Tag Archives: Talinum paniculatum-Jewels of Opar

The Usual Joys & “Are You Serious?”

Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum (Elephant Garlic) on 6-9-19, #585-1.

Hello, everyone! I hope this post finds you well. It happens every year… Some perennials come up earlier than others and some you have to wonder about. Then there are the re-seeders you have to wait on to see if they are going to come up at all. You are ready to get the beds tidied up and make decisions about what you are going to do with the beds. You go plant shopping to see what is available and bring home new plants. Some plants you liked the year before aren’t available so you get to try new cultivars and new plants.

The Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) in the above photo is now flowering in the south bed. A great example of having your cake and eating it, too.

 

Alocasia ‘Mayan Mask’ on 6-9-19, #585-2.

A few of the older Alocasia went dormant and this Alocasia ‘Mayan Mask’ is FINALLY waking up. Two others are still thinking about it.

 

Hmmm… Last spring I bought a Siberian Bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’. It did very well and was a beautiful plant. Once the Japanese Beetles really set in on the Chinese Elm tree and changed its environment, it started ailing. By the end of July, it was completely dead. I didn’t see anything online about this species going dormant so early, so I just contributed its demise was because of the heat and increased light. I left the label in place just in case it returned in the spring because you never know. I always say, “Just because it is dead doesn’t mean it is dead.” I have been surprised many times. Well, there is a plant coming up beside the label but there is a weed with similar leaves, which I haven’t bothered to ID. So, this is either the Bugloss returning or a weed trying to fool me… Most likely, the latter is the case. But, I am keeping an eye on it. 🙂

By the time I am finished with this post, which is likely to take several days, maybe we can tell what is really going on here.

 

Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ on 6-9-19, #585-6.

Waiting and waiting… Then all the sudden, “OH, CRAP!” Almost time to transplant the Celosia argentea var. spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ and Talinum paniculatum (Jewels of Opar).

 

Talinum paniculatum (Jewels of Opar) seedlings on 6-9-19, #585-22.

It happens every spring… It seems I need to work on the south bed but I always think I have to wait for the Celosia and Jewels of Opar to come up. Last spring the Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ came up in abundance from self-sown seed but barely any came up this spring. In fact, I am not so sure any did and I was beginning to wonder about the Celosia. But when they did come up, they really came up! I think I am pretty safe if I don’t even worry if they will come up and just go ahead and do whatever I want with the south bed when I am in the mood. The Celosia and Jewels of Opar will come up when they are ready and it doesn’t matter where I dig. I will still have more than enough.

 

Colocasia esculenta on 6-9-19, #585-7.

The Colocasia esculenta are finally coming up in the north bed. I didn’t post photos, but something terrible happened with the BIG rhizomes… The biggest ones had crown rot but the majority of the rhizome was OK. It just made the smaller eyes come up around the rhizomes instead of the main one from the center. Hard to explain but maybe you get the picture… It was unusual, but the small Colocasia esculenta I planted in the front of the Canna bed overwintered with leaf mulch and came up long before the rhizomes I planted… I don’t know what the Xanthosoma robustum is going to do because it sort of had the same problem only in a different way. It rotted from the bottom instead of the top. Last time I checked, the top sprout had broken off but there is some kind of activity on the remainder of the rhizome… Time will tell. The temps have been weird and the soil has remained cool and damp which they don’t like…

 

Conoclinum coelestinum ‘Aunt Inez’ on 6-9-19, #585-8.

TRIPLE GEEZ! The Conoclinum coelestinum (Blue Mist Flower) I call ‘Aunt Inez’ always comes up so late. It is a perennial or sorts but these always come up from seed. Supposedly, they are an herbaceous perennial that “spreads aggressively” by rhizomes and self-seeding. Dad got his start from Aunt Inez (his mother’s sister) many years ago. They were in a good-sized group on both sides of the steps but they have declined, which may be partly my fault. I have been panting other plants where they grow which had led to their seeds being lost or not being able to come up. It was kind of tiresome waiting for them to come up then having to move them around a bit. (GEEZ! That is like in the south bed!). Then after I get the beds planted, a few come up… I am not complaining at all, and I am thankful that at least a few have made an appearance. I have tried to relocate a few in the past, but they never return the next spring. As far as them spreading “aggressively” by rhizome, I have never had that happen and it would be a good thing if they even tried. They are a nice plant with neat flowers. The worse thing about their seedlings is that one might think they are a weed and pull them up by accident. My dad used to keep an eye on me and was quick to point them out. He would say, “that’s one of those flowers. You have to be careful not to pull them up.” 🙂

 

Echinacea purpurea (Purple Cone Flower) on 6-9-19, #585-9.

The Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) “are” now budding. They have done very well and are getting very tall. I am so thankful I have these now! I failed to dig up a few of the Echinacea paradoxa (Yellow Coneflower) along a back road which I wanted to plant somewhere on the farm.

Grammarly thinks “are” should be “is”. I had to remind it “are” is a present and plural form of “be” and “is” the singular present form. 🙂 We are at a stalemate and it is thinking about it.

 

Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ on 6-9-19, #585-10.

The Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ is looking MUCH better now. I was beginning to wonder for a while if it would make it.

 

Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ on 6-9-19, #585-11.

The very nice Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’ is going to bless us with its first flowers this year. It’s first!

 

Hosta ‘Blue Angel’ wannabe on 6-9-19, #585-12.

Hmmm… The Hosta ‘Blue Angel’ wannabe is getting a little bigger. It is driving me NUTS not knowing the true cultivar name. I am going to turn the label around so it can read that it says “Hosta ‘Blue Angel’.” I am sure it will tell me, “Yes, I am blue (well kind of) and I am an angel. But I am NOT Hosta ‘Blue Angel’.” 🙂

 

Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ on 6-9-19, #585-13.

The Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ definitely has no identity crisis. Its flowers are just as compact, neat and tidy as the whole clump.

 

Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ on 6-9-13, #585-14.

The always glowing Hosta ‘Dancing Queen’ is further dazzling us with buds.

 

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ on 6-9-19, #585-15.

Hosta ‘Forbidden Fruit’ is looking especially AWESOME this year and flowering right on schedule. I took photos of the Hosta on 6-9-2018 and it didn’t have buds, but it did on the 14th. So, we are pretty much right on schedule.

 

Monarda didyma ‘Cherry Pops’ on 6-9-19, #585-16.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! I had almost forgotten about the Monarda didyma ‘Cherry Pops’ (Bee Balm)! I saw it had sprouted a while back, but the Creeping Jenny had completely covered it it. When I was taking photos on Sunday, it said “HERE I AM! DON’T FORGET ABOUT ME!” I smelled its leaves to make sure it was really it. 🙂 I am very thankful it came up. Now, we’ll see if it flowers.

 

Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper) on 6-9-19, #585-17.

The Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is one of those “I fooled you” plants when they are very young. You can easily mistake it for a Viola and not pull it up. Sometimes their second set of leaves may even resemble Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), which fooled me for several years at this stage. I had plenty of both in Mississippi and was always getting a little rash after pulling weeds in the back yard even though I didn’t see any poison ivy where I was working. Then one day I noticed the Violets I didn’t pull had three leaves so I thought Poison Ivy started out looking like Violets. Well, that is not the case. Small Poison Ivy starts out with leaves of three while the Virginia Creeper starts out looking like Viola species. By the second or third set of leaves, you can clearly see the five-leaved Virginia Creeper.  Some people break out in a rash similar to Poison Ivy from the sap of the Virginia Creeper as well.

One interesting thing about Poison Ivy is that it is not an Ivy at all. Believe it or not, it is in the family Anacardiaceae with Cashews, Mangos, Pistachios, and many other ornamental trees that produce “fruit” that are drupes. Many of the plants in this family produce sap with urushiol which is what causes the rash. Virginia Creeper (or Woodbine) is in the family Vitaceae along with grapes. These plants produce raphides (crystals of calcium oxalate) which can also cause irritation by puncturing the skin of sensitive people. Umm… I mean people with sensitive skin.

 

Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ buds on 6-9-19, #585-19.

The Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’ is starting to bud now. There will be A LOT of flowers because they really like it where the biggest patch is now.

 

Rudbeckia hirta buds on 6-9-19, #585-19.

I think buds are especially neat on some plants. Here the native Rudbeckia hirta (Black-Eyed Susan) buds resemble brown balls wrapped in golden-yellow petals.

 

Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimensions Blue’ on 6-9-19, #585-20.

The Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimensions Blue’ seems to be having some difficulty expressing itself this spring. It was like it couldn’t speak for a while and was always looking over its shoulder. Then I realized maybe it is the Elephant Garlic… The Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ in the other end of the bed had the same difficulty until I removed the garlic next to it. This year it has gone bananananas! Maybe the smell of the garlic and the scent of the Salvia don’t mix well. Chemical reaction. LOL!

 

Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears) on 6-9-19, #585-21.

The Lamb’s Ears (Stachys byzantina) are blooming once again. They seem to like this spot and I am going to attempt something… I have a plan… Top secret. 🙂

 

Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’ (Chaste Tree) on 6-9-19, #585-23.

The beautiful Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’, is looking great and starting to flower. I really like this shrub but it can be weird sometimes. It made it through the winter like a deciduous shrub instead of having to come up from the bottom like a perennial. It has been a few years since it did that. There are a few advantages to that including their stems are much stronger. Last spring it came up from the ground and next thing you know all the stems were flat as a pancake and growing horizontally because the stems were weak. I have photos to prove it. 🙂 So, I am very thankful it growing normal this year.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, be safe, stay positive, be thankful and you know the rest.

 

Refurbished South Bed

I can hardly believe it has been 19 days since my last post! Well, I have been kind of busy as you can imagine this time of the year. The garden is doing OK, at least half of it. The other half I don’t want to talk about. I have also been adding new pages on the right of plants I have grown, or am growing, which can lead to one thing then another. I have to make sure the scientific names are still correct for one thing. I am trying to get the list more or less complete then go back and add more photos and information. That has proved to be a little difficult for some plants.

I had to go back and look at the photos I had taken since June 6 (JUNE ALREADY!) to jog my memory. The last thing I remember was looking at the bed on the south side of the house (above photo taken on June5) and trying to think about what to do with it. Then I decided that if I start digging up the soil, cut the Crap Myrtle’s down (OH, I mean Crape Myrtle), maybe I could get some inspiration. THEN while I was digging I got distracted with the garlic bulbs. THEN, when I was digging up the garlic bulbs I saw something glowing in the soil… Both became new posts. Then the next day I went to Wagler’s Greenhouse to see what was there that could get me even more inspired… I intended to write a post about the Fireflies, then the Elephant Garlic, then the bed. BUT, then I joined a new online marketing program and started taking the training… SO, that is one reason why I haven’t added any new posts lately.

I could post the photos I took on June 6, but the plants have grown by now! SO, what do I do? I will just ignore the past 19 days and post the photos I have taken the past couple of days. I took 115 photos Saturday afternoon but this post is just for the south bed.

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The Baptisia x variicolor ‘Lunar Eclipse’ is still doing well with no sign of any worms foraging on it’s leaves as in Mississippi. This plant is located in the southwest corner of the bed next to the Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’.

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The Buddleja ‘White Profusion’ is doing well again this year and LOADED with buds. I still don’t know which of the 141 accepted species of Buddleja this cultivar is from.

The flowers on the Buddleja ‘White Profusion’ are always AWESOME! I would like to add more Buddleja varieties somewhere…

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I transplanted a double row of Celosia argentea ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ for background plants along the wall. Since they can get very tall, up to 9′, they do very well as background plants. They readily reseed so I had PLENTY to choose from. So many that I run out of places to out them. The bad thing about putting them here and there is that the following year there are HUNDREDS more to put somewhere. I am tempted to scatter the seeds all along the fence rows on the entire 40 acres!

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Wagler’s had several Delphiniums, so  purchased a blue and a white one.  The last time I bought Delphiniums was in the 1980’s, so I thought I would give them another shot. The tag on the Delphiniums just says “Delphinium Mix”. GEEZ!!! There are about 300 species in the Delphinium genus, which are perennials. The annual Delphinium are Larkspur’s, which are in the genus Consolida. I planted Larkspur seeds in Mississippi that reseeded every year. Most perennial Delphinium hybrids and cultivars are from Delphinium elatum. The genus is pretty complex and I will tell you more when I get the Delphinium page added to the right…

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As you can see there are still a few Cannas in this bed. I haven’t removed them yet, but that is on my “to-do list” so I can transplant more Celosia argentea ‘Cramer’s Amazon”

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Echinacea  purpurea ‘Pow Wow’ White’. Seriously, folks, there are a lot of new Echinacea’s (Cone Flower) on the market. Personally, while there are several I would love to try, I don’t care for a lot of them. The petals on the traditional old Echinacea are supposed to hang downward. Many of the new ones that have came out over the past several years to not droop. I have not seen any Echinacea of any kind in any of the garden centers or greenhouses, only online. SO, when I saw Wagler’s had a few Echinacea ‘Pow Wow White’ available, I thought I would give it a try… They didn’t have the ‘Pow Wow Wild Berry’. I checked online to see if the petals droop and I found out they are a cultivar of Echinacea purpurea and they do droop.

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This is the Kniphofia uvaria-Red Hot Poker. This is another new one I never grew before, so I am very anxious to see how they do. There are several different species and cultivars, some have enormous flower stems! Plant Delights has some really nice ones available but they are VERY EXPENSIVE! When I was first taking photos for this post I somehow didn’t get a photo. SO, I had to go back and take this one on the 26th. I can hardly wait for it to flower!

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Liatris spicata-I have wanted some Liatris for many years, so when Wagler’s had them on sale I decided to buy one. I should have bought at least 3. I extended the bed a little beyond where it originally was and put the Oregano, Rosemary, a Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s ears) and a few ‘Brocade Red’ Marigolds there. I was going to dig more, but the ground was a hard as a brick… I will have to do something about that later (added to the “to-do list”).

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I had previously bought 3 Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) and planted them in the north bed and they did pretty well. SO, since Wagler’s still had plenty, and they were on sale, I thought I would buy 3 more. Well, I examined them pretty good, as I always do, and noticed there was a problem. Umm… They had a touch of mealy bugs. I forgot to tell them about it. Anyway, I bought 3 more and put them in the south bed. The tag says sun to part shade, so I thought they might be OK here. If they have issues with to much sun I can always move them later. BUT, I learned something about Lobelia I haven’t experienced with any other perennials… Their leaves burn if they are still a little wet from the dew by the time the sun gets intense. The first 3 plants had that problem when I first planted them, too.

BUT, that is not the problem here…

When I was taking the photos one of the three plants had already died… It was not dead a couple of days earlier. I thought their problem was because of the sun and I forgot about the few bugs I saw when I bought them. NOW, I have to either spray or burn these guys. This is the first year I have seen bugs in any of the greenhouses. When I bought a few tomatoes from Mast’s Greenhouse earlier there were LOTS of bugs, white flies. He admitted he had a problem with bugs this year. Now I notice there are aphids and some other critter on some of the tomatoes. There are also a lot of Fireflies dealing with them. I need to go back out to Wagler’s and see if she noticed the bugs…

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Lupine ‘Popsicle’. I really like Lupine’s but so far they haven’t liked me very well. SO, I thought i would give them another shot. I bought two and they did fine… Then when I was taking these photos I noticed one had died. CRAP!!! Overnight DEAD. How can plants be fine one day and DEAD the next. Shriveled up, dried up dead! That is because of the intense sun the south side of the house gets. In Mississippi I had LOTS of oak tree leaves I used for mulch and they really helped. SO, It is very likely I need to start mulching the south side.

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Well, this Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo) is not a new plant either but it is in the south bed. You know, sometimes we plant stuff where they would be great but maybe there is a slight issue that we learn about later. It has nothing to do with the Nandina. In fact, I would say that the Nandina is probably my favorite all around shrubs. NUMBER ONE! BUT, this spot is not always big enough for the Nandina and the Buddleja. Last winter (2015-2016) the Buddleja didn’t die all the way back and just continued growing in the spring from where it left off. That was a big problem for the Nandina which was basically covered up. Luckily this past winter, the Buddleja did die back and started over. The Nandina and I were both so relieved! There are new shoots coming up from the bottom, so this bush will soon be really NICE and the Buddleja won’t be able to take advantage of this location. The mansion in Mississippi had a lot of Nandina so I bought one back with me…

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The Origanum vulgare (Oregano) is doing very well in this extended portion of the south bed. I put it here because I couldn’t decide where to put it…

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Just as I was taking the photo, “guess who” jumped in. He had been with me when I was taking photos on the north side but ran for the bushes in the front yard. The alarm went off at the church next door and he did not like that noise at all. By the time I made it to the south side of the house the alarm was turned off and all was quiet once again. When I took this photo of the Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ he jumped out of the bushes and right into the photo. I have had this plant since the spring of 2013 and I realized how important it was to protect it over the winter. You never know about the winters and the last one was weird. BUT, I did not cover it up this past winter even though the pot in the background is there in reserve for this one particular plant. SO, when everything was coming this plant didn’t. Finally one day I saw one tiny leaf emerging telling me it wasn’t dead. You can bet this winter that pot will go over this plant with mulch added! Probably it won’t flower this year, though. OH, I have to get those Celosia spicata ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ relocated!

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Rosmarinus officinallis (Rosemary). As with the Oregano, I couldn’t decide where to put the Rosemary I bought from the garden club plant sale. SO, It went into this spot….

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This is a photo of the extension to the south bed. It is quite smelly with the Oregano, Rosemary, and Marigolds. the Lamb’s Ears also have a scent but it isn’t noticeable.

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The Scarlet Sage, Salvia coccinea, still continue to come up from seed every year. They are a bit SLOW to appear, though, so I have to be careful when I am weeding. I just let them grow where ever they want and they seem happy. Weird, though, they are called Scarlet Sage but they flower in white and pink, too.

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The Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ (‘May Night’) is always one of the first perennials to come up in the spring. They flower early and do so all summer. Right now, it needs a bit of a dead heading… I bought this plant in the spring of 2013 and it has never disappointed me in the least. Many sources list this hybrid Salvia as Salvia nemorosa, but it is actually a cross between Salvia nemorosa and Salvia pratensis. I had forgot about this, so I have some correcting to do… I hate it when that happens! I also thought that Salvia nemorosa was a cross between two species… In fact, the original post this one replaced had the two species it was a cross of. It sometimes takes me hours (or days) to write a simple post.

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I bought the Salvia nemorosa ‘Dimensions Blue’ and ‘Dimensions Rose’ earlier this spring and put them here in the right side of the south bed. They are doing very well so far as long as I keep the spent flower spikes cut off.

Salvia nemorosa are very heat and drought tolerant and seem to have no problems as far as insects are concerned.

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Stachys byzantina. This Lamb’s Ear clump has been weird… First, a good friend of mine gave me two pots in 2013. One club dies after the second summer and this one survived. BUT it is not exactly where I put it. It seems to be drifting out into the yard because it doesn’t like the Crap Myrtle. SO, I removed a couple of the escapees and put one in the left side of the bed and one in the extended part. I like Lamb’s Ears, but they either like where they are and spread like mad or they eventually die. I don’t think it likes the soil here either.

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A very good friend of mine in Mississippi, Walley Morse,  gave me a start of this plant in 2012. Without a doubt, the Talinum paniculatum-Jewels of Opar, is one of my favorite perennials. So, go lock me up in the nut house if you like for confessing that. Here in Missouri I haven’t had any problems with it spreading like wild fire. In fact, here it is more like a self-seeding annual. When i transplanted the two plants he gave me here in the spring of 2013, they got HUGE and were LOADED with flowers and seeds. I cut off as many of the spent flowers and seeds as I could because i knew what “could” happen. Even so, I had hundreds of seedlings come up. In 2015 I had only a few plants and I have no photos since 2014. Last year I don’t think I even had any and thought they were gone. This spring, I was surprised when several seedlings came up in the bed behind the old foundation in the other yard. I transplanted several along the border in the south bed.

The south bed is to long to get a good photo of the whole thing. You can see the few Canna survivors that need to be removed. A couple of years ago I moved the Cannas to their new home along the garage where they are ding very well. The grasshoppers always ate them to pieces in the south bed but don’t seem to be a problem where they are now. The Crap Myrtle have always been a problem in this bed because they get quite tall. If it were up to me, I would pull them out. I know, I know, they are Crape Myrtle and a lot of people love them. I am just not one of those people. When I expressed my dislike of them while I was in Mississippi it was like I committed a mortal sin.

Well, I think it looks much better now, although there is still work to be done. I like mass planting and there are a lot of bare spots. We have the summer ahead of us and the heat will be the test to what works and what doesn’t. I have to decide what do about mulching to keep the soil cooler, too. Maybe I will have to get some of the leaves out of the ditch, or at least some of them. I left the leaves in the ditch for a reason, though and it is working. SO, best I leave them there. I just hate to buy mulch when there is so much natural mulch available. But NOT grass clippings for this area! I just have to think about it.

Well, that is it for this post. Hopefully, it won’t take me 19 days before I post again. Actually, I took enough photos on Saturday for four posts. I have something to show you… Over the past week, I have taken photos of the wild turkeys and two baby raccoons… But that isn’t what I want to show you. It is of my experiment with the tomatoes…

I hope you enjoyed this post! Be happy, stay healthy, prosperous and most of all GET DIRTY!!!