Dalmatian Peach Foxglove

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'Dalmatian Peach' Common Foxglove

Digitalis purpurea  

(dig-ee-TAH-liss) (pur-PUR-ee-uh)

This Foxglove is part of the ‘Dalmation' series. They are colorful and tall but still a biennial. I used to worry all the time about my Foxglove plantings but have lately taken to letting them find their own balance. All the careful deadheading, staking, pinching never really produced better results then just letting the plants bloom and go to seed. The mother plants will die and even if they live to a second or third year they are not very vigorous by then. If the patch starts to look at little dilapidated adding a few plants to the gene pool can be helpful.

I don’t think that these flowers were quite living up to their color potential on the nursery bench. They should gain better color after being planted.

Chocolate Cosmos

Cosmos atrosanguineus 'Chocamocha'

(KOS-mus) (at-ro-san-GWIN-ee-us)

This is an interesting species of Cosmos that certainly bucks the popular trend of pastels, washed out colors and yellows that seem to be dominating the color space right now. In this climate Cosmos is treated as annual but is a very reliable self seeder. The flowers of this particular species are sterile and the plant is extinct in the wild. All plants are from a single vegetative clone. It has been hanging on that way since 1902.

The slightly fragrant flowers appear in summer and keeps blooming until the frost. Like most Cosmos this species is a native of Mexico.

Sunset on Candlewood Lake

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Sunset on Candlewood Lake

Lately I have been trying to take pictures of anything besides flowers. Just as an experiment to sharpen my skills and take a different look at the things around me. I live close to this lake which is the largest in our state.

As part of my experiment all of the equipment I have been using is my back up kit. A Nikon D70s and the 18-135mm lens. At first I was kind of bummed about taking the back up stuff but then realized that if I can’t do it with that then I probably shouldn’t be doing it. The D70s despite being heavily traveled and used is still a fine camera. It took a few minutes to remember how to run it. The lens is sharp and gives a good overall performance. It has a good range but I like using it wide the best. It came as the kit lens on the D80.

This second shot was a boat driving off into the fog. It seems that I arrived just a minute late but still got a shot in the terrible light.

Here is a shot of my ultra bored photo assistant. It’s hard to believe that Juno is turning 10 this year.

Hardy Water Lily ‘Texas Dawn’

Hardy Water Lily ‘Texas Dawn’

Nymphaea cv.

(NIM-fee-uh)

Little did I know that this flower is actually the Official State Waterlily of Texas. I can see why they picked it. The color is unusually bright and warm. It blooms a lot too.

Texan Kenneth Landon developed this unique cultivar by in 1985. He almost single handily started the International Water lily Collection in San Angelo, Texas.

I took this picture last summer at the pond between the glass houses at the NYBG.

Jade Vine

Jade Vine
Strongylodon macrobotrys
(stron-GY-loh-don) (mak-ro-BOT-rees)

Wordless Wednesday

Richard Wallace Canna LIly

Richard Wallace Canna

Canna x generalis 'Richard Wallace'

(KAN-uh) (jen-er-RAY-liss)

Recently I found a “roll” of black and white shots from last year. Shooting the picture in monochrome is usually always better than a software conversion of a color shot to me. Black and white photos of flowers can be interesting even though you lose one of the greatest properties of flowers, color.

Over the last several years we have pretty much stopped growing Cannas. That broke my heart since I truly love the vibe they bring to the garden. A big, bold plant that is still relatively well behaved. Now that a lot of cultivars are almost self deadheading it really is a good maintenance free plant. They are available in a wide range of colors and cultivars. The flower color for ‘Richard Wallace’ is not that appealing. Kind of a dusty yellow/orange. It is still a strong growing cultivar with good foliage.

Phalaenopsis Orchid
Phalaenopsis

(fay-lay-NOP-sis)

Spray of Moth Orchids, recently seen. I miss my days in the Orchid House. The 70/70 conditions (70 deg. F and 70% humidity) are not replicated anywhere else in my life. Also the smell of the orchid bark and the joy of coaching a spray of flowers out of an uncooperative, finicky orchid species. If you want to know more about Phalaenopsis click the tag they have been shown here many times. A lot of people find them to be pedestrian but I think they are beautiful and reliable.

Common Coral Tree

It’s kind of whacky picture day here at Digital Flower Pictures.com. I was just going through some old shots and found a couple that I liked. The weather here today is terrible and it was fun to look back at some travel pictures. The first one is from the world famous Tucson Botanical Garden. The structure had some tender plants inside. I would recommend a visit if in the area.

Common Coral Tree
Erythrina lysistemon
(er-ith-RY-nuh)
Synonyms: Cry Baby Tree, Lucky Bean Tree

This is just an oddball shot of this tree blooming in San Diego, California. They were all over Hawaii too, especially the big island. The color contrasted nicely here.

Just a pensive chimp.

Hybrid Tea Rose ‘Brandy’

Hybrid Tea Rose ‘Brandy’
Registration name: AROcad
Breeder: Swim and Christensen
Introduction: 1981
Parentage: First Prize X Golden Wave
Awards: 1982 AARS Award winner

This has been a great variety of rose. The weather here somewhat cooperated with rose growing last season. By the looks of it the winter won’t be too harsh on them either. I will probably go out and check today as some of the bushes maybe waking up. I have noticed several plants whose buds are starting to swell. I like to remove the heavy mulch from roses as they emerge. There are a couple of Witch Hazels (Hamamelis) in full bloom now and they seem to be fairly reliable for February bloom here in Connecticut. The recent really cold temperatures didn’t seem to have a great effect on their floral show.

The second photo here caught an interloper on one of the petals. An adult spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata), which I didn’t realize was such a pest. It chews up the flowers, leaves and pollen of many species of plants, particularly loving members of the Sunflower family. There is usually minimal damage unless present in large numbers.

Clematis ‘Diamantina’

Clematis ‘Diamantina’

(KLEM-uh-tiss)

Clematis is one of the vines we always get requests for but not many people know how to grow it.  After 30 years of trying I have to admit I am still a bit stumped but have developed some general rules for success. One thing that these plants seem to like is a ‘hot top, cool bottom.’ Which implies exactly that, the roots like to be shaded by other shrubs or mulch but the leaves need a lot of sun to flower properly.

Each type of Clematis seems to have it’s own likes about flowering on new wood or getting cut back completely. Often times the varietal names are lost so you have to guess what they want. My way is to wait until spring and see what part of the plant has been killed by winter and prune to that spot. It is also a plant that I install slightly deeper then most other plants. Covering one or two buds under the soil seem to help it establish stronger.

This 2010 introduction is from Raymond Evison, who has been breeding and introducing Clematis for over 50 years now. They have some very distinctive and showy types. Raymond seems to be one breeder that doesn’t rush varieties to the market, which is a welcome change.

Clematis is generally a pain in the butt to grow but is one of those plants if it likes the conditions it grows very well. If it doesn’t like them it struggles and eventually peters out. They are also subject to Clematis wilt, which often takes the plant out just before it flowers. The only way I have found to slow the wilt down is with a couple of well timed fungicide applications early in the season and that doesn’t always work. In general you can help the plants by watching your watering timing and keeping the area around the stems clean (good fall clean up). The fungus kills the top but usually leaves the roots alive.

Sombrero Hot Coral Coneflower

Sombrero Hot Coral Coneflower

Echinacea x purpurea 'Balsomcor'

(ek-in-AY-shee-a) (pur-PUR-ee-uh)

I am actually starting to plan my spring now. I have been working for an organic landscaping company and learning about some different ways to take care of plants. One customer wanted their perennial border spiffed up and the owner loves bold colors. Echinacea is always a “go-to” plant for me and it does well in borders. It seems to be able to grow organically. 

This very blog has railed against all the Coneflower breeding that has been going on down in Atlanta, but the market seems to shake out the lame attempts at new cultivars. I really try to keep an eye out on gardening trends but my strategy is mainly to wait before adopting new ideas. This coneflower has been out for a couple of years now and seems to be sticking around. Most of the time it really gets to be about availability and this plant is available. It certainly meets the bold color specification. The color is one seldom seen in the garden.

Here is a link to a page with some new flower varieties for 2017. Can you see the color trend?  I guess I would try that PUFF Vanilla Coneflower. I have found the white ones a little harder to grow.

New Garden Flowers for 2017

I have a written work I’m finally trying to bring to market. That is taking up a lot of time but I will try and update this space a little more often.

White Waterlily

 

Waterlily

Nymphaea cv.

(NIM-fee-uh)

Considering I shot this waterlily picture indoors with Karen’s 35-70, 2.8 Nikon lens it came out pretty good. I could have probably used a little more exposure.

This flower kind of represents a growing trend of indoor water features that seem to keep popping up. Previously confined to greenhouses or conservatories they are now merging into people’s houses. We were taking care of two of them last year and had a bit of a learning curve on them. When this flower bloomed it was a small personal victory and despite the environmental conditions it was growing in.

Aspen Dahlia

Semi Cactus Dahlia

Dahlia 'Aspen'

(DAHL-ya)

We grew this Dahlia a couple of years ago and last season it was again a good performer. It looks a bit like a pinwheel especially with some wind. The twist in some of the flower petals is somewhat variable and that adds to their charm. ‘Aspen’ was taller than advertised peaking out about 36 inches (91cm).

I haven’t been crazy about white flowers lately but these Dahlias are really a pure and bright white.

Floribunda Rose

Floribunda Rose ‘Livin’ Easy’
Wordless Wednesday  

Dusty Red Rose

Dusty Red Rose

 

Try as I might to remember and keep the naming of the roses in the big rose garden straight they always seem to get mixed up. I thought this one might be ‘Hot Cocoa” but there isn’t enough orange in it. It also grew and flowered better than that variety. Even with the confusion we enjoyed the dusty red flowers this bush produced.

Perky's Bat Tower

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Perky’s Bat Tower

Mile Marker 17

Lower Sugarloaf Key, Florida

Wordless Wednesday

Bat Tower

Black-Eyed Susan

Black-Eyed Susan

Rudbeckia fulgida

(rud-BEK-ee-a) (FUL-jih-duh)

I decided to post this flower since it reminds me a little bit of the sun, which we need around here. After getting an extended snow and ice storm last night it is raining hard now with up to an inch expected. That’s after our weekend battle with sub zero temperatures.

Black-eyed Susans are a wonderful true perennial that gradually increases it size in the garden. It’s not fussy but needs a good amount of sun to do best.

Wall Rock Cress

Wall Rock Cress

Arabis caucasica

(AR-uh-biss)

Synonym: alpina subsp. caucasica

An alpine perennial Arabis is especially good for rock gardens and the edging of borders. It forms a nice mound of foliage and a early spring a carpet of flowers. The flowers are fragrant and remind me of Sweet Alyssum. There are many species available but this one seems to be, in my experience, the most available.

Like most alpine plants there is a requirement for good drainage. The winter drainage is most important for keeping a patch going but it will not tolerate poor drainage in the summer either. It’s low maintenance only requiring a light shearing after blooming and we raked it out at the end of the season.

In this picture on the timbers that forms an edge of a rock garden. The Rock Cress has grown right up to the wood and formed a carpet.

Happy Patch of Daisies

Shasta Daisy

Leucanthemum x superbum

(lew-KANTH-ih-mum) (soo-PER-bum)

Remembering encountering this patch of daisies is easy since it imparted a warm and happy feeling. Some of that was the struggle over several seasons getting them to cooperate. This year I decided to feed them in the early spring while I was literally fertilizing hundreds of different trees and plantings and it worked out well. The flowers seemed more numerous, sturdier and there were no pest problems. I can see the patch is headed for dividing in a season or two.

Waterlily on Wordless Wednesday

Hardy Waterlily
Nymphaea cv.

(NIM-fee-uh)

Golden Bleeding Heart

 

Golden Bleeding Heart
Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart'
(dy-SEN-truh) (speck-TAB-ih-liss)
Fumariaceae

This plant is always a treat to see in the spring. It exhibits a modern twist on an old classic. The color of the foliage is a little variable, which I haven’t been able to figure out if that is related to parentage or the amount of light it gets in the garden. It’s handsome even when it is in full chartreuse shady glory. The flowers are large and traditionally colored.

Japanese Kerria

Japanese Kerria

Kerria japonica

(KER-ee-a) (juh-PON-ih-kuh)

Synonyms: Japanese Rose, Easter Rose

It’s not often that this blog covers a plant that hasn’t been featured here before but today we have one. Japanese Kerria was off my list of fun, good stuff to grow for several years now. After several tries at getting a nice patch of this going I pretty much gave up. Then a funny thing happened to me. We were working at a house in Scarsdale, New York and I happened on a specimen growing on the side of the yard. There were a lot of yellow flowers covering the weak wooded canes and it looked great. The stems of this plant are lime green, which I am finding is becoming a desirable trend for the garden and landscape now.

This shrubby perennial is best planted in an spot where it can fade in and out of the landscape. It can crawl over rocks and other plants but is not invasive in this area. Kerria flowers well in part shade and will grow in full shade if it has to. There are three basic forms of Kerria, the most popular and usually easiest to obtain is the double flowered, 'Pleniflora’ type. There is the single flowered one (pictured here) and a kind of uncommon white flowered form also.