What a neat idea about hiding green buckets all around for the weeds. I bet one could use green flower pots and they would already have drainage holes so the rain or irrigation water would not sit until they could be emptied. That is a big problem here because of the mosquito larvae which breed prolifically in any standing water.
Flowering today
Aloha all, and welcome to TZG annette and ardesia! I always enjoy seeing pictures of everyone's gardens and their flowers, thank you for posting! Keep 'em coming!
Sue, here on island they keep talking about having a green waste pickup, but we haven't got round to it yet, in typical Maui fashion. We have just got to the point of having an area to drop off the green waste, which is a huge step forward for us as our gardens produce tremendous amounts of vegetation. We collect our smaller green stuff such as weeds in plastic barrels to take to the drop off point, but I don't take advantage of the ability to buy cheap "compost" back from them because the only time I did that I just got a gazillion weed seeds back! Won't do that again, but for now we are very happy to have a drop off point.
I have a similar problem here Jenny. Hi everyone! I got a barrel of compost from the Buildings and Grounds guys - they pick up all the bagged green waste once a week...well, won't be doing THAT again! Every pot I used it in was just covered in weeds! Sue, your green pots are a wonderful idea! I will be hiding them around the garden this afternoon! Thanks! Here is a pic of my Hippies...should be around for another couple of weeks.
Good morning. Shari, I wouldn't have thought that weeds would be a problem on such a remote island. Are they the same world wide, everyone? Or does each area have it's own definition of a weed.
LouC
I have weeds here that I was unfamiliar with from the States, 4 or 5 basic kinds and one we call "hitchhikers"...they have a leaf that is about a half inch long, quarter inch wide and covered with fine barb like hairs...they catch on everything! When we were in Colorado between tours out here we would find hitchhikers on blankets, towels, clothes...for years!
No dandylions though!
Hi Annete, love the Turneras! Do they self seed? I have a red Pentas. It just never stops!
I've never seen the abelmochus. Is it prone to the same bugs that afflict the hibiscus? (hence I am pulling them all out) I've only seen the bird wing at the Butterfly house, here in Coffs Harbour. I did get a gerat picture of it though, and will hunt for it later.
Thanks for the lovely pics again Chrissy. I like the lily pillies too.
Islandshari, I have that same Hippy. You wouldn't happen to know the name of the variety?
I'm glad our council has worked out a way to screen the compost, as its quite cheap ($15 aus, for a generous trailer load) and is good for building up our poor soil here in Aus.
Every climate/country has its own set of weeds. Theres alot here that I hadn't seen down south, or in NZ when I lived there.
We have a weed that sounds similar to your Hitchhiker, its called Farmers friend, as its very friendly and sticks to your clothes! It has a little barb on the seed.
There is also a native Lobelia, nicknamed "White root" It's root travels just under the mulch and up pop little leaves. When you pull them, they break off, leaving the roots behind. Sometimes, you dig under and pull up metres of white roots, going every which way. They only like a moist spot though, so I usually starve the area of water until its under control. this sometimes means moving plants elsewhere. Ugghhhhh! Weeds!
Lets talk flowers!
Tillandsia cyanea. The first flower of it's season.
I'm breaking my own rules now! Chrissy started it!
Bilbergia pyramidalis, under the frangipani. (have I already put this on)
Mexican salvias (for Annette, LOL) They are a very reliable and easy care plant in my garden. I love them! Best $5 I ever spent.
Thanks Sue, I love the mexican bush sage, it flowers all year round here, so does this one,
Salvia Involucrata 'Joan'
and this one salvia chiapensis.
Sue, quite a few of the experts in the Amaryllis forum were trying to help me identify that hippi for the longest time. With all the confusion between amaryllis, hippeastrum, and rhodophilalia, the consensus was it was a Hippie, and beyond that it is anyone's guess.
The Tillandsia is adorable, and I love all the salvias! I have a huge sage I am training as a windbreak...but it doesn't put out nearly the beautiful flowers you guys are showing - too old I guess.
Here is one of my pretty orchids...this flush of flowers just goes on and on...
Beautiful Salvias Annette. I have a couple that Jean gave me, but they haven't flowered yet so I don't know what they are.
Islandshari, that Orchid is gorgeous! I love Oechids, but can't manage to keep them alive for more than about 5 years. Mine will be flowering shortly I think, although i have had flowers on different types through out the year. I recently purchased a book ($2) from the second hand store, and its a great book on Orchids and has lots of coloured/named pictures of different varieties e.t.c, so I'm hoping to glean some usefull information out of it.
Keep the pics coming. (None form me today as its still early and its cool outside and i have to get ready for work)
Back soon
Sue
LOL
Sue I read the opening post, and I had said the same thing to Chrissy when winter came..that I needed to see Chrissys posted flowers from down under to get me through. So I know how your feelin!
Here are some Hibiscus from Australia, and a giant Gerbera Daisy center stage.
rj
Oh Rj that is lovely ...Shari your Salvia needs a regular prune back for good flowers ...sorry that is not what you want to hear if training for a hedge ...the good news is that they grow very easy from cuttings and root pieces. LouC yes definition of weeds lol.
Loving all of these pics ...strangest seasons this year ...but different I guess ,we got a taste of each others conditions in some parts, made it interesting in a way.
Can't help it folks ...mmmm smells like Cashmere Bouquet soap and is beautiful.:)
chrissy
that looks like the fire spike. I think I have mine in too much shade. My friend has a very large purple one.
I did keep a couple of Brugs..they are all blooming at once right now...This is on the right side of the green house.
this is the other side of the green house..the one tree I did leave..it's pretty tall.
Throw your weeds into black garbage bags and close ...set out on concrete or someplace hot and just leave for a week ...it will cook the weeds and seeds and you can then use on the compost or as a mulch ...we have cobblers pegs and if you garden with them around they will work their way into your smalls and stab you .
Lovely, lovely pictures. Thanks so much for posting. It's always nice to see what grows well in other parts of the world.
Chrissy, I do have one brug, Jamaican Yellow that seems to thrive in full sun.
okay..I thought the shade too...but it's not doing much..(firespike)
The white ones are lovely smelling..but my favorite...by far...are the gold ones..they are stong smelling and just divine..
Yes, Chrissy I prune it regularly, but as I said it is old. I am letting it get a bit taller each time, and right now it is almost a foot higher than my 4 ft. fence and about 8 or 9 ft wide. As soon as the majority of the growth is at that foot height then it will get a hair cut to about 10 inches over the fence...next time eleven...etc. etc. etc. This will be the 5th cut in a year and a half. It is getting really thick on the inside, which exactly what I want.
Here is my Brasso, getting ready to give me 6 new stalks of flowers!
Wow..cool Shari.
The angels and devils together..the uppers and downers..hehe
Never seen a "Firespike" before. So pretty!!
I thought devil trumpets are supposed to be treated as annuals. Well, I dug up my black currant swirl last year, left it in the gh. Lo and behold, it's sprouting new leaves.
Got my fill of eye-candy. Thanks and g'nite y'all.
Randy, they are all so beautiful! You must have kept the best of the best!
I was actually intending to start a new thread..these are all from my vacation last week and the last couple of days...I just don't seem to get around to it!
Beaumontia Grandiflora
Oh so striking with the bougainvilla in the background! How long will that bloom for you Randy? They don't like a lot of heat do they?
I don't think the blooming part likes the heat, in fact it takes a cool period for the vine to bloom from what I read. I think the blooms last about 3-5 days each. right now it's up to 3, will probably have 4 tomorrow. they are in clusters...right now 2 clusters each..
Carol says she has some blooming right now too.
Wow I have only seen that in the Botanical gardens ...beautiful!
Beautiful pictures ...so lovely to see all the different things ...don't forget that Firespike flowers late Summer /early Autumn so if yours is just sitting there that is why ...Shari I cut my sages right doen to the ground at the end of autumn ...but since you don't have such a thing I don't know what to say except that if you trim a fair bit it might be cutting the flowering wood off. Hi to everyone! ...I had better get out of here ...work to do.
chrissy :)
Hi Islandshari. I loved your orchid pictures. They are soo exotic! I must read my book and check them all out. What does "Brasso" refer too.
Heloo rjuddharrison, obviously another Brug lover! Someone to keep Chrissy happy. Its lovely to see some of the stronger colours, as all I've seen here in Australia are pale in comparrison! I think they're lovely, but am not so smitten with them as Chrissy. There are so many chewy critters here that the leaves are a real let down. I sprinkle Iron chellate pellets down for the slugs and snails and spray the leaves fortnightly with eco oil, but it doesn't seem to have made much difference, and I'm afraid thats about the extent of my pest management schedule! I do love the fragrance of a night though, and have learned to appreciate its beauty, bug bitten and all! I haven't seen the Daturas here either.
Chrissy, do we have Daturas over here?
Sue
Perons tree frog in Alcantarea imperialis
Heavenscape good to see you are feeling better I hope it is nice and warm for you there ...take care of yourself :)
Shari that Yellow orchid is lovely ...all your orchids are ...but do my eyes spy a poor little Angel suffering salt (or fertilizer distress) there to the left? ...I would put that little one into some half day shade and wash it through thoroughly.Yes I admit Sue that the bugs enjoy our angels too ...and being an organic gardener it is a battle but ...I love them and can't help myself ...it would be a boring world without different tastes ...thank goodness for that ...but one thing we all agree on is that the flamboyant Tropicals are hard to resist ...and if they are a bit of trouble well ...we don't send our kids back because they are a lot of hard work ...why? because we love them.And so it is with the plants that steal our hearts away.
chrissy
Thanks for your kind words, Chrissy. Can't decide whether to start putting my brugs in the ground as the last frost date is April 22nd. If we do, we'll be using 55 gallons containers, cut them in 3s..(sounds familiar?), that would be the best route when we have clay soil.
And Sue, yes, the bugs love the leaves. I have been alternately spraying them with Neem, Safer 3 in 1, a seaweed + insecticidal soap, so far, Serendipity is the only one that has put up a resistance. But for the fragrance (Serendipity smells like lily of the valley) and the blooms.. I can't cast it out!
Chrissy, I found too they love tomato fertilizer and a drink of chamomile tea, once in a while. What we wouldn't do for our kids!
Yokwe everyone! What a cute little frog! Well, let's see, the Brasso is a Brassocattleya - usually found in a lilac blue color. This little trooper has flowers nearly all year...I really enjoy it. No Chrissy, the plant behind the Brasso is an Aphelandra sinclairiana...and that spot is where I recently moved it to get more shade. It gets a couple of hours of morning sun, and then filtered sun the rest of the day. I am working with the horticulturalist from Logee's to try to get the browning edges under control...they seem to be a characteristic flaw in this plant, (not just mine specifically). We are trying various sun levels, wind protection, feed/no feed, etc. I love the magnificent colors in the Aphelandra, and am determined to help this one thrive. My one little Angel is still in the recovery stage from whatever trauma it suffered a couple of weeks ago. Starting to leaf out again, wish me luck.
Here's one you don't see everyday, a Pseuderanthemum reticulatum. Very pretty when the whole thing is blooming and you just see these golden leaves between the clusters of white and pink flowers.
Hi everyone ...oh there you go ...I can't even pronounce that one Shari , best of luck with it! That picture is very pretty ...a feminine looking little shrub ...how do you go with the salt air ...what sort of impact does it have on your little darlings ...the orchids sure are happy but I know some things resent the sea air.
Heavenscape ...all I can say is that my little 6" plants shot up to 6/7 ft in three months and are flowering and forming buds ...so much impact for the dollars! (who is counting ...lol) compared to many other expensive plants that we love but wait years for before the grand effect. Did you say one smells of lily of the valley? ....now I am GREEN with envy ...I love that and my Italian relatives cry talking about the mountains covered in the lily of the valley in Spring back in Italy. Sigh what Angels smell of that ...many or just one? names so I can order seeds and hope for one to come true to the parent. Thanks so much!
chrissy
Shari, that pseoudo whatzit is lovely! I don't know how you make everything grow so well in pots, everything I try to grow in pots seems to struggle and look poorly. The orchid is wonderful too, but yours always are! Glad the brug is doing a little better.
Especially lovely to see the "Heralds Trumpet" RJ. I wanted one of those so badly but then found out, as you said, they need a cool period...Oh well, I will just have to admire yours from afar, it's beautiful.
I have all my brugs out in full, all day sun, no problem. Of course we don't have extremes in temperatures either....or perhaps it's because they were born here? LOL.
Aloha
I think it's the cooler temps Jen. When it gets in the high 90's and nearing 100's some things here start to look a little "droopy". Can't blame them it makes me "droopy" too. Hard to breathe when it's that hot esp. with the humidity so high here. I thoroughly enjoyed the lower temps when we were in Hawaii!
It's been really pretty here! Wish it would stay like this for awhile!!!! Like ALL SUMMER! LOL!