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Post by whollygoats on May 17, 2019 18:23:48 GMT
More singletons....first or only: ^ I think this is 'Starship Enterprise'. 'Mango Madenss' The deep dark violet self 'Dusky Challenger'. While out front... The spires of dephiniums begin their ascent. And the first of my yellow flag iris make their appearance. ETA: This is the classic 'Fleur de Lis' of European heraldry; Iris pseudacorus.
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Post by Kye on May 17, 2019 18:25:35 GMT
I just bought some flowers to put in the boxes on my balcony! (I wonder how long it will take them to die...)
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Post by whollygoats on May 17, 2019 18:31:13 GMT
I just bought some rudbeckia starts, a couple of classic sunflowers, and a couple of globe basil starts. I'm doing some 'tucking in'.
I dunno how long my supplier is going to have rudbeckia starts in four inch pots....I'll have to 'stock up'.
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Post by whollygoats on May 19, 2019 1:46:34 GMT
More... Cleo surveys her realm from the balcony. One I liked, now with two...niiiiice. I had to look it up...it's 'Country Kisses'. 'Anything Goes', now as a cluster of stems with multiple blooms. And I thought I had divided what I had in half, to replant at the farm in Mulino. The crisp, clean 'sunny day' colors of 'Tulip Festival'. This variety tends to short stems, so the blooms are closer to the ground. This is my first 'red' iris to bloom this year. This is 'Lenten Prayer'. Red iris are rather like blue roses, they happen, but the colors are never true. 'Red' iris tend to be wine colored. There are pinks, and there are purples, there are 'maroons', but clear reds just don't happen (the same with 'blue' roses). I have a collection of reds, several of which will bloom in the next few days (I think).
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Post by whollygoats on May 22, 2019 1:49:51 GMT
Shades.... Return engagement for golden rings... And, Starship Enterprise has a duplicate... What passes for 'black' in the iris world... And 'red'... Out front on the slopes, I found other surprises. The early blooms of the 'yellow flag', or, as you more cultured folks in Urp call it, the 'fleur de lys'.... Hiding at the bottom of the front steps, amidst weeds, was my only Japanese iris... And, in the shade of the rosa rugosa, hiding in the dying mystosis, was this gorgeous exemplar of the iris 'Song of Norway'.... Lastly, it looks like, after three years of trying, my rhubarb has taken hold....
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Post by Mari on May 22, 2019 7:39:52 GMT
Had I mentioned my friend named her daughter Iris? After the thing in your eye, not after the flower. She received a lot of iris bulbs as gift though.
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Post by whollygoats on May 22, 2019 13:08:00 GMT
Iris was reputedly the goddess handmaiden to Hera, queen of the gods, and messenger of the Olympian gods....the rainbow is hers.
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Post by whollygoats on May 22, 2019 16:03:34 GMT
Well...I had an inspiration for a change in the garden next year. And, it will allow me to put some of the wire accumulated for the chooks to good use.
I think I'll try sweet peas along the back fence. I'll prep it all along the fence this year by augmenting the soil and erecting lattice for the climbing vines by attaching rabbit fencing to the existing wooden fence in the back.
If successful, I will gain improvement of the aesthetics of the back fence, fragrant flowers, cut flowers, and great silage for the composters come fall. I wonder what I will be feeding....hmmm.
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Post by Sarah W. on May 23, 2019 20:47:19 GMT
It's so soothing to scroll through this thread! :-) Especially on a gloomy day when I'm stuck at work.
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Post by whollygoats on May 23, 2019 23:06:14 GMT
More.... First, the sad news...My rose 'Sweet Surrender', one of my more fragrant roses, produces a 'dinner plate' sized open blossom, but when the first blooms started to open, we got four to five days of heavy downpours, drenching everything, including the rosebuds which were just opening. What you see is the result, 'bud blast', where the opening bud rots before it can completely open. The 'Starship Enterprise' is proliferating quite well on all three stems: The stand of 'Graphic Arts' are starting to fade: The cluster of pastel light purples are coming in to their own: I found I had another pot of my favorite deep purple selfs, 'Dusky Challenger': 'Celebration Song' has produced its first two blooms: I'm still trying to ID this bloom: And, another 'red' iris has manifested itself: Meanwhile, the roses are making themselves more prominent each day. Here's 'Sunspray': And, more 'French Lace': And, the dianthus is appearing, with these pinks:
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Post by Moose on May 23, 2019 23:17:39 GMT
I love those pinks. They are singing.
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Post by whollygoats on May 25, 2019 0:49:43 GMT
Cool, overcast, and finally wet. I stayed in and engaged in more sloth and indolence.
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Post by whollygoats on May 26, 2019 23:47:34 GMT
Well, the weather cleared to a sunny day during my midday nap. So, I got out and plugged in the remaining cannabis starts and a couple of sunflowers.
I still have rudy starts to plug in, but I need to be strategic with their placement.
While taking refuge in the shade of the garden shed porch, I noted that there is a scrub jay toting nest building materials. It looks to me like she was headed to the snowbell tree that grows along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. If so, I suspect that Murray and Cleo will be spending more hours upstairs on the lightweight desk that sits in front of the window in the new guest room. It looks out on the snowbell. It may well provide an excellent view of the jay nest....I'll have to check. My trees are becoming quite the rookery for local avians. Despite the cats.
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Post by whollygoats on May 28, 2019 4:20:18 GMT
Lookin' out my backdoor. "Lenten Prayer" Variety name unsure, but I think it is something like 'Boysenberry Crush'. One stem of 'Gold Galore' which bloomed early and is still blooming. I wish I had more showing, particularly with how well all my really dark blooms have done this year, like the 'Sultry Challenger' in the background. The 'French Lace' rose bush is loaded with buds, just starting to open. The cluster of 'Celebration Song' is doing well. As is the cluster of pale pastel purple selfs. While the 'Graphic Art' blooms are ebbing. But, I found this, 'Val de Loire' lurking near the birdbath. The honeysuckle started blooming, too. Each open bloom is a fragrance bomb. I saw hummingbirds arguing over whose territory this was in.
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Post by Moose on May 30, 2019 22:39:22 GMT
We should have a picnic in your garden. Who has a private jet?
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Post by Mari on Jun 8, 2019 16:24:31 GMT
We started work on our front garden. We removed lots of plants and tiles. Now to start re-building and planting.
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 9, 2019 22:11:03 GMT
Oh, boy! Have you plant lists? In ground, or pots, or both?
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 9, 2019 23:04:38 GMT
I'm down to my last few iris blooms....**sniff**
My roses are full-on. The Canterbury bells and foxglove, along with the honeysuckle, are doing well diverting attention from the loss.
New in the beds...I sighted one quite early Rudy (rudbeckia, aka blackeyed susan) in bloom. The clematis, amidst the honeysuckle on the western fence, is doing well.
My first daylily bloom today.
My first jasmine bloom today.
All six cannabis are doing well. Most are above the grid.
The eggplants are in the ground.
Something is vexing my basil. I lost about a third of the initial planting. Just....withered. I got more starts and they are taking a hit, too.
I have three melon plants waiting to be planted, along with a half dozen new rudy starts. I keep watering them.....but not enough oomph to actually weed and plant.
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Post by Mari on Jun 12, 2019 19:45:28 GMT
Oh, boy! Have you plant lists? In ground, or pots, or both? In ground, but no plant lists. One border will be senses plants like herbs smell and taste, bright edible flowers sight and taste, some grasses hearing, etc. Another is wild border themed.
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 12, 2019 21:30:00 GMT
I plugged the melons in yesterday and watered. That's all I managed.
It was 22 C this morning at 7 am, so all I managed were some required tasks, like dragging the recycle bins back up the hill from the street.
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Post by ceptimus on Jun 13, 2019 10:39:17 GMT
Those Latin Names
It was a simple country child Who took me by the hand: Why English flowers had Latin names She couldn't understand, Those funny friendly English flowers, That bloom from year to year - She asked me if I would explain And so I said to her:
Eranthis is an aconite As everybody knows, And Helleborous Niger is Our friend the Christmas rose. Galanthus is a snowdrop, Matthiola is a stock, And Cardamine the meadow flower Which you call lady's smock. Muscari is grape hyacyith. Dianthus is a pink -- And that's as much as one small head Can carry, I should think.
She listened, very patiently: Then turned, when I had done, To where a fine Forsythia Was smiling in the sun.
Said she: 'I love this yellow stuff.' And that, somehow, seemed praise enough.
Reginald Arkell
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 17, 2019 1:48:48 GMT
The wall of jasmine is now in full bloom.
The melons and eggplant are all in the ground, but I'm still dawdling on the new Rudies....
I'm hurting from the assault upon the parking strip. I need a massage, but my therapist is temporarily in Long Island.
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 18, 2019 16:27:06 GMT
The western wall of star jasmine, topped with blooming grapes.... The eastern fence, festooned with a mix of honeysuckle, clematis, and a polyantha rose topping out at about twelve feet, all in full bloom at present....
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 18, 2019 16:48:24 GMT
I spent most of yesterday pruning back, 'deadheading', my roses. The blush of the first bloom of the roses is over. All I have is outliers.
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Post by kingedmund on Jun 19, 2019 3:45:22 GMT
I do love A beautiful Iris.
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 19, 2019 4:33:28 GMT
Yes, that I understand.
The iris are all gone.
The first bloom of roses is nearly gone.
The fragrant vines are abloom now, but the next great leap is in to the screaming yellow of rudbeckia...Rudies.
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Post by Kye on Jun 19, 2019 4:49:45 GMT
We're in iris season here. There are lots of pretty ones around!
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Post by whollygoats on Jun 19, 2019 5:35:31 GMT
Wow...blooming things must ramp up fast there, Farther.
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Post by Kye on Jun 19, 2019 11:00:46 GMT
Yep. The lilacs have been and gone. Now the peonies are out.
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Post by kingedmund on Jun 19, 2019 12:22:59 GMT
I tried peonies and they don’t seem to grow here very well.
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