Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)

Bird of Paradise 

(Strelitzia reginae)

December 16, 2010

During the first trip we made to Busch Gardens in December, I took a picture of this gorgeous yellow flower.  Hurrying to catch up to the others I neglected to take a picture of the tag but I was sure I knew what the flower was so wasn't too worried.  Going through the pictures to edit some of them for my blogs I was sure I knew the flower but the name continued to be tucked safely in the recesses of my mind.  Thanks to the the Florida Botanical Gardens website I was able to identify the flower as Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae).  The funny thing is I knew it was something to do with birds and all that kept popping into my mind was 'parrot'.  The boat shaped bracts hold orange or white sepals and a blue tongue resembling birds.  Isn't it unique?
Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Pink Hibiscus

Pink Hibiscus

August 26, 2010

Daily walking has become my excuse for being a garden snoop.  This way I can check out what other great plants others are growing in their gardens and ones I may want to add to my gardens.  I spotted this pretty pink hibiscus on one of my walks.  Hibiscus is a member of the mallow family and while I haven't grown hibiscus I have grown okra and rose mallow, both members of the mallow family as well.  The mallow family have pretty, showy flowers.  I didn't have luck with okra other than the flowers but rose mallow grew well for me which reminds me to plan on growing it next year.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Rogue Daisy

Rogue Daisy

July 9, 2010

An interesting thing happens after you rip out old garden beds.  Every once in awhile an old plant from the former bed reappears in the new garden bed or if the old bed was seeded/sodded through the grass.  A couple of days ago I discovered this pretty daisy poking through the now grass where a former garden bed was.  What really surprises me is this particular area was where we took out 6 large spreading evergreens so the chances of disrupting any plant left behind was quite high.  Despite that tulips, daffodils, crocuses and not daisies are popping up through the grass.  It is rather pretty!  I have to smile each time I discover one of these rogue plants.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Volunteer Violets

Volunteer Violets

April 29, 2010

I love finding volunteer plants in my garden even if some of them are more in the weed category than plants.  Even some weeds are beneficial though as some act as companion plants, others are edible and others still are both.  On one of the paths between the garden beds I discovered several violets.  Now this doesn't surprise me as the new beds and paths on on part of a rip out we did.  The Irish moss I planted in 2008 has not done as well as expected so what I'm considering is reworking that bed then transfer the violets to it.  I think they may be a bit harder for that bed but I want to wait long enough to see if the Irish moss rejuvenates itself so won't be doing any transplanting until the end of the month.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Peonies

Peonies (Paeonia)

April 12, 2010

We have two areas in the gardens that have Peonies.  The problem with both of these locations is they are in areas that will be ripped out.  So I'm letting them come up this year and will transplant after they are finished blooming.  In the meantime I'm looking forward to seeing their showy blooms.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Flower Mosaic From 2009

Flowers of 2009
April 6, 2010

I love taking a lot of pictures of my gardens and any other gardens I may happen upon. A great way to display some of my favourite pictures aside of online through my blogs is in scrapbooks. Yesterday morning I sat down to make a tutorial on making a simple mosaic for one of my blogs. I thought I would share the resulting mosaic with you as well. It was a fun way to use a few images of flowers I took in 2009.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Corpse Flower

Corpse Flower
(Amorphophallus titanum)
January 23, 2010

The Corpse Flower (Amorphophallus titanum) gets it name from the distinctive odor of the inflorescence that resembles rotting flesh. It has an unbranched inflorescence that can reach over 3 metres in diameter. The inflrescence contains a male and female flower. The female flower opens first followed a couple of days later by the male flower to prevent self pollination. The fragrant spalix of flowers are wrapped by a splathe that resembles a single flower petal. The corpse flower is native to the equatorial forests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

We visited the Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Dome) missing the corpse flower in bloom by only a few days. I was quite disappointed as how many chances to you get to see such an amazing plant in bloom?

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

A Taste of Summer - Yellow Petunias

Yellow Petunias
June 14, 2009

I have always loved yellow petunias. The problem is they are annuals here and hard to find. Pinks, reds, purples and fuschia tends to be the most popular petunia colours. Last year I did a lot of petunia seed collection specifically yellow petunias. I am really looking forward to an abundance of yellow petunias this year!
Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Tulipa tarda

Tulipa tarda
March 26, 2009

The mystery plant has been identified! Thanks so much to those who commented on the previous post as well those who helped through email and Twitter. I appreciate your help very much in identifying this plant.

It is Tulipa tarda a dwarf tulip species. It is a member of the lily family (Liliaceae). These tulips are planted in clumps along with daylilies to protect them from the local rabbit population. Unfortunately, mice and rabbits enjoy munching on tulips! They certainly took their toll on my tulips this year resulting in what I thought were no tulips at all, a marked contrast from last year's tulip display. Our neighbours also complained about their meager tulip display but at least they had a couple. Finally I spotted two very pretty white with pale pink smears, double bloom tulips (to yet be identified) peaking out of a clump of daylilies. These had the familiar tulip stems and leaves. A couple of days later the pretty yellow flowers appeared. The quest was on to discovering what this plant was. I'll discuss how to identify unknown plants in the next post.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Petunias

Common Garden Petunia
(Petunia x hybrida)

Very few gardeners are unaware of the common garden petunia (petunia x hybrida) with their beautiful showy, cascading trumpet shaped flowers. These plants are members of the family Solanaceae (nightshade plant) that originated in South America and are thought to be a hybridization between P. axillaris and P. integrifolia. There is a wide variety of colours available ranging from white to very deep purple and everything in between. Petunias are grown as annuals but in warmer climates they are biennials. They are a popular plant for hanging baskets and containers. Why?

The reason is quite simple. Petunias are very low maintenance plants that but on a beautiful cascading display of colour from mid-spring to first hard frost. Their only real requirement seems to be regular watering. To keep the plant looking nice, remove spent flowers by simply giving a slight tug. This will leave the seed pod intact so you can harvest the seeds. The seed pod will turn brown and open releasing very small, round, dark brown seeds. Since most petunias are hybrids the seeds may not breed true but you can get some interesting combinations and they are free plants!

Petunias are more than just a pretty flower! They are excellent companion plants for pole beans, bush beans, peas, squashes and potatoes. Pink petunias in particular will repel the Mexican bean beetle, potato bug and squash bug. I've also noticed that rabbits don't seem to bother petunias. Taking advantage of that observation I planted petunias around the entire perimeter of my legume bed and sure enough the rabbits left that bed alone. So be sure to plant pink petunias in and around these crops for a natural pest control.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Tulip Tips

Tulips
April 2007

Tulips are one of the easiest to grow and almost problem free flowers for the garden. They are a true spring delight sure to bring a smile. Some of our tulips are finally in bloom and the rest are ready to follow suit. Each year the tulip clumps get larger. The majority of the tulip clumps are orangish red giving a blast of wonderful colour. Somehow a clump of rosy pink and one clump of deep yellow found their way into the bed. The tulips were inherited with the house.

Tulips need very little maintenance. If planting new bulbs, they should be planted in the fall but can be planted in the early spring if the bulbs have be pre-chilled in the refrigerator for six to eight weeks prior to planting. I prefer the naturalized look so clumps instead of rows is the way to plant for this type of tulip garden. Take a handful of bulbs, drop onto the soil from a height of about two feet. Plant each bulb where it lands. Spacing should be about 4 inches apart but in a random pattern. If planting new bulbs for a more formal look, plant in rows with a 4 inch spacing. Planting depth for either should be 2 1/2 to 3 times the diameter of the bulb or about 4 to 6 inches deep.

Tip #1: After tulips are finished blooming, leave them alone until they die back. The leaves are providing food to the bulb. Leaves and stems should be left until the turn brown and fall off by themselves or come off with a very tender tug. Your tulips will thank you with gorgeous blooms the following year.

Tip #2: In milder climates, tulips should be dug up and pre-chilled in the fall before planting. This is not necessary for our Zone 6A in Ontario, Canada but I know some do it anyway. I don't. My tulips seem to live on neglect.

Tip #3: Dividing tulip clumps is rather easy as I found out accidentally while digging in the garden bed where they were growing. Up popped several tulip bulbs some with smaller bulbs attached. I worked up the soil, broke the bulbs apart then replanted the bulbs. This approach worked well for me but if you are in a warmer climate you should pre-chill the bulbs before planting again.

Tip #4: Take pictures! You might not think your tulips have changed from one year to the next but they do.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007

More Signs of Spring

Naked Lady Lilies
Amaryllis belladonna

Despite the recent cold weather, signs of spring are all around us. Yesterday a house finch and goldfinch were visiting my neighbour's niger seed feeder. The bluejays are coming around for their daily peanut offering. If I don't have the peanuts out by the time they arrive, one of the bluejays has taken to sitting on the windowsill then tapping on the window. The first one to arrive, goes around picking up each peanut then dropping it. He finally decides on a peanut, lets out a call then flies off with his treasure. It's rather humous to watch. We think he is looking for the heaviest peanuts. The guinea hens are still visiting daily. My neighbour says they will be nesting soon.

Yesterday I noticed the Naked Lady Lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) were poking through the leaves. I made an entry on these interesting lilies back in August 2006. They get their name from their unique growing pattern. From now until late spring, the clumps of leaves will grow then they die back. After the leaves die back in mid-summer, up pop the naked stems with pretty trumpet shaped, fragrant pale pink lilies on them. The patch under the Rose of Sharon has spred as has the transplanted patch.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007

Signs of Spring

There have been a few signs of spring here. The temperatures reached 77ºF here on Monday and that's after our first thunderstorm of the season. Yesterday I spotted our first robin, the bluejays were back to pecking at the window and the weather was very mild. So I did a little garden work, took the solar lights out to charge in the greenhouse and take a few pictures.

Chives

I have two outdoor chive patches. Now anyone who has grown chives know they are practically indestructible. The main patch is in bed #2 that is dedicated to herbs.

The second patch was started last year in a barrel I intend to gnomify. We freeze in the winter so I did not expect these chives to survive. Yet they did and are now poking their heads through. I think Philip the fluting gnome will look good here and it not I'm sure another know will find a home in this barrel.

Tulips

I don't know the varieties of tulips as they were here before we bought the house. I initially did a complete dig not realizing there were tulips there. They must have liked that because they have multiplied and rewarded me with abundant blooms. This is one of many along our south wall and as you can see will be in bloom shortly. I can't wait! There is something about tulips blowing in the wind that just means winter is well behind us.

Tulips have a special meaning for me. When I was little you wore either a white tulip or red tulip on Mother's Day depending on whether your mom was living. Well my biological mom died a few days after I was born but I had the mom who raised me so I got to wear both! My tulips are scarlet, yellow and sort of a mix so I hope neither mom cares about the colour and know that I think about both of them often. A vase of tulips always graces our table on Mother's Day.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007

Let the Fun Begin!

It's that time of year folks! Time to get all the seed packets in order, start seedlings indoors and get your hands dirty. It's also a good time to rejuvenate and start houseplants. Let the fun begin!

Seeds Everywhere!

I admit it, I'm just a little behind on starting my seeds indoors but only by a few days. Yesterday was sunny and a balmy 63ºF so that spurred me into action. Unfortunately the prediction is for colder temperatures for the rest of the week with chance of snow flurries. It is March so anything can be expected.

This was the condition of my dining room table yesterday. There were seeds everywhere as I sorted them into various piles. I plant according to the average day of last frost (ADLF) so some seeds are started indoors six to eight weeks before the ADLF while others are planted directly in the ground. Towards the upper corner is my gardening journal for the past year. I cull out the seed packets based on the performance noted in my journal. There are also several zipper sandwich bags holding various seeds I collected. Just barely visible on the chair to the right is a large plastic bin holding various collected seeds as well.

Just Beginning

My biggest problem for starting seeds indoors is space. We don't have a basement or spare room and the house is spatially challenged as it is. So despite my decluttering goals in preparing for spring cleaning, the seed trays will add to visual clutter until I can open the greenhouse.

Near the dining room table were the most of the things to get me going. They were only there for the photo shoot as we would end up tripping over them. This is just a small number of flats I will be starting this year. All the pots and cells had to be washed along with the seed trays. I've vowed to washed them as they are used this time so they are clean and ready to go for next year. I know I have clean ones in the shed but the entry is flooded at the moment.

So Monday I brought in a few of the cells and seed trays to wash, battling drizzling rain but thankful they were in the greenhouse not the shed. The greenhouse needs a complete clean-out but I will talk about that in a later entry. While the first batch was drying, I went to get the Stim-Root® for geranium cutting. I thought I knew right where it was but my husband did a little reorganize so it took me almost 2 hours to find it! By then the rest seemed overwhelming but by yesterday I was ready to get going. Seed sorting took longer than expected and even though I did not get any seeds planted, the soil was mixed and trays filled ready for seeding. I didn't get the aloe divided or geranium cuttings finished but I managed to get the much neglected African violet divided.

African Violet

My mom had a knack with African violets and hers always looked gorgeous likely because she was always tending to them. This was my poor, neglected African violet. It was overcrowded and in need of attention. I decided to divide the plant as from first looks there were two crowns. I also decided to propagate using the water method I saw my mom do countless times.

In preparation for this, I watered the plant well from the bottom. African violets are prone to brown water marks on their leaves so I always water from the bottom. Then I removed the dead flowers. Once it was well watered, I removed it from the pot. As suspected the plant was root bound. Dividing the smaller crown from the main plant was fairly easy to do with my fingers. Before re-potting, I cut away any yellowed leaves as well as a few for starting in water.

The Aftermath

I potted the larger piece of the plant in a 6" pot and the smaller piece in a 4" pot. Then four leaves were placed through holes in plastic wrap so their cut ends rested in the water. Once these form roots, they will be transplanted into pots. The new plant will grow from the cut end up through the soil and at the same time the old leave will begin withering. Once dead, the leaf can be removed.

This morning the new African violets appear to have survived their ordeal with no signs of shock. I'll post entries of their progress along the way.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007

Balloon Flower
Platycodon grandiflorum

The balloon flower is one of my favourites. Platycodon means like a broad bell and grandiflorum means having big flowers. The plant gets its name from the shape of the buds. They look like small pillowy balloons. I only have one balloon flower plant. It usually blooms in early to midsummer. This plant does seem to be rather hardy. A well meaning family member pulled when helping me in the garden, no names mentioned, my dear husband! I've lost more plants that way! It was tossed into the weed pile where I discovered it and replanted the poor thing.

March came in like a lion today. I had high hopes when I got up around 5 am that the day would be a lamb but by 6:30 am a mixture of snow and freezing rain was falling. Since then we've had a couple of flurries. The skies remain threatening with the current temperature sitting at -1º C but it is supposed to rise to 3ºC with a thunderstorm this afternoon. 'Tis not fit for man nor beast out there today!

Despite the weather, I have been garden planning. I ordered a cute little gnome sitting on a swing. The gnomification of my garden has begun! My long time yet unnamed gnome will now have a new friend. The new gnome's name is Jack and while that doesn't sound very gnomish, he was already named so I'm not sure if it's ok to rename and adopted gnome. I've also been going through my seeds deciding which ones to start shortly. I added a countdown ticker at the bottome of the page so you can see how many days left to our average day for last frost in Zone 6A, Ontario, Canada. It's now time to start seedlings indoors here.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007