Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day-September

I remembered on Thursday that the 15th would be on Saturday so I rushed around the garden to get a few shots for Bloom Day. I should have remembered about the 15th since it is my wedding anniversary also. I don’t remember how long we have been married so I will have to figure out a coy way of broaching that subject. It has been awhile at this point, over 15 years but fewer than 20. Since we work together our relationship has a slightly different dynamic then most couples.

The Hydrangea at the top is ‘Tardiva’. It got so tall in this particular spot and is just a mass of white flowers. Long lasting and a dependable bloomer it is one of my favorite Hydrangeas.

So here are the some more shots in no particular order:

Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstonne’
Always a pleasant plant to have in the garden. It is really tall but doesn’t need staking.

Dwarf Pink Aster
This plant has been around a long time so it is a long lived perennial. I pinch it several times during the year so it is only about 8 inches tall.

Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'
I applied a lighting effect in Photoshop to get a little more light on the bee. This is a wonderful perennial that is just coming on strong when everything else is giving up.

Passiflora 'Lady Margaret'
I had a little fun in PS with this one too. It is a really nice deep red Passion. I over wintered it and lately it really kicked in and is covered with blooms.

Tricyrtis
Hairy Toad Lily is one of my favorite flowers. Definitely doesn’t look like something that should be growing in Connecticut with its wonderfully exotic flower. I have been encouraging mine to seed and now have several hundred of them. The deer got into some of them but they seemed to shake it off and bloomed anyway (well, a lot of them did).

Abutilon megapoticum
I wish I had wrote down the cultivar name on this one. It is a little different than most Flowering Maples. The flowers are pendulous and don't open like the others. This is another plant that I successfully over wintered from last year. It started off slow but is covered with blooms now. I will probably try and save it again.

That is all I have time for right now. I am looking forward to seeing what everybody else has blooming in their gardens. Overall the garden has done well and it looks like we are going to have a colorful fall. That last bout of rain we had really helped out by refreshing everything. We are supposed to get a little more over the weekend, which will also be welcomed.

I have had other posts on most of these plants if you want more information on them. I was probably the last person on the Internet to know this but if you click on the Labels that will narrow down the search amongst the old posts.

To check out what Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is and see some other participants click here:
Carol's May Dreams Gardens

Florist Mum

Florist Mum

I took this at the nursery the other day. I must say it brought some memories. When I was growing up my parents had a large greenhouse/nursery operation. We had several glass houses that were used to raise seasonal crops including, geraniums, Easter lilies, Poinsettias and Chrysanthemums. I still to this day have trouble smelling Geraniums. Often times I would be drafted into service for propagating, watering, pinching and even helping to deliver the plants. I am not sure I would ever want to work on the production side of things again. I am much happier planting and trying to grow the stuff. This mum was about 4 to 5 inches across.

Bougainvillea 'White Madonna'

I took this Bougainvillea shot at the same nursery. I envy all the gardeners that can grow this shrub outdoors. We have one in the Conservatory at work and it is nice during February when it blooms the heaviest. The rest of the year it looks like a refugee and it is tucked in the back in one of the corners. I thought this cultivar (B. 'White Madonna') was unusual as it is a very understated color. Quite attractive in my mind and I think it would nice combined with the more electric colors.

I am working in upstate New York today. It is about a 2 hour drive from here. The ride up there isn’t bad but I am not looking forward to the return trip in Friday night traffic.

Spider Flower (Cleome hassleriana)

Spider Flower
Cleome hassleriana
(klee-OH-me) (hass-ler-ee-AH-na)
Synonyms: Spider Legs, Grandfather's Whiskers

This first picture is an abstract of a Cleome flower. Since it is an abstract it did go through some modification in Photoshop. This isn’t my favorite flower. I guess I am kind of neutral about this plant. At one time after mulching a large planting several sprouted and for years continued to self seed (which this plant does very well). Finally about two years ago no more came back and I was a little disappointed. I might have to break down and buy some next year to start the patch again. Since it is a tall annual with not much on the bottom it is best suited for the back of the border or in mass plantings. Beware of the smell for it is not pleasant. Kind of a weak skunk smell to my nose so you won’t want to plant them by the front door. There are several cultivars and colors available, these do not come true from seed however. I would like to try the Dwarf Spider Flower sometime (Cleome serrulata 'Solo'), I have only read about it.

Buds of the white flowered form


These were taken at the Queens Botanical Garden. The fence outside the Senior Garden had a mixture of some interesting and odd stuff (something that would be appealing to me). It reminded so much of something you would see along side a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. So kudos to the gardeners for planting a border like that in the middle of Queens.

Hyacinth Bean for ABC Wednesday

Hyacinth Bean
Lablab purpureus
(LAB-lab) (pur-PUR-ee-us)
Papilionaceae (puh-pil-ee-uh-NAY-see-ay)
Synonyms: Dolichos lablab, Bonavista bean, Egyptian bean, Lablab Beans

If you are visiting for Wordless Wednesday scroll down to the post below this one.

I have grown this vine before as an ornamental. The beans are edible although some people report a toxic reaction to them. Eat them at your own risk! It is said that one or two water changes during boiling reduce the risk of a bad reaction. Livestock and wildlife don’t seem to have any problems eating them and it is a good source of protein for them.

As an ornamental plant this vine is wonderful. It grows from seed although when I have grown it I bought the plants already started. The flowers are beautiful as is the foliage. It is a ‘heavy’ grower and needs a strong support. It does self-seed so deadheading is recommended if you don’t want to have volunteers next year.

I wondered why it is called the Hyacinth Bean, as the flower doesn’t resemble a Hyacinth. I remembered that Hyacinth is actually a color described as: A deep purplish blue to vivid violet. That certainly covers the flower color and the color of the beans. There are a few horticultural selections out there including some white flowered, red flowered and dwarf forms.



‘H’ is for horse, too. This is one of the horses at the farm. He is retired now and I think he is 19 years old. He is a majestic animal. He always plays it a little coy when I bring carrots to work but soon he is happily munching them with the others. I am not posting his name, as I want to keep the client private. I saw in the barn that this horse had over $250,000 in winnings at the track (he is a thoroughbred) and looking over his pedigree his grandfather was no other than the great Secretariat. Even at his age he is quite a looker and for a magical moments when he sometimes takes off running across the pasture I think he is reliving his glory days. I am not really sure about that but he sure is beautiful to watch.

We finally got some rain yesterday, over an inch. That should help the garden as a lot of plants and trees were starting to struggle.


Here is the list for ABC Wednesday:
(I'll post more when I find them.)

mrs nesbitts place
hin's photoblog
tech the man
a bit of this a dash of that
Little Rock Daily Photo
photoxication
Kissing the Dogwood
strolling through Georgia
Ruth's Garden Blog
dwq online
kate isis
bidadlah.com
photography by kml
AVCR8TEUR'S Blog
Salty Dogs
The Modern Goddess
Simply Sage
HeART of the Nest
Gemmas House
author blog
kai

Wordless Wednesday At The Gallery

September 11th Remembrance Rose

Hybrid Tea ‘Peace’ Rose

“A rose is an argument. It proclaims the triumph of beauty over brutality, of gentleness over violence, of the ephemeral over the lasting, and of the universal over the particular. The same rose bursts into bloom on the North Cape and in the Sahara desert.”

Alain Meilland

Flower Buds

Zinnia elegans 'Zowie Yellow Flame'

Since my friend in Germany turned me on to bud photography I have been enjoying trying to capture emerging flowers. Sometimes they are as pretty as the flowers themselves. This is a little collection of flower buds I got on Saturday at the Queens Botanical Garden. Since I have had a little more time to reflect on my visit I have to admit how much I enjoyed it.

Rose Mallow Bud

Weird Clerodendron Bud Abstract

Karen and I went to the Irish Festival yesterday and it was a fun afternoon. We saw some dancing and a couple of bands. One thing that was not happy, we both agreed it made it long to return to Ireland. Lucky I didn’t drink too much, I only had a pint of Guinness so there are no after effects today. It takes awhile these days to bounce back from drinking too much. I have a big week at work planned and I have to start to think about my winterizing plans. There still is a good bit left to the season but I have found in the large garden it pays to think ahead.

Squash Bud from the Senior Garden

I bought Karen a Money Tree (Pachira aquatica) the other day when I was at the nursery. I have been urging it to grow, if you know what I mean. It actually has grown several inches already. I am going to have to research how to grow it as a houseplant. I really hope it flowers as I would love to take a picture of the beautiful blooms. Whenever I have seen them blooming in the tropics the flowers are way off the ground making it impossible to get a good photo of them. Here is a link if you haven’t seen a money tree before.
Pachira aquatica

Queens Botanical Garden

Queens Botanical Garden
Flushing, New York

Yesterday I left early and visited the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, New York. I wanted to kind of make a clean sweep of the NYC Botanical gardens having already visited the New York Botanical Garden and Wave Hill in the Bronx, Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the Staten Island Botanical Gardens this summer. It wasn’t as much as an adventure as getting to the Staten Island Garden. I drove to the Metro-North Railroad Station in Katonah, New York and got the train to Manhattan. I then bought a Metrocard and took the #7 Subway train to its terminus at Main Street in Flushing, Queens. It is about a 40-minute ride on the Subway and then I walked the eight blocks south on Main Street to the garden. I took the bus back to the station and you may want to consider taking it to the garden.

The new Visitor and Administration Building at the Queens Botanical Garden

The garden was nice, smallish compared to the others but it really had a country atmosphere, which was kind of amazing to me. If it weren’t for the skyscrapers and the jets taking off from La Guardia you might not know you were in NYC. There is a lot of construction going on at the garden. It looked like a pretty big area was closed off and totally ripped up. The Visitor and Administration Building was brand new and they are so planning a new maintenance building and area.


Some of the highlights of my visit were the Rose Garden, Pinetum, and while I didn’t get to actually go inside the area reserved for Weddings. There was a Wedding later in the day with; I’m guessing 50 guests. I got to see the bride walking down the aisle and I liked the air of anticipation before she arrived. The Rose Garden had a lot of roses and seemed well cared for and my only knock (and it is a small one) was the roses for the most part weren’t labeled and they were kind of scatter planted (mixed up). As I said there were a lot of flowers and a good selection of cultivars. The Pinetum was interesting, I didn’t see anything really rare but there was an interesting selection with some very old specimens. It looked like they are going to need to do some transplanting soon and I would have liked to see a few more dwarf types of trees. If you are not familiar with what a Pinetum is here is the definition: “An area planted with pine trees or related conifers, especially for botanical study.”

One of the Circular Annual Plantings

The rest of the display gardens were nicely presented and tended. There were a couple of very nice annual/tropical plant circles that I found interesting. There was also a large circular perennial and annual border that was impressive. I have tried to make a comprehensive review here since it was hard to find any reviews on the Internet about the QBG. A review would not be complete without mentioning the experience I had in the Senior Garden section. The Senior Garden was located in one of the far corners of the garden, and is made of a lot of small vegetable plots, each tended by a senior. Apparently they just started opening on the weekends for visiting. They were calling over to me to come visit as I walked by. Of course I went in and looked around after a few minutes one of the gardeners approached me and started to talk about the garden. I don’t think I have ever met a group that was more friendly and proud of their garden. They had to show me everything and I found them to be quite knowledgeable. When they heard I was professional that seemed to trigger some questions. It was a very personal and enjoyable visit for me. The kind of experience you wouldn’t get at the other Botanical Gardens in NYC.

Overall it was a very enjoyable visit. I can’t remember the last time I rode one of the Subway lines to the end in the Outer Boroughs. The #7 line drops you in the middle of Chinatown and that is an experience in itself. When I was in Grand Central I had a bolt of fear as the US Open Tennis Tournament and a Mets home game was scheduled on Saturday. It turned out to be baseless as I dodged both with happy accidental timing. You probably wouldn’t want to make this your top destination for Botanical Gardens in NYC but if you are interested or have the time it is certainly worth the visit.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

A quick word about the pictures here. When I go shooting I often give myself a little challenge to try and complete on my journey. Yesterday it was to get a few full frame flower and plant pictures. As usual I took a lot of close ups but tried to complete my personal challenge. I had quite a few failed attempts (which we won’t be seeing) and the three that came out the best.

Miscellaneous Water Gardens

Miscellaneous Water Gardens

I saw some great water gardens this summer. I will leave it up to your imagination to think where these were taken. If you look closely at the Water Lily there was a Bee flying around.



Just a short post as I have to leave early for work. I have a couple of early meetings and a few things that I have to take care of before the weekend. I am tired already and will have to take a nap when I get home. I am trying to think of something to do this weekend other than go to the NYBG or Wave Hill. I really enjoyed my trip to Staten Island but don’t want to make that journey. I will probably figure something out.



I wanted to add we had a big anthrax scare in my little city. When I got home from work the other day there was a message from the Health Department (those broadcast kind) that they were investigating an Anthrax discovery across town. A road here in town, a main one, has been closed for a couple of days. The phone call told me I had nothing to worry about (yeah right).

I have been doing a lot watering. The last rain we got here was .02 inches on August 21st. I won't use the 'D' word that would be an insult to the people that are really having drought problems (oops used the word anyway). It is just an extended dry spell but the plants are beginning to suffer. I spent an day and a half this week patching up some of the irrigation systems I have. Any weakness in the systems become painfully apparent in times like this.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
(low-BEE-lee-uh) (sigh-fy-LY-tih-kuh)
Lobeliaceae
Synonyms: High Belia, Louisiana Lobelia, Blue Cardinal Flower

I bought one pot of this plant 20 years ago at a plant sale and have been battling it ever since. It is a beautiful color blue but I have had problems with it seeding too much. I finally have contained it to a small area of the island garden and have actually grown to like it. I am not sure if it is a short lived perennial or a biennial but the seedlings seem to flower the first year. It grows fairly tall (up to 3 feet) and is hardy to USDA Zone 5, at least with reports of it surviving in Zone 3. All in all I guess I would recommend it but not for the real tidy garden. More for a moist to wet area that you want a bit more of a wild appearance. I think it would look wonderful in a mass planting. This Eastern United States native likes a little shade in hot areas.



There seems to be a little variation in the color of the flower. Mine are this rich blue but there are purple and white versions. This plant’s species name, siphilitica, refers to its use by early Americans as a treatment for venereal disease.

The work never seems to stop in Manhattan.

Modern Shrub Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ ABC Wednesday

Modern Shrub Rose ‘Gertrude Jekyll’
ABC Wednesday

If you’re here for Wordless Wednesday that post is below this one. Consider joining us for ABC Wednesday. It is open to all.

I always feel a little (tiny, really) twinge of pride when I post a flower that I have grown and photographed. This is growing in the Rose Garden I am tending to on a large farm in South Salem, New York. This little beauty was tucked way in the back but still blooming nicely. There are several large shrub roses planted in the back and before I pruned them they were pretty much snuffing this rose.

I am glad that I uncovered this one, as it is a beautiful clear pink with a luscious very strong fragrance. Another one of David Austin’s English Roses it is a cross between Wife of Bath × Comte de Chambord. I must admit that previously I have turned my nose up on Austin Roses and shrub roses in general. I had been favoring Hybrid Teas but the Grandifloras and Floribundas had been creeping in among my favorites. The Austins have been winning my heart though. As a gardener I should know better than to dismiss classes and types of plants but experience and observation is a great teacher. I had several posts about David Austin’s Roses on this blog.

‘Graham Thomas’, ‘Abraham Darby’ and 'Crown Princess Margareta' are just a few of the beautiful David Austin roses I have been enjoying.

Gertrude Jekyll was a famous garden designer from Surrey, England if you haven’t heard of her. Here is a link to more information on her fascinating life:
Click here.

One thing I learned about Miss Jekyll that I didn't know before was that she was a very accomplished photographer. That must have been tough to do in her day. I have two small connections to Ms. Jekyll. When I lived in Weybridge, Surrey it turns out to be about 30 miles from her area of Surrey. I certainly could see how that would inspire one to be a gardener. The other connection is my parents lived about a half mile from the Glebe House in Woodbury, Connecticut. I am pretty sure that the garden there is the only surviving Gertrude designed garden in the United States. I will have to take a drive up there is weekend.



Okay, in honor of our ABC Mentor, Creator and Guru I am posting this picture. It is Luca, a very special dog. He lives at the farm and visits with us gardeners often. He comes out with a big bluster of barking and teeth but is soon trying to cuddle up to you. He always has an eye on what’s going on but has time to play with your gloves, fetch a stick or just hang out. He is training for herding, which I don’t remember any German Shepherd that I have known actually doing any herding or shepherding. I think him and Wilma would make some beautiful puppies. He is quite handsome and loves to pose for pictures. I took about a dozen of him and all but two came out so it was difficult to pick. I did have to show those ears, though. They are something.



So, 'G' is for Gertrude, German Shepherd, and as Mike pointed out Grand Central



Here is the list for ABC Wednesday:
(I'll post more when I find them.)

mrs nesbitts place
hin's photoblog
tech the man
a bit of this a dash of that
Little Rock Daily Photo
photoxication
Kissing the Dogwood
strolling through Georgia
Ruth's Garden Blog
dwq online
kate isis
bidadlah.com
photography by kml
AVCR8TEUR'S Blog
Salty Dogs
The Modern Goddess
Simply Sage
HeART of the Nest
Gemmas House
author blog
kai

Here is another photo I took in Grand Central on Saturday. Humor me while I work on my Black and White Photography.

Grand Central Terminal for Wordless Wednesday

Chinese Scholar Garden

Chinese Scholar Garden
Staten Island Botanical Garden

The showcase and centerpiece of the Staten Island Botanical Garden is the New York Chinese Scholar Garden. There is a separate admission charge of $5 (US) for this garden. The other gardens are free. I gladly paid and didn’t think to ask if my New York Botanical Garden membership fee would get me break. It didn’t matter as the show was well worth the admission. It is a remarkable garden that has surprises around every corner. I had my trusty Coolpix set to black and white and also had the D70s with the 60mm shooting color. In hindsight I probably should have put the wide-angle lens on the D70 but I like the challenge of trying to get shots with the 60mm prime. I have been wanting to shoot more B&W so I actually used the little camera more. There was a multitude of shots to be had with all the angles and details in the garden.



I looked up just what a Chinese Scholar Garden is supposed to be and found this article on Wikipedia:
Chinese Scholar Garden



I have reprinted a portion of it here:

“The Chinese (Scholar's) Garden is a place for solitary or social contemplation of nature. To be considered authentic, a garden must be built and planned around seventeen essential elements. 17 features of a Scholar's garden: 1) near or at the home; 2) small; 3) walled; 4) small individual sections; 5) asymmetrical; 6) various types of spatial connections; 7) architecture; 8) rocks; 9) water; 10) trees; 11) plants; 12) sculpture; 13) jie jing (borrowed scenery); 14) chimes; 15) incense burners; 16) inscriptions; 17) use of feng shui for choosing site.”
Source: Marylyn McKean, Professor of Garden History at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design



The rest of the article goes on to talk about how the different plants are used and what they symbolize. All of which I found interesting. I think the only other Chinese Garden I have ever been in is the one in the Montreal Botanical Garden Montréal, Québec Canada.
Click Here

And that was really new at the time. The New York Garden seemed more established. Now know more about Chinese Gardens, including the major elements I can see how they were presented in Staten Island. I had the garden to myself a good part of the time which was nice. I only had to wait once when I was taking a picture for someone to move out of the way. It was really quiet and therefore more enjoyable to me.

I have decided to post only the Black and White pictures here today. These are not color conversions but shot with the camera in the monochrome setting. You can see I was fascinated by the Moon Gate. The only other one I have remember seeing was at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, MA.



Well the will be another post on the Garden, probably in color, in the next couple of days. I have to think about what I want to post for ABC Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday. It is back to the grind today. I can’t believe it is Labor Day already. I am going to have to do some watering if it doesn’t rain this week.



My apologies to anyone on a dial up connection for posting so many pictures. I crushed them down as far as I could without losing too much of the quality.

Red Zinnias

Red Zinnias

Happy Labor Day to all the Americans out there, For the rest I wish you had a holiday, too. Here are a couple of Red Zinnias from the Staten Island Botanical Garden. The weren't label as to cultivar but they were one of the tall types. I am always a little jealous when I see people growing nice Zinnias. Mine always end stunted, moldy and chewed up.
I posted about ‘Zowie Yellow Flame’ Zinnia here:
here:



You can see I was lamenting about the same cultural problems. I think they are a great flower and this red one was a standout in a sea of green foliage.

Not only did I take a lot of pictures at the garden but was snapping all the way to the garden and back. I have a lot of pictures to go through. I was going to go out and shoot some more but that will just contribute to the backlog. Maybe I will go for a walk with my dog instead. So here is a picture from Manhattan. I didn’t know this building was a landmark but the architecture was striking so it doesn’t surprise me. It is the old Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank and is now owned by the City of New York. If you want a little more info click here:


Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank
Circa: 1910
Address: Chambers St., Manhattan. SoHo district
Architecture: Beaux-Arts and Art Nouveau

And finally here is a picture of the huge Ferry sign at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Manhattan. The whole sign actually says ‘Staten Island Ferry’ but was impossible to take in with the lens I was using.

Staten Island Botanical Garden Canna Lilies

Staten Island Botanical Garden Canna Lilies

Yesterday I decided to visit the Staten Island Botanical Garden. For those that don’t know Staten Island is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. Here is more info on Staten Island:
Click here



I didn’t get to see too much of the Island but what I did see makes me want to go back and explore it some more. It is quite an arduous journey to get there from Connecticut. The first thing I did was hop in the car and drive to Katonah, New York to get the train to Manhattan. After the train brings you to Grand Central Terminal you have to get the Times Square Shuttle, on the Subway, to go downtown. I knew the #1 line is what I wanted to take to the Staten Island Ferry. Once I got on the #1 line I figured I was all set to ride down to the South Ferry station. Oh no, all trains were stopping several stations from South Ferry due to construction with shuttle buses to go the rest of the way. I decided to walk and of course it was a lot longer than I thought but enjoyed walking around lower Manhattan snapping a few pictures. When I realized how far I had to go I decided to get back on the Subway and this time jumped on the R/W line to Whitehall, which also drops you at the SI Ferry. I got on the boat which is a 25 minute ride and features great views of New York Harbor. Here is a link for more information:
Click here

The price is certainly right for the ferry ride, free! Once at the St. George Ferry Terminal I caught the S40 bus to the garden. All in all, 1 truck, 4 trains, 1 boat and 1 bus. Total time: 3 hours. Add in about 3 miles of walking, also.


Once I arrived at the Garden, which is located in an area called Snug Harbor I relaxed and started walking around. The garden is great. It is set up a bit like a maze, which I like, and the different gardens are next to each other but remote at the same time. They didn’t have a lot of rare plants but what they did have looked great and there were plenty of different things blooming to keep this shutterbug happy. Most everything was well maintained and for this time of year it was quite lush. One thing that was featured in a lot of the gardens was Canna Lilies. So here are three unnamed Canna portraits. I will be writing about my trip for several posts including one very special garden which is part of the SIBG, coming up here. I snagged a couple of ‘G’ posts for ABC Wednesday and I may have a day where I just post pictures I took in Manhattan.

Nemesia

Nemesia
Nemesia 'Sunsatia Mango'
(ne-MEE-see-uh)
Scrophulariaceae (skrof-yoo-larr-ee-AY-see)
Synonyms: Inupyel

Every year I plant about 15 large containers that act as a barrier for a steep drop-off. I usually go down to a couple of nurseries (both retail and wholesale) and get a collection of different annuals. I always get some stalwarts like Petunias, Marigolds and that type of thing and then I try a few new things. This year among the new plants I bought, with the hope they would do well were this new Nemesia and even though I didn’t know it from the scientific name of Erysimum, some Wallflower. Both turned out very well with the added bonus of being fragrant.



The color on the Nemesia is fantastic and it hasn’t stopped blooming all summer. ‘Mango’ was introduced in 2006 although the ‘Sunsatia’ series has been around for awhile.



Siberian Wallflower
Erysimum x marshallii
(er-RIS-ih-mum) (mar-SHALL-ee-eye)
Brassicaceae (brass-ih-KAY-see-ay)

When I planted this it only came with a tag that said ‘Erysimum’. I later found out when it bloomed that was the scientific name for the Wallflower. I had only grown the Yellow form previously. I am pretty sure that this is right species but like I said the tag wasn’t explicit. This picture is a little underexposed but I like the depth of field that I got. I will have to try to photograph it when it is a little sunnier out. The color is a very nice orange and I happen to mix it with some Purple Petunias and it all worked out okay.

I just want to say when I say that plants and flowers are ‘new’ that means they are ‘new’ to me. People probably have been growing some of the plants for years. That is one thing I love about gardening, there is always something new to wonder at or experiment with. I am the type of gardener that hedges his bets. I love to try new stuff but at the same time, since I am a professional I need some things that I know are going to work. If I just gardened at home I would be more experimental and less conservative on my color choices. I suppose its okay to be reigned in a bit.

I would recommend both of these plants for bedding or containers. They have stayed compact and have been very floriferous.