Thirst

Today is such a beautiful day! In fact, the weather is perfect; I could stay outdoors all day but I just might fall asleep. The rudbeckias and alternanthera (parrot leaf) are much happier now in their larger containers that hold more water. When I leave plants in the plastic pots they came in they usually don’t fare too well. The mild weather will help them adapt more quickly; though the strong, dry breeze feels really good to me, I’ll probably have to water some of the new plants again this afternoon as it will dry them out more quickly.

Bad Air Day

With an ozone alert today I couldn’t spend much time gardening but I could bring in some cut flowers for a little bouquet. The purple asters that came in a bouquet I bought at a gourmet grocery had to leave their main stem behind when I changed their water today. Changing flower water daily extends the life of flowers and prevents “bad air” indoors. So to the relocated asters, I added one of my “Becky” rudbeckia flowers, a stem of magenta and white Sweet Williams and some swirling, trailing lettuce flowers. For “greenery” I added some ferny yarrow leaves, leaves from a deep magenta shade plant whose name I didn’t catch and flat-leaved parsley. Oh yes, I cut a peppermint bloom to add to the mix. Using all kinds of things from the garden makes a bouquet more interesting.

A Change of Stripes?

The good news is that not all the rudbeckia flowers are half rust-colored but more of the yellow-orange that I prefer! But did the plant change its stripes? Hmm… I poked around a bit and saw two different shapes of leaves. Two plants for the price of one—two different plants? A little further investigation uncovered the tag that said, “Rudbeckia Becky mix”; ah, a seed mixture was sown and two were potted together. I get what I want plus another kind. From disappointment to bonus.

I Did It Again

I’ve long enjoyed the look of black-eyed susans or Rudbeckia mixed with orange, pink and purple flowers so I always add them to my garden. They typically show up in the garden center a little later than most flowers since they’re summer bloomers. In my excitement to bring one home this year, I forgot to note the variety (just as I did with the fuchsia). Hmmm…rudbeckia “Becky”, I’ve had it before; it’s a compact variety—that’s good, I need compact. Oops, when the flowers fully opened I realized that it wasn’t the yellow orange one I favor but one with half rust-colored petals. Oh well. Some newly opening flowers look like they could be solid-colored but then so did the just-opening one that led me astray at the garden center. Can I really know all about the many varieties of each flower before I shop? Maybe if I had a smart phone that could look them up for me on the spot; but I don’t have one and really don’t need one. The gray birds were quite vocal this morning. I didn’t even have to go online for a twitter session. Nice.