Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Springtime Snapshot
Whether you're celebrating Easter today or just enjoying spring, we hope your day is as lovely as ours here in My Florida Backyard!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Roll Out the Barrel
Now that we've finally tamed the backyard again, we decided it needed a little color. Since we just finished laying new landscape paper to block the weeds, we didn't want to cut through it and give the suckers a chance to grow again. Instead, we added some half-barrel planters to the yard.
The original plan was to buy wooden whiskey barrels, but I went to the store by myself to get them, and wow - those things are heavy! So, I found these lightweight resin ones instead. They may not last more than few years, but they were much easier to move. I drilled a few holes in the bottom for better drainage first, and then added some organic potting soil.
Then came the fun part - adding the plants! I had picked up a bunch of calibrachoa and petunias on the Lowe's clearance racks a few weeks ago and hand't yet decided what to do with them. I wound up mixing them with some Agastache rupestris, sometimes called Rose Mint Hyssop, making for containers full of butterfly attractants.
The original plan was to buy wooden whiskey barrels, but I went to the store by myself to get them, and wow - those things are heavy! So, I found these lightweight resin ones instead. They may not last more than few years, but they were much easier to move. I drilled a few holes in the bottom for better drainage first, and then added some organic potting soil.
Then came the fun part - adding the plants! I had picked up a bunch of calibrachoa and petunias on the Lowe's clearance racks a few weeks ago and hand't yet decided what to do with them. I wound up mixing them with some Agastache rupestris, sometimes called Rose Mint Hyssop, making for containers full of butterfly attractants.
Calibrachoa 'Coralberry Punch'
Petunia and Calibrachoa 'Coralberry Punch'
Plants in containers may require a little extra water, but fortunately we had some nice rains last weekend to fill up the rain barrel. This color and plant combination should be irresistible to butterflies now that our Florida weather has finally returned (what's up with 40-degree nights at the end of March, anyway?). These barrels give My Florida Backyard just the kick of color it needs to welcome spring!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Pale Green Stars
Each year, we treat ourselves to a new variety of hippeastrum (more commonly but incorrectly known as "amaryllis"). This year's purchase, Evergreen, has begun to bloom, and it's pretty spectacular.
We're absolute suckers for green flowers, and you just don't find all that many of them in nature. This variety of hippeastrum looks like pale green over-sized stars studding the tall green stems.
The bulb was enormous, the size of a softball, and threw up three flower stalks almost as soon as we put it in the ground a few weeks ago. The flowers are slightly smaller than some other hippeastrum we've grown, but the number and color more than make up for it.
Our other hippeastrum are getting ready to bloom - the orange "Miranda" in the front yard is nearly a month early, too. More pictures coming as soon as they start to open!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
In Bloom
We've finally replanted the butterfly garden, and although it still really needs a new layer of mulch, at least the plants are in and doing well.
The key to a good butterfly garden is including both host plants and nectar plants. For the nectar plants, using different colors and heights is also effective, and grouping plants together in clusters of colors gives a nice aesthetic and the bugs seem to like it too. To perk up the garden for the cooler months, here are the plants we added:
It's nice to have a backyard full of color again, and on warm afternoons the butterflies are definitely enjoying it. It's good to be getting My Florida Backyard back into the swing of things again!
The key to a good butterfly garden is including both host plants and nectar plants. For the nectar plants, using different colors and heights is also effective, and grouping plants together in clusters of colors gives a nice aesthetic and the bugs seem to like it too. To perk up the garden for the cooler months, here are the plants we added:
Pentas lanceolata in red...
and pink.
Lavendula pinnata
And of course, plenty of milkweed, both red and yellow flowering.
It's nice to have a backyard full of color again, and on warm afternoons the butterflies are definitely enjoying it. It's good to be getting My Florida Backyard back into the swing of things again!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Beautiful Surprise
After seeing them in another garden, I knew My Florida Backyard needed Gloriosa Lilies (Gloriosa superba), so I ordered some from an end-of-season sale at American Meadows in late spring. Gloriosa Lilies grow from tubers, and we received and planted three. Two of them have grown and done well, though we've had an interesting surprise from the blooms.
One of the tubers produced the expected fiery red blooms accented with yellow, exploding in the fantastical upside-down bloom shape so unusual in a flower.
One of the tubers produced the expected fiery red blooms accented with yellow, exploding in the fantastical upside-down bloom shape so unusual in a flower.
Amazing as these flowers are, we were actually more astonished by the flowers from the other root. While Gloriosa Lily flowers start pale in color and deepen to red as they open, these flowers stayed pale, taking on only a dark pink hue as they aged. This happened with every bloom from that tuber, so it wasn't a one-time thing.
We can't really find any other descriptions of this on the web, so we're not sure if this is a common mutation or not. It's certainly not something we've ever seen before. If you know any more about this unusual Gloriosa Lily bloom, please do drop us a line in the comments.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Summer of Roses
A blooming rose in Florida's summer heat that's not a Knockout Rose? That's why we love Belinda's Dream. Given enough rain (something that hasn't been much of an issue lately), it will bloom pretty much 12 months a year. It doesn't suffer from disease or fungus either. And the pink blooms are even prettier than these photos show.
My Florida Backyard is in the middle of the summer doldrums, where we start to lose sight of the flowers due to the weeds. It's nice to have a bloom like Belinda's Dream to distract us from the jungle!
My Florida Backyard is in the middle of the summer doldrums, where we start to lose sight of the flowers due to the weeds. It's nice to have a bloom like Belinda's Dream to distract us from the jungle!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Catch Up
My calendar tells me it is now the month of May. It's always been reliable before, so I have to believe what it says, but I'm a little alarmed by the fact that the month of April is gone. Here in My Florida Backyard, April was a blur of a month, filled with out-of-town guests, broken air conditioning, hectic times at work, and heavy-hitting cough-filled colds that are still dragging on long after it seems they should be. We've pretty much had to leave the gardens to fend for themselves, and for the most part they seemed to do fine without us.
Fortunately, we've been able to poke our heads out from time to time to see what's been going on, so we caught the first blooming of our new Salvia greggii 'Ultraviolet', which we ordered from Park Seed a few months ago.
The color really seems to live up to what was advertised in the catalog, though I'm not sure it really shows up properly in this picture. It's definitely not like any other salvia we have in the gardens (and we have plenty!). We haven't been giving it a whole lot of supplemental water throughout this dry season, so we look forward to seeing what size it will reach once the rains kick in.
We're hoping that with a return to normal schedules and somewhat normal health, we'll be able to get back out into the gardens again to give them the TLC they need to make it through May, which is a notoriously difficult month in Florida. Hot temps combined with low rainfall can wreak havoc on plants, but most of our natives should be well-equipped to handle whatever May throws their way. We hope we can do the same!
Fortunately, we've been able to poke our heads out from time to time to see what's been going on, so we caught the first blooming of our new Salvia greggii 'Ultraviolet', which we ordered from Park Seed a few months ago.
The color really seems to live up to what was advertised in the catalog, though I'm not sure it really shows up properly in this picture. It's definitely not like any other salvia we have in the gardens (and we have plenty!). We haven't been giving it a whole lot of supplemental water throughout this dry season, so we look forward to seeing what size it will reach once the rains kick in.
We're hoping that with a return to normal schedules and somewhat normal health, we'll be able to get back out into the gardens again to give them the TLC they need to make it through May, which is a notoriously difficult month in Florida. Hot temps combined with low rainfall can wreak havoc on plants, but most of our natives should be well-equipped to handle whatever May throws their way. We hope we can do the same!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Down to Earth
Earth Day is this weekend, and our new green gladioli apparently decided to bloom just in time to celebrate!
We bought our bulbs at a local nursery, but you can get them from American Meadows, where they're currently on sale. Glads bloom late spring through fall in Florida, and now is the time to plant.
This is our first year trying glads in My Florida Backyard. We have several hundred bulbs waiting to be planted, in a variety of colors, just as soon as we can find the time. Anytime through May is good for planting summer-blooming bulbs, so we have a little time still. In the meantime, we'll enjoy the glads we have so far. Happy Earth Day!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Always Spring
Just when we thought summer weather had arrived for good, spring came back again! Cool nights, soft breezes, and sunshine that's warm on your back instead of making you sweat... these are the days we love in My Florida Backyard. We've even had a few good rains over the last couple of weeks, so the the gardens are blooming and thriving.
With spring comes the amazing scent of Confederate Jasmine in bloom (Trachelospermum jasminoides). The vines along the north side of the house have prospered amazingly over the last four years, filling in the latticework to provide a living privacy screen just as we hoped it would.
Our jasmine perfumes the whole neighborhood when it's in bloom, and my only regret is that it doesn't last longer. Still, the shiny leaves are attractive year-round, and the nearby Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) has spread over the latticework too, making a really nice mix.
We've even had the gift of a hummingbird over the last few days, though we haven't managed to snap any pictures. She's been enjoying the honeysuckle and mexican sage (Salvia leucantha). Fingers crossed that we may get a picture or two before she continues her migration to the north. As for us, we're staying right here in My Florida Backyard, where we hope spring lasts and lasts and lasts.
With spring comes the amazing scent of Confederate Jasmine in bloom (Trachelospermum jasminoides). The vines along the north side of the house have prospered amazingly over the last four years, filling in the latticework to provide a living privacy screen just as we hoped it would.
Our jasmine perfumes the whole neighborhood when it's in bloom, and my only regret is that it doesn't last longer. Still, the shiny leaves are attractive year-round, and the nearby Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) has spread over the latticework too, making a really nice mix.
We've even had the gift of a hummingbird over the last few days, though we haven't managed to snap any pictures. She's been enjoying the honeysuckle and mexican sage (Salvia leucantha). Fingers crossed that we may get a picture or two before she continues her migration to the north. As for us, we're staying right here in My Florida Backyard, where we hope spring lasts and lasts and lasts.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Strange Things
Happy Spring! Although it's been feeling like spring since about mid-January here in My Florida Backyard, we're definitely enjoying the longer days and the recent time change allowing us more time outside in the evenings. A few extra minutes to take an evening stroll keeps us from missing the little things that are happening, like the strange and fascinating rue flowers that are blooming now.
As we've noted before, rue as an herb doesn't play much of a role in most cooking these days due to its sharp, fairly unpleasant scent and flavor (Ruta graveolens literally means "Bitter herb with a strong, unpleasant smell"), but we love having it in the butterfly garden, where both Black Swallowtails and Giant Swallowtails use it as a host plant. Interestingly, this herb is apparently quite admired in its native Southeastern Europe, where it's the national flower of Lithuania and is frequently carried in bridal bouquets. To each their own, I guess.
Strange flowers and a stranger smell... rue certainly doesn't work in everyone's garden. But My Florida Backyard is a wildlife garden, and rue is a wildlife plant, so we like it. What's the strangest thing growing in your garden, and why do you grow it?
As we've noted before, rue as an herb doesn't play much of a role in most cooking these days due to its sharp, fairly unpleasant scent and flavor (Ruta graveolens literally means "Bitter herb with a strong, unpleasant smell"), but we love having it in the butterfly garden, where both Black Swallowtails and Giant Swallowtails use it as a host plant. Interestingly, this herb is apparently quite admired in its native Southeastern Europe, where it's the national flower of Lithuania and is frequently carried in bridal bouquets. To each their own, I guess.
Strange flowers and a stranger smell... rue certainly doesn't work in everyone's garden. But My Florida Backyard is a wildlife garden, and rue is a wildlife plant, so we like it. What's the strangest thing growing in your garden, and why do you grow it?
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Ides of March
The 15th of the month is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! If you haven't already seen my post over at BirdsandBlooms.com, here's what's blooming in My Florida Backyard right now. Highlights include our African Iris, snapdragons, and a new red-centered yellow hibiscus we planted last fall. What's in your garden today?
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