Bamboo in pots, then not

When you grow a lot of bamboo like I do (30+ varieties) and most of them are running bamboos, the rhizome pruning that I do to control them results in lots of rhizomes to pot up. Especially if I get lazy for a while and some of the plants shoot in areas that they shouldn't.

The end result is that I have a lot of potted bamboos that I keep in a temporary nursery area. The thing about potted bamboos though...

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Two beauties that share a problem

My planned post for today was thwarted by weather, with rain making it impossible to get the final "after" photo needed after a little digging project -- maybe my first of the year? Anyway, I instead noticed that a couple of potted plants have quietly become gorgeous, but they share a problem. First, the beautiful part...

...starting with this "umbrella palm" (Cyperus alternifolius) or at least that's what I think it is. I rescued it a few years back from a friend's compost pile and he didn't know the exact name.

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So you like canna in your garden...

I love growing cannas. Their large, mostly upright leaves and bright, towering blooms have such a tropical feel. Here's a shot from a week or two ago that shows the red canna blooms rising above everything, with upright foliage (just below the deck in the photo), and more in the foreground:

In St. Louis cannas are borderline cold-hardy, which means that sometimes they can be left in the ground over the winter. My own experience says that this works best in warmer microclimates -- it won't work everywhere in the garden. Near the bakery in Maplewood there is a garden that seems to have just the right conditions for canna to thrive...

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Even more mantis

A higher percentage of my posts recently have been about mantises, but it's unavoidable. Those beneficial insects are my favorites, especially since I raise them from egg to adult in a way.

This is the time of year when they are most visible, on the move looking for mates and egg laying spots -- or at least that's what it seems like to me.

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I'm amazed

There are a few things about this year's garden that have surprised or amazed me. For instance, the Pachypodium lamerei...

...has been flowering constantly for almost 60 days. I did not expect this!

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Bulbine frutescens

I picked up this "annual" last year (Bulbine frutescens) and it has quietly rewarded me greatly in its pot on the driveway.

All I know is it's almost bulletproof, producing blooms all summer as long as I water it and fertilize a bit. I love these flowers!

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Fungus photos

It's been a while since I've photographed any fungus, one of my favorite outdoor subjects. The other day though I noticed that some of the log sections on the driveway have moved from firewood candidate status into future compost and soil contributors.

Some beautiful shelf fungus, most probably Trametes versicolor, was covering at least one of the logs. The drooping bamboo overhead must have made conditions just right!

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Finding Ferns

The area underneath my deck was once wasted space, nothing growing there. Over the past few years I've been converting it to a fern bed, and it's been doing well.

Yesterday I discovered something that's got me even more excited about this area. First though, let's take a look at the ferns here.

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Late summer small observations

This has to be my favorite time of year in the garden. Everything is full-sized, the humidity drops and the breezes start blowing, the katydids and crickets all start singing -- just wonderful!

Here are just a few things that I've noticed the last couple of days, starting with bamboo canes. They're "canes" after they've been cut, and these have been left leaning for a while. I like them here as they really complement the background colors -- too bad they're blocking a path.

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