Archive for the 'Flowers' Category
This is a picture of a peaches and cream brugmansia we are growing. I planted it about 3 years ago. It grew well for about a year and half, and it bloomed spectacularly on at least one occasion.
In January 2007, it froze to the ground during cold weather. Since then, it has slowly been making a come back. A few days ago, it started blooming for the first time since the freeze.
I really like this brugmansia, because of its peachy colored flowers and variegated leaves. It does not grow as fast or bloom as much as the Charles Grimaldi brugmansia. Even so, it makes an attractive small shrub.
I put copper tape around the base of the trunk to keep the snails from eating the leaves. Without some form of snail control, snails eat many holes in the leaves, making the plant look unattractive.
I water this brugmansia regularly. I have it growing in a spot that only receives filtered sunlight in the afternoon and mostly shade in the morning. Although many sources say to plant brugmansia in full sun, my experience has been that brugmansia wilts frequently in full sun on hot summer days. I tend to think a shady or partly sunny spot is more ideal for brugmansia.
August 31 2008 | Brugmansia | Comments Off on Peaches and Cream Brugmansia
The above-pictured white rose of sharon has been blooming in our backyard for over a month. Every time I go outside to look at it, bees are buzzing around its flowers. I have not noticed a decline in the bee population in our backyard.
Apparently, certain flowers attract bees more than others. Rose of sharon appears to be very attractive to bees. My guess is that growing a diversity of flowering plants is probably good for prompting a healthy local honey bee population. Most flowering plants only bloom for a few weeks out of the year. Growing a diversity of flowers gives bees a food source over a longer season.
This rose of sharon bush was planted by the previous owners. Its flowers are attractive, and it has bloomed every summer. Also, it requires very little care. I don’t think I have ever fertilized it, and it doesn’t seem to require a lot of water. Rose of sharon is also very frost tolerant. It can easily withstand temperatures in the 20s, and probably much lower.
August 29 2008 | Rose of Sharon | Comments Off on White Rose of Sharon
It seems that a garden is not complete without at least one plant in a hanging container. Fuchsias are one of the best suited plants to grow in hanging containers. Growing them in hanging containers makes it easier to view them. One can just look up and view the flowers as they droop downward.
Some varieties of fuchsias have erect branches and others having drooping branches. I think that the types of fuchsias with drooping branches look especially attractive in a hanging basket.
These are pictures of fuchsias that are blooming outside our kitchen window right now.
Fuchsias are frost sensitive plants. They should be brought inside during freezing weather in the winter if they are being grown as perennials. We bought the above-pictured fuchsia in 2007. It survived the entire winter of 2007-2008 outside without being brought inside. The temperatures here did not dip too far below freezing last winter. This fuchsia is now in its second summer.
The below-pictured fuchsia was purchased from a nursery last spring, looking nearly like what it does now. It looked great for weeks until it stopped blooming. But I managed to get it to bloom again. The secret, I have learned, to getting our fuchsias to bloom multiple times each year is repeated applications of fertilizer. I apply water soluble fertilize to them about once every two weeks. The fertilizer seems to kick start another bloom a few weeks after the last one has finished. Now I am wondering whether I can keep repeat blooms going through autumn this year.
August 26 2008 | Fuchsia | Comments Off on Hanging Fuchsias
These are pictures of another great rose that is blooming in our yard. I don’t know what variety of rose it is. It was growing here when we moved in, and I can’t find a tag on it. I like this rose, because its flowers last for several days, sometimes over a week, before they fade. Also, the flowers don’t get sunburned on hot days like so many of our other roses. It has thrived in our yard with a minimal amount of care. It gets watered every day by a drip system for about ten minutes. I fertilize it about twice a year, once in spring and once in summer.
August 10 2008 | Roses | Comments Off on Unknown Pink Rose
These are pictures of an Intrigue rose bush that is blooming in our yard this week. Intrigue is one of my favorite hybrid tea roses. It has the perfect rose shape as it’s opening. Although, it tends to fade quickly soon after it’s fully opened, and the flowers often get sunburned in hot weather.
I planted this rose bush as a bare root rose about 3 years ago. It grew poorly the first 2 years, probably because it was only getting about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day, and it wasn’t getting watered enough.
Roses are water hungry plants. I now water all of my roses daily with a drip system from April through October. Also, I moved this Intrigue rose bush to a new loaction that gets about 6 hours of direct sun daily. Now, it’s doing great. It’s tripled in size in just the past year.
August 06 2008 | Roses | Comments Off on Intrigue Rose
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