My flower beds needed some winter color so I bought 4 or 5 chrysanthemums last fall. They are not my favorite, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to January blooming flowers. And I do kind of like the daisy type ones. Anyway, apparently my garden is quite conducive to mums and they have been multiplying like crazy. I keep cutting them back, but they keep charging on. And some look like they are making buds. Do they bloom twice a year in warm climates? Being a cold climate native, I had always thought of them as annuals.
We have heard that the people who lived in this house before us were really serious chrysanthemum growers. Contest winning. Though their garden was razed and converted to a bare sand lot, maybe some of their magic remains.
In case anyone has been lying up at nights worrying about the lettuce and the red aphids. I am happy to report that though we lost the baby green lettuce, the red lettuce survived! I sprayed with diluted natural organic dish soap for a week and the aphids disappeared. They seem to have found greener pastures anyway, or maybe it is the end of red aphid season? I don't expect the lettuce to last long with this heat, but it would be nice if it hangs on until we have a few of our own cucumbers and tomatoes to round out the salad.
These are the sunflowers that reseeded themselves from last year. They are once again infested with a small bug that looks a bit like dust and makes dusty looking spots on the plants. What are they? Can they be driven away with diluted dishsoap? I've been spraying them for about a week. I haven't noticed any reduction, but they haven't multiplied either.
Here is a close up shot. Well, closer, anyway. They are awfully small.
They love the asters, and have almost done them in.
Balloon flowers, which are doing very well this year. I guess they like the rain.
My husband took this photo of the lily.
Not to end on a drippy note, some of the sunflowers have survived the dreaded dust bugs and are blooming (or about to bloom).
Our first sunflower in the rain yesterday...
And the sun today!
First gladiolus
I forgot to post the photo of our first tomato! Golden Currant. My husband was away so we shared it three ways. It was slightly tart, but really hard to tell the taste from such a little sliver.
I bought some lemons for the seeds (also because they are yummy squeezed on salad udon, our summer Monday dinner) and one is coming up. Lemon tree very pretty....
We saw our friend the turtle, or maybe it was another turtle, in the pumpkin patch the other morning. I think her eggs got eaten by a mole or other burrowing animal.
White and pink lilies are blooming.
butterflies on a pumpkin leaf
Sunflower has survived the horrible dusty bugs and looks as if it may flower.
marigolds are really coming along
good (left) and evil (right) on a pumpkin plant
My flower beds needed some winter color so I bought 4 or 5 chrysanthemums last fall. They are not my favorite, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to January blooming flowers. And I do kind of like the daisy type ones. Anyway, apparently my garden is quite conducive to mums and they have been multiplying like crazy. I keep cutting them back, but they keep charging on. And some look like they are making buds. Do they bloom twice a year in warm climates? Being a cold climate native, I had always thought of them as annuals.
In case anyone has been lying up at nights worrying about the lettuce and the red aphids. I am happy to report that though we lost the baby green lettuce, the red lettuce survived! I sprayed with diluted natural organic dish soap for a week and the aphids disappeared. They seem to have found greener pastures anyway, or maybe it is the end of red aphid season? I don't expect the lettuce to last long with this heat, but it would be nice if it hangs on until we have a few of our own cucumbers and tomatoes to round out the salad.
These are the sunflowers that reseeded themselves from last year. They are once again infested with a small bug that looks a bit like dust and makes dusty looking spots on the plants. What are they? Can they be driven away with diluted dishsoap? I've been spraying them for about a week. I haven't noticed any reduction, but they haven't multiplied either.
Here is a close up shot. Well, closer, anyway. They are awfully small.
They love the asters, and have almost done them in.
I decided to try out a delphinium this year to see how it does.
I think these are called babiana. I was beginning to think they were going to produce nothing but foliage, as all the others in the neighborhood started blooming almost 2 months ago, but finally they are producing buds.
irises
magnolia
Sunflowers coming up (elves blend)
These were part of a "blue flower mix" seed packet I planted last year. They have resown themselves. Lots of little blue flowers until they get done in by aphids.
summer camelia
Japanese red maple, it's red in spring, green in summer, and red in fall.
Yama-boshi (Japanese dogwood?)
herbs
sunflowers the kids planted
pumpkins the kids planted
flower garden
blue wildflower seed mix
Bagus
