Flower photos

[Fluff]

Very nice cJw! The pink/purple bush in question looks like what we call a rose of sharon. Hibiscus syriacus.

 

[cJw]

Thanks for the ID lead, Fluff - Rose of Sharon/Hibiscus syriacus is confirmed!

 

[cJw]

Woot! Blackberry lilies are blooming!

The blooms last for a day, then curl up into a spiral before falling off as the seed pod develops. . . which turns easily into more lilies! My collection started with one plant, and I have grown about a dozen more plants by simply burying the seeds in the fall. 8)

 

[talloulou]

cjw- that second picture is amazing!

 

[cJw]

cjw- that second picture is amazing!

Thx! 8)

 

[krazymom]

You guys all have such beautiful flowers and gardens! Amazing! Half of our backyard is still dirt, but the corner is my garden to be....just waiting to finish our yard this summer. I need to fill it completely with good dirt and mulch first as what is there now is the hard claylike dirt that you can't even dig in. I'm excited to get my vegetable garden growing. Now that I have an aquarium I can use the nitrate rich water to fertilize, what else do you all do to have such beautiful healthy plants?

 

[cJw]

Honestly, most of our beds aren't supplemented with much of anything. The soil here in Louisville has a LOT of clay in it, so we may mix in some potting soil or peat moss to loosen it up some, but that's the most we ever do... that, and some Preen under our hardwood mulch.

For our veg garden, this year we found a landscaping supplier who mixes a 'special soil' which they recommended for gardens specifically. I can't recall the entire ingredient listing - calling them now; google.com owns!:

"top soil, compost, peat moss, cow manure, sand"

Not sure the ratio, but there it is.

Regardless, our veggies are looking quite happy; we'll have beans to harvest soon and kale within a couple weeks.

 

[krazymom]

I think our dirt here is about 10 years short of being solid rock.......hahaha

 

[cJw]

Guess what - I got more pics!

Blackberry lilies on their way out. The twisties in the background are what the blooms turn into the day after they open; from there, it's onto seed pods and more blackberry lilies!

This is a shot of one of the kale plants in our veg garden (beans are almost ready, tons of cherry tomatoes, squash has yet to have a flower survive the animals. :|). Love the color and texture.

This baby dove has adopted our garden as a place to hide until he can fly completely. He's been there all weekend and our daughter even got a good look at him.

This is a mimosa tree, blooming in our backyard. It's flowers are gorgeous, feathery things, and they make quite the mess when they dry and fall all over our other flower beds. :x

This isn't in our yard, but my wife's aunt's, and I thought it turned out well, so there it is. Bumblebee on bee balm.


8)

 

[krazymom]

Wow great shots!

 

[cJw]

Thanks, krazy!

( I do so love my blackberry lilies! )

 

[Toirtis]

Woot! Blackberry lilies are blooming!

Wow! Just wow! Now, where can I get seeds for those? I definitely need a bunch of those lilies...they are stunning!

 

[Meredith]

Those are great pics! The mimosa tree is beautiful!
It rained most of today, so when it stopped this evening, I went out to deadhead my roses, and got some nice shots of some of my blooms

**Edit** dumb photo thing. I don't know why my pics wont show up so here they are again.

 

[Menagerie]

Trevor and I went to a lovely park yesterday. So many pics to share!

 

[Menagerie]

The yellow roses blew me away!

 

[Menagerie]

a few more colors

 

[Menagerie]

There's one of me messing around and the baby ducks!!

 

[Meredith]

Who is that mysterious lady?? Nice pics menagerie!

 

[cJw]

Cool pics!

:edit:

Here's one from our wknd trip to TN I wanted to share :

A Pipevine Swallowtail feasting on a lily, poolside.

:/edit:

 

[Menagerie]

I can't seem to get insects to stay still long enough!