What's In a [Common] Name?

Little of truth, in this case. This is the flower from a corm (like a bulb, but not) sold under the name Peacock Orchid. It's no orchid; it's a gladiolus - gladiolus callianthus 'Murielae.' As for the peacock part - okay, maybe if you look at it upside down ...

Something Blue

Blue ... we're just not that into it.

In fact, this may be the only blue flower on the property (excepting some preexisting, unidentified ground cover in the backyard).

Salvia guaranitica, variety "Black & Blue Sage."

It's black, and it's blue. And that's about all we've got to say about it.

Want Hummingbirds?

Then plant this: Salvia elegans aka pineapple sage. Hardy once established. Cuttings root easily. Hummingbirds love it. And it really does smell a bit like pineapple.

Mum's the Word

Chrysanthemum lore has it that a shock to the roots (such as transplanting) can alter the color of subsequently produced flowers. It may be so. Flowers from this specimen, rescued from an office trash bin, were once a darker shade of rust, and more red than orange.

Thumbs Not Always Green

Just to demonstrate that not everything we touch thrives, here is the case of a plant variety we've been unable to grow successfully.



Meet Eustoma grandiflorum aka Lisianthus russellianus - fresh from the store, but slightly wilty from the trip home, followed by a thorough watering.



Now see her a week after transplanting. She just went into a sulk and died.

They die if you don't water them enough.

They die if you water them too much.

They die if you don't transplant them.

They die if you do transplant them.

Hot, cool, sunny, shady - dead, dead, dead, dead.

But we haven't given up. Oh, no. If necessary, we'll get Barbra Streisand to sing over one a la On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Someday, this plant will live for us. It may even set seed.

The White Album

Before Labor Day 2006 passes into history and summer whites must be put away, here, in no particular order, are some white flowers which appeared in our garden over the last few months.
















Image 1 - Rosa Banksiae aka Lady Banks' Rose (white variety). Small, nearly scentless blooms appear once or twice a year. It does not merely climb or ramble; it's a rover which has shot up a stone wall and over a wooden fence into a neighbor's yard. We believe an elderly specimen of this rose variety--the canes twisted and gnarled together in a tree shape--resided in mother's garden at the Old House. Years later, we discovered a subsequent owner of the property removed the "tree." Pity.




Image 2 - Viburnum. This came from the garden center as a brown stick in bareroot packaging. The label described the variety as a "snowball" type. We waited years and years for snowballs. At last, this year, we got flowers, but no "snowballs." The grower's mixup again. This is a lacecap variety. We like it well enough, but next time we go shopping for snowballs, we'll have to see them in bloom before we plunk down our hard-earned dough.
















Image 3 - You Say Rose of Sharon, I Say Hibiscus. Hibiscus syriacus aka Rose of Sharon. Deciduous (i.e., dies back to a big brown stick in winter); kept us guessing whether we would see any flowers this year. Once in a while, the grower's goof works in your favor. We bought a 5 gallon pot containing what we thought was a multi-trunked shrub of a lavender variety. In the process of repotting, we found three different plants had been potted up together: one lavender, one pink and one white. Probably the best deal we've ever gotten on a purchase from the big box home improvement store which shall not be named.




Image 4 - Plumbago auriculata aka Cape Plumbago. Why plumbago? We can't recall. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste ...)















Image 5 - Azalea (miniature form), a sub-species of rhododendron. Given that there are roughly 800 species and 10,000 varieties in the rhododendron family, we very much wish we had not misplaced the plant tag for this little guy.






Image 6 - It's a Hard Knock Life for a Shamrock Flower. Yes, yes, we should have had this for St. Patrick's Day, but it wasn't flowering then! We have no interesting story about this particular flower. However, long, long ago, while searching for something in the patch of clover beneath our bedroom window at the Old House, we found a four-leaf clover. We plucked it, pressed it in wax paper and carried it for years until it mysteriously vanished. Perhaps the leprechauns took it back.

Taking a Break ...

... from red for a moment, here's a Platycodon Grandiflorus aka Balloon Flower. Unfortunately, we did not get a shot of the "balloon" stage, which occurs right before the flower bud opens. [Yes, yes, it looks just like a little white balloon, not much bigger than the tip of a finger. Yawn.] But check out the smooth, white simplicity of the open flower.

The Holy Grail ... of Nasturtiums

At last! A red one!

Mahogany Velvet. We found the seeds at Target (of all places). When we went back for more, they were sold out. [Boo hoo.]

The color of the actual flower (fresh blood red) looks nothing like what was pictured on the seed packet (maroonish, dried blood red), but we aren't complaining.

Red, red flowers; happy, happy, happy!

A Bloomin' Onion

The real deal. One that got away by going soft and sprouting before we could use it. Stuck it in a pot, and here's what we got.

Who's Your Daddy?

[Pardon the title; we just couldn't resist ...]

A request was made that we discuss a peculiar phenomenon noted by a fellow rose gardener. His query:

Why are the second generation of blooms sometimes 1/3 of the size of the first blooms of the season?

The short and very general answer is that a rosebush is not a widget factory. Blooms will vary not only in size, but also strength of scent and, depending on the rose variety, color.

As an example, below are photos of two roses from the same shrub, a hybrid tea called Sterling Silver. The plant is about 6 ft. tall. The larger bloom came from the top of the plant; the smaller, from the midsection.




The smaller flower has suffered quite a bit of insect damage which, in addition to its more shaded position on the plant, may have contributed to its reduced size.

What is stranger still, none of the flowers currently open on this particular shrub have the signature citrusy scent which, apart from the lavender/pale mauve color, is the selling point for this variety. Perhaps the scent evaporated in the recent heat wave?

Getting back to the original query, it is our belief that environmental factors are the cause of a consistent difference in bloom size. The rose bush in question had a nice rest over the winter, enjoyed some spring rain followed by balmy temperatures, and then put out its best blooms first. As the weather became hotter and drier, the plant suffered some stress, so the later blooms were smaller.

This is our conjecture; any “rose whisperers” in the blogsphere are welcome to ring in with their thoughts on the issue.

Neighbor Blight

From the amazing to the annoying:

We recently discovered that one of our neighbors had several branches of our mulberry[?] tree cut. We would have been much less upset about this development if he had not
(1) tossed some of the cuttings back into our yard for us to dispose of, and
(2) reached over and made cuts on our side of the property line.

While it is quite easy to get carried away with a pruning saw, let us all try to be good neighbors and remember:

If thy neighbor's green growing things offend thee, thou mayest cut them back up to the property line.

Thou mayest not reach over the property line and lop off another 5-6 inches.

Once you cut, the cuttings are your problem.

And, for heaven's sake, don't botch it up like this wanker did (see photo).

Here endeth the lesson for today.

Oh, For a Honking Great Telephoto Lens!

We were sitting on the stoop this afternoon, getting ready to pack it in after photographing small birds around the feeder, when a commotion drew our eyes to the Chinese Elm that covers the front patio. A hawk (or falcon?) had landed on one of the near horizontal trunks with a smaller bird (a jay?) clutched in one claw. The parent or mate of the captured bird then swooped in to harass the raptor, shrieking all the while. We got one so-so shot before the raptor took off with its lunch.

Something Unusual

Have you ever seen mushrooms growing between bricks? We hadn't, until now.

Nightmare in Pink (A Cautionary Tale)

If you plant a rose that dies and then resurrects with new growth unlike that which went before, forget the cross and the holy water and go straight for the shovel. The rose you sought to grow has shuffled off its mortal coil, and the rootstock plant has taken its place.

Many, if not all, of the roses to be found at local nurseries, home improvement stores, and the discount store garden department are grafts. This means that canes of the desired variety are grafted onto the rootstock of a more robust rose plant.

There are those who claim that many rose varieties grow better/faster/stronger when grafted onto foreign rootstock. The problem is that if the grafted portions of the plant die back--due to disease, insect attack, or extreme weather--the desired variety is toast and the rootstock takes over.

Sometimes a robust rootstock doesn't wait for the grafts to die before attempting a hostile takeover. Beware of speedy growth from below the bud union (the lumpy base where the canes meet the rootstock). For example, if you're trying to grow a shrub rose and new canes shoot for the sky, get out the pruners and cut the new growth back to where its base meets the rootstock. Give the rootstock an inch, and it'll take half the backyard (see example below).

Did Someone Say Orange? (Part Trois)

Hybrid tea rose: Prominent.

This was our first orange rose. Orange not being a favored color (red, red, red ... and a little more red), the selling point was the grower/distributor's notation that the flowers have a strong rose scent. This proved to be incorrect, at least as far as this specimen goes. Grows better in partial shade than full sun. Very thorny; and inarguably orange.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Epiphyllum ______________ aka Cactus Orchid.





Yep.



A pink one.




This plant was grown from a cutting given to Mom in the 1970s by the father of a classmate.





We've picked up specimens of other varieties (an almost-red and an alleged [yet to flower] purple) over the years, but the pink is the strongest plant and a prolific, reliable bloomer.

Seeing Double?

Looks a lot like "Julia Child," but this is Sunsprite (also a floribunda rose). A bright yellow with a light fragrance. Borrowing one of the nephew's phrases, it "smells like sunshine."

The New Kid or Veni, Vedi, Visa

Rosa floribunda - Julia Child.

Yesterday's acquisition. Not red, but a startlingly good golden yellow. Beautifully convoluted flowers. What clinched the deal, though, was the strong mystery fragrance. Couldn't quite make it out - rose and something else. Checked again this afternoon and the answer is: rose with a licorice subnote.

What a Difference a Day Makes, or Did Someone Say Orange? (Part Deux)

Hybrid tea rose - Voodoo.

Day 1 - the bud is a deep, sunset orange with burnt orange-red streaks.

Day 4 - the flower starts opening; the overall color is a strong orange.

Day 5 - the flower is open; the center petals are now pale orange, while the outer ones are salmon to medium pink.

Morning and Evening

A hibiscus--pale orange to a human eye; golden yellow to the camera eye. Red center.

It Doesn't Get Much More Orange Than This

If it's flashy orange you want in the garden, the easiest and most economical way to go is the nasturtium. The seeds are inexpensive, roughly pea-sized and easy to handle, and germinate without a fuss. The flowers are edible; some folk put them in salads.

Legend has it that there are red varieties of nasturtium available. Perhaps owing to packaging goofs, we've had no luck in our quest for red nasturtiums. No matter the color described on the seed packet, the resulting flowers have been orange.

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program

... for the two biggest lemons you've ever seen.

Weight: about a pound a piece. Variety: unknown.
The parent tree--a twisted, low growing specimen--bears only a few fruits each year, but they're whoppers.

Why is one shaped like a lemon (more or less) and the other like a grapefruit? Who knows? We just snap the photos and make lemonade here.

Did Someone Say Orange? (Part Un)

Rosa floribunda, Singin' in the Rain.

The grower's catalog describes its color as cinnamon-apricot. (Apricot? Maybe. Cinnamon? No, no, no.)

This garden specimen is a pale orange with pink-streaked edges. The color is strongest when the flower first opens and bleaches out as the bloom ages.

Elusive Red

True reds are hard to find. No matter the type of flower, seekers after red often end up with a plant which produces blooms in hues of dark pink or even orange. "How could anyone call this red?" we cry when the blood-colored blossom we anticipated opens in fuschia.

Mix-ups at the growers? Mislabeling at the nursery? Probably.

But perhaps, like the camera eye, each human eye perceives color just a little differently; hence, one man's red is another's magenta.

The Martha Washington geranium (pelargonium) pictured here is, to the photographer's naked eye, a much deeper red than the camera was able to interpret. The first impressions were on the pink side. This shot comes closer to "reality," but is still not quite correct.

The camera eye has got some neat tricks, but it has yet to master all those of the human eye.

The Sage Penis Series

A belated birthday dedication to Gene T., who once described one of my sculptures as consisting of five waving penises. Here are five more found in my garden yesterday afternoon. The wind was causing them to wave, which is how a finger wound up in Shot 1.

Shot 5 is a profile view (less obviously phallic - but note the scary spur) of the flower from Shot 1. Shot 3 (with aphid) is a different flower from the same plant: a white variety of salvia greggii aka Autumn Sage.

Not the "Perfect Rose"

... but one pretty good ranunculus.