The wrong flowers are nonetheless pretty. Pretty flowers distract from unsightly foliage. Neighborly ground squirrels are people too.

1. ‘Red King Humbert’ Canna was one of only two canna that I ever purchased. I still feel guilty about spending about $6 for ‘Australia’ years ago. This second purchase for thirty rhizomes late last season was not so inexpensive. I was so displeased as virused foliage emerged. I tried to believe that this discoloration was from starting so late in the season.

2. ‘Red King Humbert’ Canna gets about six feet tall, with billowy and bright red bloom. Because it started so late last year, it barely grew, and did not bloom. Now it blooms like this, and is only about two feet tall. It is all virused. It definitely is not what it should be.

3. An assortment of formerly unappreciated canna, Kaffir lily and giant bird of Paradise temporarily inhabit this otherwise uninteresting deck at work. A gardener found them to be too appealing to leave in obscurity within the nursery yard, so brought them here and set their cans into more appealing pots. Only the canna to the right is original to the site.

4. Strelitzia nicolai, giant bird of Paradise is shabby though. The worst of its few roasted leaves is to the upper left. However, only I notice it! Everyone else notices its rad bloom.

5. Alvin, Simon and Theodore are the new neighbors. I yelled at them initially. They just came out to stare at me. More of their friends and family moved in. They do not damage desirable vegetation though. Actually, they are eating undesirable weeds with brambles!

6. After recycling an article about the vandalism of the Memorial Tree in Felton Covered Bridge Park two Wednesdays ago, I should post this new picture of how happy it is now.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

18 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Not So Bad”

      2. They are ground squirrels in picture #5 who happen to be as annoying as those old cartoon characters. They really are not so bad though, and because everyone else thinks that they are cute, and they seem so happy to live here, they are still here.

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  2. I got a trail cam for Christmas. I always knew that I had Wild Kingdom in my backyard but now I can verify it. I am not sure why I even have anything growing out there at all! At least the rabbits seem to be eating the clover and not the herbs this year. Love your squirrels!

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    1. The ground squirrels are actually not a problem like I thought they would be. They are eliminating some of the unwanted vegetation. If they take a few of the Canna, I can not complain. They are earning their stay. I just dislike them because I perceive them to be vermin.

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  4. Your new neighbors are adorable and that Strelitzia truly does have the coolest flowers. I had to go back and look up the article on the Memorial tree, and can’t believe someone would do something so deliberately hateful. So glad to hear that it is happy and healthy!

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    1. Adorable?! They are rodents! If they were not so helpful, I would want them to be evicted. They tease me because they know I dislike them, but can not justify evicting them. Even if I could justify it, I could not, just because they seem to be so happy here, and I would rather they live here than in a landscape somewhere else! Giant bird of Paradise blooms with interesting flowers, but is not as colorful as the common terrestrial bird of Paradise, which blooms with bright orange flowers. Because sugary nectar drips somewhat messily from the big white flowers of giant bird of Paradise, we know them as ‘drooling seagulls’ in horticultural slang. The vandal who vandalized the Memorial Tree has a very serious mental disorder. It is saddening to know that she is so tormented.

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      1. Lucky for them, then, that cuteness and taxonomy are rarely correlated. Many species survive on less. Ecosystem engineering feats aside, the smug looks on their faces are great 😂

        Good tip, didn’t know about the drooling birds. Will know better than to sit too close to those planters at shopping centers. Alas, my indoor plants will probably never flower anyway so I will never be graced by their syrupy bounty.

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      2. Giant bird of paradise is more of a big foliar perennial than a floral perennial. Its lush foliage is its primary asset, and occasional bloom is merely a bonus. It is still very appealing without bloom.

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    1. The Memorial Tree? Yes, we are very pleased with it. The neighbors are quiet after dark, probably to avoid the owls. I really do not know much about their activity.

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    1. Yes, the bloom is striking, although giant bird of Paradise is more foliar than floral. I mean, it is grown more lush foliage than bloom. This particular specimen will eventually go into the ground below a pool deck, where the base will not be visible from above. Otherwise, I prefer to grow it in conjunction with the more common terrestrial bird of Paradise, which blooms with similar but more slender and strikingly bright orange flowers. The Canna virus is annoying, not only because it affects the new Canna, but also because it is very contagious to other Canna. If we do not discard the virused Canna, we can only install them away from the other Canna that are already here.

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  7. Pingback: Six on Saturday: You Get What You Pay For – Tony Tomeo

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