I wrote to the person who's garden I visted and got the mystery plant. She wrote back and let me know that it is a tree collard - a perennial vegitable that you can harvest greens from year round.
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They attacked my veggie garden - the part that makes me mad is that they don't actually eat anything, they just chew off the good bits, and leave them there.
I've had this hibiscus plant for a few years, is espaliered and this winter it pretty much died back completely. It has finally bloomed this year, it's my favorite hibiscus that i currently have because of its coloring.
I got this cutting from a house on one of the garden tours I went on in the spring(the brown part that looks like bamboo is the cutting, the green is the new growth). I got the name of the plant at the time, but didn't write it down, and promptly forgot what it was when I left.
It's taking off like crazy the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure it's going to be huge, but I'd like more info on it, so I can give it a proper home. If you know what it is, please let me know!
This Canna is called Lucifer. The first bloom came out today, I think t's supposed to have a little more red in the flower.
I planted the bulbs (maybe they were rhisomes) months ago in a container, and had it in full sun next to my veggie garden. This week, since the temp was near 100, I moved it to a spot that gets only about an hour of direct dun a day. It seems to be doing well.
This pot was an attempt to grow a purple themed pot a couple of years ago, it's got purple shield (Strobilanthes Dyerianus), Bugleweed (ajuga 'chocolate chip'), and a Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' (The under sides of the foliage is a deep purple and it has cute little purple flowers with little freckles of dark purple on them).
So anyway, the persian shield has died on me every year since I bought the first one even though they are rated for zone 9, they have not survived through the winter for me - but do come back in the early to mid-summer. It's possible that where it is located in my backyard is a microclimate of zone 8, but I doubt it. I'll need to bring this one in for the winter this year and see how it does as a houseplant.
It has beautiful purple irridescent foliage, and later will bloom with purple trumpet shaped flowers.
I love funny plants, and this one tops the list for the moment, It's callled eyebrow grass because the seed heads look like little eyebrows. Apperently this little guy is native to the U.S. and the destruction of it was one of the main causes of the dust bowl.
I bought a bursting 4" pot of it from Annies Annuals, and promtly split it in half to make two plants, it seems to have survived the split, and is doing well in a bright shade area of my garden while it waits for a permenant home in my garden.
This rose is called "Secret" I got it a few years ago from my mom's friend Roseanne. I've kept it in a pot, and moved it around with me from place to place, and so far it's done well. This was the first bloom this year.
I planted about 35 of these bulbs early this year. I got them from Home depot, and planted them in a couple of long planters I had. I would say only about half of them sprouted any kind of foliage, and of those maybe half of those have bloomed. They are also pretty scraggly looking mostly flopped over, it's possible I didn't plant them deep enough, but I tried to follow the instructions when planting.
At the same time I planted these I also planted some rudbeckia tubers, tritoma, and crocosmia (all also purchased from home depot), and only the crocosmia has come up, but again, with spotty performance. I was hoping for containers of gorgeous summer flowers for the front porch, but it looks like these will be staying in the side yard for this year
I went on hike in the sierra mountains this weekend, and saw lots of gorgeous wildflowers. Here's a photo of some buckwheat (red maybe - though it was definitly pink in color) that was growing all over the trails.
I started some sunflowers in pots this year before I transplanted them into the veggie garden( yeah I know I'm not supposed to transplant sunflowers - but I haven't really had any problems with it in the past). I couldn't fit this guy in so I left hime in the 6-pack I started him in, and shockingly he flowered!
He's small (this variety is supposed to get 8-10' tall), but seems happy in his pot.
This was my harvest of apricots this year, not enought to make jam, but they were oh so tasty. There really is nothing like an off-the-tree ripe apricot. They just never ripen properly when you pick them early.
Today the first edible strawberry is ripe! Yum - it's super sweet and tasty.
I've been having a lot of problems with critters eating the berries while they are still green...but these last few berries have been growing further away from the pot and seem to be harder for them to eat, so hopefully there will be more to come...
Updated list of what's in the raised bed: crossed out = dead, purple = newly planted
The List:
- Tomato (four varieties)
- cherry tomato
- eggplant
- cucumber
- crookneck sqaush
- cantelope
- watermelon
- nasturiums
- artichoke
- corn
- snap beans
- edamame
- sunflower edible
- sunflower decorative
- carrot
- more corn
- broccoli
- decorative corn
- snow peas
A lot of stuff is stunted/dying but I'm holding out some hope, it's not too late to replant some items, and hopefully they'll take off.
Well, the first harvest of blueberries is ready. The birds have not eaten them, and I can see why they are pretty tart . I'm not sure why I even bought this variety, it says right on the tag that they are tart. Who wants tart blueberries?
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