Randomness

This is a post with no theme. There have been posts like this before, without a topic, philosophical musings. There is nothing like that happening today. Today is just some pictures that we found interesting for one reason or another. The above photo shows the pink rose, Old Blush, beginning its display of many months. There is a blue ajuga bloom and the white flowers of cerastium on its left side. The yellow deciduous azalea is a blur in the background.

Under the pink azalea ‘Pride of Mobile’, the fallen blossoms form a color echo with the veining of the Japanese painted fern.

In the knot garden the blue and purple violas are doing an excellent job of hiding the yellowing tulip foliage. There is a plan in place to fill these quadrants with celosia seedlings still growing in their flats, later this spring. More about those will be mentioned later in this post.

Inside the greenhouse/sunroom the orchids in bud and bloom have not been moved outside. This cattleya ‘Scheherazade’ blooms at this time each year. The temperatures outside and in are higher than is beneficial for a long bloom period for this orchid. There is another bud on the plant which will give us this rich color for a while longer.

The phals fair a little better with the heat that is the norm now. Phalaenopsis ‘Martha Dolge Mendenhall’ will be kept inside for the summer as long as her blooms hold on. We have found that the air conditioning and shade from the maple at this corner of the house keep the temperatures cooler than outside even with the many windows in the greenhouse room.

Paphiopedilum Onyx Fancy Cherry’. This is the second bloom to open on this plant this year. Three thises in one sentence, hmm.

The tightly held flower buds of a new to us ninebark, physocarpus ‘Summer Wine’. The leaves are very dark, the flowers are said to be pink. This is an additon to the black garden, started two years ago.

Back in the woods under the large pine trees at the edge of the property, the mahonias have produced these exquisitely colored fruits. These trees are getting too large and will be cut to the ground soon, so a photo of the blue beauties will be a reminder until they come again next year, or the year after.

Abutilon ‘Fool’s Gold’ that was ordered this year from Plant Delights Nursery has been in bloom since the day it arrived. These flowering maples have proven easy to grow and flower during the winter months. More room will be allotted to them in the greenhouse as we look for more varieties to add.

The seedlings that were grown from free seeds from Chiltern’s Seeds, celosia spicata ‘Coral Garden Mixed’ have been a pleasant surprise. One flat of thirty six plants and a round planter filled with nearly as many are all showing flower heads.

It is predicted that we will have a freeze possible tonight. It is lucky that these babies were so small and the knot garden is still home to the dying leaves of the tulips so that the celosias have not been planted in the ground. All the seed flats and all the orchids that had been moved outside during our warm spring are all safely being held back in the greenhouse for one more night. This cold spell is called blackberry winter here, the wild blackberries are just beginning to bloom, the name comes from that.

One more shot of these scrumptious colorful annuals. We will pamper them a bit more before they are placed in the ground at the top of the hill. It will be sad to see them grow up, they are so sweet at this stage, don’t you agree?

Frances

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