What's happening in your garden?

[MJ1987]

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Wow, Ron! Those roses and peonies look great!

I've had some really nice irises that have already come and gone.

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I think I have a TON of blooming spiderwort...(please, correct me if I'm mislabeling)...

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...and just this morning, some buttercups (again, correct me if I'm mistaken, please!)...

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I planted some autumn ferns up the left side of the driveway, have honeysuckle exploding all over the new woven-wire fence on the right side of the driveway, and some really pretty blue hostas that finally exploded with some extra water and shade. I also planted some oak-leaf hydrangeas--both ruby slippers and pee wee--in the front and back. I sprinkled in a dianthus, a goldstrum, and an echinacea plant...and voila! Even the vinca has continued to flower a bit with all the rain we've gotten.

I'm patiently awaiting moonflowers and rose of sharon and look forward to adding a kousa dogwood and a shade tree in the front, in late fall. Finally, the place doesn't look like a wreck!

[Gothichome]

Very nice indeed, I like the large showy flowers, they sort of say ‘have a look at me’ . We have white irises with yellow beards growing behind a tree on the edge of our bank, neither one of us can remember ever planting them. They showed up a few years ago and have been spreading ever since. I don’t know if irises can lay dormant for many years and suddenly come to life. If the previous owner planted them, they would have been dormant for at least seven years. Maybe James has the answer.

[Manalto]

The long saga of getting Four O'clock (Mirabilis jalapa) growing in Mobile has reached a milestone. Germinated in Connecticut, they made the long haul to Mobile and, this evening, the first bloom opened. Four O'clocks are so named because they open at the end of the day, but the timing is a bit off because here's what it looked like at 4:00:



They'd be more properly called Six O'clocks:



This variety, pale orange with a pink star, is called 'Salmon Sunset' (A fish? Go figure. I like 'Summer Sunset' better, but maybe it's been taken.) and carries the wonderful, clean fragrance the plant is known for. No hint of fishy odor a'tall.

ETA: Ron, the most likely way the mystery iris showed up is if some soil that contained a fragment of rhizome was disposed of in that spot. It could have been mixed in with a pot of annuals, for example. Beyond that possibility, I'm stumped too.

[mjt]

Having a new place means new discoveries every week.

Once the snow melted and we started looking around, I knew we had strawberries,

but didn't know we had asparagus...

[Gothichome]

James, that is a very good theory, and knowing the area has been a place to empty pots for ever it would make sense. How large are the flowers on your fashionable late Four o’clock plants? They have a unique spiral look just before fully opening, I think I like that better than the fully open flower.

[Manalto]

Having a new place means new discoveries every week.

Once the snow melted and we started looking around, I knew we had strawberries,

but didn't know we had asparagus...

You're making me jealous! Those are two very nice things to discover already established, especially because asparagus takes a few years.

[Manalto]

James, that is a very good theory, and knowing the area has been a place to empty pots for ever it would make sense. How large are the flowers on your fashionable late Four o’clock plants? They have a unique spiral look just before fully opening, I think I like that better than the fully open flower.

I like the spiral phase, too. The open flower is only about an inch wide, but they are borne in profusion. I chose this variety for its color but for me it's more about the fragrance. I planted them along the driveway so the perfume hits you when you get in or out of the car.

[Manalto]

For the last couple of days, I've been trying to get the current planting beds in order (Don't let weeds go to seed!) At the base of the big sabal palm is a small cluster of agapanthus (Agapanthus africanus, AKA Lily of the Nile, although I've never heard anyone call it that; it's a whole extra syllable and it's much more fun to say "agapanthus" anyway.) Last summer, my neighbor, whose property is in 100% shade, gave me a few scrawny plants that were struggling and not flowering there. They seem to like their new spot much better and have begun to bloom.



Blue is the rarest and most sought-after color in the garden and agapanthus really delivers. It's not in the least bit finicky; it shows up in commercial and median plantings all the time. Give it plenty of sun and good drainage and it will perform. I'll pamper these a little bit this year (fertilize and water) to get them going strong because they have the best impact en masse.

[Lily left the valley]

Ack...! Forgot to post the picture of the Emerald and Gold that went rogue I took on May 23rd...not the best picture, but clearly shows how it's doing whatever it wants.


Hell, yes, my front yard's a mess.

(But the weather's finally cooperating so not for much longer...)

[Gothichome]

Yesterday upper management and I were out antiquing (covid restrictions are starting to ease) found this pair of very Victorian cast iron plant stands for cheap.

Today I went out the local greenhouse for something to put it them.

I think they look the part.
Ron