Free Water

The Lord is so gracious to again give us free plant water—rain! Rain just comes as a free gift “to the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Today I’m remembering that rain is about more than weather; it’s about provision. Some of my plants got watered but I had to add a good bit of my own “rescued” water, water I’ve rescued from going needlessly down the drain. Maybe I can “rescue” some of the rain on the balcony next time. While in today’s cool and rainy weather it’s less of an issue, last night when I found several bug bites around my ankles I resolved to spray my natural bug spray on my socks when I again venture out into my mini-jungle. This morning, I found the culprit that has “ventilated” my yellow-green sweet potato leaves and was intent upon my orange million bells in the same hanging basket—a black worm with a yellow stripe. Look out below! I sent it flying to a different cafeteria, hopefully in the wild growth. So I “throw like a girl” and landed it in the bush below—I am a girl. I suppose the worm could crawl back up but maybe it will enjoy the bush instead.

It’s Good to be Planting Again

When my orange Asiatic lilies stopped blooming, even quit putting out green shoots (I was ever hopeful), I knew I had just the pot for a hydrangea. Unfortunately, my attempts at growing a plant from stem cuttings didn’t work—at all, so I determined that I would have to buy one. As I searched the garden centers this spring, I found huge, expensive ones—even topiaries. I don’t need all that, nor do I want to pay for all that. Then I saw a good deal on this small-potted one in the mid-range of colors—a mix of pink and blue and knew I couldn’t pass it up.


While its clay pot is too big for it now, it will quickly grow into it (Lord willing). Meanwhile I’ve added a Cherry Super Bells plant to keep it company. The pink petunia-like flowers (it turns out that they only resemble petunias) with yellow stars are new in our garden centers this year. It will add some pizzazz.

Though my current tastes in color and garden style are more tropical, I still have a fondness for English garden plants but I do have to make an effort to keep my combinations from being too “sweet”. There’s nothing at all wrong with soft colors; I just have to have bright color! I’ll be adding a bit of Creeping Jenny in a bit later and maybe something tall and spiky.

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The Bells are Blooming

My orange Million Bells are blooming in profusion—amazing, since they stayed outside all winter. Though the winter was milder than usual, we still had some very cold nights in the ‘teens. The “regular” petunias in neighboring hanging baskets are growing fast; though I want them to cascade, I think I’ll need to pinch them back for more blooming since they seem to bloom on the stem ends.

It’s planting time! A garden center I’ve never been to is having a “Spring Opening” on Saturday. I need to put together a list of what I need—and don’t need i.e. already have.

Rain is coming.

No Bells

On mornings like this when I’m having trouble getting started—the nature of Mondays, gardening along with some lively music helps get me started.

While checking over the outdoor plants (brrr) I found that even the die-hard Million Bells were no longer blooming. However, I did find some new growth. In January. Outdoors.

Even the regular petunias in the same hanging basket have new growth. I’m having to rethink my whole concept of petunias; I’ve always considered them to be annuals to dig up at the end of the season and start over. None have given me any reason before to think otherwise. Yes, this winter has been milder than usual but we’ve also had some very hard freezes—and yet they’re eager to grow. It’s almost as though the petunias knew I was about to give up on them since they were so overtaken with bugs (the Million Bells in the same pot were untouched) early on last summer… I know, I know, as my botany professor said, “Plants don’t think!”

Cut Backs

The hard freezes the last couple of nights have taken a toll on my outdoor garden; plants that have withstood temperatures as low as the upper 20’s have frozen in this front’s icy grip of 18 degrees. So it’s time to cut away the things that can’t come back*.

How can you tell which leaves will revive as the weather warms? If it’s limp but still green there’s a strong possibility that it will spring back and grow again but limp and brown, black or gray has virtually no chance. However, if the dead parts are cut off some plants will put up new sprouts from the roots—this is where continuous watering benefits; the root ball is often protected from the cold by the soil and water keeps it from drying out i.e. freezing (freezing is essentially dehydration).

In case you’re thinking, “Oh the poor things!” realize that the sweet potato vines are usually gone with the first freeze; the various plants that froze have lived far beyond their normal range. Besides, I did take some cuttings that are still doing well. The Sweet Williams always hold up as they are biennials. Victoria Blue salvia also comes back (sometimes) for a second round but usually only after dying back but this time the leaves have bounced back. The plants that really amaze me though are the petunias! The ordinary white ones are still blooming and growing; I’ve never seen petunias survive this kind of weather! The orange Million Bells look straggly but they’re still blooming as well. Maybe I won’t give up on petunias after all (most of the ones I grew this year had some sort of plague and didn’t do well).

*Wearing garden gloves is a good idea when cutting frozen branches since they can be gooey.

Morning Had Broken

It’s another rainy morning stirred by a cool breeze yet the first sunlight slides through a crack in the clouds. The growing light shimmers golden on rain puddles. The forecast says it will rain all day but the sun doesn’t seem to agree.

Alas, the clouds have won—for now, but the birds are still singing.

As I’ve chosen this morning to focus on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8)—rather than the radio’s bad news, I’m feeling better and singing. Like the sun vs. clouds struggle, it takes perseverance.

Indoors where it’s dry with plenty of light, the deep pink pentas are still in full bloom as are the Angelonias.

Outdoors, not only are the ‘Million Bells’ still blooming as I mentioned yesterday, but the UGO (unidentified growing object)—“the bronze-leafed plant”, is full of rosy new growth. Even the purple sweet potato vine sprouts miniature purple leaves. The purple sweet potato vine has held up to the cold better than the yellow green one; my guess is that the yellow green vine’s larger, softer leaves—perhaps even its lighter color make it more vulnerable. Darker colors absorb light and heat and don’t reflect it (as much), which is why we wear dark-colored clothing in the winter.

Hardy Sorts—Sort of

My remaining outdoor garden plants have much more space around them now that I’ve brought many indoors for the winter. However, I have a little more room to arrange them; I enjoy decorating.

Where rearranging is less of an option, I’ve grouped some water globes in a vacant pot. I’ll watch to see how the sun shines through them in the afternoon to see if I need to move or spread them.

I love colored glass and got to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit twice when it came to town. The exhibit featured a walkway with a strong Plexiglas ceiling covered with a kaleidoscope of lighted colored glass. Walking through the color wonderland thrilled me! I’m excited to share a link to a picture of a similar installation! http://www.chihuly.com/ceilings-persian-pergola-ceiling-2002_detail.aspx

It was so cold last night that it was only 33 degrees at 9am! Yet these are plants that survived it, covered with a sheet: Tropicana Canna, Sweet Potato Vine, Hyacinth Bean Vine, Parrot Leaf, Daylily, Basil, Pineapple Sage, Peppermint, Victoria Blue Salvia, Mexican Petunia. Remember, watering is vital to plant survival in the cold; dehydration is what kills plants in the cold.

The sickening sound of three beautiful shade trees being chopped down to prevent future problems with the continually problematic community water pipes has begun.

Trial Run

The new miniature hybrid petunias—Million Bells, have been the latest thing at garden centers for the last couple of years. The colors of red, deep magenta and orange are enticing. And can you believe it; they bloom all summer without deadheading! More orange flowers—I finally bought a plant this year. At $3.99 for a small plant it was an investment.

The flowers turn several colors of orange as they develop and they do bloom all summer; they’re still blooming—sparsely. It’s nice to not have to deadhead them in order to keep them blooming though the sepals turn brown so I remove them anyway.

The reason Million Bells don’t have to be deadheaded is that they don’t reproduce from seeds; they’re a hybrid reproduced by cuttings—both aspects contribute to the high price (being a hybrid and reproduction by cutting taking longer). Usually, when a plant has spent flowers it will go to the next step in its development—making seeds. Then when the seeds are mature the plant dies; if it’s an annual or dies back until the next season if a perennial. Deadheading turns back the clock on this process, causing the plant to continue blooming.

Will I buy Million Bells again? Since they bloom, for me—even with fertilizer, only sparsely and the small-sized flowers are best appreciated at eye-level, probably not. But it’s good to try new things. Perhaps next year there will be something else new or rediscovered.

Today is forecast to be another gorgeous day--sunny and in the 70's! It's still too cool to be out very long yet but the sun is warming up.

Mystery Fragrance

This morning as I rearranged a couple of my plants to their better advantage—and mine, a lovely fragrance attracted me. Where was it coming from? Not the scant honeysuckle on the back fence; I know that scent. It was right there in front of me, under my nose—literally; the Angelonia Angel Face exuded a new dimension of beauty. I don’t know why I haven’t noticed it before; were the purple flowers making this perfume before now? Or did I have to get down on my knees for it to reach me?

The hummingbird flitted in mid-morning to sip from the orange Million Bells. Two Red Hibiscus are blooming today as are hyacinth bean vines, Angelonia, the Victoria Blue’s, pentas, and earlier—a few four O’clocks.

Though the temperatures have been in the upper 80’s and low to mid-90’s, the drier air makes being outdoors delightful, especially when there’s a warm gentle breeze. I could have stayed…

Color!

Since I’m an artist, color is essential to me (or maybe it’s the other way around). It’s fairly easy to find the purple and magenta flowers that are the backbone of my garden but the orange ones that complete my color vision are harder to find. I found these orange zinnias marked down at the local garden center and finally have some orange. (I do have a touch of orange with my million bells but I’ll write about that in a future post.) The garden centers are beginning to mark things down more every week but the longer one waits for “just the right price”, the more TLC will be required.


This variety usually does well in my garden, unlike its cousin a deep pink “cherry” mini zinnia that re-blooms in white with a tinge of pink—nothing like the magenta double-flowered beauty I bought at a garden center. The same thing happened last year. Hmm, I wonder if they’re like flamingos, which have to eat certain crustaceans to maintain their beautiful color? Whatever the problem, they apparently didn’t like Friday’s FOUR INCHES of rain since I found two of them dead this morning. Hopefully, next year I’ll resist their temptation. That’s part of the fun of gardening though, to try things and see what works and what doesn’t, to learn and then move on. (Recommended for gardening—not marriage!)