 80 the last few days though but if I had to guess and it would only be a guess I'd say put them out.....My knowledge of Indiana, its weather, soils and planting schedule is only exceeded by my vast knowledge of the string theory, anti-matter, particle physics and other issues relating to cosmology and the beginnings and endings of the universe, also my knowledge of where my wife put her car keys but that aside go for it........:)
And I tell you why I say that really, when something is growing in pots and less insulated and still gets going, puts on some greenery and then starts blooming for me I guess that gives folks up your way a little leeway to put it out a tad early too....I hope it works out for you....mine just yesterday are blooming now all over the place, kinda like they turned on over night....I had plenty of stick work so to speak but no blooms, now I got little puffs of purple everywhere.....In the scheme of things there's lots you can do with it I think......I hope there is lots to do with using fennel ornamentally, going to find out soon enough, the 3 I put out are coming up nicely and I really love the look....I like coarse stuff, I'm kinda coarse myself actually but I'm beginning to like wispy and delicate too, see through stuff placed here and there in your flower beds.....I just reread what I wrote, its kinda non-committal, good thing you ain't asking me about whether to have open heart surgery or not.......:)
Paul from Alabama
Hi, Illoquin--
I think it's fine to put out the VB. My VB reseeders in the garden are up 3 inches and the WSed ones are 5 inches tall and loving it outside. If you lose them because of frost, I will send you a zillion more.
LOL! A zillion? Naw, that's ok. I'm not worried about frost, just that it seems they like the hot weather and I want them to be happy. LOL!
As an aside, You know the collected garden seed you get on these from a trade? I don't think there is as much viable seed in those as the person packing them thinks. Or else I didn't get real high germination %. But you'd think the way everybody talks about it being a weed that the % germination would be high, and way high sowing them protected inside. Just an observation.
Suzy
LOL well, did you get some VB seed from me? I never know what I am doing on seed trades, especially collected seed, and that is why I never (or rarely) do them. I know I sent you some VB seed a couple seasons ago and you said it didn't germinate for you then.
But VB is one of the few things that I have little trouble germinating. I just take the seed head and crumble it into a container of planting mix or into the garden in the fall.
I did not get much WS germination of my joe pye weed, ironweed, or the Texas Mist Flower, though. When I researched last week I noticed it is very variable and fussy about requirments. I am afraid the Texas Mist Flower seed rotted though. It has been so wet here...
Oh, sorry, I just meant in general on the seed, it wasn't from you.
........UPDATE............since I wrote that statement above, I looked in a couple more pots and I think I found them all. LOL! I bet I sowed the lighter weight chaff in one pot and the heavier seeds in the other 2 pots. Not on purpose, just what came out first. There is PLENTY of seeds in those packs! Yippee! I look forward to the weedy brazilian verbena all over!
Suzy