Today I want to talk about a failure. A plant that I've been really happy with for the last couple of years, but only now has revealed its true, ugly nature.
Today I present a story about camouflage, specifically in the insect world. I'll use my favorite insect (the praying mantis) and one of my least-favorite plants (a euonymous).
I've been lazy this summer. I've let some weeds and weedy perennials get out of hand. I already mentioned the globe thistle that have spread more than I wanted them to, but there's more. Today we're looking at my largest raised bed:
My patch of Echinops 'Blue Glow' (aka "Globe Thistle") is in bloom right now: wonderful, spiky, too crowded, too big.
Surface tension that is. As in the force that allows a water drop after a much-needed rain to keep its shape as it rests upon a thankful leaf.
I showed you a glimpse of the rose mallow (Hibiscus lasiocarpos) in yesterday's "white" post, but I need to show you more.
The color-themed blooms keep on coming!
So purple, yellow -- now red. There's not too much red to see in the garden at this time, but it's there to find.
This post was going to be just about the sunflowers, but I've taken better photos of sunflowers before, so this one is about yellow.
Time to notice some of the color in the garden, mainly from the blooms. Yes, green abounds here, but it's the canvas for the daubs of pigment that the flowers provide.
A few hours of watering with a thunderstorm that wouldn't quite make it to my yard visible (and audible) just to the southeast of me, and I'm worn out.
Earlier this week I posted about the bamboo planter box project I started. Because I hadn't taken the time to build it right the first time, the box had settled on the slope and was no longer level.
One of my cats was looking out the window in a strange way the other day. Not in the "I see a chipmunk" way, or with the "there are birds nesting out here" look.
When it's hot and you've spent an hour or two the last few days dragging around the hose making sure the less-established plants don't dry up, sometimes it's nice to just take it easy for a while.
The Monarda that I was going to remove a few years back is in bloom, and I'm sure glad I didn't clear it out (although I doubt I could get it all out even if I wanted to now).
When you look around my garden right now you see a lot of elephant ears, canna, papyrus, umbrella palm, caladium, grasses, and many other plants that are not cold hardy. You'd think that everything I overwinter indoors is a success, that I have a magic touch.
Two summers ago I built the first bamboo planter box in my yard. I had built one before at a friend's house, but this was the first for me. I took a shortcut when building it that I'm paying for now.
My first plant sale yesterday was a lot of fun! Although I didn't get rid of all of the plants, I did find new homes for a large number of them.
Nothing to say this morning, and even less time to say it.
That interesting plant in my yard that turned out to be a common, nasty thistle?
As regular readers know, there's a monthly meet-up at Schlafly Gardenworks that I try to attend. The first Saturday of each month gardeners of all experience levels meet there at 9:00 to see what's changed in the last month, get tips from other gardeners, find out what's doing well, talk about chickens.
You know I love my pond, right? I really do. It's just that it's getting to be a bit too much right now.
Since nobody who's been to St. Louis in the middle of summer would ever confuse it for a desert, it's not hard to understand why I've forgotten about my recent visit to a desert.
It's been a little while since I've talked about bamboo, and most of my recent talk has been about rhizome pruning for control.
I've talked about receiving plants in the mail before -- I highly recommend it! Whether by ordering from nurseries found in other parts of the country, or by trading plants with gardening friends, when that box shows up on the front porch you know you're in for that Christmas-as-a-kid feeling: new plants!
At the cactus and succulent show last weekend I saw a few fun things amidst all of the serious "grow the best plants" attempts:
One of the main features of the patio area of my garden -- the part closest to the house -- has been the stream. I built it in 2006 and the almost constantly running water has been a source of tranquility for me and one of the things I most enjoy about the garden.
I've been growing plumeria for a few years now. Maybe I should amend that to I've been trying to grow plumeria for a few years now. I started with some cuttings which rooted and did pretty well, but then did not overwinter well for me.
When I went to the cactus sale this past weekend I could have lightened my wallet quite a bit. Such a wide array of cool cactus and succulents, some quite cheap, some pricey. I only spent 15 minutes in the sale room though (which includes the time to check out) and it cost me a reasonable $41.
This weekend I went to the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society's cactus sale and show at the wonderful Missouri Botanical Garden. Yesterday I showed you the sale. Today it's the show part of the event.
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