Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

I started doing a "Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day" post every month last spring, but after the summer and fall, I ran out of blooms to post photos of.  This may happen again this year, but, even if it is only vegetables, I hope to be able to post pics for the whole year - actually I just thought about this, and a lot of winter

vegetables are leafy greens, so maybe I won't be able to.  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it - here are the past months blooms.

I've had trouble with this lantana for the last few years.  It might need more water or more shade.  It's in what I used to refer to as the "desert garden", which gets full sun and drains pretty quickly.  It's doing better this spring, probably due to the fact that we have had so much rain.

You don't always think about certain plants blooming, especially when there are more interesting aspects.  Some carnivorous plant enthusiasts recommend cutting off the stem before it flowers, so it doesn't take energy away from producing more and larger traps, but I don't agree.  These are beautiful, right?

Every year these old garden roses bloom very close
to Mother's Day, early May.  We had a cold spring that just would not warm up.  It finally did and everything started blooming - late - including these roses.

I think I like the blooms of plants that you don't expect to bloom.  Some are just unusual, like these elephant ears.  They got huge last year, and they have recovered well after a mild winter.  I would like to transplant them to a more visible area - right now they are behind the chicken coop - but they are growing through some giant roots, and any attempt to  dig them up would mean their destruction.

This is one of my least favorite plants.  There are probably better varieties of Nandina that have a nicer form, or are sterile, but this one is a pain.  Amongst the switch cane that I was trying to kill by smothering it, was a number of these volunteer plants.  Birds eat the seeds and then sit in a tree and drop them, from one end or the other, and they sprout.  With the help of carpet and chickens I was able to eradicate the bamboo/switch cane, but the nandina would not die, and the chickens won't eat it.

First daylily of the year.  I got this at a plant swap last year, so I didn't know what it would look like until it bloomed.  Apparently its name is "Grape Magic".  I had all my daylilies labeled until recently when I transplanted them to another bed.  So I'm excited to see which is which when they bloom this year.

I love it when I catch a pollen-covered bee in one of my flowers.  They always look like they're in heaven.  In this case, it's one of my many squash flowers.  They're blooming like crazy right now.

This is some Rudbeckia, I think, that I grew from seed last year.  I had a number of these plants, as well as Echinacea, and I didn't know which was which until they all started blooming this year.  I also kept getting bees in the pictures of a lot of the flowers, as you can see.  No problem with pollinators in my yard!

The irises around the pond bloomed a couple of months ago, but this pickerel weed is just starting to bloom.  It has multiple tiny flowers on this plant, and it will bloom continuously for the whole summer.  I want to make a few changes to the back yard, which would mean this pond would go, but I would still have room for marginals, like this plant.

This is one that I used to see on occasion, but now I have one in my yard - Stokes' Aster.  It's beautiful and it's native to the southeastern United States, which even better!

First cactus bloom of the year.  After they are pollinated, prickly pear cactuses will produce fruit that turns a deep red in the winter.  It actually tastes pretty good, if there weren't so many seeds in it.

There are recipes for making jams and sauces and even daiquiri mix with it.  There are to many seeds in these fruit and it can be a little hard to handle because the juice stains very badly.

About the only thing I know about this plant is that it's called hidden ginger.  It produces these blooms on a short stem near the ground, while other leafy stems grow taller.  The main flower is pink, and there are smaller yellow blooms below it.

I've been trying for weeks to get a good picture of my hydrangea - thi is probably the best that it will get for now.  This is in the shade garden, and it didn't do well last year.  A few years ago, I moved it from the back yard (where it was blue) to the front yard (where it is pink).  Very interesting.

I just saw something growing out of the top of this Golden Barrel cactus the other day.  I assumed that it might bloom eventually, but not so soon!  Everything was status quo this morning, but when I left home in the evening it was blooming, and I had no idea it would happen so fast.

Speaking of the pond, this loom popped up recently.  It's a water hyacinth and it's an invasive species, if it ever escaped to another body of water.  But here in my pond it is contained.  There are too many in here right now that you can't even see the water.  They need to be thinned.

Friends dropped off a butterfly bush at my house recently.  I wasn't sure where to plant it, so it's been sitting in the driveway.  In the meantime, it put out its first bloom.  Thanks, guys!

Every day something else blooms, but this is going to have to do it for this month.  I'll get to work on next month's post as soon as this posts.  Enjoy!

Winter 2011 Casulaties

I thought I would take a minute to remember those that were lost in the Winter of 2011.

Queen's Tears Bromeliad
I got this, probably from Darren, a couple of years ago.  This photo is from August, but it also bloomed the year before.  I neglected it the winter before, but when I saw this bloom when my sister-in-law was here, I thought it must be fine where it was - I was even planning to put them in our future shade garden.  I haven't inspected my bromeliads (yes, I have/had more), but from what I can tell, they all look dead.

Helianthocereus Trichocereus grandiflorus
I "rescued" this cactus from Lowe's about three years ago.  I was languishing on the clearance shelf in a pot only a tiny bit larger around than itself.  Along with four others,  I potted them together, a small cactus garden, but after a year or so, they seemed crowded and this one seemed to be rotting.  I thought repotting it would help, increasing airflow around it and keeping it dry, but that didn't help.  I had to let it go.

Pachycereus pringlei (left)
Mammillaria pilcayensis (right)
Another rescued cactus, it just couldn't take the cold.  Last winter they were all potted together, and up against the house.

Since then, I had repotted them and moved them a little farther into the yard.  The cold came early this year and I really didn't believe it would last as long as it did.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Gymnocalycium mihanovichii var. hibotan
 This is sort of a strange plant - a Frankenplant, if you will.  In this case it is a red ball cactus (Gymnocalcium) grafted onto Hylocereus undatus, a Dragon Fruit plant.  It was never my favorite and after I learned more about it from Darren, I put it aside to give to him, but it died from the cold.  The read Darren's post on Dragon Fruit, click here.

Euphorbia trigona

We got this at a plant swap two or three years ago.  There are usually a couple of mature potted plants that someone will bring that they just don't want anymore.  At this swap, this was one of them.  I think Robin grabbed it, and it spent the next few years on our front porch.  I would bring it in a handful of times between Xmas and Easter, but it was usually fine on the porch.  The sun would heat up the concrete during the day and that would keep the temperature warm enough at night, usually.  That would not happen this winter.  Extreme cold and neglect doomed this plant - and a smaller one like it.  I'll probably get another one when the opportunity arises, like the next plant swap.  I think they're interesting and if I start small, I'll appreciate it more when it gets this big.

Aloe Vera
Another front porch plant that didn't get brought in when it got too cold.  I'm not too upset about this one.  I've divided a number of times and given some away or taken to plants swaps - I know I can get more at the next one in the spring.  Actually, I'm not convinced it's completely dead.  I have a feeling that some of the "leaves" are alive in the center of the plant.  I'll wait until spring and find out.

Euphorbia tirucalli "Fire Sticks"
I got this plant as many smaller plants on sale at Lowe's a few years ago.  I potted them together to make a larger plant, and I subsequently divided it several times to give away as gifts.  It was another front porch plant that lived through last winter with minimal attention.  Maybe I shouldn't have so many tender plants - with the weather becoming so crazy these past couple of years.

Pinguicula
You've heard this story before - I got this butterwort plant on clearance from Lowe's - in this case, 48 cents to be exact.  I really didn't have any expectations - I thought I would put in the bog with the other carnivorous plants and hope it liked being there.  And it did.  It thrived until the demise of the bog.  Once that started leaking I had to cut it off from the pond, or risk drying up the pond.  It was only a matter of time before I had to do something with all of the plants.  I repotted the other carnivorous plants and moved them to a temporary home, but the butterwort didn't like the transplant and it got neglected and dried out over the summer.

Stapelia gigante
Last, but not least, is my corpse flower cactus.  I got it from a plant swap several years ago, and it finally bloomed this year.  The flower is supposed to smell like rotting flesh, but I didn't really smell it - maybe I had a cold.  Anyway, we got to see it bloom twice this past summer, but it did not survive the porch this winter.  I'm going to have to rethink next winter - either have a plan and remember to put it into action, or have hardier plants.  I'll probably get more of these plants, and I'll have a plan, but maybe I'll forget when it gets cold.  I'm only human.

Plants Swaps

I was involved in a interesting plant swap recently. There was a post on the Carnivorous Plants page of Gardenweb - someone was looking to trade a dozen carnivorous plants for any number of things - irises, coins, etc. I've been wanting a Venus flytrap, but I haven't been willing to pay for one, since I'm not 100% sure I know how to make it thrive. I saw this as an opportunity to get something for essentially nothing.

I emailed about my irises, but they weren't the kind he was looking for. He asked if I had any old coins - I did, but I wasn't sure what I had and I wasn't sure I wanted to part with any of them. I found my coins - I had wheat pennies, buffalo nickels, silver Jefferson nickels, Mercury dimes, silver Roosevelt dimes and silver Franklin and Liberty half dollars, and other miscellaneous coins.

After a little negotiating, we came to an agreement - half of the Roosevelt dimes and half of the half dollars for the dozen carnivorous plants. From what I know about each of the items in the trade, it was an even swap.

Once the plants arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. They were packed well and looked like I had hoped. There were two pitcher plants, four sundews and six Venus flytraps. Since receiving these plants, I've been reading everything I can find on carnivorous plants - I want to make sure I do everything right. I feel comfortable with the pitcher plants - I already have some of those and they are thriving.

Getting the plants in the mail sent me on a mission to round up all of my pots to figure out which pots I would put these plants in. I started two piles in the driveway - pots with drainage holes and pots without. I thought I would need pots without for carnivorous plants, but after a little reading, that doesn't seem to be the case. Venus flytraps don't like to be swimming, and I'm not sure what to do with the sundews yet.

While I was de facto organizing my garden area, I started thinking about plants I wanted to repot and divisions I wanted to make, to get ready for the plant swap in a few weeks. I repotted some succulents and a cactus. I divided my aloe and Euphorbia tirucalli "Fire Sticks". I've got a lot more that I can do and I'll probably do a lot over the Labor Day weekend.

Corpse Flower Cactus

I got this cactus at a plant swap a couple of years ago. It's Stapelia gigantea, or Corpse (Carrion) Flower Cactus. I spent the first year or so dividing it and giving it as gifts or taking it to plant swaps. We had a really cold winter this year and the cactus seemed a bit traumatized by the weather. It just got some new growth recently - really the first sign on life it's shown since last year.

So when I saw a bud forming, I was excited, as well as surprised. It took about two and a half weeks from the time I noticed it until it bloomed today. I've been watching it intently the last couple of days - it's looked like it was was going to burst any minute. I went to take a photo this afternoon, before it opened, and that's when I noticed it had opened. We all had to go look at it, and take pictures, AND SMELL IT!

We really didn't smell anything, so I put my nose right up in it. That's when I got the faint smell of roadkill. I'm just happy my plant bloomed and it didn't smell as bad as I anticipated.

For a slideshow of the bloom, click here.

Cactus Collection

I bought these five cactuses from Lowes on clearance. I really didn't know what to do with them, but they were either $0.88 or $0.48 each - and they didn't look bad either. I potted them up together in one pot and I thought they looked nice for a while - one recently bloomed, but they're starting to look crowded. I had amassed a small collection of ceramic pots that I never knew what to put in them - so I figured this would be a good idea. I tried to match the cactus to the pot, taking into account size, shape and color. I'm happy with the outcome and so is Robin. Now I don't know where t o put them!

Garden Update

A number of things not significant enough for their own post have been happening in the garden and I thought I would lump then all together here.

It turns out the irises growing in the pond filter are two different types. The other type is the same as the one in the bog. In my walk around the yard today, I noticed that one of the irises from the Spontaneous Craigslist Roadtrip is actually blooming. I really need to do something with those.

My collection of canna that was in a plastic bag is growing again this year - the second in a row. I decided today I need to plant that somewhere too.

There's new growth on our cactuses large and small and one of our yuccas out front is about to bloom.

I found some carpet last week and brought it home to smother bamboo. I let it sit in the driveway for a couple of days until I heard it was going to rain. It was heavy enough for me dry - I definitely didn't want to deal with it wet. I got out there that evening and laid it out. I also took the carpet I was saving in the garage and did the same thing. Almost the whole area behind the garage, with a few exceptions, is bamboo free. Now we're one step closer to doing something with that area - like getting chickens. I just have to put up a fence, trim some trees and build a hen house.

Spring Park Circle Plant Swap

This past Saturday was the Park Circle Plant Swap. We had been out of town for spring break earlier in the week, so I didn't have a lot of time to get my plants together. I had a good idea what I wanted to take, but after our winter there wasn't a lot around to take. The morning of the swap, I sorted through the plants in the driveway, deciding which to keep and which to swap. I ended up taking some sago palms, Mexican petunia, wild garlic, dwarf papyrus, a few cactuses and a handful of daffodils. Oh, and some plant I got off the side of the road, divided and repotted. It turns out it might be a wax myrtle.

There were definitely a lot more people at the swap this time - it just keeps getting more popular. Unfortunately, the plant selection wasn't thrilling. I say that, but I should mention that the plants were a lot of what I already have. There was nothing I was extremely excited by.

I did get some interesting things - a loropetalum (a shrub that we probably won't plant and it will die of neglect), Chinese lantern, peppermint, sugarcane, daylilies, succulent (for the desert garden), dried apple gourd (for the seeds), and a few other things. In hindsight, it was a nice morning. I have some things I like - I think I just have too much to do in the yard.

Rain...Rain...Freeze...

We've had some strange weather in the past week - well, maybe not strange, but certainly a variety of it. We got several inches of rain during a couple of separate days this week. I don't think it's rained this much since July when we were on vacation. Part of our yard flooded like it always does during heavy rains, this time it was a good thing - it gave me a chance to see exactly where to put the rain garden I'm planning for that area in the spring. One of the plants I wanted to put in it was the Crinum I have in the bog. To my surprise, It looks like I have about six new plants from the three I started out the summer with. I'm glad I'll have extra to use in the rain garden. Another positive thing is the raised bed I built in the vegetable garden this year. While the ground around it was soggy, the vegetables were doing well about a foot off the ground.

I have potted plants all over the yard. Besides the houseplants spending the summer outside, I also have plants that I intend to plant in the yard as soon as I figure out where I want them. Most are in the driveway, but a few are behind the garage. I had to do something with all of those plants today, because we're supposed to have near-freezing temperatures tonight. Every time I've seen the weather this week, tonight's forecasted temperature keeps dropping - currently it's at 33 degrees - cold enough to do damage to some of my plants.

Probably the most important plant was the "Black Pearl" ornamental pepper Robin got at the fall plant swap. Originally, I had put it with all of the other plants in the garden area/future greenhouse, but after talking to Robin and doing some research online, I decided it needed to come in the house. Most other plants like canna, walking onions, bed of nails, devil's trumpet, society garlic, shrimp plant, hibiscus, Mexican petunia, spider plant, ajuga and day lilies, I'm protecting whether they need it or not - I don't know the cold hardiness of everything on that list. I am leaving a couple of things out, because either I think they can take the cold - like sago palms and daisies, or they are annuals or houseplants that I don't care about anymore like a half-dead spider plant or geraniums. I did remember a few other plants I better bring in like my night-blooming cereus, mother-in-law's tongue, and a couple of pots of small cactuses that I'm not sure are hardy.

The cold has a plus side too. We've been eating lettuce from the vegetable garden all week, the broccoli is really heading now, and it looks like the onions are doing well - now if I only knew when they will be ready to harvest...