Sunday, February 23, 2014

February 23, 2014- More big pictures to get through the winter-Week 10

We have been in Chicago for the weekend. For that reason this is a short post.

I had originally thought that we would have 10 weeks of pictures and then 3 weeks of runoffs with the winners. The idea was to give you pictures until it was spring.
It is time to extend the season to get through the winter. I say that as I listen to the howling of the wind (Thursday night) and know that the blizzard missed us in Iowa City by 50 miles. Then there are the sub zero temperatures coming this week to Iowa City.

I actually have this nifty idea for another season extending session one of these weeks. I have thought about a team competition. I am open to suggestions. Come on now-participate. What teams would you like to see? There could be team daffodils. Team poppies. Or even team barrel cactus. There could also be team-yellow or team white. A group of say 4 pictures could compete against other teams of 4 pictures. It would be fun.


On to the show.
Here is a picture of that winner you picked during pink week. It was the tree peony nosing out the lupine.



The full voting was:
TreePeony23 Lupine 20
impatiens 9
Lilium 9
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Here is week number 10.
Back by popular demand I give you more big pictures.
The first picture is another lilium picture. I think it is Black Beauty.


The second picture is this bejeweled alium. It is one of those flowers that is so much more impressive up close.

This third picture is just a whole bunch of crocuses. It is a whole bunch of purple.

The last picture is an Asiatic lily, with bug.

There you have it. Vote away. Come see them in the garden this summer.
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So now for one of my favorite parts of the weekly post. Here are the bonus or extra pictures. I found a few more bigs.


That’s it for this week. Stay off the ice. Find some sunshine.
Keep sending me those emails.

Philip

Sunday, February 16, 2014

February 16, 2014- Pink week-Week 9

So is the end of winter in sight? I briefly saw a 50 degrees in the ten day forecast. Thursday was 39 degrees and sunny and at least the roads were melting. It felt really good.
But we did have 2 nights this week of -16 and -17. We then had a nasty and unexpected two inches of snow Friday morning. That was a day when I had to go to a court hearing 75 miles away. I particularly dislike driving in bad weather. That morning I started to shovel the driveway. I got 10 feet out and fell backwards and hit the back of my head. I do not remember ever doing that. It did make for a wonderful (poor use of term) story in the snow. You could just see it all right there. Shovel-shovel-fall-struggle to get up. I made sort of a bad snow angel. But I got right up, brushed myself off, and…and stopped shoveling. I felt like the football player who just got up and went in for the next play. I have no effects other than a sore neck.
Update: As mentioned we had snow Friday. We had another 2-3 inches Saturday. We are scheduled to get 3-5 inches tomorrow morning. This is getting old old old.

The days are longer. Melting is such a wonderful phenomenon. One of my favor places to visit is Colorado. (I do wonder how many people have added Colorado to their places to visit in the last six months.) We visit the Estes Park area. Rocky Mountain National Park is right next door. We mostly visit in late June. At that time you can pick the elevation where you can hike. You can almost always find the melting line. There is a flower called Marsh Marigold. It blooms in that melting zone. The snow pulls back and there it is. Here are some pictures.

On to the show.
Here is a particular orchid cactus that was the winner last week. It was the marvelous red/purple orchid cactus. One of the ways to propagate an orchid cactus is from make cuttings. When it is time to bring in the plants in the fall sometimes certain branches are too long and the plant has become lopsided. (Where does that word come from Pat? What is a lop?) I just trim it up, harden the cuttings, and put them back in the pot with the original plant. I did that with this plant this past fall. One of these years it will be even more grand.

This week’s contest features the color pink. This seems appropriate since Valentines Day was this past Friday.
The first picture is lilium Anastasia. Lilium is the flower grouping that includes Asiatic lilies, Oriental lilies, Trumpet lilies, and a few more types and many combinations. Sometimes the combinations combine the names of the types. Anastasia is an Orientpet. That is a cross between and Oriental lily and a Trumpet lily. Trumptal was an alternative that was rejected.
They bloom in some form or another from June to August. They are entirely different from daylilies. They are bulbs. Some come back bigger and better. Some divide. Some fade away, even though that is probably the fault if not enough sun. They do not need full sun. I have a lot of filtered light from the big trees in the yard. That is quite enough for most of these.
Anastasia does hang down. As the stalk is 4-5 feet tall, down is not the same problem as with hellebores. (which are only
18 inches tall.)

The next picture is this mature tree peony, called Seidei. Tree peonies, unlike their more familiar herbaceous cousins, come as a bush. The woody structure does not die back to the ground every year. It theoretically can get bigger. I have had this plant for about 15 years. I went through a peony phase in the late 1990’s. The plant would probably do better if it had a little more sun. You do need to remember that sun can be a relative term. This plant gets full sun in the spring. It then gets shaded from the afternoon sun in the summer. Tree Peonies bloom earlier than the herbaceous kind. (Maybe 3 weeks) This picture was actually taken on April 14, 2012. Last year, 2013, it was blooming on May 19. I told you in an earlier post that 2012 was about a month earlier than usual.
If you ever can get to the Baha’i temple in Chicago (Wilmette) they have good tree peonies. The mature bushes can get to 5-6 feet tall and can live hundreds of years. They are plants that will probably outlive the gardener who planted them. If you are in Iowa City there are 5-6 large specimens on Court Street about a mile east of Hoover school. They come in colors from pink to red to white and to yellow.
Actually there is a good plant story about yellow peonies. Most peonies come from China. Yellow was the imperial color. No one else could grow/have yellow peonies but the emperor. I do not think anyone but the emperor could have anything in yellow. For that reason the plant developers in China, probably monks, did not develop yellow plants.
I like the idea that there are colors out there that the present day emperors have not let us have or even see.


This third picture is a picture of the annual, which is widely planted, call impatiens. I actually grew most of my impatiens in 2013 from cuttings from the previous year. I also discovered that I could get a fancy plant in the spring, and chop it up for parts. Impatiens root easily. Soon I had many plants. This picture really does look like a rose. I do not grow roses. Every gardener has to draw some lines somewhere.


The last picture is the lupine.I love lupines. They are a little tricky to grow. They seed themselves if you have enough of them. I have found there are just certain areas in the garden, with good sun, at least before June, where they will thrive and spread by seed. A little pampering helps. That actually is good advice for almost anything. Except Jade plants as I think about it. They can die from too much attention.
Lupines come in lots of colors. 2013, for whatever reason, was a good year for lupines. I assume it was because we had a wet and cool spring. It did mean they had survived the awful heat of 2012.


There you have it. Vote away. Come see these plants in the garden this year. The garden is always open. If no one is there the tree falling in the forest really makes no noise. My garden exists so that people, not just me, can enjoy it. It makes my day when I come home and find people just wandering around by themselves.

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So now for one of my favorite parts of the weekly post. Here are the bonus or extra pictures.
Here are more lupines. I hope you all like these extra pictures. It is always good to hear from you by way of reply email or comment.





Here are more pictures of the tree peony. It is one of those focal point plants when it blooms.






Here are more impatiens. These annuals do give life, assuming some rain, in August and September. They are toast when the first frost comes. That is when you can bring in plants or make cuttings of the best colors.


I will close with a few more pink pictures. I was going to give you more cilium, but there were so many pictures I realize that I will just make that a separate post.



That’s it for this week. February will be over before you know it. Warmer weather is coming. Baseball is starting somewhere south of here. The snow will stop at some time.Stay warm.

By the way I have posted bigger pictures in terms of some measure having to do with something. We will see if that improves the viewing.


Philip












Sunday, February 9, 2014

February 9- week 8- Something really spectacular- and different

It seems like we have had this pattern of winter for a long time.First it snows. The it gets cold. Then it snows. I think you get the picture.
Maybe, just maybe, the end is in sight. We have snow yesterday. The temperature is forecast to get down in the double digits below zero for a few nights. But starting on Wednesday all the highs are in at least the 20’s and 5 days are over 30.
One year ago yesterday February 8, 2013, I took these pictures in the backyard.
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Two years ago, on January 31, 2012, I took these picture.


That year went on to become the earliest spring I can remember. Everything was a month early, all the way through the summer.

This year I cannot see anything ground. It is all snow, even though we do not have anywhere the snow they have had for example in Chicago. We have maybe 6-8 inches on the ground, after 3 “shovelable" snow events this week. That is a new weather term for me, but one that certainly works.

It is interesting to think about when there will be the first snowdrop. March 1? We will see.
For now indoors is what we have.
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On to the show.

In this last week’s voting the trillium was the narrow winner. It bested some very good competition, in my opinion. I voted for the bloodroot.
Here is a picture of that winner you picked.


The full voting was:
Trillium 20

Double Bloodroot 18

Crown Imperial Fritillaria 12
Slipper orchid 8

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This week’s contest features the orchid cactus. You saw a closeup of the night bloom cereus several weeks ago. You actually chose it as your winner that week. I very carefully did not give you any other pictures, either of that flower or its cousins. Now is the time.
I started growing orchid cactus about 10-12 years ago. We saw one blooming in Virginia one summer while we were on vacation and brought several back to Iowa, under the seats in the plane. I then ordered another 6-8 from the same nursery when I got home.
I got several colors at that time. I managed to find a few more colors, including some from mail order places. They will ship you pieces of the plant, with or without roots, for $5-6. Compared to the price of a slipper orchid, that is really not much money. However. it is up to you to grow the plant, which will take several years to get to a decent size.
Let me tell you a few things about orchid cactus, or epiphyllum. The are neither cactus or orchids. They are related to the Christmas cactus. They all are or were epiphytes, meaning the grew in trees, like many orchids, in the air. For that reason they like the shade. I have found them a wonderful companion plant to hosta and all the other shade plants I grow. Wait-you say. Where do they grow? Up in the air, silly. I hang them from tree branches, with long ropes if necessary.
One problem is they do get big. They get heavy. Imagine having to transplant one of these to a bigger pot. In fact I actually have a problem finding hanging baskets that are sturdy enough for the mature plants. On the other hand if they fall and break off a part, you just plant the broken piece in another pot. Soon you will have way too many-the gardener’s goal.



The first picture is the red/purple one. What is wonderful about this one is that it seems to bloom late in the summer. This past year it bloomed in August, both early in the month, and then again on August 31. Late summer is always a time when anything really colorful is welcome. What is appreciated that time of year is anything to really anticipate.
There are many such plants from April to July. There are not so many after that.
I really had a hard time finding the one picture of this flower for the contest. I picked this one because it accents the purple. The other pictures are in the bonus section.



The next picture is this wonderful yellow one. I wish I had names. Mostly I do not.
This picture was from late June, 2012. (Remember that was a really early year.)
Actually the last several years with heat and drought have not been good years for these plants. I have had the occasional flower. The major flushes of flowers I had 5-6 years ago did not occur. See the bonus pictures. Pampering and more attention to fertilizer may also help. Sometimes I do not have the time to pamper.
Actually one of these yellow ones has been blooming in our living room for the last 3 weeks. See the bonus pictures below.




This third picture has about the most color contrast of all my orchid cactus plants so far. The pink and white are really wonderful. I once had a big plant of a flower that was close to this. Once again see the bonus section.There is also a very pronounced inner cup, that is different from the first two.



The last picture is the entire flower for the night blooming cereus. This picture was taken at 7am, after it opened the evening before. This picture was taken on August 21. Once again having excitement in late summer is particularly appreciated.
Actually, as I will mention in the bonus section, we had the yellow flowered plant bloom 3 times the last few weeks in our living room. It also opened in the evening. The one in the living room lasted for several days, unlike this flower, which was fading by afternoon.
I am really excited about this night blooming cereus this coming year. It has continued to grow over the winter. I will pamper it when the time comes. I am interested in just how many flowers it will produce.

There you have it. Vote away. Come see them in the garden this summer.

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So now for one of my favorite parts of the weekly post. Here are the bonus or extra pictures.

I mentioned that since it is so winter at the moment we have to enjoy the inside flowers. As a nice way of introducing this weeks wonderful group I can share these pictures from our living room, this last week.

I told you I had trouble with the red/purple flower that bloomed in August. Here are other pictures.


Let me show you these night blooming cereus pictures giving you an idea of what you see as time goes by


Is this link works or will come through on the blog here is a wonderful utube of a night blooming cactus with many flowers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXxFdpT7CZA

Here is another color from 2012-13.

Here are other colors from previous years.The red plant has had some difficulties the last few years.


Here is a wonderful pink plant that adorned the garden in 2008. It was just about the only plant in 30 years that has ever been taken from my garden. About a month after it had finished blooming I woke up one morning and it was gone. There was a cigarette butt on the street near where it was hanging. I never heard anything ever again about the plant.
Just look at this closeup taken at the time.


I did go right out and bought 6-8 new branches of other pink ones. I look forward to having another one with this many flowers. It will again be out there for everyone to see and admire.

I close these pictures with these two other wonderful plants, full of flowers. This is what I want from all 25 of my plants.


That’s it for this week. February will be a short month. Warmer weather is coming.
Philip