African Daisies

Happy Sunshine Sunday, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.

These African Daisies had such pretty morning light. My hope is they'll brighten your day! Cheers!

Angel Face Rose

Angel Face Rose, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.

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!

“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.

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!

“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/

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

false dandelion ~ hawkbeard

false dandelion ~ hawkbeard, originally uploaded by Abby Lanes.

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.

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

"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.