OK, enough whining, hope you all enjoy seeing more of my garden. It's still just a very young work in progress. As always, click on photo for full size.
Several of you commented about Trachystemon orientalis, or Russian borage. I mentioned that the flowers appear first and the fuzzy leaves grow all summer. Here's the picture I posted last March followed by a shot of the leaves taken last month.
Now ~
The rest of the photos are rhododendron hybrids or species, save the last 4.
Here is Centennial Celebration ~
Superdog ~
Pomegranate Splash ~
New growth on R. yakushimanum x pachysanthum ~
Grandma's Hat ~
Black Widow ~
Virginia Richards ~
One Thousand Butterflies ~
Midnight Mystique. This is another fabulous plant from my favorite hybridizer, Frank Fujioka. However, due to its tendency to get leggy, the fine folks at Whitney's Nursery (where I bought most of my rhodies) refer to it as Midnight Mistake :-)
Minnetonka ~
Percy Wiseman ~
A lovely alpine plant, lewisia. I've had this one at least a dozen years ~
Acer palmatum 'Fairy Hair'. So aptly named, the fine foliage got lost in the background of the first few pics I took so I stuck a piece of black poster paper behind it. Unfortunately, I should have waited for an overcast day but the amazing foliage of this dwarf maple still showed up pretty well.
Filipendula palmata 'Variegata' - This is one of my purchases from the late Heronswood Nursery, collected in Japan by owner Daniel Hinkley. It's got incredible maple-shaped leaves of platinum, white, lime and dark green with panicles of fluffy white flowers. But I refused to leave it behind during our recent moves for the foliage alone. I don't believe anyone else has propagated this plant so it's a real treasure. Underplanted beneath Rhododendron calophytum ~
Closeup of foliage ~
Beautiful! What gorgeous flowers florrie! I can't decide which is my favourite, they're all so beautiful. Love the names too: Grandma's hat, Midnight Mistake (LOL!), 1000 butterflies :).
ReplyDeleteI so envy you your green thumb and your extensive knowledge of plants and flowers. I have 10 black thumbs, and plants have been known to run screaming when they see me approaching. Well, I'm sure they would if they could. :))
I love the names too! When I walk by them I have to say their names or I'd never remember.
ReplyDeleteI envy you your tropicals, the orange and pomegranate trees! Hopefully, I'll see them for myself someday. Thanks for the nice comment.
Gorgeous plants florrie - and great photos, too.
ReplyDeleteThe Minnetonka greatly resembles the shrubs right outside our front door growing up. I remember the bees loved them.
(And I can't hear "Minnetonka" without remembering that scene (mildly and tastefully NSFW) in Prince's Purple Rain...)
I don't think the bloom is fading in the least. Oh, you were talking about the plant....
ReplyDeleteLove love LOVE the pictures. Good work in the garden -- and the photos.
I am SO jealous of you! I just love the beautiful gardens and yards I see around me. And your pictures are so lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe just have the patio yard, and while the evil blond child was home, the hanging tomatoes and strawberries were doing fine. She's been gone 3.5 days and already things are looking awful!
Your flowers and plants are lovely florrie (and so are you)! I don't think I can choose a favorite...Pomegranate Splash? Grandma's Hat? Your yard must be a riot of beauty and color! Thank you so much for sharing these photos with us!
ReplyDeleteMe? I'm still trying to figure out why my yellow rose bush grows like a weed but only puts out a few blooms a year. I've tried bloom buster, more water, less water, trimming, less sun, more sun...arghh. Any thoughts?
Thank you so much for reading this an all the nice comments, everyone! lady red, I have 4 roses but do not know much of anything about their care - I don't get many blooms either! Plus I transplanted a couple of them last month and knew I should wait until fall but...they are paying me back now by looking horrible. One of my roses - a deep red, almost black - is called Louis XIV although I now think of it as lewy katorz, for the obvious reasons :-)
ReplyDeleteafw, I am so envious of your tomatoes and strawberries!!! I wish I could add a vegetable garden but I only have herbs as this garden is the most I can handle now (without a sprinkler system). There's just nothing like fresh tomatoes. The local strawberries are being sold now so I picked up a couple pints...naturally, had to get a quart of Tillamook vanilla...then I thought "what the hell" and tried a new recipe for Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake that a friend gave me. We'll both be pushing maximum density soon :-)
Matt, what a nice thing to say, you're a sweetie.
Bloomin' luverly florrie!
ReplyDeleteI love rhodies and yours are spectacular. Thanks for the lovely post.
Wow, florrie! Fantastic photos. It took me almost a month to get a little time on a real computer so I could finally check these out. It was worth the wait. Thanks for sharing; I never even imagined there were so many rhododendrons out there. We just have one huge one in front of our house. I'm sure I've mentioned before that several years ago we had a terribly hot, dry summer and our rhodie went nearly completely brown. I pruned it pretty hard, leaving a few branches that still had green leaves, and for a year or so it looked like some sort of alien lifeform. Fortunately, it more than survived my butchery and has long since come back far better than it had been before it bonked.
ReplyDeleteDid I mention that your photos are fantastic (the plants are too, of course).
ReplyDeleteI missed an opportunity for a great photo this spring. On a nearby street that we don't go down very often, there's a house that is virtually hidden behind a wall of what appear to be very average-looking shrubs. Well, we happened to go down that street at just the right time this spring and discovered that the house was sheltered behind a brilliant red cloud. Azaleas. Certainly worth 11 months of blah for that one week of crimson.
Of course I missed the photo-op.
Next year...
A little story, as long as I have the place to myself. I've been trying to grow some grass (well, re-grow some grass) in our back yard. It took a severe beating - and quite a bit of neglect- the last few years. I finally raked it out and re-seeded it all this spring. However, I've been having a horrible battle with the squirrels. The little rodents dig up my grass every single day in search of some long-forgotten acorns. My daily routine invovles walking around trying to repair a dozen or so fresh holes, gently pushing the dirt and grass back into place. (I've tried everything there is to keep the squirrels away, btw).
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, one day last week I came home from work and noticed several fresh divots. As I pushed the dirt back in place on the first hole, I noticed a slight glint of light. I nearly ingored it, thinking is was just a bit of snail or slug slime in the dirt. Fortunately I gave it a second thought, and picked up a small loop of metal. It turned out to be an earring that my wife lost about four or five years ago. Her favorite pair at that.
And yes, she still had the other one. Hooray!
I still hate the squirrels though.
Ah a happy ending, Alphie!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! Good thing the squirrels uncovered it for you to find (couldn't resist that). Your wife must have been delighted to get the lost earring back!
ReplyDeleteWow, great story about the earring Alphie. Mrs. Alphie must be pleased.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels are a bain. I spent a fortune on plants for my downtown balcony when I lived in the city. Only to see all my planters and balcony boxes destroyed by the rats with bushy tails.
I frickin hate squirrels.
Hate em.
Well, 'tis nobler to suffer the loss of one earring than to see the rise of squirrels against a whole garden of grass... or something...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you saw the pictures, Alphie, I know you love plants too!
ReplyDeleteRhodies are pretty hardy, we cut one back to 2' (it was around 15' tall and really leggy, it had been ignored for years). I already see little sprouts on what's left of it. I bet yours will bloom next year!!
I have several plants that only shine for a couple weeks. Darn, I wish you had a picture but next year will have to do.
I hope you can find a solution for your squirrel problem but unless you have a dog or cat you can let outside, they will probably keep doing that. I had to spend about $50 to get a baffle so they wouldn't rob the suet for the birds. It was worth it, they cannot get past it!!
Would it be possible to use your photo of pomegranate splash on our website until I get my own one. I would use it with a photo credit of whatever wording you wanted. You can contact me at info@rhododirect.co.nz our website is www.rhododirect.co.nz Kind Regards Marina Shearer. PS I would not use your photo without permission
ReplyDeleteSure, I'd be glad to send you a high resolution photo if you like. I'll email you.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's quite the honour (that's the way they spell it in NZ teehee). Our very own international gardening photographer, Mz Flora Nista :) :) ;)
DeleteYay Florie!
DeleteYes, and a very nice lady not to just steal my photos (er...like some others do...nervously looking around...)
DeleteWoohoo!!
img:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/emoticons/dancingpurplebanana.gif"
Yes, manners and class still exist.
DeleteFlorrie, you're famous! Well, you've always been famous here....:)
Deleteheh heh, yes...I freely admit I've been guilty of "borrowing" photos on numerous occasions...
ReplyDeleteRight, RWC?