@Philip Nulty - your first photo of Sedum is known as "Dragon's Blood" here. I have lots of it and love it. I love to plant it all around my potted plants as it fills in the tops of the pots nicely and looks lovely hanging over the sides.
Stratsmom,..delighted you spotted the Harts Tongue Fern,..it has nice shiny leaves during the spring and into Autumn and if you have one in the garden it will self seed,..great plant for filling gaps and for contrast. ================================================================================== Syd,..for some reason the Hollyhock Rust kept away until the past week though i have tried the Mix of one tablespoon of Neem Oil and the same measure of Liquid Soap,..it does work if sprayed once a week,.. however with rain there is no point in spraying so one loses out,..thankfully it only effects the leaf and not the bloom. ================================================================================== Islandlife,..thank you very much for the name of that Sedum 'Dragons Blood',..it arrived with Lily Bulbs and seeds but no name for it ,..i like it as it remains red. ================================================================================== My Hibiscus 'Woodbridge',..has produced its first bloom,..lots of buds as well. Tigridia pavonia 'Tiger Flower/Mexican Shell Flower,..at last a color other than the white. More of the White Tigridia pavonia with Lily Mix. Phlox 'Sweet Summer Surprise'. Lilium 'Pixels Mix',..big highly scented blooms,..next to my clothes line
Your phlox are gorgeous. I just started one this past spring and it has been flowering for the past couple of weeks - same colour as yours.
Islandlife,..nice to know you also have Phlox and the same color as mine,..they are an old favorite and grow most places,..if i have time and if i remember i intend dividing mine come Autumn,..no need to be gentle with them,..cut the foliage back and divide with a spade,..dig a hole add compost and come Spring you have more. A new bloom today,..Poppy,..there should be more appearing,..though i just spread the seeds here and there. Nasturtium,..making its first appearance,..they were self seeded. I cut back all of my Columbine this week and filled the gaps with Shuttlecock Ferns and Harts Tongue Ferns,..come Autumn i will remove the Ferns and replace them with Chrysanthemums which i have grown from seeds started back in Spring. My big mound of Sweet Alyssum is still in bloom. Hollyhocks still looking good though i removed lots of Rust leaves.
Hi Philip. I do so like to see a row of tall Hollyhocks growing along a sunny wall - a feature in many cottage gardens years ago and maybe still now. Ref your small Sedum I did at one time grow a number of them in nice hot sunny positions where little maintenance required. Have just a couple now but do have varieties of Houseleeks in my raised bed including the cobwebbed type. Your red foliaged Sedum is very pretty and is possibly S. spurium atropurpureum or variety thereof (several). The bigger ones with really deep red foliage are very nice - S. maximum atropurpureum grew well for me and theres probably others now. Syd.
Philip--here in Wisconsin the Purple Loosestrife is considered and invasive in our wetlands. I love it's color and would consider growing it in my flower beds as it is very hardy. But we live to close too a small river. We have been fighting Wild Parsnip in our area as well. I will take the loosestrife over the parsnip any day. As the parsnip causes boil like areas to break out one your skin if you rub up against the plant. When your skin is exposed to sunshine. Plus it takes several weeks for the red itchy marks to go away. My hubby is dealing with some to that right now as he was not careful enough when he was cutting down some of the plants on our acreage.
Hi Syd and Tooty2Shoes,..sorry for the late response,..i was away on a holiday,..met up with my Pet Sitter as i was taking Molly the dog for her early morning walk,..discovered she was available to Pet Sit,..within two and a half hours later i was boarding a plane at Dublin Airport for Malaga Spain,..arrived home last night. Syd,..i have a few different Sedum plants,..some produce pink blooms others white,..the red one is my favorite,..great for borders and rocky areas with no attention required,..that is a bonus lol. Tooty2Shoes,..oh boy that Wild Parsnip sounds like a bad plant to encounter,..i hope Hubby has got rid of his boil like areas and itchy marks by now,..oh yes i could go for Purple Loosestrife,..looks good,..even better than Liatris spicata,..below,..though i wish the Liatris would grow as good,..and the Loosestrife not as invasive,..i can not win lol. Liatris spicata,..in bloom today.
Hi Islandlife,..I had choice to make this trip as to bringing the camera or not,..last trip to Nerja,.. i found i had taken pretty much the same pictures as the time before,..this trip was my sixth to the same location,..i made up three videos of the trips with different views but all bordering on previous views,..this time i left the camera with my Pet Sitter to take pictures of new blooms appearing while i was away,..however i have a video made by someone else of the same footsteps i took even the Hotel,..Plaza Cavana is in it and the Mexican Restaurant i go to which is supposed to be a Jail. The water is always warm and very blue.
Hi Philip. Glad your little holiday went well - looks a nice spot to go to for a break and I hope it has not got the rowdy crowds so much of Spain ( and other places) now get. The Liatris is a great favourite of mine also and it does really well for me - I do like its little feature of its blooms opening from the top of the spike downwards rather than the usual of flowers opening from the bottom of the spikes upwards. Ref your Chrysanthemums lots different but have you ever come across or grown a little charmer with really nicely scented (Almonds ?) flowers?. These are single bright pink with a nice yellow centre, dainty and approx 2 ft tall - called "Clara Curtis" - lovely in a vase - scent the room. Syd.
Islandlife,..i may get another visit in just before Christmas,..fingers crossed,..if i can manage further afield i will be very lucky,..i always wanted to go back to Egypt,.. when i was out of uniform,..did manage a shortened trip due to the bus in front of us having a hand grenade thrown through the window,..that entire area of Egypt/Syria/Israel/Iraq/Palestine and Lebanon were all safe enough to visit up to the late 1960's,..sadly no longer,..so a huge area knocked off my places to revisit. ===================================================================================== Stratsmom,..two more!,..holy moly those cats have spread the word about,..what's the count now?. I don't think the cats cared if i was gone or not,..once someone is leaving them food they are happy,..i just noticed of late that 'Clara',..my Big Tomcat,.. will come when his name is called,..none of the others ever did that,..clever cat is 'Clara' . ==================================================================================== Eileen,..Ah yes running around on a warm sandy beach then cooling off in tepid water,..who could resist that . ==================================================================================== Syd,..Luckily its quiet enough with no Disco for the younger crowd,..beaches are not overcrowded at all as there are seven of them all within a very short walk,..the local population is around 14,000 so its not a huge town,..it seems to appeal to the more mature rather than the younger generation. 'Clara Curtis',..i must remember that name,..sounds interesting with the Almond Scent,..mine are all 'Paradiso Orange',..i may have a yellow that i rescued from my neighbors garden,..before it was cleared out. One of the main attractions that Spain has for me is the Flamenca,..i got hooked watching the movements and the music and if 'Maria Pages' was performing within 50 miles of my location i would head off to see her,..take a look at 'Fire Dance',..below,..it takes about 1 Min and 30 seconds before the music and dance really get lively. Maria Pages',..Flamenca,..Fire Dance.
Hi Philip. Yes still some "little havens" left in the world away from the crowds, rowdiness, drunkenness (and worse) etc etc - it was never for me either. The little Chrysanth I mentioned is a gem and a plantsmans/plantswomans plant - I like the bigger bloomed Chrysanths etc but always had a preference for the less "blowsy" flowers in all my plants - to each their own. Best wishes. Syd.
