There are many ways to enhance a garden. Adding a picket fence is certainly one way to go. Earlier this year, I found ready assembled sections of picket fences at Lowes.
With the help of a good carpernter, and and a few buckets of white paint, my front yard was transformed into a cozy cottage garden.
Welcome to my little slice of paradise.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
life in la la land
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A Calendar for Growing Flowers in Coastal Southern California
AUGUST
Remember, all beautiful color you see here in winter and very early spring should be planned about this time. The roots get a fine start and much of the best blooms come from this early planting. If your garden is full of mums now, and you lack room, get pony packs and transplant into 4" plastic size pots, and have inexpensive plants ready to pop into place later. If you plant directly into the garden, do it at about 4 p.m. to give the plants a whole cool night to help them thru the next days heat. Shade them for part of the next day.
THING WINTER COLOR NOW, BUY BY LABOR DAY!
Our early color comes from planting these now. Stock, iceland poppies, calendula, snapdragons, and try some perennials, now, too. Try margurites, blue daisy, foxglove.
Some seeds could be sown in flats now, if that's your thing. Spring flowers and perennials. A few that do well sown in the garden and reseed year after year are: white allysum, forget-me-nots, bachelor buttons, lobelia, nasturtiums, impatients, California poppy, and orange African daisy, but most others need more care and the see is too expensive to waste trying to sow directly into the garden.
Stop fertilizing hibiscus and other subtropicals so they will harden off for winter.
California poppy if watered in a garden situation makes a fine garden flower. It blooms much longer than in the wild. Lack of rainfall keeps it from germinating on our local hillsides. Remember seeds must never dry out while germinating. California poppy comes in mixed colors. African daisies, the little orange and cream colored kind can be sown soon. They bloom for many winter months.
Now, you have thouh about your winter garden, let's see what needs doing this month.
POINSETTIAS may still be pinched back early this month. Just remove the last six inches of each stock to have double the number of blooms.
FUCHSIAS, keep the dead blooms picked and plan to cut some straggly branches back about six inches.
HIBISCUS should be fertilized for the last time this year, but lightly. Later fertilizing will result in growth tener to frost. This is true of many sub-tropicals.
CAMELLIAS must have mulch renewed or replaced to keep the roots cool and don't let them go in hot weather. Fertilize lightly and thing buds. Be careful not to remove the growing tip which can look like a bud.
IRIS should be ordered now.
MUMS should be cut to about 8" abou the first week in August, then do not cut again. Some gardeners do it a few weeks later but do it! Otherwise, they will get six feet tall and collapse.
Prepare areas for sweet peas, dig in manure, and R.S.A. Let set a few weeks, then plan early blooming kind. Remember they are heavy feeders. When six inches high, pinch tips out.
CALENDULA will get thrip so use systemic granules when planting and every six weeks. Thrip is what causes the buds on otherwise healthy plants to dry up. Thrip have eaten them from inside.
Remember, all beautiful color you see here in winter and very early spring should be planned about this time. The roots get a fine start and much of the best blooms come from this early planting. If your garden is full of mums now, and you lack room, get pony packs and transplant into 4" plastic size pots, and have inexpensive plants ready to pop into place later. If you plant directly into the garden, do it at about 4 p.m. to give the plants a whole cool night to help them thru the next days heat. Shade them for part of the next day.
THING WINTER COLOR NOW, BUY BY LABOR DAY!
Our early color comes from planting these now. Stock, iceland poppies, calendula, snapdragons, and try some perennials, now, too. Try margurites, blue daisy, foxglove.
Some seeds could be sown in flats now, if that's your thing. Spring flowers and perennials. A few that do well sown in the garden and reseed year after year are: white allysum, forget-me-nots, bachelor buttons, lobelia, nasturtiums, impatients, California poppy, and orange African daisy, but most others need more care and the see is too expensive to waste trying to sow directly into the garden.
Stop fertilizing hibiscus and other subtropicals so they will harden off for winter.
California poppy if watered in a garden situation makes a fine garden flower. It blooms much longer than in the wild. Lack of rainfall keeps it from germinating on our local hillsides. Remember seeds must never dry out while germinating. California poppy comes in mixed colors. African daisies, the little orange and cream colored kind can be sown soon. They bloom for many winter months.
Now, you have thouh about your winter garden, let's see what needs doing this month.
POINSETTIAS may still be pinched back early this month. Just remove the last six inches of each stock to have double the number of blooms.
FUCHSIAS, keep the dead blooms picked and plan to cut some straggly branches back about six inches.
HIBISCUS should be fertilized for the last time this year, but lightly. Later fertilizing will result in growth tener to frost. This is true of many sub-tropicals.
CAMELLIAS must have mulch renewed or replaced to keep the roots cool and don't let them go in hot weather. Fertilize lightly and thing buds. Be careful not to remove the growing tip which can look like a bud.
IRIS should be ordered now.
MUMS should be cut to about 8" abou the first week in August, then do not cut again. Some gardeners do it a few weeks later but do it! Otherwise, they will get six feet tall and collapse.
Prepare areas for sweet peas, dig in manure, and R.S.A. Let set a few weeks, then plan early blooming kind. Remember they are heavy feeders. When six inches high, pinch tips out.
CALENDULA will get thrip so use systemic granules when planting and every six weeks. Thrip is what causes the buds on otherwise healthy plants to dry up. Thrip have eaten them from inside.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Calendar for Growing Flowers in Coastal Southern California
JULY
FERTILIZE, everything is growing fast and continues to need feeding. Water deeply and usually only once a week. Light sprinkling begets shallow roots. Mulch. Keeps weeds down and moisture in.
July is the best time to separate iris. Don't use any nitrogens when replanting, only super phosphate. Remember, the new growth does the blooming, the second year is the best bloom and the third is good, then consider dividing.
Roses, daylilies and many other things have bloomed and need feeding with low nitrogen fertilizer for more bloom. Epipilliums can be repotted now, they like to be grown in orchid bark.
Make cuttings of Martha Washington type geraniums after they finish bloom, or cut back a bit to give you good cutting wood next month.
If the weather is very hot, do not drown fuchsias, but rather sprinkle the area around them several times a day to increase the humidity they love.
Continue to keep your margurites thinned and they will continue to bloom. Make some zonal geranium cuttings this month, and when well rooted, consider throwing out the parent stock.
Buy foxglove seed, and plant for the next year.
Look over the garden, and the neighbors garden, and decide what you want for next year at this time. Write it on your calendar to buy and plant, at the right time. See what perrenials you could put in this fall, and consider flowering vines as easy color. Hold yourself in check next year when you plant in containers and remember what a chore watering is, and plan to put more things in the ground, for easier gardening. Think ahead about winter blooming containers, they don't require as much watering, try to plan to get these started early.
Carnations get thrip, so protect as buds form, with systemic granules. Petunias should be lightly pinched so they will not get leggy all at once.
Spend an hour sitting and thinking in your garden with a pencil and notebook in hand. Plan for a year from now. Then go write notes on your calendar for things to plant next year. Use more perennials, they will be there year after year.
Daylilies finish their first bloom now, and can use a good cleaning out of the old dead leaveas underneath. Cut down the old bloom stalks. If they are sending up too many side shoots eliminate some. Feed them a fertilizer with a high middle number.
Pinch back poinsettias.
Look carefully at your glads. Plan on moving them to places where their dying leaves won't show, for next year. Don't cut leaves back till fully brown. Then they can be dug, dried and saved for the next year. While in bloom mark the colors.
If you have vacant spots now, you can still slip in some marigolds or dwarf dahlias.
Lily of the Nile can hardly be beat. They bloom from June 1 to July 20, need no feed, look neat as a border plant all year, what more can you ask? Get one, divide it over and over again the next few years, and then leave it alone and you will have a huge display. Be sure to get some of the Peter Pan, half as high. Divide about a month after they bloom.
Fuchsias flaunt their beauty all summer. Red ones will take full sun along the coast while lighter colors need more shade. In July red fuchsias, white shastas, blue lily of the nile, yellow marguirte, golden gloriosa daisy, and lemon and yellow marigolds make the garden the most colorful of the year. Purple statice blooms like mad in July and Pink geraniums, roses and petunias complete the color palette. Tuck in a few lobelia, both dark and light and you'll never want to leave home.
Water deeply and keep fertilizing and weeding.
FERTILIZE, everything is growing fast and continues to need feeding. Water deeply and usually only once a week. Light sprinkling begets shallow roots. Mulch. Keeps weeds down and moisture in.
July is the best time to separate iris. Don't use any nitrogens when replanting, only super phosphate. Remember, the new growth does the blooming, the second year is the best bloom and the third is good, then consider dividing.
Roses, daylilies and many other things have bloomed and need feeding with low nitrogen fertilizer for more bloom. Epipilliums can be repotted now, they like to be grown in orchid bark.
Make cuttings of Martha Washington type geraniums after they finish bloom, or cut back a bit to give you good cutting wood next month.
If the weather is very hot, do not drown fuchsias, but rather sprinkle the area around them several times a day to increase the humidity they love.
Continue to keep your margurites thinned and they will continue to bloom. Make some zonal geranium cuttings this month, and when well rooted, consider throwing out the parent stock.
Buy foxglove seed, and plant for the next year.
Look over the garden, and the neighbors garden, and decide what you want for next year at this time. Write it on your calendar to buy and plant, at the right time. See what perrenials you could put in this fall, and consider flowering vines as easy color. Hold yourself in check next year when you plant in containers and remember what a chore watering is, and plan to put more things in the ground, for easier gardening. Think ahead about winter blooming containers, they don't require as much watering, try to plan to get these started early.
Carnations get thrip, so protect as buds form, with systemic granules. Petunias should be lightly pinched so they will not get leggy all at once.
Spend an hour sitting and thinking in your garden with a pencil and notebook in hand. Plan for a year from now. Then go write notes on your calendar for things to plant next year. Use more perennials, they will be there year after year.
Daylilies finish their first bloom now, and can use a good cleaning out of the old dead leaveas underneath. Cut down the old bloom stalks. If they are sending up too many side shoots eliminate some. Feed them a fertilizer with a high middle number.
Pinch back poinsettias.
Look carefully at your glads. Plan on moving them to places where their dying leaves won't show, for next year. Don't cut leaves back till fully brown. Then they can be dug, dried and saved for the next year. While in bloom mark the colors.
If you have vacant spots now, you can still slip in some marigolds or dwarf dahlias.
Lily of the Nile can hardly be beat. They bloom from June 1 to July 20, need no feed, look neat as a border plant all year, what more can you ask? Get one, divide it over and over again the next few years, and then leave it alone and you will have a huge display. Be sure to get some of the Peter Pan, half as high. Divide about a month after they bloom.
Fuchsias flaunt their beauty all summer. Red ones will take full sun along the coast while lighter colors need more shade. In July red fuchsias, white shastas, blue lily of the nile, yellow marguirte, golden gloriosa daisy, and lemon and yellow marigolds make the garden the most colorful of the year. Purple statice blooms like mad in July and Pink geraniums, roses and petunias complete the color palette. Tuck in a few lobelia, both dark and light and you'll never want to leave home.
Water deeply and keep fertilizing and weeding.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~H. Fred Ale
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ~ Tom Boddett, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
Meet some of my latest rose blooms. After adding a picket fence to my front yard, it was quickly followed with the addition of some pretty pink roses.
I'll share photos with the fence soon too.
Friday, May 22, 2009
“The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.” ~ Jacques Benigne Bossuel
Happy Pink Saturday!
Thank you Beverly at "How Sweet the Sound" for hosting.
Welcome to my flower blog. This week I'm taking you on a garden tour. First stop; my rose garden! The more I garden, the more I realize roses are my favorite flowers.
“The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.” ~ Jacques Benigne Bossuel, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
Thank you Beverly at "How Sweet the Sound" for hosting.
Welcome to my flower blog. This week I'm taking you on a garden tour. First stop; my rose garden! The more I garden, the more I realize roses are my favorite flowers.
“The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.” ~ Jacques Benigne Bossuel, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
Earlier this year, I added new bareroot roses, and this is the first "pink" bloom on the new bushes.
Next stop... the area women's club hosts a yearly garden tour... and this home had a beautiful waterlily coy pond that ran right underneath the driveway.
The tour had five gardens, and the perfect mix of garden styles for the tour.
The cottage garden had this mullein verbascum album. It was quite frankly, the first time I had ever seen this flower. Thank you to my gardening friend Kate for the flower id. If you get a chance, visit her blog, it's packed full of gardening knowledge and beautiful flowers. http://www.katesmudges.com/
Finally, the last stop on our garden tour today, was taken at the flower fields in Carlsbad. There were so many ranunculas there, to focus on one seemed odd, but I thought it was fitting for our tour.
I hope you enjoyed your pink garden tour. Stop back soon, and you'll get the rest of the garden tour, and I'll surprise you with giant honeysuckles climbing the walls of a Spanish Villa. Until then, have a lovely Memorial Day weekend.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Cottage Garden Curb Appeal
"Cats never strike a pose that isn't photogenic." ~ Lilian Jackson Braun, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
Nothing is more relaxing to me than walking my dog through my neighborhood, and studying my neighbors "cottage gardens."
My home is a small 1950's ranch house, and as my rose and front yard wildflower garden grows and flourishes, it finally occured to me that I want a picket fence, and a coastal cottage curb appeal. Luckily, my neighborhood is filled with this cottage gardening style.
As my ideas for the the landscape design become solidified, I'll post before, during and after photos of my garden updates. I'm currently studying fencing, arches, and cottage garden accessories.
Meanwhile, enjoy the stroll through my neighborhood!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wildflower Garden Experiment Update
My wildflowers are in full bloom. This is a macro photo of one of the pretty blooms.
This is the box of seed, and the flower's baby photos. :-) The box was $6 and yielded an entire wildfower bed beside my driveway, and around my rose garden.
Friday, April 17, 2009
A Good Day
Need to be uplifted today? Then click the title above... you'll be taken to an inspiring video that I just love.
"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more." Brother David Steindl-Rast.
"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more." Brother David Steindl-Rast.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A Calendar for Growing Flowers in Coastal Southern California
April
Is your patio spilling over with color? It could be!
Mine is brilliant with pots of blue and yellow violas, pansies, blue ageratum, geraniums,a nd white alyssum. But they were all planted in November and December. So reach for your calendar and make a note to plant these things next year in those months. Even a huge redwood tub of yellow marguerites was planted last fall. The petunias blooming now are left over from last year. All in the sun.
Last month, and this month, is the time to be planting containers and tubs, and moss-lined hanging baskets of plants that will bloom clearn thru till next November. To plant now use for Pink: petunias, White: allysum, Blue: ageratum, potato vine, light blue or dark blue lobelia, Yellow: or Orange: dwarf french marigold, Red: fiberous begonia. These are all for sun. Vinca also.
For shade, now, use fuchsia, white allysum and impatients, but this would be light shade.
Small cyclamen can be purchased now for next winter's bloom.
PLANT - Dahlias from now till mid-June. A handful of bonemeal worked into soil below tubers at planting time is good. Take mum blooming bulbs, braid it and bend it over till completely brown. Try cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket, one basket will supply two people all summer. Put cascade mums into 12" pots now.
SPRAY - Watch roses for signs of mildew and spray it as it appears. Usually next month is bad for this. Spray ground too. Systemic granuales with fertilizer will protect from insects and fungicide to get the mildew. Systemic granules completely protect cinerarias, calendula, carnations, and any other plan you knoww that will get insect damage. Most of the garden will not need spray.
PRUNE - Camellias and azaleas after bloom, but only if needed for shaping and only after reading a book on pruning them. Important too is to remove the dead flowers from plants. Know what you are doing here. Sunseet prints a good book on pruning. Prune cape honeysuckle. Many other spring blooming shrubs need pruning after bloom.
PINCH - fuchsias till May Day.
FERTILIZE - lawns - shrubs and trees and bulbs when blooming.
Epiphyllums get top dreing of well-rotted manure. Hydrangeas get camellia food or cottonseed now. KEEP AFTER THOSE SNAILS.
WEED - Don't let it get ahead of you!
Hint: Even if you have poor reusults with petunias in the garden, do try them in container, epecially in moss lined baket where snails can't get them. Only trouble wa leaf minor and you can control that for six weeks at a time with systemic granules. These granule can be bought with or without added fertilizer.
REMEMBER: A garden is a thing of joy and a job forever! - unknown
Florence Sullivan
Is your patio spilling over with color? It could be!
Mine is brilliant with pots of blue and yellow violas, pansies, blue ageratum, geraniums,a nd white alyssum. But they were all planted in November and December. So reach for your calendar and make a note to plant these things next year in those months. Even a huge redwood tub of yellow marguerites was planted last fall. The petunias blooming now are left over from last year. All in the sun.
Last month, and this month, is the time to be planting containers and tubs, and moss-lined hanging baskets of plants that will bloom clearn thru till next November. To plant now use for Pink: petunias, White: allysum, Blue: ageratum, potato vine, light blue or dark blue lobelia, Yellow: or Orange: dwarf french marigold, Red: fiberous begonia. These are all for sun. Vinca also.
For shade, now, use fuchsia, white allysum and impatients, but this would be light shade.
Small cyclamen can be purchased now for next winter's bloom.
PLANT - Dahlias from now till mid-June. A handful of bonemeal worked into soil below tubers at planting time is good. Take mum blooming bulbs, braid it and bend it over till completely brown. Try cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket, one basket will supply two people all summer. Put cascade mums into 12" pots now.
SPRAY - Watch roses for signs of mildew and spray it as it appears. Usually next month is bad for this. Spray ground too. Systemic granuales with fertilizer will protect from insects and fungicide to get the mildew. Systemic granules completely protect cinerarias, calendula, carnations, and any other plan you knoww that will get insect damage. Most of the garden will not need spray.
PRUNE - Camellias and azaleas after bloom, but only if needed for shaping and only after reading a book on pruning them. Important too is to remove the dead flowers from plants. Know what you are doing here. Sunseet prints a good book on pruning. Prune cape honeysuckle. Many other spring blooming shrubs need pruning after bloom.
PINCH - fuchsias till May Day.
FERTILIZE - lawns - shrubs and trees and bulbs when blooming.
Epiphyllums get top dreing of well-rotted manure. Hydrangeas get camellia food or cottonseed now. KEEP AFTER THOSE SNAILS.
WEED - Don't let it get ahead of you!
Hint: Even if you have poor reusults with petunias in the garden, do try them in container, epecially in moss lined baket where snails can't get them. Only trouble wa leaf minor and you can control that for six weeks at a time with systemic granules. These granule can be bought with or without added fertilizer.
REMEMBER: A garden is a thing of joy and a job forever! - unknown
Florence Sullivan
Monday, April 13, 2009
"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death." ~ Leonardo Da Vinci
"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death." ~ Leonardo Da Vinci
Originally uploaded by Abby Lanes
The dogwood tree brings back the Spring in my childhood memories. I found this tree in my parent's front yard in NC, while we were visiting family for Spring Break. I have long associated dogwoods with Easter. The four petals represent the cross, the marks on the petals, represent the nails into Christ's body. It's a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Easter, and a gorgeous floral Spring tree.
This is a gorgeous old Southern home in my parents town. I thought the pink dogwood trees framed the home so beautifully!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Flower Fields ~ Carlsbad, California
If you're anywhere near Southern California this time of year, and you're wild about flowers, the Flower Fields, in Carlsbad, are a must see! I must mention, if you like to shop, they're located right behind the Carlsbad Premium Outlet Mall, so you might want to stay a day or two.
As for the flower fields, I'll let the flower photos speak for themselves. Here's the website, address, and phone number. If you do visit, let me if you enjoyed yourself. I'm sure you will.
www.theflowerfields.com
5704 Paseo Del Norte
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 431-0352
As for the flower fields, I'll let the flower photos speak for themselves. Here's the website, address, and phone number. If you do visit, let me if you enjoyed yourself. I'm sure you will.
www.theflowerfields.com
5704 Paseo Del Norte
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 431-0352
Saturday, April 4, 2009
"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go."
~Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe
I'm dedicating this entry to my blogging friend Sylvia. When she talks about flowers that she loves, it seems that hydrangeas rank the highest.
Please check out her blog,"Sylvia Cook Photography" for some of the most gorgeous floral images you will ever see. If you click the title, you will taken directly to her blog, or you can cut and paste this blog address.
http://sylviacookphotography.blogspot.com/
These photos were taken at Roger's Garden, in Orange County, California. This store is a gardener's dream. and it feels like Disneyland for gardeners. They have displays like no one else. Their spring arrangements were stunning, as they included gorgeous birds nests with colorful eggs.
And of course, their fuchsia hanging baskets were simply irresistible.
Enjoy springtime. Everything is certainly blooming in Southern California now.
I'm dedicating this entry to my blogging friend Sylvia. When she talks about flowers that she loves, it seems that hydrangeas rank the highest.
Please check out her blog,"Sylvia Cook Photography" for some of the most gorgeous floral images you will ever see. If you click the title, you will taken directly to her blog, or you can cut and paste this blog address.
http://sylviacookphotography.blogspot.com/
These photos were taken at Roger's Garden, in Orange County, California. This store is a gardener's dream. and it feels like Disneyland for gardeners. They have displays like no one else. Their spring arrangements were stunning, as they included gorgeous birds nests with colorful eggs.
And of course, their fuchsia hanging baskets were simply irresistible.
Enjoy springtime. Everything is certainly blooming in Southern California now.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
“Plants that wake when others sleep. Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.”
“Plants that wake when others sleep. Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.”, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes (on Spring Break!).
~Thomas Moore
The jasmine is blooming in my neighborhood. It's delightful.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
African Daisies
These African Daisies had such pretty morning light. My hope is they'll brighten your day! Cheers!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Angel Face Rose
This is the first rose to bloom in my garden this Spring. In California, we cut our roses back in January and don't fertilize them for that month. They get a nice rest, and fertilizer in February. Our weather has been good "rose weather." The right amount of rain, sunshine, and cloudy days. All of my roses are about to explode! I'm sure more photos will come soon.
Meanwhile, I ripped out some old roses back in January, and replaced them with bareroot roses. The first time I saw Angel Face, I nearly fainted! This is my favorite rose... a) for it's beauty, and b) for it's fragrance. I planted 5 of these beauties!
I also found a "Sterling Silver Hybrid Tea." It was the last one in the store, and had gimpy roots. I talk to it everyday. It's having a hard time, but I keep sending it positive vibrations. If that one survives, you will definitely see it too!
Friday, March 20, 2009
“Memory is the greatest of artists, and effaces from your mind what is
“Memory is the greatest of artists, and effaces from your mind what is unnecessary.”, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
~ Maruice Barning
Happy First Day of Spring! I took my camera and headed down to the beach, where there were lovely blooming wildflowers. Theses lovely yellow flowers are likely in the Asteraceae family. It was rather foggy, but it was perfectly peaceful.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Peace and Serenity
How do you meditate? I personally walk, garden, and spend time outside. I found this beautiful rose while walking along a peaceful horse trail.
I wish you a relaxing weekend, and a lucky Friday the 13th!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
“Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul,
“Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.”, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.
I gave this flower eyes, so he kind of looks like a blue bat or a blue fox. He's actually an edible flower.
Here's a link to someone's page on flickr, that shows you what the plant looks like with a wider angle lens.
This is a wide angle of the type of flower that it is:
www.flickr.com/photos/mpudi/3281969103/
Monday, March 9, 2009
A Calendar for Growing Flowers in Coastal Southern California
MARCH:
Fertilize
Orchid cactus after buds are set and again after flowers.
Cymbidium or orchid - hi-nitrogen till July - every ten days
Azalea - cottonseed on surface
Hydrangea - acid now and again before bloom. Cottonseed will do.
Roses: feed well now and each time they come into bloom, with a long acting commercial fertilizer, or use the fertilizer with systemic insecticide and do no spraying except for later for mildew with fungicide.
Lawns get 10-6-4 now.
Daylily, liquid hi-bloom or superphosphate. Repeat after each bloom period.
Fuchsias, last feeding of bloodmeal March 15, thereafter balanced fertilizer on the acid side.
Camellias may be planted.
Repot Orchids before June.
Spray Holly with oil spray only if it needs it, for black sooty mold.
Prune Hibiscus, removing one/third growth, about March 21.
Pinch fuchsias
This is a very good month for cutting and seeds as it is warming up at night. Cuttings of Hydrangea, Fuchsias, Begonia leaf cuttings, Marguerite cuttings, and Zonal Geranium tip cutting now.
Make a moss lined hanging basket and fill it with petunias from a flat, now, and in a few months you will have a bloom that last about six months. Fertilize regularly. Use about 2 dozen plants.
Root some tuberous begonias in oak leaf mold now. I f you have no luck in shade, try in full sun after they have been rooted, and transplanted. Mine stayed in full sun till the second hot spell in Sept. and I am one and a half miles from the ocean.
Get Dahlias in now. Put bonemeal an inch below them. Stake now.
Plant a couple of cherry tomatoes in a large redwood basket and hang it in the sun. One basket will keep two people in salad tomatoes, as well as being decorative.
This is the month to enjoy all of the annuals you planted last fall. Keep after weeds, and bait for snails, and don't let either get ahead of you this month.
Most plants need fertilizer regularly. Folia feed or get a fertilizer that can be thrown around like snail pellets and doesn't need to be worked in. Fruit trees can't be expected to produce fruit without fertilizer.
Florence Sullivan
Fertilize
Orchid cactus after buds are set and again after flowers.
Cymbidium or orchid - hi-nitrogen till July - every ten days
Azalea - cottonseed on surface
Hydrangea - acid now and again before bloom. Cottonseed will do.
Roses: feed well now and each time they come into bloom, with a long acting commercial fertilizer, or use the fertilizer with systemic insecticide and do no spraying except for later for mildew with fungicide.
Lawns get 10-6-4 now.
Daylily, liquid hi-bloom or superphosphate. Repeat after each bloom period.
Fuchsias, last feeding of bloodmeal March 15, thereafter balanced fertilizer on the acid side.
Camellias may be planted.
Repot Orchids before June.
Spray Holly with oil spray only if it needs it, for black sooty mold.
Prune Hibiscus, removing one/third growth, about March 21.
Pinch fuchsias
This is a very good month for cutting and seeds as it is warming up at night. Cuttings of Hydrangea, Fuchsias, Begonia leaf cuttings, Marguerite cuttings, and Zonal Geranium tip cutting now.
Make a moss lined hanging basket and fill it with petunias from a flat, now, and in a few months you will have a bloom that last about six months. Fertilize regularly. Use about 2 dozen plants.
Root some tuberous begonias in oak leaf mold now. I f you have no luck in shade, try in full sun after they have been rooted, and transplanted. Mine stayed in full sun till the second hot spell in Sept. and I am one and a half miles from the ocean.
Get Dahlias in now. Put bonemeal an inch below them. Stake now.
Plant a couple of cherry tomatoes in a large redwood basket and hang it in the sun. One basket will keep two people in salad tomatoes, as well as being decorative.
This is the month to enjoy all of the annuals you planted last fall. Keep after weeds, and bait for snails, and don't let either get ahead of you this month.
Most plants need fertilizer regularly. Folia feed or get a fertilizer that can be thrown around like snail pellets and doesn't need to be worked in. Fruit trees can't be expected to produce fruit without fertilizer.
Florence Sullivan
false dandelion ~ hawkbeard
www.answers.com/topic/dandelion
Hawkbeard flower heads and ripe seeds are sometimes confused with Dandelions.
Dandelions are so similar to catsears (Hypochaeris) that catsears are also known as "false dandelions." Both plants carry similar flowers which form into windborne seeds. However, dandelion flowers are borne singly on unbranched, hairless and leafless, hollow stems, while catsear flowering stems are branched, solid and carry bracts. Both plants have a basal rosette of leaves and a central taproot. However, the leaves of dandelions are smooth or glabrous, whereas those of catsears are coarsely hairy.
Other plants with superficially similar flowers include hawkweeds (Hieracium) and hawksbeards (Crepis). These are both readily distinguished by their branched flowering stems which are usually hairy and bear leaves.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Dandelions!
I've had quite the conversation back and forth on email with a gardening friend about dandelions. I learned a few facts about them that I didn't know. There are fake dandelions, that are endangered in California thanks to the weed killer "Round-up."
Then, the dandelions pictured here, have a flower counterpart. Remember that yellow flower we all know and love, and think of as a weed in our yard? In reality they are technically flowers and in the family Asteraceae. There are tons of them in my yard at the moment, and I'll shoot them and post them pics in my next blog entry.
Here's the link to the Wikipedia article that goes into great detail. If you click the title above, it should take you right there.
I'm using a macro lens for the first go round in the Spring season, thanks to Santa Claus. Enjoy your dandelions when they pop out in your yard, and careful with that Round-Up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion
Then, the dandelions pictured here, have a flower counterpart. Remember that yellow flower we all know and love, and think of as a weed in our yard? In reality they are technically flowers and in the family Asteraceae. There are tons of them in my yard at the moment, and I'll shoot them and post them pics in my next blog entry.
Here's the link to the Wikipedia article that goes into great detail. If you click the title above, it should take you right there.
I'm using a macro lens for the first go round in the Spring season, thanks to Santa Claus. Enjoy your dandelions when they pop out in your yard, and careful with that Round-Up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelion
Monday, March 2, 2009
"My colors are blush and bashful!" ~Shelby (Steel Magnolias)
I'm not exactly sure how magnolias got associated with the South, but it probably had something to do with the movie "Steel Magnolias." It seems that magnolias really enjoy the California sunshine, and all over my neighborhood, they're blooming. The flowers are quite delicate and beautiful. The magnolia pictured, goes by two names, known as a "Japanese Magnolia," or a "Saucer Magnolia." It adds so much beauty to a spring landscape, and is a sure favorite with many gardeners adoring flowering trees.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
“It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” ~ Mark Twain
The trees are in bloom in my neighborhood. Beauty is all around, and Spring is just around the corner. Get our your gardening equipment though, I've seen some lively weeds too!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
“There are fairies at the bottom of our garden.” ~ Rose Fyleman
Gardens are meant to soothe the soul, and inspire the weary mind. Part of the fun of gardening, is inviting the magical idea of fairies, sprites, and their feathery bird friends. Adding simple touches, like bird baths, and a fairy door at the bottom of a tree, evokes the magic that you and your plants need. When you have time to rest a spell in your magical garden, sit back, close your eyes, and open your imagination.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Seeds of Change
Most of the women in my garden club lived through the Great Depression. They seem to have such a better handle on saving things, being conservative with their money, and recycling goods. I also noticed they share plants from their gardens with each other, and they start many of their prettiest plants from seeds.
This year, thanks to our own roller coaster economy, I decided to try an experiment. I planted a seed garden. As these flowers bloom and grow, I'll share the excitement with you. I planted a patch next to my driveway, and a border around my roses. Then I covered them with fresh potting soil. This is photo number one, in a hopefully successful series known as "Seeds of Change." Wildflowers for a wildflower child.
This year, thanks to our own roller coaster economy, I decided to try an experiment. I planted a seed garden. As these flowers bloom and grow, I'll share the excitement with you. I planted a patch next to my driveway, and a border around my roses. Then I covered them with fresh potting soil. This is photo number one, in a hopefully successful series known as "Seeds of Change." Wildflowers for a wildflower child.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Take time to smell the roses
"You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love." ~ Henry Drummond
As the symbol of love and romance, the red rose is certainly a beautiful flower for the recent holiday. Roses say "I love you," along with hearts and boxes of chocolate. I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's weekend. Tomorrow is "President's Day." I'm so happy that we have holidays nearly every month. Life is more fun when it's being celebrated.
As the symbol of love and romance, the red rose is certainly a beautiful flower for the recent holiday. Roses say "I love you," along with hearts and boxes of chocolate. I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's weekend. Tomorrow is "President's Day." I'm so happy that we have holidays nearly every month. Life is more fun when it's being celebrated.
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