Posted on by tonytomeo · 21 Comments

Six on Saturday: Surprise! III

Gardening is full of surprises. These are a few that I noticed last Thursday. I could have found more surprises, but that would have been more than six.

1. Jasminum humile, yellow jasmine is a real dud. It does not bloom nearly as profusely as I expected it to. Upon closer inspection, though, the flowers are surprisingly fragrant.

2. Lobelia erinus, lobelia self sowed and grew amongst weeds. However, no lobelia grew in the surrounding landscapes. The source of the seed is a mystery. What a nice surprise.

3. Digitalis purpurea, foxglove blooms either white or bright pink. Occasionally, lighter pink blooms are observed. This feral specimen, though, is surprisingly light peachy pink.

4. Aquilegia canadensis, columbine refuses to grow well where we plant it, but manages to bloom enough to toss seed to grow where it wants to. It should be no surprise but it is.

5. Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation was planted as a cool season annual a few years ago but has been retained, and surprisingly lives as a perennial as annuals change around it.

6. Camellia japonica, camellia bloomed well through winter, and then seemed to finish, just before surprising us with this last errant bloom. This is my favorite of the camellias.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 15 Comments

Six on Saturday: Nursery Projects

The nursery at work should not be as much work as it is. It produces more than we use.

1. Musa ingens, oem, or giant highland banana, is pupping, with three new pups poking through the jade plant that covers the medium around the base of the original specimen.

2. Pulmonaria officinalis, lungwort covers the medium around the base of a specimen of ‘Mekong Giant’ banana. This plant blooms pink, and is from Tangly Cottage Gardening.

3. Salvia greggii, autumn sage grew in a vacant pot of otherwise empty medium. It may be useful within one of our landscapes. Its parent is ‘Hot Lips’. It is very likely the same.

4. Cydonia oblonga, quince is one of a few small rooted cuttings of an understock sucker of a pear tree. It is useful for grafting certain pears, but I will retain one to produce fruit.

5. Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca is growing from seed that I brought from Arizona. It is considerably more abundant than expected. What can I do with eighty-six red yuccas?

6. Saccharum officinarum ‘Purple Ribbon’ sugarcane grew fast enough from bits of cane last year to produce a short length of new cane. It recently shed old leaves to expose this.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 14 Comments

Six on Saturday: Rhody’s Rhodies 2026

Rhody’s rhodies have been blooming spectacularly. It is not easy to limit their picture to only six. There are so many cultivars.

1. White is generally my favorite color. However, most white rhododendrons are blushed with another color, so are not pure white. This one usually exhibits a bit of a pink blush.

2. Pink is the most common color among rhododendron cultivars. That certainly can not discredit any of them. They all are pretty. This cultivar eventually fades almost to white.

3. Lavender is one of the lesser common colors among rhododendron cultivars. Purple is more common. I may get a picture of a purple rhododendron for Sunday Best tomorrow.

4. Fuchsia is one of the many colors that many guys can not perceive. This looks pink to me. I guess it is slightly richer pink than the other pink rhododendron, but only slightly.

5. Magenta is another color that many guys have difficulty perceiving. I can merely guess that this is magenta because it resembles the rich color of ‘Barbara Karst’ bougainvillea.

6. Red is an easier color, although Rhody can perceive it no better than pink, magenta or fuchsia. As a canine, he sees just blue and yellow. Regardless, these are Rhody’s rhodies.

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/

Posted on by tonytomeo · 8 Comments

Six on Saturday: Rhododendrons Must Wait

Rhodies are in bloom now, but will need to wait while I show off five other blooms.

1. Sambucus nigra ‘Purpurea’ elderberry is already blooming. Is this early? It did not get pruned while dormant in winter. I must see if the native blue elderberries are blooming.

2. Disocactus flagelliformis, rat tail cactus is more out of focus than the elderberry. It is one of only a few potted plants that gets moved into the landscapes only while blooming.

3. Rosa spp., rose was not blooming for last Saturday when six roses were featured here. This particular rose was removed from its landscape a few years ago, but not reassigned.

4. Iris X germanica, bearded iris came back with me from one of the lodges that I spent a night at on one of my several trips to the Pacific Northwest. All our irises have history.

5. Epiphyllum spp., orchid cactus, like the rat tail cactus, was relocated into a landscape as it began to bloom. It has been here for several years, but has not bloomed like this yet.

6. Rhody has been absent from Six on Saturday for quite a while. He makes it difficult to get a good picture of him. Perhaps I will take some pictures of his rhodies for next week.

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/