Friday, January 15, 2010

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-January 2010

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!  Visit our host, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens to see more gardens in bloom or to participate.

Wouldn't you know it? About two days after the last GBBD, my Tilandsia cyanea (Pink Quill) started spitting out bright purple flowers.  I thought about taking pictures then, just in case, but I figured I had enough that they would last me until today.  And they did...sort of.  There are still a few left that haven't bloomed yet, so it isn't out of blooms, they just aren't blooming today.  *sigh*  Oh, well, maybe in a couple more years, I will have some Tilandsia blooms to show you. Until then, you can visit this link, and just pretend that the flowers you see there are on my back porch.

Here's what I do have:

The usual suspects, a.k.a Pam, Jay, and Nameless Bob


Den. Pam Tajima (atroviolaceum 'Pygmy' x eximium) 


Dgmra. Memoria Jay Yamada 'Hawaii'


Seriously, "Nameless Bob" is all I have for this one.


My Euphorbia Leucocephala still have a few hangers-on,


but mostly, it's getting a little leggy and sad. The white is fading, and the new growth hasn't really begun yet. February for my Euphorbia is like the in-between stage of trying to grow your bangs out for you and me.



It's cousin, the rescue pointsettia, seems to be in its prime. I say rescue pointsettia because this was one of those Christmas dinner center pieces from two Christmases ago that was headed for the compost bin if I hadn't brought it home with me. Most of the year, it just sits quietly in its pot, growing out its bangs, but for a month or two every year, it does fancy itself up a little bit.



My Red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) is in pretty constant bloom,



but now it's starting to do something strange. All of a sudden, there seems to be a bunch of new growth coming up from the flowery part of the plant. What is this? Is this normal?


Anyone?

Bueller?

My orange shrimp plant (Pachystachys lutea) is still putting on a good show as well.


 I tried to get a good shot of what's going on inside, but this is the best I could do.



Right next to my shrimp plant is my spider lily. It's got some nice blooms today as well as some seed pods setting from the last group of blooms.




The snails like to hang out on this plant, and as far as I can see, they don't seem to be doing any damage.



Here are three of them tucked down into the base of my lily.


They're sort of like teenagers hanging out at the mall. I tend to eyeball them with suspicion, but I can't really pin anything on them. Every once in a while they wander over to my kale, where they DO do some damage, but I just pull them off and relocate them to some detritus-filled area closer to my lilies. Also, snails are tenacious. And stretchy! Maybe I'll get a picture of that one of these days.

My Clerodendrum is just revving up for what should be some nice February blooms.



My bouganvillea was all a little faded last month, but it's rallying nicely this month.




I'm not sure what these are, but they are little border plants whose blooms I discovered quite by accident. I cut some of the foliage to use in a bouquet, and when I got them up to eye level, I realized they have some sort of bloomy, flowery thing going on.



I recently planted some lobelia, and I couldn't be happier with the color. They're almost iridescent in person.


I'm looking forward to some tomatoes soon!  Two, to be exact.  Hey, I'm not feeding the world, but every now and then I can make my salad more exciting.



And, if the birds don't get these, I will have two strawberries to go with my two tomatoes.



My garden buddy, Buster, got out of his crate and walked from the back yard to the front yard with me while I was collecting pictures, but he hasn't been feeling well lately, and that was about all he felt like doing. After that, it was time to lie down again. The doc's got him on some meds, and he is definitely feeling better than he was a few days ago; but I know we have to start steeling ourselves for the day when the meds don't make him feel better, and I'm afraid that's going to be sooner than later. So, if my GBBD posts fall off, you'll know why, but in the meantime, please send happy, healthy thoughts Buster's way.

15 comments:

Caroline said...

Now I know the trick to growing bougainvillea--move to Hawaii! :) Your blooms are gorgeous.

Dreamybee said...

Thanks, Carloline! Hawaii does help provide the appearance of a green thumb. ;)

Wendy said...

Wow! Good show! I love that orange shrimp plant and the spider lily under it. How gorgeous.

What funny and accurate descriptions of the awkward stage of plants and the business of those snails. I don't see those things around here - only the awful slug that just begs for a generous sprinkling of salt. (ok, that's really mean)

Dreamybee said...

Wendy-I can't salt slugs. I did it once and then felt awful as I stood there watching it writhe around as it slowly shriveled and died. Now I just put out a shallow bowl of beer and let them die drunk and happy or hand-pick them off and throw them into the road. I have to use a paper towel though. Touching them grosses me out!

Jeanne said...

As usual, a look at your flowers puts some color in my gray Ohio day.

I'll think good thoughts for Buster. I took my oldest cat to the vet today (he's almost 11) and got him some antibiotic for his cold so he should perk up now. It's sad when they get so sedentary.

I once stood next to a woman admiring a macaw who said she wanted to get one because her dog had just died, and the macaw would outlive her.

Dreamybee said...

Jeanne-I hope your cat is feeling better. It's definitely sad when they aren't their usual perky selves. :(

Good reasoning but bad justification on the macaw. I understand completely though.

Unknown said...

Thank you for visiting, so that I could find your blog and have a good visit in return. They say that Hawaii is paradise, and the more blogs I visit in your state, the more I agree with that assessment. Your bloom display is enough to gladden any heart!
Are you registered with Blotanical? You don't have Google Friend Connect on your blog, and I want to be able to follow you, so I hope you'll add that widget or get into Blotanical if you're not there already. I couldn't find you in the search engine...

Melanie J Watts said...

thanks for sharing such wonderful photos. Those snails are cool! up here in the frozen north snails are almost non existent.

John said...

Wow, I've never seen snail tolerance before. Hope you don't find them expanding their population. I know they are a big problem in my Mom's Calif garden. Nice to see all that color this time of year. :)

Dreamybee said...

jodi-I just registered with Blotanical, but I don't know if I've got enough garden stuff to stick around. Thanks for visiting!

Melanie-I had never seen snails outside of an aquarium until we moved here, and then, Wow! Big snails!

John-I do think I'm seeing more of them than I used to, but, again, they don't seem to be doing any damage. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the slugs. I'm glad too, because I would feel bad about killing them. I guess I could use the drunk'n'drown method on them too, but I know some people just crush them, and that freaks me out! Ew!

Christopher C. NC said...

Hi Dreamybee. I am a former Maui gardener of 20 years and have the blog to prove it my sidebar, Tropical Embellishments. Your blooms are like old home week for me.

The Red Ginger are making keiki's. If you leave them on long enough they will form small plants with roots stubs that can be planted to make new plants. In the wild the weight as they grow takes them to the ground where they will root.

The Euphorbia leucocephala does go naked for a spell when it is done blooming, as much as two months. That is a good time to give them a hard haircut if they are getting too leggy. I just loved the smell of those when they bloom and it was like having snow in Hawaii for Christmas.

Mike said...

You have some nice plants out there in the tropics. Much nicer than out dead, snow covered plants here in Chicago. :)

love the snail picture.

Dreamybee said...

Christopher-Cool! Thanks for the info about the red ginger! I love the way my Euphorbia smells; to me, it is very light and sort of almond-y. I do usually give them a pretty good cutting back each year Seems like I might have done it kind of late last year...maybe not though-it all starts to run together after a while!

Mike-I can't take much credit-I'd be the worst gardener in the world if I couldn't outdo a Chicago garden right about now. :)

Sue Swift said...

Wow - what a lot of blooms.
But I've come in to make a huge apology - I haven't forgotten those cards and they will arrive. But I've had a hideous start to the year and just haven't had a moment to put them together. Soon, I promise ...

Dreamybee said...

Sue-Don't worry about the cards. Get to them when you get to them. Sorry to hear you've had a rough 2010 so far. I hope things pick up for you.