Saturday July 23, 2011

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and will now try to comment on them. The red flower on the left is a Perennial Hibiscus. Notice the leaves-they look a lot like pot! That's because it is in the Cannabis Family. There is a white Perennial Hibiscus on the right of the red one but for some reason, I did not take a picture of it. Next blog-- Actually, there is a picture of it in my last blog.

The lavender bloom on the left that is growing in front of the brick wall is a Rose of Sharon. I have a white one in another part of my garden. There is a picture of it after the next picture. This plant grows into a bush/tree and it blooms all summer. It is also perennial and it will come back even bigger next year.

The plant in the picture below is a Pineapple Lily. I think it is in the Crinum family and I have a lot of different kinds of Crinums in this part of my garden. I put some pictures of them in an earlier blog. The leaves of this plant are very long and the flower stalks can grow to be over six feet tall. They are also perennial and the bulb gets very large over time. Some of the bulbs in my garden are now over 8 inches in diameter and they will get much bigger plus they will send up side shoots/bulbs that can be separated from the 'mother' plant. Most of my Crinums are 2-3 years old and the original bulbs were quite expensive - in the $30+ range. I have no idea what the bulbs would now sell for.

The potted plants sitting on the wall by my patio are Candle Stick plants. I got the seeds from a friend of mine who got them from his daughter who lives in Texas. Her plants come back every year and I understand that she has to actually pull them up because they get too thick. I got mine to bloom last year but they didn't come back so I had to replant them from seeds. I got them going late so I doubt if they will bloom this year. I plan to bring some of the plants in or put them in my greenhouse in the fall.

The mass of yellow plants with black centers are called Mexican Petunia and they spread like crazy and come back every year. They are actually invasive and I may have to think about pulling some up this year before they take over this bed. To the right of the Mexican Petunias are three Hydrangea. There are some better pictures of them below. These are not the "mop head" variety an they are not nearly as pretty. I may pull up a few of them and put in some giant blue Hydrangea in their place.

This picture below shows a mess of different plants including some Echinacea. (They look like Black Eyed Susan's but are actually a medicinal plant.) There are also some Carnations, Peony's, a small Tung Oil tree (to the right of the sprinkler) and other plants.

I just noticed that I am not able to put spaces between paragraphs so I think I will just describe the rest of the pictures that follow. I sure wish I could figure out how this blog works. It seems to have a mind of its own and just puts things where it wants them.

Anyway the next picture shows some more of the Rose of Sharon blooms with a Crepe Myrtle (pink) in the background.

I'm not sure what the purple plant is by the rocks near my fountain. The leaves look a lot like Wisteria but the flowers are different. Maybe my friend Bobbi can tell me what it is??

Next are three bunches of Calla Lilies that are no longer in bloom. I will have to separate them in the fall because they are getting too thick. However, they did bloom this spring and were very pretty.

Next are some more Candle Stick plants in pots.

The brite orange bloom is a Day Lily.

Next is a picture taken at a dinner party at our house. On my left is Melinda and on my right is Anne Marie and Gregg. Terry took the picture and cooked the meal--giant shrimp scampi, corn on the cob, salad, rice and salad. Melinda brought a variety of fantastic desserts including Tiramasu, Cannoli and fresh fruit pies. (See the pictures below.) There are also pictures of the large shrimp scampi that I got at the local market, a picture of some of the peppers from my garden.

And, of course, no blog would be complete without a picture of Charlotte and Chicky!

That's about it for now. I'm sorry for all the detail but I'm writing this blog as a journal so I will have some record of what is growing where, etc. so some of the information is for my purpose but I would still appreciate any and all comments.

I'll try to figure out how this blog works before I write the next update.

By-the-way, it is now raining and it also rained hard last night. It dropped the temperature from 103 down to 75 last night but it is now back up in the 90+ range. However, we really need the rain!!