Sunday, May 31, 2009

Hydrangeas

Nile Lilies (Agapanthus)


Here's an odd one: My husband brought it to me from California. He calls it a Gopher Plant. It's supposed to repel gophers and moles.





a close up





I know! I just recently posted some hydrangeas, but here they are again.
Also, tips on rooting hydrangea. Sorry it's a bit blurry, but I think you can read it.




Everyone loves the Hydrangeas. I'm sure most of you who read the local news saw Bill Finch's article recently. He tells that the plant will bloom the color it was hybridized to bloom. I guess so. I have Hydrangeas all over this yard and they are all different colors, although the soil is pretty much the same.














































Bluebird


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Just Daylilies & a few others

It has been hard to get pictures between rain storms, so I've picked a few that have been in my computer a few days. Enjoy the daylilies.





















Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Memorial Day to All Who Served

Thank you to all who've served this great nation! May we forever be a great nation and never have reason to apologize to any other.



A Foral Flag created with Larkspur

The Floral Flag is 740 feet long and 390 feet wide and maintains the proper Flag dimensions, as described in Executive Order #10834. This Flag is 6.65 acres and is the first Floral Flag to be planted with 5 pointed Stars, comprised of White Larkspur. Each Star is 24 feet in diameter; each Stripe is 30 feet wide. This Flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants, with 4-5 flower stems each, for a total of more than 2 million flowers. Grown near Vandenberg, AFB.


Sunday, May 24, 2009

Fuzzy pictures

I apologize for some of my pictures being a bit fuzzy. Since I have shakey balance, if I can't rest my elbow on something while taking a picture I don't always get a clear shot. Ed has promised me a new camera for Christmas that will take better zoom pictures and with a higher pixel number than what I have now.

A Chinese Proverb

If a man has 2 pennies, he should buy a loaf of bread with one...
Which will sustain his life,
And a flower with the other...
Which will give him a reason to live.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sago Palm pests

I had noticed tiny white spots on my big Sago Palm and finally decided to do something about it. I thought it might be scale (horrors!) and it is. I searched the internet for info on Sago Palm scale and there were several hits.

The long and short of it was to cut all the fronds off and spray/pour an insecticide for scale all over it and on the dirt around it. This will have to be repeated weekly for several weeks.

The trimmings had to be collected and carried to the garbage can and the items used to trim the palm had to be cleaned. (The internet instructions said to get rid of everything that had touched the palm, but I just sterilized the clippers.)

If you have Sagos, be on the watch for this cruel pest.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Need help with identity of this plant




This is a low growing, fuzzy leaf plant that grows in shade. Has a purplish tint to the dark green leaves and in a few weeks will start having flowers. The flower is purple and kind of like a petunia. The throat of the flower comes out from the plant and the open part--the petals drop down.
Here is the flower

Does anyone have a name for it?

Monday, May 18, 2009

At the top

At the top, you see a Japanese Fern-leaf Maple that my daughter brought me from Oregon. Beneath it are "Pumpkin" daylilies and baskets of gold (Golden Globe).
Today was kind of cold and windy, but I went out and took a few pictures. The lighting was off due to the cloudy sky, but here are a few:


Angel Trumpet







Mauve Daylily






"Monte Negro" Hybrid Lily



























Some Hydrangeas starting to bloom





























Birdnest Fern


Lady Fern













Japanese Painted Fern















St. Francis of Assissi

Sunday, May 17, 2009


Garden Can Be Greener Without Cypress Mulch
The Times Picayune - New Orleans, June 21 2008

As gardeners turn to mulching to fend off heat and weeds in their summer beds, it's a good time to take a look at the ongoing controversy over cypress mulch. Once favored as the platinum level of mulches, its use now is being discouraged through massive public information campaigns by organizations across the Gulf Coast, including the Waterkeeper Alliance, Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, Atchafalaya Riverkeeper and the Save Our Cypress Coalition.
Because cypress is grown primarily in wetlands areas, opponents of cypress mulch say, cutting the trees contributes to habitat destruction and the erosion of wetlands, an important line of defense against hurricanes. Moreover, they continue, green-minded individuals won't be losing anything by boycotting cypress mulch: It doesn't work as effectively as gardeners once believed."People think that cypress mulch is more rot-resistant and insect-resistant, but scientists at the University of Florida have shown that there are equally effective sustainable alternatives that don't deplete our natural wetlands and don't deprive our gardens of the benefits of mulching," said Dan Favre, campaign manager of the nonprofit Gulf Restoration Network. "The really sad piece of all this is that the popularity of cypress mulch is predicated on myths."

Friday, May 15, 2009

Poinsettias


You might wonder why I'm writing about Poinsettias at this time of the year (and I regret that I didn't think to do it a couple of months ago) you'll see from the pictures:

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherima), from Mexico and Central America, is a shrub (to 15 ft). An American's symbol of Christmas.

It's whorls of upper leaves, red, pink, white, salmon, or varigated, masquerading as blooms are actually splendid ruffs encircling the true, yellow & green flowers.


When your poinsettia starts to drop its leaves and look ugly, don't throw it away.

Cut the stem in several pieces about 5 inches long.
Dip them in rooting compound and stick them in potting soil.
Soon you will see leaf buds sprouting along the sides of the stems.


Don't let the soil get too dry.







Use a liquid fertilizer frequently during the growing season.









You can put only one stem in a pot or for larger pots several stems.














As soon as the days get shorter, you will start to see the leaves getting color. At Christmas time you will have a beautiful show of poinsettias that would cost you a lot of money at the store.

Propogating cacti

My friend has published a "how-to" on rooting plants and it gave me the idea that I should share a "how-to" on rooting cacti.



Cut half a leaf from the plant





Dip in rooting compound




Place in potting mix with sand added.

Label

When it roots, it will start producing leaves on the sides of the old leaf.

Gradually repot to larger pots until you get to a 2 gallon pot. That should be as large as needed.