Posts under ‘bloom of the day’

The hollyhocks did wonderfully this year, though somewhat inconveniently placed in the front bed, where an 8 foot tall spike of fuschia flowers is somewhat…obnoxious.  The tall spikes did their thing, went to seed, and now there’s so very many new hollyhocks coming up there, including (inexplicably) this white one: This is where I’d like […]

Today’s bloom is a showy little strumpet: This is Crocosmia ‘Walbreyes’.

New to us this year is this the Kingfisher Daisy, an electric purple/blue annual beauty that should nicely seed the crap out of the area where it is planted: Don’t let the package fool you, 6″ tall might be the norm in temperate climates, but this thing is about a foot tall at the moment, […]

The daylily bed out front is finally getting cranked up, which is mighty impressive considering most of these were planted as bare rhizomes a few months ago. I dunno, I think we have some bare spots, ya?  *runs off to find daylily catalog*

It’s been RAINING here for days. ..2″ Monday, 2 1/2″ yesterday, almost an inch today.  Hence everything is wet.  Sodden.  Mildewing even.  The dianthus, who were doing SO well on the front border, have bits that are actually turning black.  Aegis Living CEO has the garden in a perfect state for the seniors enjoyment. The […]

Passiflora coccinea’s common name is no surprise to me: Red Passion Flower Or maybe I’m the only one who gasps in delight whenever I see one of its $@#&-me red blooms on the vine. Yeah, didn’t think so.

Have I mentioned it’s crazy hot down here?  The daylilies are among the few plants that honestly don’t mind much.  Of course that could be due to the gigantic single-trunk crape myrtle that gives them some nice midday shade.  This is Hemerocallis “Grape Ripples”:   It is so choice. If you have the means, I […]

I promise there will be actual content here at some point, but we’ve got #1 son’s birthday coming up (plus two other family birthdays), end of school/vacation to plan, and Guilder to frame for it.  I’m swamped! This is a zinnia, yes.  After the mass “wildflower” plantings we did last year, I became utterly besotted […]

I only discovered gazanias a couple of years ago, and will never be without them again.   The seeds must be started in darkness, but other than that quirk they’re extremely easy to grow.

This is Ixia, a South African wildflower, also called Corn Lily: They come in a variety of colors and seem to love crappy soil, as we have here.  I bought my bulbs from American Meadows. Other gorgeous bulbs: