Sunday Best – Dinky Dahlia
Sunday Best – Color Bowl
Six on Saturday: Last Wednesday Again
Again, this Six on Saturday lacks a theme. These are six random pictures that I took last Wednesday morning.
1. Rain?! Well, actually, it was just drizzly fog. It certainly looked like rain, though, and it was enough to fill a few puddles, and be hazardous for commuter traffic on Highway 17.
2. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox that I got a picture of last week flopped forward from the weight of the drizzly fog. It stood more upright as the moisture dried later in the day.
3. Pinus thunbergii ‘Thunderhead’ Japanese black pine is generating new growth rather late. It probably should have done this in spring so its foliage would be matured by now.
4. Alocasia macrorrhiza, elephant ears is now blooming with its weird green spathe and spadix. This same blooming stem is already producing a new leaf, so is not monocarpic.
5. Hedychium gardnerianum, kahili ginger is beginning to bloom. It has not done much since its arrival a few years ago. Gophers typically ruin it before floral buds even appear.
6. Canna X generalis, canna bloomed with this strange orange and yellow combination, which we did not plant. It is a sport. Strelitzia nicolai, giant bird of Paradise is behind it.
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Hydrangea
Old fashioned hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla, were somewhat predictable. Those that developed color bloomed pink in alkaline soil or blue in acidic soil. White hydrangea only bloomed white. Nowadays, some cultivars bloom better in pink while others bloom better in blue. Pink cultivars in acidic soil or blue cultivars in alkaline soil may be purple.
Floral form has also evolved significantly. Old fashioned hydrangeas bloom with big and rounded trusses of many small flowers. Such trusses are about four to eight inches wide. Some modern cultivars bloom with flatter or conical trusses. Some produce tiny florets in the center with bigger florets around them. All hydrangeas bloom for summer or autumn.
Big hydrangeas can grow about six feet high and wide. Most modern cultivars are more compact. The deciduous foliage is lush. Individual leaves are about six inches long, with serrate edges. Hydrangea perform better after dormant pruning during winter, to remove older canes. Younger canes that grew during the previous season will be more vigorous. Although bulky, hydrangea blooms are delightful as cut flowers. All parts of hydrangea, though, are toxic.
Six on Saturday: Mixed Bag
These Six on Saturday lack a theme. They are a mixed bag.
1. Watsonia X pillansii ‘Coral and Hardy’ bugle lily is my first ever! Something dug it out last year before bloom, for no apparent reason. You can probably guess where it is from.
2. Canna X generalis ‘Cannova Mango’ canna on the right seems to have produced a red sport on the left. I do not think that another cultivar mixed with it, but I am not certain.
3. Matthiola incana, snapdragon has not been planted here for years because of rust. A few generations of just a few feral plants have grown from seed though. Most are yellow.
4. Osteospermum fruticosum, trailing African daisy might be feral also. Although some were planted nearby, I do not remember that any were planted in its particular location.
5. Phlox paniculata, garden phlox began as feral, since we do not know how the seed got here, but now that it is here, we cultivate it. Almost all of it is white, but one is lavender.
6. Rosa spp., rose is producing some exemplary flowers. I do not know what cultivar this is, but it resembles ‘Seashell’. I suppose its name is unimportant. It is pretty regardless.
Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.
Sunday Best – Red Petunia
Six on Saturday: Red, White & Blue
Today, the Fourth of July, is 250th Independence Day, so is also the sestercentennial or semiquincentennial of the United States of America.
1. Pelargonium X hortorum, zonal geranium provides an ideal red. Other cultivars here bloom white, bright pink and brighter pink. They have been reliably perennial for years.
2. Lobularia maritima, alyssum is exclusively white for its particular application within the White Garden. In the past, we had pink and purple alyssum within other landscapes.
3. Salvia has a name; but it eludes me. It is a new addition to the Blue Bed, which is next door to the White Garden, and not actually as exclusively blue as its designation implies.
4. Rosa spp., carpet rose is not blooming profusely this year, but is blooming enough for at least this picture. It grows into wickedly thorny thickets that are no fun to work with.
5. Begonia X semperflorens–cultorum, wax begonia lives with the alyssum in the White Garden. It is enjoying improved sun exposure associated with the removal of a few trees.
6. Lobelia erinus, lobelia is perched on the edge of a color bowl, but is not yet cascading over. This color bowl also contains red, white and blue petunias, for Independence Day.
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Sunday Best – Peruvian Daffodil
Six on Saturday: Fowler
These are a few more flowers that are in bloom now.
1. Lantana montevidensis, trailing lantana in white sounds better than it looks. White is my favorite color, but I fail to be impressed. Lantana excels at other more vibrant colors.
2. Rosa spp., miniature rose is the only miniature rose here. It arrived as a cheap potted mini rose from a supermarket, which had outlived its domestic appeal before rehoming.
3. Silene coronaria, campion is such a delightful weed that we leave much of it where it appears. Most grows where it is not a problem, although this one is in the White Garden.
4. Agapanthus orientalis, lily of the Nile in white is special both because there are not so many of them, and also because only a few can bloom in their formerly shaded situation.
5. Gladiolus X hortulanus, gladiola has been reliably perennial for several years. I would like to know what is so special about their situation that allows them to perform as such.
6. This is the first new painted rock that I have found in quite a while, and the first rock I noticed with a spell check glitch. Is this really a glitch, though, or actually from Fowler?
Anyone who would like to participate in this meme should peruse this participant guide for Six on Saturday.
Sunday Best – Canna
Tony Tomeo 