New plants

I bought several new plants today.

The purple flower is a Salvia leucantha, or Mexican bush sage. It will be nice in the front area where I already have several varieties of salvia. I also bought a Salviagreggi Furmans Red salvia, which has a nice fragrance.

The other two plants I have photographed are both shade lovers, and will go behind the pond. The one with the yellow spots is Farfugium japonieum "Aureamaculata". It has yellow flowers at the end of long stems. The larger, bushy tropical looking plant is a Fatsia japonica Jampanese fatsia. It should make a dramatic look to that back corner of the yard.

I also bought 3 mums, on sale, since they are a bit past their peak. But, they should be nice perennials for the front yard.

Hopefully I can get them all planted in the next few days.

A WOW garden

I spent this past weekend in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Despite a steady, cold rain, we saw several gardens. Most of Saturday was spent at Longwood Gardens. http://www.longwoodgardens.org/ Longwood is more than 1000 acres of gardens, AND has a 4.5 acre conservatory with more than 5,000 plants in it. It was simply unbelievable. I got so many ideas for my little garden space. The mums were spectacular. There is beautiful orchid room that was stunning. The leaves are beginning to turn in southern PA, but there were still many flowers blooming. Unfortunately it was just too cold and wet to be outside for long.

We also got to see the great pumpkin weigh-in. The winner was over 1400 lbs.

We visited Winterthur, but it was just too cold and wet to see much in the gardens. The museum, of course, is fabulous. And, we visited a small garden at an (unfortunately) now nearly abandoned house in Wilmington. The gardens are the Marian Coffin gardens, and are quite nice. The house, Gibralter, was once lovely, but is now boarded up and covered in vines.

All three of these are worth the trip.

Hot October

It is still hot for October. Yesterday and today in the 80s. It is keeping some of the late bloomers pretty. Below are some of what I have now. The blue/purple bush is an aromatic aster, along with a daisy. The red flowers are pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) and the other white flower is a ginger lily.

My last mystery plant

Turns out this mystery plant is Katie's Ruellia. A dwarf of the common Ruellia which I also have. Here is some good information about it. http://www.jaycjayc.com/ruellia-brittoniana-katie-dwarf-purple/

I found a great website, finegardening.com, where you can post a 'what is this?' picture. Some of the folks were very helpful and sent me in the right directions. I will use that resource more.

Argiope aurantia

We seem to have an abundance of spiders around the yard. I try to keep them off the porch, but I know that spiders have an important place in the garden. There are two large spiders, agripoe aurantia, at the lamp post in the front, where my moon flower is.

Here is another mystery plant. It bloomed in August, but I'm just now posting the picture. The woman who sold it to us said it was a Mexican Violet, but I can't find that plant in any book. Pretty little plant, rather bushy and close to the ground, growing in partial shade.

Tea Olive time

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could embed fragrance in a blog? The Tea Olive bush (Osmanthus frangrans) is not an impressive shrub. It has tiny white flowers in late spring and again in late summer. But what a marvelous fragrance! You can drive around town, or walk down any street in west Raleigh right now, and smell this wonderful scent. My tea olive bushes are small, and I hope to keep them from getting too large.

I also have a hollyhock blooming. I've been trying to get them to grow for three years, with no success. They did beautifully at our last house. I don't know why they have done so poorly here. But, here is the first bloom.

What is this?

I try very hard to note the names of everything I plant. Once in a while I miss something. This beautiful purple plant is one. I think it is in the aster family, but I can't find a name! I will take a cutting to work, where hopefully another gardener will know what it is. It certainly is beautiful, with small clusters of flowers and mint like leaves.

The other plant, with the fuchsia and yellow flowers is a four o'clock. I swore I would never grow these again! At our last house I was constantly digging up the invasive tubers. But, on the south side of our house the soil is bad and I decided to plant things that would need very little attention. The four o'clock are doing well, but not being very invasive.

We are having delightfully cool weather right now. Rare for early September, but I hope that we can do some significant yard work on Monday after a quick trip to Asheville for the Labor Day weekend.

I found it! Actually one of my coworkers knew. This is Ageratum houstonianum, sometimes called bluemink. It is an annual, re-seeder. I have no idea where it came from. Perhaps it was a donation from a nice bird.

Maintenance

My garden work for the last month has been maintenance. Pulling weeds, deadheading, pruning, cutting grass. The weather has been good, not terribly hot, and wet enough to keep things growing.

Some of my new plants have been no-shows. In particular, my Naked Ladies, also called magic lilies. (Lycoris sp.) I see them blooming around the neighborhood now, but no sign of mine. They are such great plants, because they have bright pink flowers on top of long, leafless stems.

The light purple plant with the bumblebee is an Obedient Plant (Physotegia virginiana). I planted two last year, and they are spreading nicely. They can be invasive, so I'll have to keep an eye on them.

The elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) is huge in this location. I have another one else where in the yard, that is very small. I now know where to plant them.

This last purple plant was a gift in early summer. It is a Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis). It seems to like this location, on the south side of the house. That area still needs lots of work. This is planted among coneflowers, black-eyed susans and four o'clocks.

The great blue heron has been back this weekend. All the fish are now in hiding (or gone?).

Red Hot!

Both the temperature and the kniphofia "Red Hot Poker". What a fabulous plant. These were given to me last spring, but, as expected, they did not bloom last year. This year they are putting on quite a show. What a dramatic addition to the garden.

The other plant is another garden phlox which I planted last year as well. So pretty.

This weekend is our first blazing hot spell of the summer. We should see 100 today. Fortunately we have had lots of rain, so everything should survive this short lived intense heat.

In full bloom

I couldn't resist all the photos in this post.

I try to do as much organic gardening as possible. I use very few chemicals. The exception is for poison ivy. Round-up here we come! The nasty stuff in this photo has already been sprayed twice, and it is still green! But, I will keep at it.

I thought a photo of some of our fish would be fun. I really thought the pond was empty of them. We were given some nice size fish in March. We may have still had some, or those five have been very prolific. The great blue heron is aware of the arrivals. He visited today.

The pink and white flowers are Peppermint phlox. I planted it last fall. What a delightful plant. I have also posted a white crinum lily, a purple stokes aster and liatrus, which are the tall, spiky purple flowers.

Exciting new plants

Last year my next door neighbors had this Elephant Ear, Colocasia 'Coffee Cup' in their yard. I was very impressed with it. Much to my surprise (and theirs, I think) not only did it winter over, but it came back with offshoots this year. So, he gave me one. As it grows, the leaves will curl up, forming a cup. They fill with water when it rains, and birds will drink out of the. So, here is mine.

I planted the beebalm last year, but it did not bloom. I was expecting bright red flowers, so I was very surprised to see fuchsia blooms. It is very pretty, and mixes well with the rose campion.

This is the second year this amaryllis has bloomed. It has not grown near as tall this year. Also blooming are the pond flags (iris), pinks, peonies, veronica (speedwell), climbing roses.

Blooming today

Here are some pictures of what is blooming today. I have been surprised by the three different shades of spiderwort. They are much more robust than in previous years. Also the first of the rose campion (it is the small magenta flower with the soft gray/green leaves) is a bit early.

Mulch and new things

I've been putting in lots of annuals, and gift plants. I put a smilax beside the front porch. I should be able to train it up the side and over the top of the porch. I have also put in ginger lilies, more helleborus, hollyhocks, iris, kniphofia, purple oxalis, and zinnias. I put caladiums in the planters near the pond, but also in the ground behind the pond.


My iris are really beautiful, but I have found that I have some dark purple ones that are rather short, and can't be seen where they are. I will need to move them.

The roses here are an older climbing Bourbon rose Zephirine Drouhin. They did not bloom last year, but are putting on quite a fragrant show this year.

The small plant we got at a plant/yard sale. The lady called it a Mexican violet. I can't find that name anywhere, for anything resembling this plant. I'll watch it grow and try to figure out what it is. I just hope I have it planted in a good spot.

A nice surprise

I love iris. Bearded iris are my favorite, but I like them all. Perhaps this is because it was the only flower my mother grew, and I always enjoyed picking them when I was little.

I have gotten iris from many different places. Some from the house I grew up in, which have now moved 3 times with me. Some from friends and some from plant sales. Often I don't really know what they will look like when I plant them. Yesterday my husband bought a huge bunch of purple Dutch iris at a yard sale.

My great surprise is pictured here. I planted some iris last summer, too late for them to bloom. I didn't know what they would look like. This is the first to bloom, and it is a stunner! I've never seen one with such a mixture of purple and white. It has a lovely scent as well.

Spring is busy

Although I've been very inactive on this blog, I've been busy in the garden. This is such a great time to move things.

I was given some more iris, and my crinums were far too crowded, so we dug a new bed in the back yard, and moved the iris and criums there. I have added dianthus to the front bank, as well as hens & chicks (sempervivum tectorum). I've also added them to various bare spots around the yard. I moved two hardy begonias to the far back of the yard. They were not doing well where they were. I was given several more helleborus, and I have planted those in the front south gardens (with others which is one of these photos) and in the back. I also added two white azaleas to the back and moved some money plant (Lunaria annua) and hostas to the back. We have a nice shady area around the pond.

I've divided hens & chicks, aromatic aster, and canna, and given those to other gardeners. I've also added a number of annuals to the yard, such as marigolds, petunias and dusty miller.

I am not going to do many vegetables this year, but I am adding more herbs to the garden. I planted a scallion plant, and I have some oregano from another gardeners to add. I also plan to add chives and perhaps some other great herbs.

I am excited about some of my perennials. I have many more crocosmia than last year. Also my bourbon roses have lots of buds. They did not bloom at all last year. The catmint is coming up, but I have seen no sign of the butterfly weed I planted in the fall. So far, the lantana has not returned either. My biggest surprise is the Clematis I planted beside the deck last summer. It did nothing, but this year it is robust and blooming. This is a good photo of it.

More snow!

Only 2 inches of snow, but it is pretty. I would have like a day at home. This follows on more than 2 inches of rain over the past few days.

It is fun to see daffodils blooming through the snow. I am also beginning to see other perennials emerging, such as aromatic aster, sedum and spiderwort. New leaves are appearing on my two climbing "bourbon" roses.

Getting ready to plant.

Yes, I realize it is only the middle of February, but there is really is so much to do. We treated the grass with weed & feed yesterday. Today we cut back the monkey grass, the butterfly bushes, lantana and angel trumpet. I also mulched more leaves and spread mulch around.

Yesterday I picked my first daffodils! I have hyacinths with buds. My dark red camellia is just beginning to bloom as well.

Taste of Spring

We have had a week of very warm weather, so early blooming has started. I have Lenten roses, crocuses, and daphine blooming. My daffodils are about to blooms. Around town I have seen early ornamental fruit trees and some star magnolia in bloom. My star magnolia has buds.

I think that cold is coming back in the next few days.

Lots of cold

We have had two deep cold spells in the last few weeks. Temperatures below 20 are not particularly common here. I have a small gardenia bush in the back yard that was hurt two weeks ago. Most of the leaves are now brown. I don't think it will survive. Daffodils are still budding. I think the cold will just delay their blooming. With temperatures up in the 60s this coming weekend, they will probably bloom.

Lenten roses have not bloomed yet, and my daphine is just beginning to bloom.

It is time to start planning for the summer garden. I also planted so many new perennials that I'm looking forward to watching what comes up.

Snow!

We do not have snow often in Raleigh, and when we do it is usually just a dusting. So, today's 4+ inches is a rare treat.

I think a winter garden can be lovely, and never more than when it is covered in snow. I especially like to watch the birds.

Too soon, too soon

I had been thinking that so far the late fall and early winter had been cooler than normal. We've not had many below freezing temperatures, but we rarely do. However, this week I found that my daffodils and hyacinths are up! I even have buds on the daffodils. This is way too soon. I even saw some daffodils in bloom in North Raleigh. There are also some ornamental fruit trees blooming around town.

My daphene is in bud, as it should be. I expect lots of blooms very soon. Such a great fragrance. Unfortunately the one on the south side of our front porch seems to be dying. I'm not sure what the problem is. The leaves are pale and the whole bush is thin and sickly looking. The one pictured below is just on the other side of the front steps, and it looks great.