And the "old Faithful"---The Rose Souvelons Mama--it greened up in ONE day when I hauled it out from the basement. It's "home" is in front of my Shed....
We have had a lot of winds--and they have ripped off a lot of the leaves....maybe the ones it grew in the basement and they were not so strong?
NOT worried! brugs are tough! Everything will re-grow.....
Just for fun! Growing an Avocado from it's seed......
Ahhhh! The complying bee! And a quick Macro setting......
My white Azalea with the BIG blooms (Holly--I think you have the same one???).....
I have one on each corner at the front of the house.....
Great pix and beautiful plants Gita - I didn't have any time today to plant my "haul" - too busy playing with the fish tank - just sorting through everything Larry sent with it took hours :-)
Bec...
Neither did I. Had a day full of other things to do....Besides--looking at my "haul" it is bewildering!!! I think I only requested about 8 things....
--Went grocery shopping
--Cooked a HUGE batch of Beef Strogonoff. Put portions in the freezer...
Turned out excellent! I bet you would love this dish!
--Went out--watered a bit--and then mowed my lawn. Swept up all the lush trimmings...
--Came in and cooked a dinner of pork chops, potatoes and Lima beans....
(Thinking ahead..wink...wink....:o)...♥)
Today--is destined to plant as much as I have to as time is running out....It is pretty cold out there, though. Gotta do it!!!!! What a crazy May we are having!!!!
Gita
Those foxgloves are gorgeous, Gita. I love foxgloves.
Bec, you sure have an amazing number of beautiful plants in a townhouse yard!
I have been trying for years to get a multiblue clematis. First two died, the third one finally bloomed this year.
It's not very blue, more purple.
Oh, but I adore that color of blue!
One of my other clematis, Nelly Moser.
The ladder was left up against the porch and the clematis find it's great for climbing. Hope nobody needs the ladder any time soon. The other clematis is Jackmanii.
Fringe tree is gorgeous this year.
Fringe tree again.
Comfrey. So far none that I planted have lived up to their reputation as wildly spreading thugs.
This is the yellow peony I got at Costco last week. It's Sequestered Sun.
Irises.
This one is Daughter of the Stars, which is what the word Shenandoah means.
I think this one is Immortality.
This is my supposedly miniature spirea. It was supposed to get not more than a couple of feet tall. Heh. I need to move it but I keep chickening out because I'm afraid I'll kill it.
Definitely not two feet tall.
A stinkbug on some iris.
Meadow rue.
Jacob's ladder.
A row of peonies getting ready to bloom.
Fantastic - ya'll know I'm green with "property size envy"!
Gita - I love a good beef stroganoff - hmmm, haven't made that in a while, think I will this week! I'm becoming a master at 'inventing' one pot dishes - it's becoming a game - Greg always asks "so, what masterpiece did you come up with today" - saves me time and dishes! ^_^ I trained as a chef and worked as one for years, but, I still try to make dinner as simple as possible! :-)
You all never cease to amaze me. I didn't know you were a chef. I love beef stroganof too. Yummmm.
LOL - yes, I trained to be a chef in Europe and then when I came to the US I worked as anything from bartender to manager in restaurants for 7 years (went on to customer service related jobs after that - too old for late nites) ^_^ Hubby claims one of the reasons he married me is I can cook a M/R steak & mix a Jim Beam & Ice (& tell telemarketers where to go!) ^_^
LOL I don't tell them where to go any more. I just tell them I'm on the Do Not Call List and if they call again, I'll report them. I think the fine is something like $1,000 per incident.
Sooooo pretty, Diane!
Bec---
I am a cook who seldom follows recipes--at least not in dishes I have made all my life--like Strogonoff....I have 'doctored it up" and played with it and now have it fairly down pat....Why mess with success?
B/C I had almost 3lbs of beef strips--I did the onions by themselves (LOTS) until almost caramelized. I had gotten a great deal on mushrooms --99cents a pack on the reduced produce rack at Mars---so--that is what made me want to do Strogonoff.....
Cooked the onions up several days ahead of time. Added wine and all that....
When I do beef broth from scratch--I scoop out and save all the marrow from the soup-bones, save it and freeze it-- and use that as the fat to brown the beef strips in. Adds a great, subtle flavor! Drowned the beef strips in red wine...:o)
Then I mixed up all the browned beef and the caramelized onions and the mushrooms and simmered them all. I added one 14oz can of diced tomatoes with Chipote and that is that--besides seasonings....And--OF COURSE--following the true European tyradition--when it was all done--I thickened the juices and then added about a whole container of SOUR CREAM! Gotta have that!!!!!
Turned our great....YUMMMM!
Oh I hear you on the not following the recipes ^_^ I tend to doctor things up to fit our taste, if a recipe calls for something I/hubby don't like I'll use a suitable substitute...
Bec, You surely have a few vines. In your 3rd photo, what are the different vines that are mixed together in that planter? Love the color of that painted daisy.
Gita & Hart, The colors on those Multiblue Clematis are spectacular. How long would you say it took those vines to get some size?
Gita, I never could figure out what you guys were calling Epis. That's certainly nothing like what I imagined. What is the whole name of that plant?
Stormy
"Epi" is simply short for "Epiphylum".....They are a class of plants that grow up in the nooks and crannies of trees in the Rain Forests anchored in place by fleshy roots...In other words--they do not grow on the Forrest floor. They get their nourishment from decaying bits and pieces of vegetation and insects that falls on them.
Orchids are a good example of Epiphytes....so are Tillandsias (air plants)...
Ever notice that Orchids are never potted up in soil when you buy them? Just loose bits of bark and such....
A Bromiliad is another good example of an Epiphyte--they have the "cups" in the center to catch things....the ones you are supposed to keep a little water in at all times...(rain).
If you go to a Conservatory--Bromiliads and Tillandsias are just anchored, and wired, to a moss-covered wall somewhere.
If you want to go to the "Orchid Cactus" Forum--that is where you can read all about this...ask questions, etc....
Well--this may be a simplistic explanation....but you get the idea?
Gita
In this picture of my table on Mother's Day Sunday at HD (I already posted this)--that big, pink and green thing on the ground on the left is a Bromiliad....
Mine took about four years to bloom from a small plant. Start with a bigger plant and you won't have to wait.
Bec, Love what you've done, small spaces do require imagination and upward thinking. Holly teases me about my garden gnomes, I just love yours. Mine are here but well camouflaged, and you should post your black sheep on the Garden Objects thread, it's really cute.
Gita, Digitalis has always been one of my favorites. Yours are lovely!
I lost my whole bed a couple of years ago with no idea as to why, there was a good mix of perennials, such as red hot poker, and freesia there as well. I could do like Holly and blame the chipmunks! LOL
Hart, As usual, you have beautiful shots of a some great specimen quality plants, the meadow rue is great and I'd love to see and smell the peonies. I remember cutting large vases of them for Memorial Day with my grandma to honor those called home. Ric
This message was edited May 19, 2009 9:28 PM
Oh, I forgot about Guttorm the gnome (Chantell says he's creepy...)
Here are a few pics of my Iris
Purple and White
These Siberian Iris are beautiful and haven't even opened yet.
Lovely Iris, Holly.
Gita, Thanks for the Epi info. I used to grow a lot of Bromiliads 30 years ago! But never Orchids.
Hart, I love that maroon & purple Iris. How tall is that Meadow Rue?
Bec, I didn't know there were Gnomes in the Tropics!
