What's happening in your garden?

[Gothichome]

Just thought I would post a picture of our new sun set view now that the tree has gone.

[Manalto]

It looks so nice and peaceful, Ron.

A few years ago, I was enjoying the best bowl of gumbo I'd ever had, sitting in the dining room of a friend's house in Mobile. The house was in the historic neighborhood (S. Georgia Street) and they're spaced pretty close together, so I thought it was clever of him to allow the volunteer palm (I think it was probably a native Sabal palmetto) growing at the foundation to fill the dining room window and provide privacy, with no thought to curtains, shades or blinds. The fronds lightly brushed the window screen; a real tropical atmosphere.

So I decided to try the same thing at my kitchen window here. It's now the second year this palm, a Chinese fan, (Livistona chinensis), has been in the ground and it's starting to do its job. Window still needs some finish work and hardware.



Out in the yard, the hyacinth bean has taken off. It has climbed to the top of the camellias (about 15') and scrambled up even higher on the telephone pole at the back of the property. I think it might be perennial and not just coming back from dropped seeds. Here's a view of the bloom and the beans starting to form.



Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus) has been cultivated for thousands of years for both food and ornament. The flowers are fragrant but a little too high off the ground to enjoy here.

[Gothichome]

Yes it is most definitely a tropical view, the hyacinth, does it die off to the ground or is it a woody plant and grow from old growth, if a wood plant is it capable of strangling the host tree?

[Manalto]

The hyacinth bean dies to the ground in winter. The stems are typical bean vines, green and tough but not woody. I didn't expect it to get so big and wonder if it may be shading out the camellias it's scrambling over. It won't strangle them but they need light just like any plant.

[Gothichome]

Things are coming to life at Gothichome, getting my first real days work in the yard.

[Manalto]

Much is blooming in the garden, despite the brutally-high temperatures and lack of rain. Here's a shot of the zinnias in the front bed. It's hard to get a good photo since they're scattered.



The peach-colored bloom in front is the color I'm trying to get more of, but it seems that seed from any bloom will produce offspring of many colors. I like zinnias for their ease of culture and cheerful disposition.

[Gothichome]

My dinner plate hibiscus are going full tilt, very showy flowers. I always envied them in my neighbour’s garden so I got some and really fill up the garden space. I’ll have to cut them back in the spring and spread them out some more.

[Manalto]

My dinner plate hibiscus are going full tilt, very showy flowers.

I'd love to see photos of your hibiscus!

Here at Thornewood, we've had some unruly behavior from the resident live oak. One thing that attracted me to this house in the first place was this massive tree that shaded the house for half the day. Then in 2020, hurricane Sally sent one huge limb through the roof. (Mercifully, most of the weight landed between the house and garage, reducing the potential damage.)

One night a few weeks ago, after a good downpour that relieved several weeks of drought, I heard a "whoosh" outside my bedroom window. Another massive limb had fallen between my and my neighbor's houses. Here are the tree guys removing the remaining part of the tree that was still standing. It was tilting, unstable and had to be removed.



My previously-shady side yard and driveway now roasts in the Alabama sun. I've begun planting young trees to remedy that situation, but there will be some serious waiting involved for that to occur. One thing I wish I'd done years ago was to plant 'Natchez' crape myrtles along the tree belt. This is consistent with the original design of this town, which originally (1918) planted crape myrtles throughout the city to create shade and floral display, although 'Natchez' wouldn't have been among them. The National Arboretum in Washington DC developed a series of beautiful hybrid crape myrtles in the 1950s, and gave them native American names. 'Natchez' is particularly handsome, with its white blooms and cinnamon bark that peels to reveal an attractive striped and mottled appearance. Here are my "young uns" just freshly installed:



They're only about 6' tall, but grow pretty quickly, so should start to shade the walk in a couple of years.

[Gothichome]

James, some how I missed taking pictures, have to wait till next year now. Your boulevard will look great in five years or so.

[Manalto]

Here's a view of the 'Natchez' at the Mobile Botanical Garden.



Here's what a mature one looks like in bloom: