The OTHER SMTB - Show Me The BLOOMS

[ecf8503]

A few of my favorite pics - some at home, some at the zoo!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Dancing Fire, Your orchids are gorgeous. I've heard they are really hard to grow. Yours look so beautiful! (I swear your are really my dad. We have the exact same discussions that you and I have on many subjects and you would take his side on everything!)

I grow them under these LED lights.
btw; your dad sound like an Interesting Man ..

 

[Slickk]

I love this thread and wanted to add my posies.

 

[monarch64]

Sandeek, wow! Your "posies" are gorgeous. Love the violas/pansies, and poppies. What are the blooms in the first photo?

My snapdragons finally bloomed. I went with all pink/fuschia this year. I like snapdragons because they are hardy enough to last until well beyond the first fall frost here. I planted several around out mailbox and more in an adjacent flower bed. In years past I've started them from seed, but this year I was all about instant gratification with some "annuals."

 

[PintoBean]

I really don't have much to say, other than, wow, what beautiful contributions to the thread!

 

[Slickk]

Monarch thank you! I love your snapdragons! My first thought was that they were fox glove! Gorgeous!
The first picture features perennial Coreopsis of the hot pink and yellow variety. I love them because they bloom all summer long, especially when I deadhead, which is my favorite pastime next to looking at jewelry!
There are also some orangish Echinacea in the back left. I have some gorgeous yuccas that are blooming shortly. I will post them when they are in full glorious bloom!
I love this thread!

 

[monarch64]

Monarch thank you! I love your snapdragons! My first thought was that they were fox glove! Gorgeous!
The first picture features perennial Coreopsis of the hot pink and yellow variety. I love them because they bloom all summer long, especially when I deadhead, which is my favorite pastime next to looking at jewelry!
There are also some orangish Echinacea in the back left. I have some gorgeous yuccas that are blooming shortly. I will post them when they are in full glorious bloom!
I love this thread!

Ah, coreopsis. As soon as someone tells me, I remember, but for some reason it just doesn't stick in my brain. I have heard of people making tea with coreopsis, have you ever tried it?

I also love deadheading. Petunias, especially. I recognized the Echinacea; we see a lot of the purple variety around here. I think I have a photo of some from last year. My next blooms will be zinnias, of which I planted an entire raised bed for cutting flowers, so there may be a barrage of zinnia pics if this thread is still active by the time they bloom!

 

[packrat]

My parents have a lot of coneflowers. I ordered some for the front this year but they've not bloomed yet. I got a crazy green one, a white one, and three that are sort of a grab bag of who knows what color they'll be.

Three of our yuccas in the back are blooming-the stalks are clear as tall as the fence, and sooo many blooms. It's funny, it looks like asparagus when it's coming up, and when Trapper was little he used to go w/JD to go cut wild asparagus in the ditches. We caught him in the front yard *just* before he broke the yucca stalk. "But daddy, it's the biggest asparagus!"

 

[monarch64]

Oh man, your yucca/Trapper story reminded me of the time I was weeding for my dad and pulled up all the sunflower starts he was growing for the birds. He was so pissed!

 

[packrat]

hahahhaha did I ever tell you the poop bed story?

 

[monarch64]

No! I'm afraid to ask!

 

[packrat]

Haha! Dad and I put in a new flower bed years ago. We went out on "poop patrol" (that's what mom and dad called it when we were little and we'd get manure for the garden) to the pastures and got a trailer of cow manure to mix in the dirt. I was out watering after we got everything planted and dad came over to "critique" how I was watering..(he's quite a critique-er lemme tell ya.. ) and he got on me about watering the corn. Uh hello, corn? We didn't plant corn dad. yeeaaaah well, I didn't think about the corn in the manure.

Oh and that's why we call it the poop bed.

 

[monarch64]

Haha! Dad and I put in a new flower bed years ago. We went out on "poop patrol" (that's what mom and dad called it when we were little and we'd get manure for the garden) to the pastures and got a trailer of cow manure to mix in the dirt. I was out watering after we got everything planted and dad came over to "critique" how I was watering..(he's quite a critique-er lemme tell ya.. ) and he got on me about watering the corn. Uh hello, corn? We didn't plant corn dad. yeeaaaah well, I didn't think about the corn in the manure.

Oh and that's why we call it the poop bed.

Ha ha! Poop surprise! See, this is why I hate it when people say they don't have a green thumb. Plants want to survive! So much so that they EXPECT and WANT to be digested and eliminated randomly so the species continues to survive! Nature is so fascinating.

 

[PintoBean]

The day after I learned about "coleus", I found this teeny tiny one growing from
In between my Belgium blocks! I was able to pull it out with roots attached. It spent a day in a shot glass, then I bought tiny fleurette chrysanthemums from trader Joes and reused a container to plant my little coleus. Since I can't keep plants indoors (munchy cats), my neighbor has agreed to take it indoors during the winter.

I just found this oak baby in my front garden bed. I...um... Stuck it in front of a neighbor's house who's over 4 years in arrears of monthly maintenance, and who's also an absentee landlord with a bad attitude.

 

[monarch64]

^That coleus is adorable!

And to your guerilla gardening!

 

[BeekeeperBetty]

I'm impressed by anyone who can grow orchids. I can usually grow just about anything except orchids.



This is my veriagated lemon blooming.



My Mexican lime.

And even though it isn't a bloom, bees and flowers go together, so here's the front of one of my hives.

 

[monarch64]

Beekeeper Betty, nice citrus trees! I have a Meyer lemon tree that just hates to be inside over winter. It dropped every single one of its leaves this past winter while I had it indoors, but within a week of me putting it back outside once the weather was warm enough, it had leafed out again completely. Now I'm waiting for it to blossom and give me some damn lemons!

PintoBean, these pics are for you and whomever else enjoys coleus. I tried some fuschia and chartreuse coleus this year and I LOVE it. I planted it with some rainbow Swiss chard in one showy container, and with dianthus and petunias in another. I am planning to overwinter several of my coleus this year--I am so sick of buying annuals every spring when I know I can either grow my own or keep them alive all year with a little extra effort.

 

[Queenie60]

This is my hydrangea bush, just beginning to bloom. It's about 17 years old and produces many beautiful blooms each year. I love to dry a few and put them in a nice vase to enjoy for a while. Sorry for the upside down photo? Sometimes they show up sideways and this time upside down??

 

[PintoBean]

Queenie that's gorgeous! We have a lot of hydrangeas in my community, but none are this beautiful vivid, bright, HOT pink!!!

 

[Queenie60]

Thank you PB - this is just one of three bushes of this size, three in a row! We built our home 18 years ago and these bushes are about 17 years old. Attached is a photo of my hydrangea tree - the nursery called it a Strawberry Hydrangea, blooms start out white and then slowly turn a pastel pink. Sorry if the photo is upside down. Don't know why this happens?

 

[december-fire]

PintoBean,

What a great thread! Can I play?

The past month, I've been expanding my garden a bit, reading lots trying to figure out what I'm doing, what to plant, and hoping that I don't kill anything.

Here's my first and only rose bush; from the Canadian Artists' Series, Tom Thompson "Campfire" rose. Buds open mainly yellow with a bit of pink, getting more pink with time. Here's hoping its as hardy as its supposed to be and survives life with a novice like me. Next is a Dwarf Korean Lilac (have had it for years).

 

[december-fire]

Can I sneak in my beautiful Hoopsi Spruce?

No blooms, but in Spring she has the most beautiful new growth. A gorgeous soft blue colour. Some of you want to touch flowers, well, I can never resist touching the soft, lovely, new growth on my beloved tree.

After these two photos I'll get with the program and switch back to flowers.

 

[december-fire]

Goldheart Bleeding Heart (if I recall the type correctly).

Hosta and my well-behaved rabbit who never nibbles any of the plants.

 

[december-fire]

Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle,

Goldflame Honeysuckle,

and a honeysuckle bush that has tiny little yellow flowers. I didn't realize the flowers would be so small, but the hummingbird enjoys the flowers and that's all that matters.

 

[december-fire]

Mock orange

 

[december-fire]

Gold and Blue Spiderwort (I love the colour combination of the leaves and blooms!)

Another Spiderwort (Sweet Kate?) that has darker leaves.

The bees and I love this plant! Lots of blooms every morning, covered in bees, then closed buds later in the day. Repeat the next morning! I read that the blooms die after one day, but it seems to me that they just close later in the day (or in heat). I'm probably wrong, but that's my opinion.

Thanks everyone for sharing your beautiful flowers! So pretty!

 

[PintoBean]

December-fire!!! Your photography is stunning and I'm absolutely floored by the pictures!

 

[PintoBean]

Giggling! apparently the cracks between Belgium blocks are the places for me to scavenge plants! First the tiny coleus, now I found a premie of a baby spruce lmao! I pulled it out carefully and stuck it in a pot of soil. I hope it survives!

 

[december-fire]

PintoBean,

Thanks for your kind compliments.

By the way, how big was that pot for the wee baby spruce? You might need to re-pot it as it starts to hit the 30-foot height or more.

 

[PintoBean]

The crack babies together!