Thursday, May 6, 2010

New Bloomers


Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthenum vulgare)

As my ability to post goes downhill due to too many time constraints, the number of plants blooming in my yard escalates. But I managed to capture a few blooms yesterday and thought I would share them with you. Above is the common Ox-eye Daisy, now blooming its heart out. I like the fact that, if kept deadheaded, it'll keep on blooming for a long while.

Bouganvillea

Now how do you get a bouganvillea to bloom so profusely this early in the year you might ask? By cutting it WAY back in late winter. That's all there is to it. No magic fertilizer, nothing.

Red Cascades miniature climbing rose

This miniature climbing rose was planted last year and has done very well. It's never had any pests or diseases so I highly recommend it.

The Fairy rose

Here's another pretty hardy rose, The Fairy. This one also has small blooms although it's not classified as a miniature. Last year it grew extremely long canes but flowered little. Some queries to a rose expert affiliated with the American Rose Center helped me understand it just needed to be continually cut back. So I whacked it back pretty good in mid February and will continue to do so after every bloom cycle. Right now the entire bush is covered with buds and some blooms.

'Whirling Butterflies' Gaura


Verbena bonariensis

Two bee and butterfly magnets - gaura and "stick" verbena.

Pennisetum setaceum rubrum 'Fireworks'

I like the combo of this variegated grass in front of the magenta color of 'Amazon Neon' dianthus. Can you see the tiny grasshopper near my copyright signature? The next day (today) that plant was covered in baby grasshoppers. These are what the folks around here call "graveyard" grasshoppers. They eventually get huge but when they're this size, they're pretty easy to kill with the old shoe. However, there are more than the usual number this year so I ordered some grasshopper bait containing Nosema locustae, a naturally occuring disease of grasshoppers. It'll take a week or two to work but hopefully that'll take care of them for the rest of the year. (Fingers crossed; that many huge grasshoppers would decimate a number of plants!)

Some reds and oranges courtesy of geraniums (actually pelargoniums) and nasturtiums

Coreopsis

A reliable spring bloomer, this coreopsis (unknown variety) blooms a long time in mid to late spring. Notice the dusty gray on the leaves? That's powdery mildew, although why it has it, I don't know. We hardly got any rain in April, unlike last year when it got it then too. So I'm thinking it's not in the right place and needs to be moved. Patience though. I'm going to let it finish blooming first.

Hope you enjoyed my new bloomers!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

19 comments:

  1. I did enjoy all your new blooms, Jean, and your pics are really lovely.

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  2. I like what you did with Red Cascade. I corraled mine in a red cedar improvisational carpentry 'cage' and it trys to escape on every side.

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  3. What amazing growth on that red cascade in one year, Jean! Your gaura and verbena bonariensis are ahead of mine and looking good.
    'Stick verbena' was a cool name - but the idea of 'graveyard grasshoppers' is still creeping me out!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  4. Your garden is looking great.

    Time does get away from us, in a busy spring. Thanks for taking time to share.

    Have a good weekend.

    ~~Linda...

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  5. I'm experiencing the same situation. I've taken so many photos of blooming plants & haven't posted any. Beautiful things in your garden. I love the combo of the Pennisetum & the 'Amazon Neon' Dianthus. (I like magenta.)

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  6. love that you are growing nasturtium....from seed or is it a perennial? Have you ever cooked with it/put the blossoms in salad?

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  7. The march is on and I am sure it has been for quite a while down south. Your blooms are exquisite. I used to have that coreopsis, now where did it go? It is the color of a school bus though.

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  8. Yes, I grew the nasturtiums in that photo from seed. They're not perennials here and I LOVE them in salads.

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  9. Jean: We pretty much knew the rain water was acidic by the effect it had on the pond (we have a filter and fountain, so something had changed - a whole lot of rain water was the obvious answer). But to confirm, we did test the water in our rain barrel, and such enough, it was the lowest the pH scale went!! Interestingly, our tap water was just as acidic - it comes from rainwater.


    We have some cheap test strips from Lowes we use to check pH, nitrite/nitrate, etc.

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  10. Lots of lovely blooms, Jean! I can't believe your climbing miniature rose has grown that big in one year--it's a beauty. How I wish I could grow bougainvillea! It's a plant I admire every time I visit my daughter in Arizona. But I can grow verbena bonariensis--I hope. Last year Beckie gave me a little seedling of what she thought was the verbena, but it turned out to be bee balm:) I've started some from seed this year, myself, so hopefully I'll get the right plant:)

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  11. better keep going out there with that camera so that we can enjoy more of your beautiful blooms. I particularly like the pot collection with the stone wall. Lovely.

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  12. Hi Jean, love all your plants, but esp. Verbena bonariensis, a perennial (no it's annual, HA!) favorite of mine. I have ox eye daisies coming up everywhere! (Not yet blooming.)

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  13. Lovely blooms Jean! I love your daisy and the fairy too! I will have to cut mine back after it blooms too. Beautiful light in your photos.

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  14. Rose, once you get the Verbena bonariensis going, you'll have tons of them. At least I do as they seed out every year.

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  15. You describe the spring situation perfectly: So many plants, so little time.

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  16. What a beautiful garden and so full of flowers already. It is amazing that we can both grow the Fairy rose - in such different climates.

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  17. Beautiful blooms and photos! One way I always got bougainvillea to bloom profusely was cut the bottom out of the nursery pot and stick it in the ground, it likes to be root bound. :)

    I will begin updating my blog again soon, life happened (long story) and I have moved. I have been doing a garden update on a facebook page, but I miss blogging… and I am taking the Master Gardener’s course this summer. I hope to reconnect soon!

    If you are on facebook, my page is: http://www.facebook.com/nawlinsgarden

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  18. Enjoyed your blooms immensly. I posted some of those grasshoppers today...geez!

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