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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 7:32:12 GMT
I'll end with a picture of a tree peony that I took in April. I prefer the other kind of peonies but have this one. And this is in the back -- it's a small garden, which is why my tomatoes are staked in the flower beds. These peonies will probably open this weekend -- it's warm and sunny. I bought these perennial verbena on Wednesday at the market. I rarely manage to get them to come back the following year.
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 9:52:16 GMT
I just went out to have a look, and many of the peonies in the previous photo opened since yesterday afternoon. More roses too.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2010 11:03:49 GMT
Again,I am so impressed with your garden BJD! I had no idea you had so many lovely specimens. I too, prefer the regular sized peonies to the tree variety however,my mother had some real mature ones that were outrageously gorgeous. As mentioned above,they" bought it" in an arctic blast some years back and she hasn't replaced them,and probably won't. Those 'perennial' verbena perform as annuals here. I buy a few of them annually as the butterflies love them. What a great space!
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Post by bixaorellana on May 23, 2010 14:15:55 GMT
The visit to your garden has been such a deep pleasure, Bjd. I knew from various things you've written in Putting Down Roots that you were certainly a committed gardener who really knew her plant material, so have been eagerly awaiting a look at your earthly paradise. And I love the presentation of showing the close-ups first, then pulling back to show those beauties interacting in the landscape. I would kill for that tree peony -- I've never seen one in real life. Great foliage on it -- does it keep that bronzey color all year? About colors in the garden -- I think that the light available to us really affects how we use color in the garden. I use much bolder colors here than I did in the humid areas where I lived in the States. They're needed to stand up to the glare, whereas back home they would have fallen into the eye-popping category. I miss the gentler light, which allows for a subtlety and complexity that to me really deepens and enriches the psychology of the garden. I think you've used yellow to great advantage in your garden, from the soft tones in the irises and some of the roses to the chrome-ier tones of the shrub (Euonymus?) in the penultimate picture. I opened this page and the previous one so that I could look at all of the pictures together. I'm really glad I did, too, as Kimby's picture of her yard did not open for me before, and I'm finally getting to see it. That's a wonderful space that magically salutes the natural look of Sanibel, Kimby. Did the neighbors want you to turn that lovely expanse of wild flowers into lawn?
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Post by Kimby on May 23, 2010 15:19:44 GMT
The homeowner's association has "rules" regarding upkeep of one's property to preserve the value of everyone's homes. However, using native species is highly encouraged, so we get a pass on that. Just have to keep it moderately tidy.
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 15:20:23 GMT
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 15:27:02 GMT
And a lot of the roses have suddenly started to bloom. I suppose you know that heavy clay soil is good for both roses and peonies? And if it makes you feel better, none of this will be around in another few weeks, although most of the roses will re-bloom at some point. This is an old climber planted by the guy who built the house over 40 years ago. It doesn't bloom a second time. This one is a David Austin rose whose name I don't remember. I don't know the names of most of them, in fact. I like this one because of the velvety petals And this one is one of a series named for painters. It might be Auguste Renoir, but I'm not sure
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Post by bjd on May 23, 2010 15:31:10 GMT
This is at the back from a different angle. The big tree in the back is an old cherry tree. The little white dots on the grass are daisies. And clematises are another flower I like and I have planted several, but so far only this one is blooming and has been for several weeks already.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2010 9:44:06 GMT
For what you are describing as a small space,you have some fabulous specimens BJD, The peonies are glorious,and the David Austins have always sent me. I used to know the names of most of them (and one of the most coveted 'jobs' I have ever wanted was naming roses) There are such cool names,"Wise Portia",'Fair Bianca","Jude the Obscure" etc. to name just a few. I have tried numerous times to grow these here and have had little success. They are so prone to blackspot and really do not like the summer heat at all. The only one I have ever had any success with is one called "Evelyn",not too unlike your apricot/peach colored one. There used to be,(may still be there) a nice sized rose garden of almost all David Austin roses behind St. John the Divine Cathedral in NYC. A gentleman who had planned on installing a huge rose garden on his property in New Jersey fell upon hard times and subsequently donated all his David Austin roses to the cathedral. Too bad they don't give you a repeat performance. Our roses here usually put out a second flush in early autumn. Your clematis,"Jackmanii" I believe it may be called, is one of the few clematis that do well here and even then, requires some fussing over. I think you seriously underestimate your gardening skills BJD.
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Post by bjd on May 24, 2010 14:09:02 GMT
Thank you for the kind words. As I have repeatedly said, this is the nicest time in the gardens here, and because it suddenly got hot, everything is opening in no time.
I don't think that is a Jackmanii clematis, Casimira. The colour didn't come out exactly as it should be -- Jackmanii are more purple, this one is in fact rather reddish. I bought some others developed in Poland with Polish names, but none of them have done very well, so perhaps there is a climate problem.
I realized too that the dark red rose under the abricot coloured one is also a David Austen, called William Shakespeare. I generally don't invest in expensive plants -- I get too upset when they don't do as well as I expected. The pale pinky white peony on the previous page and the dark red one on this came from the supermarket in a package. Most of the roses I have bought were developed in France by growers here, so they tend to be named after the grower's relatives (Papa Meilland, for example), or after French singers or actors. There is a nice series of roses named after painters. But I just don't have room for anything else. As it is, I tend to plant things closely and move them around. I also have to put plants in pots, so I can put them away in winter -- like Lantana, which I discovered as huge bushes in Argentina, whereas here they are pot plants.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 24, 2010 15:10:56 GMT
Gosh, Bjd ~~ what a parade of garden beauty! I think I've rubbed a space raw in my monitor from gazing at the 2nd peony in #335, although the others have been repeatedly admired as well.
The combo of the white fireworks of the nigella and their fluffy foliage against the Alice in Wonderland red and green of that climbing rose is sensational. And I just love that bed by the cherry tree, with the witty touch of the metal doo-dads.
It's so frustrating trying to show the exact shades in the blue to purplish family. Whatever, that's a wonderful clematis.
Whether you want to call yourself a committed gardener or not, your garden is telling the tale of your enthusiasm, love, taste, and talent.
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Post by bjd on May 24, 2010 16:54:06 GMT
the witty touch of the metal doo-dads
Those metal doo-dads are stakes for my tomato plants! You don't have to tie them, the plants just hang on.
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Post by onlymark on May 24, 2010 20:03:56 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on May 24, 2010 21:43:06 GMT
Ohhhhhhhh ~~ what a happy sight! I love poppies and they are absolutely my favorite red flower.
These pictures are so evocative for me. I lived in Madrid when I was a child and on Saturdays my brother and I would walk to a movie house that showed American films. Our route took us through a wheat field which, when green, was filled with poppies. These pictures even bring back that faint distinctive odor they had.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2010 17:02:37 GMT
Those poppies are gorgeous Mark...love seeing displays of wild flowers on the roadsides,etc. I am not a big fan of the rhododendron,they were so common and generic a planting while I was growing up... But,this one in NYC was rather pretty.
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Post by onlymark on May 28, 2010 7:58:12 GMT
There were also vast fields of them but usually at the side of a motorway where I couldn't stop to take a photo.
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Post by Jazz on May 28, 2010 17:42:10 GMT
I love this thread. Mark...your beautiful photos brought to my mind this painting by Monet,
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Post by onlymark on May 28, 2010 18:08:27 GMT
I did think of replicating that painting but unfortunately I'd left my dress at home.
I'd still got the bonnet though.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 28, 2010 19:17:22 GMT
That Monet practically conveys the prickle of pollen in the air -- lovely! And speaking of paintings ............. on our route to the movie theater, just before we reached the wheat field and its poppies, we passed a little area of shops. One of them always had the same group of dusty olive oil tins in the window. I was fascinated by one very large cylinder that had this painting stamped on the top -- a painting that forever after made me think of the Saturday movies and the field of poppies. Shame about the dress, Mark. You'd have been fetching as all get-out in that get-up.
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Post by Jazz on May 28, 2010 22:39:02 GMT
I did think of replicating that painting but unfortunately I'd left my dress at home. I'd still got the bonnet though. There is little privacy left, Mark. Due to the miracle of the internet, an anonymous reader sent to me this painting of you, evocative of the day of your visit. He envisioned you as a boy in an historical context...with luscious hints of 'poppy red' in your dress. (no bonnet, though)
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Post by onlymark on May 29, 2010 8:05:53 GMT
Yep, that's me. Spitting image. People always say I look younger than I am.
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Post by spindrift on May 31, 2010 10:24:08 GMT
Bjd - your flowers are lovely. My roses and peonies are weeks behind yours. Some of my roses are just unfolding now but my peonies are still tightly budded. These are the ones I bunged into large terracotta pots and after two years they have started to blossom in the pots.
I am trying out a clipped box hedge design in my small border. I have a large conical box at the end, a low clipped hedge on its left and on the other side of this I'll plant two rounded box plants...so I'll have a mixture of shapes and sizes; all in a tiny area.
Mark - those poppies are beautiful.
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Post by bazfaz on May 31, 2010 14:09:27 GMT
Nettles are just coming into bloom.
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Post by onlymark on May 31, 2010 14:24:03 GMT
Spindrift, I'll be back on Spain again in a month and I hope they are still out.
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Post by spindrift on May 31, 2010 14:57:58 GMT
Mark - I doubt they will be, but it would be nice if they were. We rarely see wild poppies in england these days. only if soil is ploughed up for the laying of motorways. True actually.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2010 11:12:40 GMT
Spindrift, I'll be back on Spain again in a month and I hope they are still out. What you may find Mark are lots and lots of seedpods of which you could harvest some of and scatter around your property and have your own field of poppies.Each pod contains dozens of seeds. Or you could use them in cooking....for when you bake bread etc, (And your childhood portrait is just adorable!!)Currently blooming,these mirabilis peruviana AKA,4 o'clocks which I planted a row of from seed last year. They came back from volunteered seeds and while I was in NY grew to be more than 3 feet tall in no time at all. They are referred to as 4 o'clocks because they open a 4p.m. and are incredibly fragrant. They are part of my evening garden efforts of the last 2 years and are ever faithful. here's a shot of the whole border of them,fragrance wafting up to the bedroom balcony in the evening is heavenly... Also in bloom is feverfew,a medicinal herb used for migraine headaches and a variety of other ailments. Also blooming,agapanthus alba,I cut a huge bouquet of these for the house for a dinner party I had this past weekend. Fabulous cut flower.
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Post by palesa on Jun 1, 2010 11:26:21 GMT
Your angry panthers are beautiful Casi. I struggle to grow the white ones here, I have the two shades of purple which grow and bloom well but the white ones struggle a bit.
My strelizia's are looking beautiful, will go and take a pic later and share.
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Post by bjd on Jun 1, 2010 11:40:14 GMT
Those four o'clocks are called Belle de Nuit in French. I have never seen the white ones -- here they are a dark pink. I have been told they grow easily and anywhere, but I have never managed to grow them.
I tried to grow a blue agapanthus but it just never bloomed. Shortly afterwards I went to Portugal and saw them growing wild in ditches! There are also lots in Ecuador.
Most of my peonies and roses have lost their petals because we had terrible winds the past couple of days. Now it's calm again, but of course, the peonies don't flower again. On the other hand, my clivia finally bloomed, after I moved it to more light.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2010 11:40:25 GMT
"Angry panthers",what a great name!!! I have never heard them referred to as this before,I'll have to remember that!! There's one that is a deep,deep shade of blue that I keep saying I'm going to get. The lighter sky blue are lovely,but, a little too generic around here.
I also have a huge penchant for white flowers.
Would love to see the strelizia!!! My giant one and I mean giant,took a beating this winter from the bad freeze. The cleanup effort from it required a f'n chain saw!!! No machete would penetrate that trunk.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2010 23:46:16 GMT
BJD,we simul posted,so I didn't see yours... ( I do wish we'd get to a new page so I can stop lusting after your peonies!!!!!)We have the pink 4 o'clocks here as well...a couple of them snaked there way in,and,at some point will cross with the white and produce a peppermint striped bloom,novel at first,but,love the pure white. We also have a yellow variety. So odd that they don't grow there,they drop seeds like mad here and return with a vengeance. The agagpanthus I believe,derives from South Africa,and many of those plants do very, very well here. I was worried that the hard freeze would have harmed them,but,gratefully did not. Some happy sunflowers I spotted today (not mine):
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