Friday, July 25, 2008

Blooming July 25, 2008


Another week has come and gone. Before we know it, fall will be here and the growing season will be over. Despite the heat and total lack of shade the garden is still managing to give us a few blooms. We are at a point that we are able to look around at everything and see what we need to do differently next year. Just when I think I’ve made up my mind what direction we should head, I change it again. I know I want to create some privacy, which is definitely a priority this fall. We will watch the eventual outcome as it unfolds, on with the blooms.

The daylilies have really slowed down on the blooming, but we can’t really complain because they have worked their little hearts out for us this summer putting on a show. The one below is one of the latest additions to our collection.


‘Sea Gold’

Sea Gold


Last year while traipsing around deep in the woods I came up on a grove of what I believed to be Amaryllis from an old home place. They turned out to be Swamp Lilies, but I still think they are really pretty. They remind me of Peruvian Daffodils. Not a bad score for something that grows wild in the woods.

‘Swamp Lily’

Swamp Lilies


Both of the new Agapanthuses are blooming right now. Well, just between you and I this one is really kind of deformed. It has a flat, curled up stem, but at least we get a preview of the color. I love this dark color and I had wanted one for some time.

‘Elaine’

Elaine


About a month ago Jamie and I got these Encore Azaleas marked 75% off the regular price because they were half dead and very crispy. Isn’t it amazing what a little TLC will do? They are rewarding us with blooms just four weeks later. They are also covered in new growth.

‘Conlea’

Conlea


Earlier this summer Jamie and I bought this Jasmine Tree. I flip flopped back and forth over it because it was a little more than I’m willing to pay for a single plant, with the exception of Japanese maples. Boy, am I glad we got it! It has bloomed, and bloomed, and bloomed, and bloomed and it has such a wonderful scent that you can smell all over the back yard, just from this single plant.

Orange Jasmine Murraya paniculata

Jasmine Tree


Here’s a close up of the blooms. I wonder how such strong scent can come from such a tiny flower.

Jamine Tree Bloom


One of the true work horses we have in the garden now as far as blooms go is the cannas. We have over thirty different types. They’re good, inexpensive filler plants with beautiful blooms. Unfortunately a lot of the ones we planted just don’t seem to fit where they are so they will be coming out of the ground and passed along to someone else.

‘Yellow King Humbert’

Yellow King Humbert


‘Red King Humbert’

Red King Humbert


The Buddleias are doing nice, but I would have liked to see a little more growth out of them this summer. Pictured below are ‘Adonis Blue’, ‘White Profusion’ and ‘Nanho Blue'.

Buddleia


This year we planted six Crepe Myrtles in the yard, ‘Rosado’, ‘Natchez’ and ‘Tuscarora’. I wish they were all full grown now! This is a picture of the blooms from one of the three Tuscaroras.

'Tuscarora'

Tuscarora


This last daylily was purchased as an ‘Orange Flurry’, but that isn’t what it is. I really don’t like to have unidentified plants and there must be hundreds of yellow daylilies. I guess since this one is such a pretty color it can stay.

Orange Flurry

14 comments:

tina said...

I wish I could smell that jasmine, I am sure it is heavenly.

Randy said...

Tina,
It smells wonderful. I'm continuously walking up to the bush and taking a deep breath. It blooms, they fade, then in about a week and a half or two weeks it does it again. It's done that since the beginning of spring.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Jamie, it does seem as fall will be here before we know it. Now is a good time to start planning the changes you want to make. I know once the cooler weather is here, I will be working in the garden using all the ideas I came up with while waiting out the heat. I loved your bird feeder posting. I just had to laugh, it is so typical. We think we will save money by doing it ourselves and end up paying more. It does look nice.

Jan
Always Growing

Randy said...

Jan,
We have a lot of shuffling around to do plant wise. Everything is doing so well I hate to move anything. But if it just doesn't look right where it is, it will bug me until I do something about it. I want to be relaxed when I'm in our garden, not irritated LOL. I"m glad you got a giggle out of the birdfeeder post. :-)

Eve said...

Your flowers are so pretty. I can never make up my mind about crape myrtles. Do I want to let them become a tree or keep them cut back to a shrub? You can enjoy the flowes more when they are down where you can see them.

I love day-lilies and especially the yellow ones. I have orange right now and they are really pretty but the lady across the street has a long row of yellow and they are just wonderful. The grass is always greener. LOL

I love jasmine but it does attract bees which can be a drawback if you plant it near your porches. And of course most people will do that because of the sweet smelling flowers.

Wayne said...

Some beautiful pics! The 'swamp lily' is such a pretty little thing! But I especially love the 'Yellow King Humbert’! Gorgeous!

Wayne said...

And if you think summer is short there, try up here in Michigan!

Randy said...

Eve,
thank you so much for the compliments. We are most certainly going for trees with our crepe myrtles. I miss our shade so bad.In about ten years, the garden should be pretty much in shade again and we can bring in some ferns and wonderful hostas. Bee have never really bothered me, they don't seen to be aggressive. Wasp, not that another story.

Wayne, I don't think I could stand it if our growing season was any shorter. It would suite me just fine if winter never came. Or only last a week or two. :-)

Cosmo said...

Yikes--it's July 28th! Most of my daylilies have finished, and the mums are budding. But I'm still waiting on the ginger lilies, another absolutely heavenly fragrance. I love cannas, too, but I agree they're hard to place. Do people plant osmanthus where you are? I have two kinds--the kind that's often called "tea olive" (I don't know the Latin name) and osmantus heterophyllus Gulftide, which is sometimes called "false holly." They're both wonderfully fragrant as well, and in my yard, the latter ones have grown to 8+ feet. They're evergreen and make great "walls," and mine have grown pretty quickly. Anyway, a great look at your garden, Jamie.

Randy said...

Cosmo! Where were you Friday! I hadn't even considered Tea olive! I just bought 6 Waxleaf Ligustrum to go there. (and I don't even know what they are...) Tea Olive would have been sooooooo much better. Well, it isn't written in stone yet... I could find somewhere else to stick those Ligustrum...

Annie in Austin said...

Hi Randy & Jamie,

Years ago people planted Waxleaf ligustrum here and there in our neighborhood. Where no one kept them to hedge size they turned into trees. The hedges add privacy but because the little blue berries sprout everywhere the birds take them, Waxleaf ligustrum is on the Austin invasive plant list.

Tea olives are so wonderful in late fall and winter - oh, that scent! I've only read about the fragrance of Murraya paniculata - it's called Mock Orange in Hawaii, and a Maui blogger told of how intoxicating the air was when the hedges of Murraya bloomed.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Randy said...

Annie,
Tea Olive would be wonderful, but my only concern is that they seem to grow so slowly.

KC MO Garden Guy said...

What great flowers you have. Even the wild Swamp Lilly looks great. Love the daylilies. We have several different kind and they have finished blooming for now. A couple of them should rebloom. And yes I would keep the unknown one, I love yellow flowers. I have cut back on the number of canas I have also. They take up a lot of room and look to tropical with the other perinnals I have.

Cosmo said...

Hi, Jamie and Randy--I really have to keep up with my reading, don't I. Anyway, I think the ligustrum is a great idea--my friend the Garden Curmudgeon has a wonderful ligustrum hedge between the house and the street, and it frames his beautiful shade garden. Tea olive DOES grow slowly--the false holly, though, grows more quickly (though not as fast as ligustrum), and it's denser so it makes a better hedge. I promise to read more religiously in the future . . .