and -
they are so pretty!!
This message was edited Jun 20, 2008 8:50 AM
What's In Your Garden?
Here at home in Fair Lawn the Opuntia is starting to bloom. This might be Opuntia humifusa, but I don't know for sure.
It never needs work, except pulling the grass out from in-between the pads. ( and then pulling the spines out of my hands)
And here is the most important part of our garden -
The CAGE
If you have some time on your hands, feel free to browse here:
http://www.kammlott.net/Outside08/
I took random shots of my plants in the cage, on Deck and in front of the house. If you want to see a better close up of some plants or have questions, please yell.
Hope you enjoy.
Hi All. The flowers, trees and fruit all look great. Wish I had more to post, but things have been so crazy in Atlanta. No camera or computer time at all. I have two plums hanging with fruit and a tree covered in figs. There are orchids blooming, but I will be traveling tomorrow and not able to record them.
Jim, love your crazy pomegranate. You said you grow it for the flowers. Are the fruits tasty? I had a houseplant that looked like your stromanthe. It died of unnatural causes after a year.
Ursula, thanks for the Laurel. I needed something for "me" this week. We have two wild ones on a hill at Maypop. Time flew away before they were recorded. Ours seem more pink. On the subject of wild, here's Asclepias or Butterfly Weed, wild here.
We learned about, and became, very partial to Dixie white butter peas after moving to Georgia from Florida. Something like a little lima bean, but more creamy. I've tried to research them for something definitive, but come up blank. We grow them to eat and cover crop with them over our Spring greens.
L
A trumpet vine in bud...
...and in flower.
This little Ichiban, along with two friends, grew up in one week. They found their way to the grill along with several split heads of Romaine, three yellow squashes, a zucchini and Vidalia onions last night.
Dwarf pomegranates grow to about 5 feet and have pretty red flowers on them most of the year. The fruit is edible but not particularly tasty. A regular pomegranate is a dense, thorny shrub to about 15 feet. The best cultivars here are Wonderful and Francis. I'm not a big pomegranate fan and didn't want to devote the space to the larger type.
Jim
Ursula thanks for the tour of the cage and surrounding territory, very nice.
Nice photos Laurel, the trumpet vine is a beauty.
Ursula,
what can one say but "awesome". What is the purpose of the cages to keep deer and critters out? Did you build that yourself?
I love those clamps you use on the deck to hold the pipes together. Where do you get those?
Where in the world do you go with all that stuff in the winter? And where do you get those racks or better where the plants sit? They seem to be quite large and you built the pipes around them.
I have a hard time believing that you are in NJ growing all those plants. 015Amombassamultifl.jpg is a desert rose right? Some of those epis are unbelievable too. I'm simply in awe!!!
Fred
It's just beautiful Ursula. I think the cage is to keep out us plant thieves.
Jim
I like the Trumpet vine too. I just hope it is contained? I have it in my neighbor's garden, running up the trees and then producing runners very vigorously into my yard/cage. I have my hands full pulling it out. But the flowers sure look pretty!
I am happy you liked my little tour! :-)
Fred, the shelves are closet shelves from Home Depot, very reasonably prized. The Aluminum rods and connectors had a previous life in a chemical pilot plant and became a discard. Lucky for me!!!
The cage was in a different configuration the toolbin in the basement of the Chemical plant and to be crushed and headed for the dumpsters. (The panels can be bought new from wirecrafters.com in Kentucky in many different sizes). We jumped at the chance to be able to make use of it. DH and his brother ( a retired mason) set it up in the backyard. My son helped too at the end, carrying the ceiling panels on his back up the ladder. I painted the whole thing with green Rustoleum paint. ( touched up again this year) The whole cage measures 30 x 10 x 10 feet and keeps the Squirrels and Rabbits out. The Squirrels are a real pest around here, doing a lot of damage. I have been fighting them for years to no avail.
About the Adenium, I have a few....:-) before I got hooked on Orchids, I always grew Cacti & Succulents, Passiflora and other odds and ends. I have lots of different Caudiciforms, which I truly cherish. And one really "needs" Stapeliads, a couple of Hoyas/ Dischidias and Rhipsalis...... anything which is interesting and I can accomodate in terms of growing conditions and of course space.
Where do they go in Winter? Back into the greenhouse ( slightly larger than 20 x 12 feet), a bright sunroom, south facing windows in the living room. The large Epiphyllum hybrids overwinter in the frostfree garage. I find it to be a good idea to do this twice yearly move ( as long as I am able), I really look over every plant, repot, clean etc. AND the greenhouse gets truly scrubbed once a year. Also, I consider it good exercise since I carry every plant through the house and into their outside spot and the reverse.
I think the plants benefit from growing outside over the Summer.
I am sure Kathy will identify with this move every Spring and Fall!?
This message was edited Jun 21, 2008 7:58 PM
Yes sirree!
Ursula,
I googled all over the place to try to find such clamps and in the process kept running into various PVC solutions with clamps of various types. I just want to build a cage of some sort which I can enclose as needed in the winter and simply shade during the summer. I'm heading off to HD today to look over those shelves you mentioned. I never considered them before as I thought they'd rust to nothing in any time flat. But you say do OK outside so I might as well give them a second look.
Fred
There are a few other things in my yard I'd like to share. This is a pink ginger.
Jim
This little guy is a Zebra plant. The yellow blooms are about to open.
Jim
My datura plant has been in constant bloom and I am facinated by it.
Jim
Since I was over by the datura, I took a picture of the little garden on the east side of the house so you could see how it has developed over the past month or so. The tall plant coming up in the middle is an Amorphophallus. It bloomed last year and just about ran me out of here. The black elephant ears on the left are getting big and the caladiums are growing as well. Unfortunately, my lychee tree finally gave up the ghost so I cut it down and will replace it. There is a big tropical plant fair at USF next weekend and I should be able to find one there. That tree really tried to live. It put on new growth and even fruited this spring but I could tell by the cracks in the limbs that it was hurting.
Jim
Looks great, Jim! Do you have a shot of the whole pink ginger?
The house wall looks wonderful. Which Amorphophallus are you growing? Would you please update on this as it blooms. I love this Datura!!
Ursula, the trumpet vine has gotten away from us but the wisteria is worse. The later spent years wandering around an abandoned property before we got the place.
Kathy, can't get enough of the peonies. I have one that I moved this spring. It has not bloomed in years. I'm hoping a little more space and nurturing will do the trick.
Jim, that east wall has really filled in since the last photo. Looks great I love the ginger too. Can you eat all ginger or only certain ones?
Our terrible drought continues to challenge gardens and gardeners. We share weather woes on the GA forum. Not only are we suffering from a lack of water but higher than normal temps make the situation worse. Good thing I broadcast a five gallon bucket of saved zinnia seed. It's okay with the weather.
Gosh, we have rain sometimes 3 times in a day here. I worry about rotting orchid roots. I have purchased Garden Treasure peony in a co-op (will arrive in fall). I saw it in person in VT and thought I would die. It is just gorgeous. http://www.mikejones.us/images/gardening/peony/itoh%20hybrid/Garden%20Treasure55.jpg
Can't wait to have it bloom here.......
I have Amorphophallus paeoniifolius 'Jungle Night'. It did not bloom this year but here is the bloom from last year. It looks like a huge head of red cabbage and when the leaves opened into a bowl shape, it put out a smell that would drop neighbors to their knees at 100 yards. It was covered with flies, which I guess is the point. After the bloom, a spike grew quickly out of the ground and produced beautiful foilage, as seen in the next photo.
Jim
Here is the foilage, which is all that happened this year. In the winter it all disappears and I forget about it. In the spring, I see these spear like things growing quickly out of the ground and they develop into this small tree like plant. It has only bloomed the one time.
Jim
Jim, that is simply awesome!! Thanks for showing this Amorphophallus.
We went to New York/Brooklyn Botanical Garden a couple of years ago to see their Titan Arum in bloom
http://www.kammlott.net/TitanArum/
I had to run out to take a picture of the pink ginger for Kathy. By the way, while you may be able to choke down my ornamental gingers, I sticking to the planned grilled salmon tonight.
Jim
Thanks, Jim. That is really a wonderful plant. I don't grow any gingers and have never seen one like that before. Do you have your pics in plantfiles? If not, you should. And of course the amorphophallus! Wow! I think that one bloom could satisfy a gardener for many years!!
I took pics in the rain today. Japanese irises, daylilies, and lilies are blooming with some roses. Here's my GH-er-private practice office (all the orchids go in here in fall). Now that the beebalm is blooming, my clients can watch the male hummer at work from their chairs. Great fun and well planned!
Prairie Glory JI.
Tiger babies lily.
View from the garden to the barn.
This is a hem hybrid by a man in eastern Massachusetts. He specializes in repeat bloomers. Delicate Lace with lamb's ears.
Clematis with a red rose.
Very nice Kathy. I'll bet the butterflies are happy in your yard as well. What is GH-er?
Jim
Ursula, no wonder you went to New York to see that Amorphophallus! That is quite a plant. The stink from my plant only lasted one night so by the time the neighborhood association tracked it down, it was gone, and, of course, I knew nothing.
Jim
Greenhouse-er-office.
Kathy, your garden is absolutely charming!! Very pretty!!
Jim, I am considering of growing one of those, it must be a hardy variety for my garden. Amorphophallus konjac perhaps.
Ursula, don't tell your neighbors.
I just took a picture of the backyard fountain and see there is an egret in the background. The plants surrounding the fountain are purple heart and dwarf varigated schefflera.
Jim
Jim, you are killing me! Will you look at the wonderful lion-adorned fountain. And an Egret!! Your place is gorgeous!!