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Post by cristina on May 17, 2010 20:21:09 GMT
This bougainvillea is in "bloom" in front of my living room balcony. As lovely as it is, its pretty much all I expect to see in bloom for the next 4 months. I envy the variety of flowering plants that all of you live with...
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Post by bixaorellana on May 17, 2010 20:53:18 GMT
Cristina, that's an oleander -- is that what you meant to say? Lovely photo. I guess you all are heading into the hottest part of the year. Have you experimented much with foliage plants that are good in your area? Variegated foliage is cheery and gives the impression of a bunch of stuff in bloom. Here is a list of reliable ornamental plants for Phoenix. This is a very handy illustrated guide for gardening in Phoenix.
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Post by cristina on May 18, 2010 1:17:22 GMT
Cristina, that's an oleander -- is that what you meant to say? Lovely photo. I guess you all are heading into the hottest part of the year. Have you experimented much with foliage plants that are good in your area? Variegated foliage is cheery and gives the impression of a bunch of stuff in bloom. Here is a list of reliable ornamental plants for Phoenix. This is a very handy illustrated guide for gardening in Phoenix. Haha! Yes it is an oleander! Its funny because those flowers are literally in my face every morning as I usually have my coffee on the balcony. But it is the color of a bougainvillea (or at least the color of the most common variety in Phoenix). Most oleanders here show either white or pale pink blooms. At my old house, I had two huge bougainvilleas in this color climbing the wall. I must miss them... (I also had Giant oleanders with white blooms - the only oleanders that I like.) So, to clarify, the only things in bloom here for the next 4 months are oleanders and bougainvilleas. When I had my house with a larger yard, I did have more desert plantings. After a substantial downsizing, I don't have so much room and everything needs to be in pots. So, I am focused on herbs for the most part. Although I still do have a big pot of geraniums on the front porch that I haven't killed yet. And someone has been trying to convince me that I can grow a lemon tree indoors. I really do miss my citrus trees from the old house...
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Post by bixaorellana on May 18, 2010 1:34:18 GMT
Yeah, nothing beats the scent of citrus flowers. Even though you like the white oleander, I find that the pink ones seem to have more of that gentle oleander smell. Do you have the tri-color sage? It adds a touch of color. Also, if you have room, try the so-called Texas sage (not really sage) with the white flowers. Its icy colored leaves give a cooling touch to a potted garden in a small space, I think. www.mswn.com/images/Leucophyllum_frutescens_White_Cloud_tm-3.jpgAnother thing I love are the scented geraniums, with all their different shapes and sizes of leaves, different scents, and sometimes, dainty little flowers.
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Post by lola on May 19, 2010 1:30:21 GMT
Speaking of scents, I'm fond of roses and honeysuckle time around here. We trained honeysuckle up the 8 foot chain link fence to the west of our garden, and there's I guess 100 feet of it now, perfectly fragrant.
It's a good year for roses, thriving in our garden now. Bad year for peonies, though, even at the botanical garden.
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Post by cristina on May 19, 2010 1:53:31 GMT
Speaking of scents, I'm fond of roses and honeysuckle time around here. We trained honeysuckle up the 8 foot chain link fence to the west of our garden, and there's I guess 100 feet of it now, perfectly fragrant. It's a good year for roses, thriving in our garden now. Bad year for peonies, though, even at the botanical garden. Lola, I really miss honeysuckle! At my mother's house (my childhood home), the honeysuckle twines its way around the border bushes every year and the smell is divine. I have great memories of picking the flowers and sucking the nectar from the base as a child. I am sorry it is a bad year for peonies. Another flower that I miss... That does it. I must move. (mentally thinking how I have also missed the azaleas bloom... )
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Post by lola on May 19, 2010 1:57:53 GMT
Just come for May, Cristina. When July and Aug roll around you'd be pining for that nice dry air again.
I still do that sometimes for honeysuckle nectar. You have to pull the base out just right.
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Post by cristina on May 19, 2010 2:14:19 GMT
Just come for May, Cristina. When July and Aug roll around you'd be pining for that nice dry air again. I still do that sometimes for honeysuckle nectar. You have to pull the base out just right. I'll be right there. Make up the sofa, please.
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Post by lola on May 19, 2010 2:18:52 GMT
All right! House party!
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2010 10:22:04 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on May 20, 2010 13:11:04 GMT
Beyond beautiful!
Is there another flower that so lushly evokes associations of everything from an old-fashioned garden to the splendors of the ancient Chinese courts?
I mentioned elsewhere about my mother's joy in seeing her stubborn peony finally bloom this year. You say you hadn't seen these in years. Is that because you weren't there at the right time of year, or because all the radical weather of the past twelve months triggered the peonies into an exceptional show?
The pictures are as wonderful as their subjects. You've achieved perfection with that second one.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2010 15:31:39 GMT
Thanks Bixa,it was a joy to see and photograph these beauties. It has been several years since I have been up there this time of year,I can't actually recall when it was,maybe a good ten years ago. Of all the plants in my mother's garden,which btw, she is unable to really tend to,but is hyper vigilant of everything growing in there,the peonies always get close,close attention paid to. She lost some tree peonies some years back to a very devastating hard freeze and ever since,has John,her helper,pamper these guys. They can withstand some fairly frigid temperatures,but,there's always that slight chance of a too cold arctic blast,north wind off the Atlantic,doing them in.She has them wrapped in burlap lest anything too damaging harm them. They are exceptionally beautiful flowers,regal and old fashioned like you say...
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Post by lola on May 21, 2010 1:05:38 GMT
Oooh la! Sublime.
I need peony tips from your ma, Casimira. At that, it must have been the very cold winter that done the blooms in. So glad she has the kind of helper who'll do things with burlap in the garden.
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Post by Kimby on May 21, 2010 16:33:23 GMT
Early Lilac bloom? dunno Is the second one Elderberry? I believe it is a Lilac,(way too early in the Spring for an elderberry to be in that much blossom that far North,ours in NOLA don't even have buds yet. There are many varieties of Lilac,I believe the one in the photo is a common white lilac....) Those leaves do NOT look like lilac leaves, but they definitely resemble the compound leaves of elderberry. And the panicle is the right shape, too. I'd be very surprised if it is a lilac of any sort,,,
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2010 10:07:50 GMT
You're absolutely correct Kimby,it is not a lilac. I took some lilac pics in NY along with the many other shots that perhaps you missed. Lola,thank you for the compliment,I will pass it along to my mother. I only hope is that she be able to continue to be aware of her lovely garden for the rest of her days. Her lily of the valley,of which she has a huge bed of,I partook of cutting huge bouquets for both her and myself,was also at it's peak. Another lovely flower we don't see in these parts and I miss terribly. The digitalis AKA foxglove pics were taken in NYC at Rockefeller Center. Syringa,AKA Lilacs (these were the lovely French,highly fragrant variety) Digitalis,AKA Foxglove Lily of the Valley
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Post by bjd on May 22, 2010 14:27:10 GMT
I went out to take some pictures of my garden since this is the nicest time of the year. But Tinypic keeps interrupting my downloads, so I'll post what I was able to upload. The regular peonies are opening fast because it's warm. This is a climbing rose called Pierre de Ronsard
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Post by bjd on May 22, 2010 14:29:50 GMT
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Post by bjd on May 22, 2010 14:35:05 GMT
This is a coloured arum -- it's the first year I have tried them And this is a red weigelia on the leftt and an azalea on the right And the rhododendrons have started opening since yesterday
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Post by Kimby on May 22, 2010 15:28:15 GMT
This is/was our yard on Sanibel (before I weed-whacked it down to keep the neighbors happy). The flower is Sabatia sp. also known as Marsh Pink or Rose Gentian. A closeup: They have very particular growing conditions, and need to have their feet wet. This year was a banner year, since the April rains left standing water on our "lawn" making it unwise to take the electric weed-whacker to it until the water receeded. (BTW, I did leave "islands" of un-cut flowers to go to seed for next year.)
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Post by Kimby on May 22, 2010 15:34:58 GMT
(I forgot to say how much I'm enjoying everyone else's blooms. The peonies have me green with envy. It will be weeks before I can get them at the farmers' market, and the deer plus short growing season mean I can't grow them myself.)
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Post by Kimby on May 22, 2010 15:39:18 GMT
Back in Montana, our showiest wildflower, the Arrowleaf Balsamroot is nearing its peak in my yard. These sunflower relatives produce seed heads much loved by birds.
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Post by Kimby on May 22, 2010 15:45:15 GMT
And several shrubs are in bloom, too: Service berry (a.k.a. Juneberry and Shadbush) = Amelanchier sp.: And a cherry I haven't identified in 25 years of living here: and a closeup:
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2010 16:23:08 GMT
Goodness gracious BJD!! You have been holding out on us!!! What a beautiful array of plantings you have going on there. I'm going to be nudging you more in the direction of this board now!!! The peonies are exquisite!! Not to mention the roses,the first one in particular. We have arum here as well,I must say I do like that colored one more than I originally did when they first crossed my path.Fabulous pics. Thanks.
Kimby,your array is enchanting as well. Is there any way you could take a branch of that cherry to a local nursery or county extension service for ID?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 22, 2010 21:18:41 GMT
I feel tormented by all these devastatingly beautiful images of flowers I can't grow. Some of them, such as Kimby's astounding wild plants, I've never even seen. The lushness on the monitor makes me want to roll on it like a dog ~~ all the peonies, the old-fashioned roses, the "fairy bells" and dainty muguet, coral weigela and magenta Sabatia, the happy sunflower faces and foaming cherry and service berry ....... wow! Also, and I feel like a churl bringing it up on this lovely page, but ......... Bjd wrote: ... Tinypic keeps interrupting my downloads ... Bjd, Tinypic can only do so much. Your first four pictures are a whopping 1,600px × 1,200px each! They are so over-sized that the forum automatic resizer has been over-ridden and the pictures are stretching the screen. Please check out the first half of this page: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=3717&page=1#69991
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 6:40:18 GMT
No Bixa -- they were resized to 480x640, except for a couple I forgot to do. The downloads worked for the first 10 pictures I uploaded and resized before uploading. The connection failed several times when I tried later in the day.
Casimira, I didn't plant those more traditional roses -- they were in the garden when we bought the house. I replaced some but have left others. Since they are quite old, they have a nice smell.
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 6:47:18 GMT
Another peony
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 7:14:39 GMT
A few more of yesterday's photos: Hybrid irises These pansies will soon be finished
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Post by bixaorellana on May 23, 2010 7:22:31 GMT
Your color combinations are fantastic. I particularly like the red lilies and the magenta cranesbill. (that's what they are, right?)
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 7:23:19 GMT
Another rhododendron and some of what are called perennial geraniums here, but might be called cranesbill in English. These are nigella. They reseed all over the place and invade, so I tried to tear them out last year before they spread their seeds, but obviously didn't manage. I like them because of the colour and because they are delicate, but they really are invasive. And this is part of the front garden in the afternoon.
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 7:26:03 GMT
My elder son has always been very artistic. When he was about 7, he was colouring something and put red beside purple and I realized how well the colours went together. Since the garden is so small, I try to make things match, but you can also see that I prefer all the purples, reds, pinks and blues, with only the occasional white or yellow.
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