Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chips’ on 4-11-20.
Hello everyone! I hope this Sx On Saturday post finds you all doing well. I went outside to take photos for this post and came back inside with 34 photos. What can I say? One leads to another and this is not the time of the year for only six photos. Hmmm… My higher self says, “It is never time for only six photos for you.” I could say I tried but that wouldn’t be true. Perhaps I should post only six photos and save the rest for a Sunday post. That wouldn’t work though, because tomorrow is Silent Sunday and being silent is too hard. Enough blabbing…
I did narrow this post down to six after cheating and squeezing until I had a big surprise. Then I had to make a change…
#1) The Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chips’ are starting to flower up a storm now. They are very happy rambling plants and it is their job to go anywhere they choose.
Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chips’ close-up.
You know, I really hadn’t taken a close-up of their flowers until now. Interesting…
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Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ on 4-11-20.
#2) Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ has really grown in the past few days. It has to grow fast to get so HUGE.
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Mammillaria karwinskiana (Silver Arrows) on 4-11-20.
#3) Mammillaria karwinskiana (Silver Arrows) has been flowering AGAIN for several weeks. All the plants are wanting to get outside for the summer. I can hear them muttering behind my back and it is getting annoying…
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Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ on 4-11-20.
#4) The Catmint, Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ is looking great and will soon be flowering.
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Lilac #1 on 4-11-20.
#5.1) Syringa sp. ?, cv. ?… The Lilacs are at it and beginning to fill the air with their undeniable scent. There are three so I will cheat a bit an include them all in #5… The white one is usually the first to leaf out, bud, and flower and is the tallest of the three.
Lilac #2 on 4-11-20.
#5.2… This one is normally second in line, but this time it is not… It is dragging a little behind #3. So, why didn’t I call it #3 since it is the last to flower? Because its name is #2 and it didn’t want to go through the process to change it. I think it just doesn’t want to be last since it is is the biggest (in circumference) bush and thinks it should be #1.
Lilac #3 on 4-11-20.
#5.3… This Lilac is the baby of the bunch. When I came back here in 2013 the Lilac’s were overgrown with a lot of dead limbs. After I cleaned them up I noticed this one was a little different. The leaves are smaller and the bush doesn’t grow as tall. There was another one but I killed it by accident… There was Poison Ivy growing in it and I “carefully” applied “you know what” to some of the leaves. Next thing I know not only was the Poison Iv Dead, but also the Lilac… Hmmm…
Now for #6… I had to leave out a few plants to post six, ignoring there being three Lilacs. Then, I went to the back bedroom where the succulents are and was…
SHOCKED AND SURPRISED!!!
So, I had to leave out the tulips…
Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’ on 4-11-20.
#6) Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’… IT IS BLOOMING!!! I don’t go into the back bedroom that often unless I have good news. I am not saying something good doesn’t happen every day, but for the succulents that doesn’t include what I would call good. For them, a good thing right now would be going outside and it is just not quite time. Maybe next week…
Anyway, this is the second time over the past few months I have been surprised with unexpected flowers in the back bedroom. The first time was the Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Mother of Thousands) and now the Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’ has two clusters. It has not flowered before… It has maybe been a week (or so) since I was in the bedroom looking at the succulents making sure certain ones aren’t desperately needing water and I didn’t notice anything unusual then. I have had Sedum adolphii, the other one, longer and it never flowered.I had one before that for several years and it never flowered. I have only had ‘Firestorm’ since 2018 and it flowered!
As I mentioned in the beginning of the post I went outside to take photos for a Six on Saturday and came back with 34 photos. After going through them, I wound up with 16 photos. Then, late this afternoon I walked to the back of the farm and took 138 more. 🙂 I found several new species to ID and I was able to walk back into the swamp… NICE!
Now I am feeling a bit guilty not posting the Tulips as #6…
The Tulips on 4-11-20.
BONUS! These Tulips have been opened up all week but I just now took their photo. They were waiting for a a spot on Six On Saturday but next Saturday they will be gone. It is bad enough they would be last on the list, but to be left clear out would have been very disappointing for them.
Well, that’s all for now. I have to get busy working on the 138 photos I just took for a wildflower post maybe on Sunday. First, I have to eat dinner… It’s 8 PM already!
If you wish to participate in Six on Saturday posts, be sure to read the Six On Saturday-a participants guide from The Propagator.
Until next time, be safe, stay well and positive.
The Belmont Rooster 
Beauties.
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Hello Lisa! Everything is coming along well and looking good! Thanks for the comment!
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Lovely when something flowers you don’t expect!
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Hello there T & K! It is quite amazing for sure. Take care and thanks for the comment!
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Happy 🐣 Easter
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Hello Jim! Happy Easter to you, too. I hope you are yours are doing well in Iowa. Take care and thanks for the comment!
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Creative, but all enjoyable to see!
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Hello Allison! Enjoyable for me as well. Take care and thanks for the comment!
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My six are better than your six! I got Morus rubra, and now no one will be immune from my gloating! Did you see them? (Oh, of course you did.) They are SO RAD! The green buds on some of the female cuttings are perked up like they should. I am confident that they will be happy here. I must post updates about them every few months or so.
Your lilacs are pretty rad, although not as rad as Morus rubra. The foliage looks like that of French hybrids, but I do not recognize the simple white flowers. They are likely an old cultivar that predates the modern French hybrids. The older sorts have he best fragrance. ‘Madame Lemoine’ was the only white cultivar we grew, but the flowers had fatter petals. The second pink lilac picture looks a bit more familiar, although the truss is a bit elongated. They likely respond favorably to more of a chill there.
Mammillaria karwinskiana bloom inside is impressive, (although you can guess what is even more impressive than that).
Did I mention how totally excellent the Morus rubra cuttings that you sent are?
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Hello Tony! Hmmm… The Lilacs here are definitely very old. My grandparents planted them probably around 1960, give or take a few years. Several of the Mammillaria flower off and on but and are always neat. The Sedum adolphii ‘Firestorm’ was a big surprise, though. By the way, how are the Morus rubra cuttings? I haven’t noticed you mentioning them. 🙂 Thanks for the comment and take care.
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Wow, white lilac in 1960! I was not aware that they were available back then. They were likely cultivars of the formerly common Syringa vulgaris (the straight species) that I never met. (I knew only those with ‘lilac’ colored bloom.) We grew the ‘French Hybrids’ because they are ‘supposedly’ more tolerant of mild winter chill. However, I grew up with the common lilac, so I know they are quite happy with the minimal chill that they get here. They even grow on the coast in Malibu (near Los Angeles). I realize that the ‘appreciate’ a good chill, but they do not seem to need it. I still insist that the formerly common lilac is still the best, for several reasons. They have the best fragrance. Modern cultivars are overrated.
Mammillaria are somewhat easy to grow as long as they do not get to much water, but get plenty of sunlight. However, blooming them is not so easy. They must be happy to do that. I see them blooming in the wild sometimes, but it is big news when they do it in the landscape. Although I am not certain, they are more reluctant to bloom than any of the Sedums I know of. Of course, there are many species of Sedum, all with distinct personalities. There happen to be many Mammillaria of a few species in the Arizona Garden at Stanford in Palo Alto that bloom regularly, but they are old and very well neglected. Some actually get sheltered if rain continues too late into spring.
The Morus rubra cuttings are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . . .
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. . . OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . . .
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. . . OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RAD! I will go out to check on them before the sun goes down. Did I mention how totally RAD they are? Well, I can tell you more about it later.
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GEEZ! NOW I forgot what I was going to say.
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You were likely about to remind me how totally rad the Morus rubra cuttings are.
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Hmmm… Maybe I found something even more exciting… 🙂
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There is nothing more exciting.
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GEEZ!
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