Digital Flower Pictures.com

Friday, February 08, 2008

Pot Marigold

Pot Marigold
Calendula officinalis 'Kablouna Mix'
(ka-LEN-dew-luh) (oh-fiss-ih-NAH-liss)
Synonym: English Marigold

This beautiful flower came from a packet of seed I sowed last spring. I just prepared the ground and put the seed out and it produced an interesting mix of colors. Calendula is actually an edible flower that the petals can also be used for skin ointments. Medicinal uses for this Mediterranean native date back to the 12th century. It is a cool season annual that benefits from being cut back in hot weather.

I have been going through old pictures on my hard drive in preparation for making some back up disks and have been copying the files on to another external hard disk. All you photographers please don’t put his off too long! I actually lost the original files from all the pictures I took in 2004 and 2005 because my external HD failed and when I went to use my back up DVDs they were blank. Since then I have put a new system in place for backups. Over the next couple of days I will backing up all the photos I took last year (most are done) and will be featuring some of the extra flowers that I find.

This white Clematis is trained to grow up a Japanese Maple seedling that I got at the Bartlett Arboretum plant sale a few years ago. I find that small trees and shrubs can offer a good support for the vines to grow. I like how the flowers stand out against the green Maple foliage. It seems to keep the deer from eating the Clematis, also. Plus you will probably be the only one on your block with a 'Flowering' Japanese Maple

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Golden Nellie R. Stevens Holly

Hybrid Holly
Ilex x cv. 'Gold Nellie R. Stevens'
(EYE-leks)

One of things I enjoyed at Planting Fields was their huge Ilex collection. Both in the scope and size of the plants. This cultivar is one type I had never seen before, and realize that it is not for everyone. The regular or normal Nellie Stevens Holly is a beautiful shrub or tree but it doesn’t grow well in my part of Connecticut. I would say about 6 out of 10 winters it is severely leaf burned and it sustains some damage 8 out of 10 years. Even though mine are planted in a sheltered location the constant winter defoliation has been taking its toll. It doesn’t actually kill the tree but makes more of a semi-evergreen, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a Holly. It seems these problems also effect the berry production as I have only had a few scattered berries in the 18 years I have been growing mine even though there are plenty of males around.

Now on Long Island they seem to thrive and are not as affected by the winter. They can attain a height of 15 to 25 feet (or more) and get a large spread. It can be quite vigorous and adaptable, growing several feet in one season. Although many books list it being hardy in USDA Zone 6 I would have to add that it is root hardy but does much better in Zone 7. It is a hybrid between I. cornuta x I. aquifolium and I couldn’t find any references to the gold cultivar.

Yellow berries on American Holly Tree (Ilex opaca f. xanthocarpa)

I have been trying to get a picture of the yellow berried form of the American Holly Tree for a long time. Mine don’t seem to get a great crop of berries and are located in a dark corner of the garden, hence difficult to shoot pictures of. I didn’t do much better at Planting Fields with this picture but they had a lot of different specimens that were loaded with yellow berries. So, I am posting this picture of Ilex opaca f. xanthocarpa to get it out of my system. This will hopefully allow me move on and get that picture of Lily of the Valley flowers I have been trying to take forever.

There several yellow berried cultivars of American and other Hollies. I think they add a little spice to a Holly collection.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

ABC Wednesday – C is for Camellia

Camellia japonica 'Debutante'

ABC Wednesday – C is for Camellia

If you’re here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.

These pictures are from the Camellia House at Planting Fields Arboretum. I think it is one of the largest collections of Camellias under glass (about 300 plants) in the world. The plants, which are mostly Camellia japonica are planted in the ground and maintained to a high standard. C. sinencis, C. sasanqua and C. reticulata are also represented in the collection.

Two of the most prominent firms in American Landscape Architecture designed the house (A. Robeson Sargent and the Olmstead Brothers), which housed the Camellia plants the owner brought back from the Isle of Guernsey in 1917.

Camellias like to grow in cool conditions and this thermometer shows that the temperature was 48 degrees F (9 C) inside. I call this a Minimum/Maximum thermometer, although there is probably a more technical term for it. It shows the same current temperature on both sides. The small lines indicate the lowest temperature since the last reset on the left side and the highest on the right side. For instance when I looked at the thermometer at work the other day, which I hadn’t reset in a few months, it read that we had a high temperature of 63 F (17 C) and a low of 6 F (-14 C). Quite a range and illustrative of the winter roller coaster we have been riding here. Back to the Camellia House thermometer, it shows a high temperature of 59 F (15 C) and a low of 41 F (5 C).

Growing Camellias is about keeping them cool and imitating their native Korean, Japanese, and Chinese mountain habitat. They must be kept cool to bloom properly. Too much heat and the buds will fall off. They do best in a North or East window or some shade outside as they can get sunburned. There are several more hardy varieties coming to market for Zone 7 gardeners and I saw that Planting Fields had numerous ones planted outside. Maybe they will make a Zone 6 plant soon.

I saw these cracked clay pots and couldn’t resist the double ‘c’.

Here is the ABC Wednesday Blogroll. I have added some new blogs at the end. It seems to be growing and I hope I have time to visit everyone.

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
kate isis
photography by kml
AVCR8TEUR'S Blog
Salty Dogs
The Modern Goddess
Simply Sage
author blog
kai
Mollitudes
ten forty
Neva
Ackworth born, gone West
Secluded Habitat
katch photo
Mr. Mapper
The Max Files
Oswegan
Watch me, No Watch me
Peter Miller
Lynette
Andrea’s Thought of the Day
Photowannabe
RuneE’s Visual Norway
Happy One
Jim Baker Photography
Azure
HPY
cre8tiva
NYCindividual
Lilli and Nevada
Bonnie
Outhouse of Canada
imac

Digital Shutter Mania
Dirty Knees
Dragonstar
Veg Plotting
Erin
Gordon
GAWO

Monday, February 04, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Camellia

Calanthe Orchids

Calanthe Orchid
(kal-AN-thee)

The Orchid collection at Planting Fields was beautiful and bountiful. There were some that I hadn’t seen before and some common ones. These two Calanthe Orchids were really out in force and I couldn’t help snapping a few photos as I strolled by. The first two pictures are Calanthe ‘William Murray’. I didn’t find much reference material on this cultivar but did find out that the genus Calanthe has about 200 species, most of which are native to Asia. The 200 species includes both evergreen and deciduous plants. That is a new one on me, as I didn’t know there were any deciduous Orchids.

Calanthe ‘William Murray’

Here is a link to the best article I found. It includes some history and detailed repotting instructions:
merkles orchids.com

This plant’s tag said Calanthe ‘rosea’

On Friday I decided to get out my Nikon Coolpix 5400 and maybe use it over the weekend. When I turned it on the Auto focus light was blinking and the monitor was black. It would snap a picture with the flash and all the controls seem to work but no pictures. I searched for problems with the 5400 and found my camera had the dreaded BGLOD (Blinking Green Light of Death). I found a service advisory on Nikon USA saying to send it into them and they will fix it for free. I am going to package it up today or tomorrow and see what happens. This is the first serious technical issue I have had with a Nikon camera ( and I have several) that wasn’t self induced. This is fairly amazing when you consider what my equipment goes through. I am interested to see how the customer service is on this issue and will post the results.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Planting Fields Arboretum

Planting Fields Arboretum
Oyster Bay, New York

Yesterday I drove out to Long Island and visited Planting Fields Arboretum. My main goal was to see the Camellia Collection but I was, however, a little early as most of the plants were just in bud. There were a few blooming but the real show looked like it would be coming in a couple of weeks. Hardly a disappointment I decided to go to the Main Greenhouse and have a look around. They still had the Poinsettia display up and that was colorful with some interesting types and colors. My camera fogged up and I wasn’t able to get a clear picture in that part of the greenhouse. The other parts of the greenhouse have Orchids, Succulents and Cactus and Begonias in separate rooms with some other tropical plants displayed along the way.

Morning Glory seed pods

Normally when I have gone to this Arboretum I have just stopped in along the way from buying plants out on the North Fork, which kind of makes for a rushed visit. Yesterday I decided to make it my primary destination. I could have stayed all day, oops, that’s what I ended up doing only leaving because of the dusk. I wasn’t really prepared for the riot of bark, berries, flowers and other botanical delights. The large collection of Witch Hazels was amazing and I kept coming across them here and there in the garden. I am not sure they were all marked correctly but they made for a fragrant and colorful distraction for a winters afternoon. Seeing the arboretum ‘bones’ was good, as I found several new (new to me) plants that I want to go back and photograph during the spring and summer.

Main Greenhouse, I got both pictures of the Greenhouse before the 8400 died

Since I only used the 60mm/2.8 Micro-Nikkor and the 50mm/1.8 I didn’t really take any landscape shots. I wish I had but maybe next time. I had my Coolpix 8400 and that has a 24mm equivalent lens but the battery died shortly after I got there. I really need a spare battery for that camera as it only lasts about 25% of the D70s battery. It is going to take awhile to sort through all the pictures I took. I was doing some depth of field and exposure experiments to get ready for the upcoming season. I also tried a few menu adjustments and wanted to see the results of that. With my newly stocked up Ipod on and the pretty nice weather (not super, windy and cloudy but fairly warm) I was really ‘out there’.

Bark from a large specimen of Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)

Their website gives some of the rich history and explains the collections better than I could:
Planting Fields.org

Friday, February 01, 2008

Sky Watch Friday and a Camellia Flower

Sky Watch Friday and a Camellia Flower

I have wanted to join in with Sky Watch Friday for several weeks but I had the self imposed rule that the picture had to be taken on Friday or the day before. I have the greatest respect for Dot and her blog. I think she is a wonderful photographer that really captures life around her area. This morning the sunrise was so pretty I thought this is my time. It is funny since we are expecting a freezing rain/rain storm today and I didn’t think the sunrise would be anything remarkable. There is over an inch of rain forecast and it should start soon. This is the view from my driveway. I am not going to work today but got up like I do everyday at 6 am (5:15 am during the season).

I won’t be updating tomorrow as I am going to try and sneak off to Long Island early in the morning. I want to see the Camellia Collection at Planting Fields Arboretum. This picture is a teaser as I hope to come back with a few nice Camellia pictures and will discuss them a little if I do. This one is Camellia ‘Tinsey’ and it was a beautiful red set off nicely by the white center. I do envy gardeners that can grow these outside. They just don’t make it outdoors in Connecticut.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Himalayan Blueberry

Himalayan Blueberry
Vaccinium moupinense
(vak-SIN-ee-um) (mu-pin-EN-see)
Ericaceae (er-ek-AY-see-ay)

I planted a couple of these last summer kind of to see how they would do and I was quite impressed. There seems to more and more people planting Blueberries as an ornamental and for good reason. They are a hardy, showy plant that doesn’t require too much care. I have several types of the larger species but the Himalayan Blueberry I have decided to use more as a groundcover. It is classified as an evergreen shrub so we will see what happens in the spring when this gorgeous winter color gives way to the new growth, which is also reddish tinged. I haven’t seen the flowers yet but they are typically Blueberry shaped (kind of an upside down urn) and a dark red. The berries, which are produced in the fall, are purple and can be eaten.

So far I have enjoyed this plant in the garden and will probably pick up a few more. I am going to shear mine in the spring to keep them at about 12 inches. They normally grow to about 18 to 24 inches tall with a spread of 2.5 to 3 feet. I have noticed that Blueberries like regular watering, especially during establishment.

Yesterday the Digital Flower Pictures Blog had its highest traffic day ever, 490 visitors. Thanks to everyone that did visit. I have certainly enjoyed speaking about some the plants I have seen over the last couple years and sharing some of my flower and plant pictures. Since a lot of research goes into this blog it has been a real learning experience for me.

Winter must be getting close to being over as I got two calls to look at work yesterday. I guess it is time to start waking up from hibernation.

For 2008 I vowed to read more garden books. I have a large reference library and I often flip through the books for inspiration or facts. My goal was to read one book a week but it looks like one book every two weeks is probably a better goal. The one I am reading now is called

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, Andre le Notre and the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles
by Ian Thompson. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

I have found the book quite interesting and a better read than I thought. Most of the books on my list are about plants and modern day gardening and I found this historical book fascinating. I will probably have to go to Versailles sometime now that I know some of what went into the creation of it.

Unknown Cymbidium Orchid

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Bougainvillea -ABC Wednesday

Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea x buttiana ‘Enid Lancaster’
(boo-gan-VIL-lee-uh)
Nyctaginaceae (nyk-taj-i-NAY-see-ay)

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.

If you are here for ABC Wednesday ‘B’ is for one of my favorite tropical plants, Bougainvillea. This one was blooming at the New York Botanical Garden last week. I loved the color, not having seen one in that shade before. An Internet search revealed literally hundreds of hybrids and cultivars and a rainbow of colors. This plant is a hybrid (remember from the ‘X’ post) of Bougainvillea glabra x B. peruviana. This cross has produced a lot of different cultivars, which are vigorous and colorful. They often can grow to 40 feet long which is larger than either of the parent plants.

All Bougainvillea are native to South America but have spread across the world. In non-tropical areas gardeners can enjoy them as houseplants, although you need to keep them cut back. If you are growing them indoors it is important to let the plant dry out in between waterings, and I would suggest not fertilizing them. The roots liked to be crowded and don’t be alarmed if the leaves drop off, it is natural (if they don’t come back, that’s a problem).

One from my Florida archives.

Bougainvillea grows as a vine although I have seen it trained into a small tree and a loose shrub. It is thorny and can be used as a colorful living fence. The flowers are the little buds and white trumpet in the center. The real show is the colorful three paper-like bracts that surround the flowers.

This is a ‘b’uilding I took a picture of in Manhattan. It is way downtown. I have a friend who is a brilliant architectural photographer and this is my (kind of sad) attempt to be like him. He tries to shoot flowers from time to time :lol:

Shot with a Sigma 17-70mm @ 29mm
1/200 sec/F 7.1
Ev comp.: -1.0
Circular Polarizer

Here is the ABC Wednesday Blogroll. I have added some new blogs at the end. It seems to be growing and I hope I have time to visit everyone.

Almost forgot this Bougainvillea I saw blooming at Wave Hill. It had variegated bracts which added to the overall dramatic color.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Wordless Wednesday - Rose Macro

Wordless Wednesday - Field of Daisies

Monday, January 28, 2008

Orange Star Impatiens

Impatiens
Impatiens walleriana
Synonym: Busy Lizzy
(im-PAY-shuns) (wall-er-ee-AH-nuh)

This picture was a little lesson for me. I didn’t write down if this was ‘Accent Orange Star’ or ‘Mega Orange Star’. I think it was from the ‘Accent’ series since it didn’t get very tall and the flowers weren’t the two inches wide that the ‘Mega Orange Star’ gets. I always enjoy having some Impatiens in the garden. The colors they keep coming up with are amazing to me. One thing I don’t like is the ever-growing trend of making them shorter and shorter. I like them a little taller for some areas. One time I accidentally fertilized my Impatiens with a very high Nitrogen lawn fertilizer and they grew to about 4 feet tall. The downside was they hardly had a flower all summer.

Most people are familiar with using Impatiens in the shady areas of the garden. They don’t need deadheading but require regular water to look their best. I found that the Deer do like to eat them so try and use a protected location. Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to the flowers. I have been using them in containers a lot lately and that has worked out very nice. At the end of the season I often bring some into the greenhouse for a little color for the winter. I have noticed indoors they need some fertilizer and have to be pinched back to prevent legginess.

This Cactus was growing in the Conservatory at work and I thought that since the Impatiens flower had kind of a geometric pattern to it I would post this one along with it. It is a specimen of Mammilaria supertexta.

I have been waiting all day to post this and am finally using Karen’s DSL to do it. Apparently when the cable guy was fixing the cable on the pole in front of my house he fixed it so good that it doesn’t work anymore.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Acacia

Acacia
(a-KAY-see-uh)

I am not of the species of this Acacia tree but it was a beauty and quite a shock to see in full bloom in the Bronx. I thought at the time I snapped this picture last week that it would be easy to figure which Acacia it was but it turns out there are 1300 plus species to choose from. I did learn that most are native to Australia but there are 300 or 400 that are native to the warmer areas of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

It used to bother me if I took a picture and didn’t know exactly what the plant was. It still does but not as much. I figure that soon or later someone will tell what it is or I will see it again in person or a book where it is marked. With this picture at least I know the genus and that will make identification a lot easier. I constantly finding out about new plants and that is one thing I love about the Botanical World, there is always room to explore and meet some new citizens.

There seems to be some milder temperatures headed this way for next week and that sounds great. Anything I can get done in the garden now will be less work in the spring.

Does anyone want to see Azalea season more than me? Probably not! This is one of the collection of late blooming Dwarf Japanese Azaleas at the Estate. They start blooming in June and end in August. I will take any blooming Azalea at this point.

Sorry that I have to keep on putting the 'short' feed on this site. They are people that are using it without any links or acknowledgement. So we are back to the short feed for awhile.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Bengal Clock Vine

Bengal Clock Vine
Thunbergia grandiflora
(thun-BER-jee-uh) (gran-dih-FLOR-uh)
Synonyms: Blue Sky Vine, Sky Flower

Today’s pictures are again courtesy of Wave Hill. This vine was growing in a small pot, which is unusual since it quite vigorous. In climates where the ground doesn’t freeze it can quickly cover its trellis and may have to tamed to fit into the area allotted to it. This vine can easy be cut back if unwanted growth occurs, Outdoors it prefers some light or shifting shade (especially in hot climates) and rich organic soil. The lush heart shaped leaves adds to this native of India attraction in the garden.

This is the most commonly seen blue type of flowers but violet colored and white flowered forms are also available. The flowers are beautifully shaded and shaped. In this second picture it is mixing in with some Coleus flowers. I never really get to see the flowers of Coleus since I am always pinching them off. They are quite a pretty blue.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Euphorbia

Euphorbia
Euphorbia fulgens
(yoo-FOR-bee-uh) (FUL-jenz)

Wave Hill had a nice collection of different Euphorbia fulgens blooming when I was there two weeks ago. I couldn’t find out much about this plant other than it is closely related to the Poinsettia and is a native of Mexico. The milky sap is said to be a skin irritant so care should be used when handling the plants and cut flowers. It is quite popular as a cut flower, with a vase life of 7 to 10 days.

There were several foliage and flower types represented in the Wave Hill collection and I am showing these two because the pictures came out the best. I think the dark red flowers with plum colored foliage was my favorite (not pictured here). I still haven’t figured out all the tricks about shooting indoors in a greenhouse.

The common name for this plant is ‘Scarlet Plume’ but that doesn’t really work for the first picture, which was a very nice soft creamy yellow. Euphorbia fulgens actually comes in red, orange, yellow, pink and white flowers. The long pointy foliage seemed to have several shades of green and red on the different plants. The flowers come out in several places along the elegantly shaped curving branches.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Two More Winter Bloomers

Two More Winter Bloomers

I have been keeping my eyes open for flowers and in addition to the Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) that was featured here recently I found my Winter Jasmine and Chinese Witch Hazel blooming. My hat goes off to these plants, which despite the cold temperatures and biting winds have come out to add a little color to the winter landscape.

Weeping Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorum
(JAZ-mih-num) (noo-dee-FLOR-um)
Synonym: Jasminum sieboldianum

This is an interesting and underused shrub that brings some winter interest to the garden. This one only had a few flowers right now but later in the winter and with the help of a few mild days it will be in full bloom. It can be effective cascading over stonewalls or on sloped banks. While it is rated for USDA Zone 6 I think it does better in Zone 7. If you are planting it in Zone 6 try and chose a warm sheltered location for it.

Following its species name, nudiflorum, its flowers emerge before the foliage. The leaves themselves are small and not very showy. Even with some sporadic flowering later in the year this shrub tends to fade in the background but it emerges very bright right when you need that the most. This Western China native can be difficult to buy, it isn’t offered that often, but is definitely worth the hunt for the medium and larger garden.

Chinese Witch Hazel
Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’
(ham-uh-MEE-lis) (MAW-liss)

There seems to be a little cloudiness in regards to the naming of this plant. It seems a lot of people also call it Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida' and you can find it listed under that name also. I am going to let the botanists fight that one out. When I first starting growing this Witch Hazel I was less than enchanted with this one but over the years this shrub has proved to be a reliable bloomer and a good garden citizen. It doesn’t take much upkeep (a great benefit in my mind) other than cutting the occasional sucker from under the graft I also top mine since I don’t really want to have it grow to the full height of 15 feet. Sometimes the dead leaves hang on through the winter and they should be removed to see the full glory of the flowers. ‘Pallida’ is superior to the species mainly because of the heavier flowering. Plant it with an eye towards it being a large shrub but also keep in mind you will want to enjoy the flowers and fragrance up close.

This plant was first collected in China around 1870 and ‘Pallida’ was first cataloged by the RHS in the 30’s. It likes well-drained soil that has organic matter in it. It can benefit from a yearly dressing of leaf-mold compost.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

ABC Wednesday - Torch Aloe

ABC Wednesday - Torch Aloe
Aloe arborescens
(AL-oh) (ar-bo-RES-senz)
Synonyms: Tree Aloe, Mountain Bush Aloe, Krantz Aloe, Aloe candelabra, A. milleri, A. natalensis, A. viridifolia

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday scroll down to the next post, please.

Since it is not very tropical outside I thought I would feature a tropical plant. This picture is from my trip to the New York Botanical Garden last week and just as last year when I went at this time the Tree Aloe was in full bloom. The NYBG has quite a collection of Cactus and Succulents and there are two rooms devoted to those types of plants in the Conservatory. It is always fun to visit the wetter areas and then walk through the long tunnel to the dry collection. After that comes the Special Collection area, which always has some interesting flowers.

Aloes need a sunny position in the garden, if you are lucky enough to be able to grow them outdoors. You probably wouldn’t want to grow this species indoors as it can get to 6 to 8 feet tall but there are 400 other species to choose from and many do make nice, slow-growing houseplants. My Aloe plants at work have never flowered so I am probably not the best person to get advice from on cultivation.

This is a yellow form of Aloe that I found growing in the Florida Keys. This one was located in someone’s landscaping on Sugarloaf Key and was a delight to see. The red one is from Big Pine Key.

I was scanning some pictures the other day and came across this ‘A’. I have been to Alaska four times and loved its rugged beauty each time. We took this train from Anchorage to Seward for a day trip.

I am again proudly participating in ABC Wednesday. It is getting harder and harder to come up with botanical images this time of year and I may have to rely on the archives more than I would like. I figure we should be getting into the season with some new images around ‘H’ or ‘I’.

Here is the ABC Wednesday Blogroll: