Morning Glories

The Understated Rose Garden

The rose garden that sits just outside the back door is simple and understated this year:

It includes a container of mint and a container of pink impatiens:

 

Alyssum in pink with deeper hues at the edges of the petals:

And, of course, the white roses:

The "spring" gardening push came late for me this year, so I just put the alyssum in about a week ago. It should fill in by the end of the season. I like the way the green pots sit right in the garden with the color of the containers playing off the green foliage, and the way the pinks of the alyssum and impatiens create a color duet. This continues the pink-white-green color combination I like so much in this garden as expressed in last year's Overview & Evaluation at the end of the season.

Alas, last year's temperamental clematis 'Freckles' did not reappear to redeem itself this year. And the cosmos, which provided so much enjoyment as documented here, here, here, here and here, did not re-seed themselves. And the hypoestes (an annual or tender perennial) did not come back. So other than the roses (which, after all, are the basis for the garden) it's a whole new scene this year -- simple and sweet!

Succulent Settling in Nicely

The indoor succulent that had sent up a desperate
Re-potting SOS is settling nicely into its new home:

A stretch and a sigh: "Aaaahhhh...."

Beautiful Indoor Additions

My students gave me some beautiful additions to my indoor garden at our annual piano recital last Sunday:

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING ORCHID
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AFRICAN VIOLET IN HANDCRAFTED POT
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GERBERA DAISY IN CONTEMPORARY PLANTER
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I've never been great with African violets -- usually the initial blooms dry up and no more flowers ever appear. And I've attempted one orchid in the past which died in about a week. I'd really like to keep this one flourishing, so I've searched out some instructions on orchid care at BeautifulOrchids.com and OrchidCare.com. If you have any helpful tips, please leave a comment!

Re-potting SOS

This little guy is just crying out for a bigger pot, isn't he?

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Here's what the plant looked liked when I got it in July 2007:

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I can only hope I don't get reported to the SPCH
(Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Houseplants).
Emergency item added to gardening To Do list -- check! 

Surviving the Squirrels

Last year I received some Lily of the Valley in a plant swap with my sister and put it in a container at the far end of my (small) back yard. Throughout the season, I struggled to outsmart the squirrels that were fond of digging in the container. By September, the smaller of the two plants had disappeared completely, and the other featured a single drooping leaf. Knowing Lily of the Valley's reputation for hardiness, I wondered if it might come back this year. A few checks of the pot in the past few weeks yielded no news.

But this week, a careful examination....

resulted in a joyful exclamation....

SURVIVAL!

And so the the tough-as-nails Lily of the Valley plants (and I) live to face another season of battling with the pesky critters!

Better Late Than Never - 2007 Amaryllis

The bulb for this amaryllis was given to me by a student family in early December as a Christmas gift. I followed the instructions carefully, but for months it just wouldn't grow beyond the few initial spikes of leaves. I thought perhaps I had over-watered it initially, or hadn't watered it enough. Maybe it was too cold in the indoor garden room. I felt like Charlie Brown and his little Christmas tree: "I've killed it."

As a last ditch effort before throwing it away, I put it in a window that receives intense morning light. And the rest, as they say, is history. It came into full bloom three days ago, with five flowers and another shorter stalk with a bud that will offer more blossoms soon.

Thank goodness I didn't give up on it too soon! I do believe there's a profound life lesson in there somewhere, isn't there?

First Flower of Spring

This beautiful blossom is the first flower of spring for me, and it's in my indoor garden!
This is one of the containers that I had out all summer and brought inside for the winter.


OSTEOSPERMUM

Soon it'll be warm enough to take the containers back outside.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying this bright touch of purple in my indoor garden room,
announcing the arrival of spring and the long-awaited gardening season.

Overview & Evaluation 09/07: Entrances & Containers

This is part of a summer review series with an overview and evaluation of each garden area, including the right front border, left front border, side border, both front entrances, the rose garden, the "garden-to-be" and all the containers.

THE ENTRANCES
Welcome!

The main entrance (which isn't used) features planters that I've put out just about every year with something different planted in them each time. This year they have classic spikes, 'Madness Midnight' petunias and 'New Carpet of Snow' alyssum. My delight with the performance of the petunias was expressed in the post O Ye of Little Faith. I'm really pleased with how these containers turned out; the plants make a strong long-distance impact and also look beautiful close up.

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This entrance has a few non-garden-related issues that need to be addressed: getting the brick walkway leveled and getting the foundation stucco repaired & painted. But this area has improved quite a bit over the season. I kept adding containers, following a yellow color theme with daylilies, violas, sunflower (not shown in the photo above) and coreopsis. Early on I planted sunflowers around and behind the containers with the goal of masking the unsightly foundation and adding to this area, but the seedlings were promptly eaten. So I put in some things that I received in the Plant Swap with my sister: purple coneflower, shasta daisy, another type of coreopsis, and daylily 'Stella d'Oro.' The 'Stella d'Oro' doesn't appear to have survived, but everything else (though not tall enough yet to show in this photo) is doing well. Since this photo was taken, I cut back the daylilies and removed the spent violas in the large planters, replacing them with Safari Bolero and Safari Yellow marigolds.

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OTHER CONTAINERS

The Fiesta Pink Ruffle double impatiens (Impatiens wallerana) were absolutely gorgeous:

They're pretty much spent by now; the photo above is from earlier in the season. For a view of this basket in all its glory, visit Double Impatiens in Charming Display.

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The lily of the valley, also received in the Plant Swap, has weathered a traumatic season of onslaught by the neighborhood squirrels. Their plight was documented in the They're Seedlings, Not Snacks and Squirrels! posts. Thankfully, the attacks trailed off eventually. At this pont, the lily of the valley isn't really flourishing; I'm just happy that it has survived. Onward and upward next year!

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The rieger begonia finished its stunning initial bloom (featured in the Pink "Puff" Begonia post) and has maintained robust health, deep green foliage and perfect form. It recently put forth some new blossoms in an end-of-season burst of beauty. (To view a blossom close-up, click here.)

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Other new container additions this year which were featured in their own posts are:
- rosularia sedoides var. Alba (sempervivella)
- herbs (including the fast-growing mint)
- boxwood
- tomato plants & gerbera daisy (tomato output is highlighted here and here, and gerbera daisy close-ups are here and here)
- lavender & caladium (with a caladium close-up included in this post)

(Note: I don't like to post the same photo more than once; that's why I'm including links rather than showing the pictures of these plants here.)

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FUTURE PLANS: Try something new at the main entrance next year just for fun. In the meantime, these containers need to be changed for the fall. Add more pots to this area next year, because this is the only "floored" outdoor spot and is thus suited to containers. Replace the big pair of terra cotta containers at the second entrance. The backs of these are broken sections, now situated to be hidden from view. The pots have simply worn out over the years. But I need to be able to turn the planters for balanced plant gowth. Get the same type of double impatiens and rieger begonia again if possible next year. When the weather gets cooler, move the herb collection into the indoor garden room (the color of the enamelware will fit nicely) and see if it survives. Consider bringing the boxwood indoors for the winter -- there's a corner of the garden room it would look perfect in. And bring in the caladium and the rosularia. So an unplanned benefit of my outdoor container expansion will be a wonderfully enhanced indoor garden this winter. My outdoor container wish list for next year also includes a coleus planter and a plant collage. My long-term outdoor wish list includes a deck, patio, or pergola -- for a congenial seating area and, of course, as a gathering place for more containers!

Afternoon Glories

Yesterday was one of those 12-on-a-scale-of-1-to-10 gardening days. For the first time in a l..o..n..g time the sun was bright, the air was fresh, the temperature was comfortably cool, and the humidity -- what humidity? It was gorgeous! I spent most of the afternoon doing yard and garden projects. What took the day from a "mere" 10 to a glorious 12 was that I had new things to plant. Things that filled in empty spaces. Things that added a splash of color where it was sorely needed. Things that were super bargains from the Parking Lot Sale I went to on Saturday. Things like this:

Safari Yellow marigolds and Becky Mix black-eyed susans (rudbeckia) add a cheerful dash of yellow to the left front border.

Here's a closer look at the rudbeckia, which fills in an empty place at the back of the bed. As I'm learning more plants I notice them all around, and I have seen rudbeckia everywhere. I love it, and I'm happy to add it to my garden.

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Portulaca (purslane) has replaced the lobelia that never met expectations in the Rose Garden. The portulaca has the look of a succulent's waxy leaves on stems that swirl out from the plant's center, generously filling a lot of space. (I actually could have used about three more to fill this area even tighter. I'm learning to always get more of each plant than I think I need, but I'm not quite there yet!)

Here's a close-up of the portulaca foliage and its sweet white flower with yellow center:

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Safari Bolero marigolds replace the daylilies (whose stems I cut back) and violas in the planters by the front entrance. They look better in real life than their somewhat pitiful appearance in the photo below, but I can see that some spanish moss is needed at the base to finish it off a little better.

Here's a close-up view of a few of these beauties: 

I wrote in a comment on another blog that I've never been a big marigold fan, but I'm coming around. I forgot about their lovely aroma! They also make such pretty cuttings -- the boldness of the rich colors contrasting with the frilly, ruffled petals:

Tomato Lost, Tomatoes Found

After three days of solid rain, this was a check-up morning.
There was good news and bad news.

TOMATO LOST

One of the five tiny green Small Fry cherry tomatoes
was struck from the stem and lying in the dirt:

I'll "harvest" it and see if it ripens indoors.

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TOMATOES FOUND

As if to counter that small but tender loss, the Mortgage Lifter plant
showed off its first two tomatoes of the season:

I had been about to give up on the Mortgage Lifter,
thinking it wasn't going to produce anything.
Patience (and lots of rain) pays off!

Related Posts:
Cherry Tomatoes on the Way
Newbies - Tomato Plants & Gerbera Daisy
"Your Salad is Served"