Monday, January 12, 2009

garden thoughts

It's snowing, and we are headed into the deep freeze this week. It's gray outside, and winter isn't half over.What can we do to keep our spirits up, and away from the candy jar?

Let's think about flowers!I take lots of pictures when my flowers are blooming, so that I can spend the winter planning, and reviewing what worked and what I could have done better. I need to plant more lilies. They show themselves for just a day, so I really need a lot more of them. I can't recall the actual name of this flower, it goes by many nicknames-Angel's Trumpet or Moonflower. It is perfectly beautiful when it blooms, and just glows in the moonlight. But like a lily, it only shows itself for a day. So I need more. It vines and thrives like crazy.I am a HUGE fan of begonias. And other than some water, nearly maintenance free.
 
This perennial found a spot in my garden this summer-and let me be really helpful and tell you that I can't remember what it's called. I love the color it adds to the garden in between the blooming of other goodies.
 
This window box is on the front of our house. See that enormous tropical looking impatien in there? That was ONE little plant. Can you believe how huge it got? I am definitely planting that in my shade spots again this year.Speaking of window boxes, I always plant callibrochia in my window boxes. I love the look, it usually fills out the window boxes really well, and comes in so many colors. This year, I found that this color-a vibrant hot pink, was by far the best bloomer. I also had red, yellow, and purple, but none of them thrived like the hot pink variety. Go figure?
 
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See that wimpy vine growing on the trellis by my cat? Each year I plant what I hope will be an enthusiastic vining plant, to cover the three trellises on the side of my patio, to give me a little privacy when I sit out there with my coffee and newspaper. This year I planted cardinal flower, and clearly, it needed a bit more sun. This picture was taken in September. So next year, I will go back to a black eyed susan vine that is destined for shade, or perhaps nasturtiums, they work well. If only I could find a morning glory that loves all shade-I just adore them.

Have you warmed up yet?

1 comment:

  1. I love the LinkWithin feature! Because of that, I found this post and how FUN to see more pictures of flowers. And, Claude. :o) I love callibrochia too! And, begonias. And lilies. And, your overflowing window box. I can't wait to shop!

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