One Last Look at Spring

Since summer is coming in like a lion this week, I figured I better post the last of my spring pics. It was a good spring for amaryllis, and I really do love their bold and beautiful flowers.

These two (1st and 2nd photo) are from the garden of Rosemary, who was my babysitter when I was 2 years old.

This one from my Aunt Erna's garden.

 And, this unusual one is from an old neighbor when I lived in Lakeland. All of them are very pretty and carry special memories of the gardeners from which they came. 

Gerbera Daisies have such a sweet little look about them, don't you think? I picked this one up on the sale rack of a local store and am enjoying the last of the blooms on it before I plant it in the garden. And, speaking of planting it in the garden - the garden is getting amazingly quite full these days. I'll save more on that for another day!!!

Lastly, two of my FAVORITE plant combinations in the garden, and it only happens in spring. The Knock-out rose and the English Dogwood make a great looking couple! These two plants were made for each other. The rose will continue to bloom but will have to do so without the exceptional background of the English Dogwood since it only blooms in spring.

The blooms on the English Dogwood are stunning. I can't quit looking at them. Every time I'm outside, I just stand there and stare. They're so simple, yet dazzling. They look like they would be fragrant, but they're not. It's a great plant that my neighbor in Lakeland also shared with me. Thank you Nancy!!!!

But alas, spring is slipping away and summer is roaring in like it always does around this time of year. The wonderfully cool mornings are beginning to feel a little more humid, and the afternoon sun is roasting tree-less yards while we wait and pray for June rains.

In Style, Out of Style, It Doesn't Really Matter!

Have you noticed that plants, like clothing styles, seem to be "in style" or "out of style?" One thing for sure is that roses never seem to go out of style. Although, antique roses seem to have been enjoying a return to popularity in the past decade thanks to the "rose rustlers" who began to identify and grow cuttings from plants found in cemeteries. And, fortunately so, since they are not only beautiful but very durable, as well.  Roses, in general, also received a burst in popularity due to the carefree nature of the knock-out varieties, like this Pink Double Knock Out ‘Radtkopink.’

Coleus varieties are also basking in the sun again these days due to a renewed interest, and many new colorful varieties. My sister and her husband inherited a very large powderpuff bush when they bought their first home. Every year this G-normous bush would freeze, making it a job to cut it back. Fortunately, the beautiful powderpuff is back in vogue, but in a smaller, more manageable size for the normal garden.

Blackberry Lilies Belamcanda chinensis are a hummingbird-attracting plant that's showing up on lots of garden blogs these days. If you want one, you'll need to find a friend who'll share some seeds or find a company online to purchase them from, since they can't be found in local garden centers. I started my plants from seeds I found hanging on a sad and bedraggled looking plant at my daughter's preschool some years back. So now this plant holds sweet memories for me, especially since the preschool no longer exists at the old location.

My sister's mother-in-law grew stokesia in her yard back in the 80's. Now and then I've stumbled upon this plant, like the one pictured below known as Stokes’ Aster Stokesia laevis ‘Omega Skyrocket’  in a local family nursery that's been in town forever. The blue color is absolutely fantastic, and as you can see the bees simply adore this beauty.

We had Candlestick plant...as we referred to it...Senna alata X Cassia alata in our yard when I was a kid. The plants I grow, in my garden today, come from the seeds of plants that sprouted in my mother's garden. For us it is an heirloom plant with memories attached to it. Now, some 40 years later, this plant is coming back into style which is fabulous for Cloudless sulphur butterflies who use it as a host plant.  I get very excited when I see the bush covered in caterpillars. It freezes back every year, but readily comes back from the roots...and grows very quickly and quite large. It also reseeds itself generously around the garden, but is not a nusance.

When I lived in Pinellas county, 9 years ago, I learned that fields of gladiolus' (also known as sword lilies) were grown back in the 50's in Clearwater for the cut flower industry. It seemed strange to me at the time since I had never seen them growing in people's yards, especially since bulbs can be purchased in big box stores and garden centers. Why you rarely see them is a mystery to me because they are a great filler plant that reappears each spring and produces a tall, slender spray of gorgeous flowers that look fabulous in the garden or in a flower arrangement.  

A plant that I inherited in my very first garden back in the late 80's was Rose of Sharon Hibiscus syriacus or Althea. This plant is a member of the hibiscus family, but it doesn't freeze. It does, however produce beautiful soft-colored flowers throughout the summer. The only place I've seen this plant for sale is at Lowe's in early spring.

This pretty purple variety is growing in my sister's garden. Isn't it beautiful? Both of us grow them under Live oak trees where they only receive partial sun each day.

She told me she's had the plant for about 8 years and as you can see, it has reached a nice size and has a  soft-flowing and airy look to it.

One additional plant that I haven't seen in garden centers is Turk's Cap Malvaviseus arboreus. Another hummingbird favorite. This plant is also a member of the hibiscus family and it will freeze back to the ground in a cold winter. If it doesn't freeze, it will most likely be in need of trimming back as it can grow quite tall. I found this plant for sale in a very small backyard nursery.

This is a close up view of the flower. Unlike, it's sister...the hibiscus plant..this flower does not open. That's probably one of the reasons why the hummers like it so much.

 

In style or out of style...it doesn't really matter. I'm just happy that I can still find some of these old-time plants that hold sweet memories for me, and include them in my garden. And, anytime I can passalong seeds or cuttings from these plants...I'm happy to do it. A great plant deserves to be admired and shared.

I'll have Candlestick plant and Blackberry lily seeds, this fall, available to share with anyone who wants some. Just send me an email and I'll be happy to mail some to you. :-)

Garden Blues

My garden doesn't have the sad, down in the dumps...B.B. King kind of  "blues." Instead, it's singing joyfully with an abundance of blue-flowering plants these days. From a purplish blue to a hard to find true blue there is...

A LARGE clump of native flag iris.


Here's a close up view of this stunning flower. It's a passalong plant from my neighbor, and it's thriving in a wet, boggy area of my garden.

Walking iris which is also a passalong plant from another neighbor.

Brazilian iris with its tall, stately leaves. It's a real standout in the garden.

Ajuga 'chocolate chip' is an excellent groundcover that produces short stalks of blue flowers in spring.

Native Blue-eyed grass which also does well in wet areas.

Blue Sage...an old-fashioned passalong plant from my brother-in-law's grandmother.

And, last but not least, native spiderwort which can be seen growing in damp ditches along the roadways.

My garden may be blue, but it makes me delightfully happy!

A Giant of a Begonia

This begonia is a real beauty. My neighbor, Nancy a/k/a "gardener extraordinaire" gave it to me when it was a wee little plant. Her plant was at least 5' tall and gorgeous. I stuck it in the ground and it is now about 3' tall. I knew it was a begonia but I didn't know its official name until I saw a picture of it in the Aug/Sept issue of Florida Gardening magazine in the article about Valkaria Tropical Gardens. It is called a lotus-leafed begonia (B. nelumbiifolia). It gets a tall spike of creamy white (small) flowers. The flowers pale in comparison to the leaf. As an old-timer greenhouse plantsman once told us, "If the leaf is beautiful then the flower is usually blah!"

A Pleasant Surprise

Another pretty orchid that I got from my mother's collection. Orchid blooms have a way of sneaking up on you. One day I walked outside and could see something white out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and received a pleasant surprise.

And a Couple More!

These beguiling begonias were derived from cuttings of plants belonging to my aunt (mother's sister) and my brother-in-law's grandmother. They are planted in the ground and seem to thrive in the dapple sunlight beneath the oaks. When they're not in bloom their beautifully colored leaves provide a little interest to this woodland garden bed. I love them because the flowers are so different from any other plants that bloom in Florida. When people see them they always ask what kind of flower it is.

Another Passalong Plant in Bloom

This beautiful daylily is from my stepfather Charlie's garden. It is the first of the daylilies to bloom each year and will soon be followed by a solid yellow variety that is also from his garden. These are the only two daylilies that I have been able to maintain in my garden throughout the years. I purchase others but after a few years they quietly fade away. Like Charlie (who will be 90 in May), these two varieties are dependable, durable and long-lived.

Passalong Plants

The plants I have received from family and friends are some of my most favorite ones. When one blooms, I can't help but think of the generous person who shared it with me. Some evoke a living memory to the past, while others are a link to a loved one who is no longer alive. My garden contains an angel trumpet, camellias, bromeliads and yellow candlestick plant from my mom, daylilies from my stepfather, mint from my mother-in-law, begonias from an aunt, cactus from an aunt who is no longer alive, butterfly ginger, Australian violets and walking iris from a neighbor gardening friend, morning glories from a good friend and this beautiful amaryllis from my next door neighbor. He has a large patch of these beauties in full bloom right now.