Black swallowtail butterfly. When I planted this yellow butterfly bush a lot of the nectar books said that the butterflies would not be as attracted to it as the regular butterfly bushes- but they forgot to inform the butterflies because they love it!
Bordersandjacks: Lovely photos. How many hummer feeders do you have out?
If you look the abutilon is blooming right at ground level,lol- but it's the most bloom I've had yet on it. I'd say it's been there in part sun for at least three years and is still nowhere near the size it's supposed to be. The bunnies love to trim it back in cool weather.
We have 5 hummingbird feeders out. We have to fill them about every day and a half. They don't like the feeders as well that I let the morning glory vine invade.
We have the worlds ugliest apple tree in the yard; the hummers are drawn to it, though. They nest there, and like the rotting fruit- I sure don't do a thing with it. I'm also slack about doing anything with the three large fig trees in the yard, too. (Can you hear the hummingbirds cheering?)
The hummingbirds probably perfer the MG to your feeder. I know my MG's get hit every dusk by hummingbirds.
Bordersandjacks: Wow, do you have hummingbirds! We don't seem to have as many as usual, but there are at least two that make the rounds each evening. I love to watch them go after each other when one "threatens" the other's spot at the feeder.
Deb
No wonder I only have a few hummers, you have them all at your house! You will have to change you mane to borders jacksandhummers. LOL
I picked up an abutalon in Charleston about 18 months ago and it has bloomed non stop. It is in a pot and I am afraid to put it in the ground. There are times when it looks pretty tired, like now, and I have to give it a good pruning and some fresh compost in the pot, but all in all it has been a winner. The label said Belle Series, Apricot.
SORRY, WRONG PHOTO
That is what I get for trying to pick from un-named thumbnail sized pictures. BTW, this is the tropical hibiscus Golden Dust.
This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 11:19 AM
i had that exact kind but it died on me.... abutalons never do well for me
Here is the correct abutalon photo. This was taken in early spring; I wish it looked this good now. There are spots on the leaves but I can't remember if it had a problem or if something had splashed on them.
Belle Apricot
This message was edited Aug 17, 2008 4:05 PM
wow... mine never loked that good.
who all got that awful storm last night? it put down a pine limb in our yard and snapped half of my plumeira pudica right off. now i have a nice 5 tip cutting with like 3 inflos.
We got some rain last night but must not have gotten the wind.
Get ready looks like TS Fay is going to go tooling past in a few days. I'm hping for lots of rain without out 50 MPH winds.
I'm going to try to grow Abutilon next year under my tall pines. I think they'll get enough light but won't get roasted by the sun.
I've got Phaseolus caracalla blooming their fool heads off (thanks Deb!), Hedychium coronarium in full bloom, and Vigna caracalla showing a major blush. Hoping to get some seeds this year. Bananas swelling. Basically, everything that could bloom is blooming, courtesy of the recent rain. Pretty good year.
Passalong hosta that's been in the family for over 50 years, probably either Hosta Royal Standard or Hosta plantaginea
Dang, I just put up the wrong picture. Here's the hosta:
Formosa lily, with seed pods from Carolina Bush Pea
Seashore Mallow
i love that seashore mallow
French lavender reblooming in my garden. Transplanted this spring and now reblooming. Sorry it's a little out of focus. I'm still getting used to my new camera.
This was visiting one of my roses today.
Stono: Glad your p. caracalla is blooming for you. Mine's just starting up here. Your v. caracalla is has spread along the back fence about 8 ft each direction (yay) but no sign of flowers yet.
Ardesia: Your Belle Apricot is a lovely color!
Deb
Very dry here so almost nothing is blooming. I was hoping we'd get some rain from TS Fay later this week but now it looks like it will miss us entirely.
Zephyranthes 'Grandjax' - blooming because I've been watering regularly.
Lilium formosanum
Hey sweet bay I got me one of those. Is that the actual name? Seashore mallow? I always just called it a marsh mallow.
I sure am jealous of those rain lilies. I've never had any to bloom from just my watering them. I have 4 different species and haven't had a single bloom this year but I'm still hoping.
This is Salvia greggii 'Diane'. I traded with sweet bay for it and its backdrop is a plumie seedling I got from Tom at the Garner RU.
CoreHHI your plant looks different than mine. Yours looks like a hibiscus. My plant (Kosteletskya virginica) is a hibiscus relative; the leaves and flowers are much smaller than most hibiscus and the leaves are rather fuzzy.
Love the color on the flowers on your plant. The flowers do look quite a bit like seashore mallow but they're probably bigger. Seashore mallow flowers are about 2" across.
Oh. yes mine is a hardy hibiscus of some kind and the flowers on mine are more like 12 inches across.
From your picture I couldn't really tell the difference.
Might want to add a picture and comment in the plant files. A little thin on info.
Does that bloom more than once?
Seashore Mallow blooms just once, but in a good year it gets 4-5' high and over 3' wide and is covered in blooms. It blooms for about a month so it puts on a really good show unless drought cuts it short.
There's also a white form that blooms after the pink one. It's nice to have both because that really extends the bloom time.
This message was edited Aug 20, 2008 10:04 AM
Interesting...the Phaseolus caracalla have been blooming marginally (but consistently) since May for me, but the Vigna caracalla's have only just started to flush. And I mean "flush"! Hope I get some seeds out of this profusion...
Stono,
Is your corkscrew in the ground? I had a cutting I rooted last summer, but never did much with it in the pot (very small) then kept it in the garage over winter and finally moved it to a bigger pot about 2 months ago and it's very happy and blooming. I don't think it would come back in my zone if I plant it in the ground.
I also had a blue sky vine cutting that did I did the same thing and finally put it in the ground. Hasn't bloomed yet but is going great guns. I'm going to root a couple of cuttings of it soon so I'll have one in the event it doesn't come back.
But what do you think about the vigna caracalla going in the ground? Do you think the thunbergia (blue sky vine) will come back?
Thanks for your thoughts,
Barbara
Stono: Yep, it's weird, not sure why the p.caracalla is so late. Perhaps the 5" of rain we've had this week will get it goin'.
Deb
I think my Clerodendrum trichotomum just grew 12 inches over night. Everyone said it was a fast grower but it hasn't done to much this whole year. Looked outside today and I think I could actually see it getting taller.. LOL. My confederate rose seems to kicking in too.
Core, I'm jealous of your clerodendrum. I think they're quite lovely in the fall. Enjoy yours. Hope it blooms for you this year.
my whit brug bloomed for the first tim this summer... it smells soooooo good!!
I just spotted the first bud EVER on my white Butterfly Ginger! Yahoo! (Only it's 3rd summer.)
Perhaps it wil be "blooming in August" before the month is out.
The rain this week has made some of my garden very, very happy. Others, not so much. I may lose my young passiflora. :(
Mostly though, a very soggy situation.
Deb
mine is very happy too. Deb, that is surprising about youur passifloras. mine were very thankful for the rain. the only problem im havisng is the gulf fritillary caterpillers. they chewed away all the leaves and young stems on my blue passionflower. now whenever i see them iget them onto a stick and squish them. does anyone know if they are poisonous? i have beencareful not to touch them, as they look like they would sting.
Why are you squishing them? The butterflies are what keep the passionflower in check. By next year you will have dozens of passionflower vines, enough for you and the fritillaries.
because they are the only two i have.... and they both already almost got chewed to death. plus i paid for both of them. one is "Incense" and the other P. caerulea im usually pretty lenient with caterpillers, and i was with them until they made it come back up from the ground. there are passion flowers (P. incarnata) throught the woods from my house, a big thicket full of them right on the golf course. these are the first passionflowers that have done well for me and i dont want anything to hurt them! these are both in pots, so they arent taking over or anything.
canna musafolia... not much to look at, but its nice
white brug
what is eating this hibiscus? the leaves are gone except for the veins
