Ooooooh A New Daylily!

This was a surprise for me! This morning while walking around the gardens I spied this beautiful Daylily standing tall and proud in the shade garden! Hmmmm, I wonder how it got there? Surely I would remember planting it...well probably not...sometimes my gardening with wild abandon provides me with the most unexpected surprises!

The Althea Trees are Blooming!

These photos are from one of my 3 Althea plants. They are known as Althea, Rose of Sharon or Hibiscus syriacus. The other 2 have buds but no blooms so I'll just wait...their colors are stunning! We'll catch them as soon as they bloom!



This is what the same bloom looked like yesterday! I am enthralled with the bloom process of this pretty plant! All three plants will be covered with blooms soon and they will bloom all Summer! The hummingbirds and bees love 'em and I can see why!

My gardening tips for this plant are based purely on 8 years of trial and error...sorry poor Althea. This tree is pruned annually to a height of 5 feet. Plant #2 is pruned back to a height of 3 feet and plant #4 is pruned to a 1 foot height. I usually prune them after all the leaves have fallen in late Fall. They all add on a minimum of 2 feet in branch length during the Spring and the branches are thick with leaves and flowers!I water them a little bit every other day during the heat of summer...not mushy wet but just enough to keep they lightly moist. My Altheas are totally non forgiving and their demise is imminent if left to dry out.

I've attempted to propagate these by air layering, soft wood cuttings, placing branches in water and from harvesting seed pods left by spent blooms and I have had absolutely no success! So ever the optimist...I'll keep trying.

You can go here for more information.

Begonias

Begonias! YES, another favorite of mine because they're easy to grow, they provide texture and a variety of colors in the garden.

Come along with me as we visit mine...notice the first three photos? These were hanging baskets but with the temps in the mid 90's and no rain for awhile...they were starting to become leggy. Leggy means that the stems elongate and the leaves and blossoms are well scant.

My solution every year is to remove the basket chains and place the baskets among the existing plants under my Mama Crepe Myrtle...there they receive morning sun and shade from 11 am till the next morning....

Now I have one solution for correcting the "legginess"...it's not for the faint of heart...and honestly the baskets will not look happy for a few days. In the shade of late afternoon, I water the baskets thoroughly, then I pinch off at least half the length of each stem. Then out comes the trusty "Rooting Hormone"...dip the pinched off end of the stems into the hormone...now I use a pencil and poke a 3" hole in the empty portions of the basket or another container and then put the pinched stem into that little hole. I carefully pat the soil around the "Cutting" and now comes the easy part. Just check on the soil daily...not dry...but not mushy wet...just a touch of water and soon you notice the cuttings are growing!

This process allows for easy propagation of your favorite begonias and the Mama plant will thicken up and the blooms will just keep on coming!

Here is a website that defines many alternative methods of propagating begonias!

Mushrooms, Toadstools or Fungi?

Well...this morning when I walked into the backyard I gazed upon the lawn and there they were...Mushrooms, Toadstools or botanically known as Fungi! Hmmm...what to do?

Well I grabbed my camera, attempted to get the perfect photo...a never ending quest on my part...and then I decided to research these little beauties!

I usually have these gems pop up during the transition from warm Spring days to Hot Summer days. Not too many...perhaps 6-8 in one spot. Do I worry, grab a fungicide, apply fertilizer? Nope, I pick them up and throw them away...sometimes I just give 'em a swift kick.

I really am not that concerned about their presence as I figure everything has a purpose as far a Mother Nature is concerned. The general purpose of a Toadstool? Well, for me their simple existence is enough.

Congratulations !

Yesterday Mr. B and I went to Miss M's high school for a meeting with one of the Assistant Principals...not to worry Miss M was not in trouble we just wanted some clarification on "a thing". Upon arriving at one of the many parking lots of her school we saw the risers (you know the portable bleachers) and a sea of black gowns and mortarboard hats! We looked at each other...realizing that this was a photo op for the high school and this years seniors.

Okay this parking lot and the entrance door to the school were realistically not available...but there are 3 more parking lots to go to. We drove around to another parking lot...the seniors were exiting the school and this parking lot (being the student body parking lot) was BUSY!

We waited as the seniors made their way to their vehicles...graduation gowns flowing in the wind, hats in hand and the smiles from ear to ear on each and every senior's face....

Mr. B and I looked at each other and smiled...we each were remembering this most special of life markers...that glorious threshold of passing out of one realm of education and their march towards all the other thresholds now available to these seniors!

We parked, walked into the school and immediately saw our Assistant Principal...we saw him before he saw us...he was standing in the hallway, beaming...you could see the pride on his face...yes he's made this journey many times before but upon getting closer to him...you could see the emotion on his face. We apologized for disturbing this special moment in time...he being the professional that he is assured us that Miss M's moment was equally as important...

Our meeting was brief and went well...but as we left the building...I paid more attention to the atmosphere...the faculty and staff were filled with pride and yes there was that special emotion on their faces defining their professional and personal investment in each and every student.

This year's seniors were beginning their walk towards new vistas and underclass persons were watching not only the seniors but the faculty and staff...the opportunity to view this shared experience was a gift!

Congratulations to the 2010 seniors and THANK YOU to every faculty and staff person who have contributed to their lives!

Daylilies!

Here are the soft yellow Daylilies! They grow beautifully in morning sun with some afternoon shade after 4 p.m.!

One of my earliest forays into gardening was definitely trail by fire! I had a lovely huge bed of yellow/orange Daylilies...I decided that I would thin them out. So I brought my shovels, Miss M's trusty red wagon and a brave spirit to tackle this job. I dug and dug...hmmmm now where are the bulbs? I dug some more...nope not here...okay they must be tiny bulbs in the swath of brown roots I dug up....so I filled the red wagon full of water...I sifted through the brown roots...dumping them into the trash as I went...hmmmm I literally scratched my head and wondered where they could be...totally frustrated with my adventure...I threw away all the brown roots, the then damaged flower plants and sat down to muddle my way through this early episode in gardening. As I pondered I decided I would just go to the store the next day and buy some more...

Early the next day, off I went to the store, purchased my replacement Daylilies and came home to plant. As I opened the packages I saw "BROWN ROOTS"! Oh no! I then realized they did not have a bulb but rather a brown root system....I ran for the trash! I would save my Daylily mistake...WHAT THE TRASH TRUCK HAD ALREADY MADE IT'S PICK UP!

My lesson...investigate the plant completely prior to moving...so now my laptop is my gardening buddy...I search for all kinds of information; growing tips, zones, propagation, fertilizing and pest control.

So somewhere in a garbage dump...under who knows what...are my Daylilies!

The Crepe Myrtles are Beginning to Bloom!

This is a close up of one of my Crepe Myrtle flowers. I love the swirling yellow anthers! The yet to open flower buds! Oh so beautiful!

You can go here to get more information on the anatomy of the Crepe Myrtle flowers!

We have Red, White, Pink and Lavender Crepe Myrtles! Now I love 'em but I must admit when our pool (oh don't be too impressed it's an above ground pool but we love it all the same) is full of the flowers blown about by storms or winds...well let's just say the first vision of all the flowers swirling on the pool surface is stunning...then comes the clean up...not so stunning!

For now, I watch and wait...as the Lavender and Pink Crepe Myrtles are just beginning to bloom. The Red and White Crepe Myrtles will bloom later. Their colorful show of blooms lifts my spirits...we sit under these beauties during the heat of summer and bask in their glory!

I attempted to make some photos of our Mama Lavender Crepe Myrtle...she stands about 35 feet tall now but Mother Nature was not in a very cooperative mood! Her winds are strong today and every photo came out BLURRY! So I wait patiently until Mother Nature agrees to allow the Mama Crepe Myrtle to be photographed!