Morning glories

Morning glories cascading over a porch or trellis is one of the most beautiful sites of summer. I haven't had the luck with them that Mom has but even the puny few I've had draw comments from the neighbors.

The bloom time is summer but they seem to be late summer here. I think I'll start a few inside to give them a head start. Mom wants to keep hers away from the deck this year because of the bees that are drawn to the flowers. She has had some severe reactions to bee stings in the last few years and we don't want to take chances. She has a brush pile at the end of her lane and I think that's where I'll put the morning glories this year. They can climb all over and around it and will look beautiful. Mom will be able to see them well when as she sips her coffee on the deck but the bees will be a good distance away.

The ones Mom had the most success with last year had been started in pots at Kelp's Pumpkin Patch in Gnawbone. She sent them as a gift to Mom. They have gorgeous thing there.

If you haven't used morning glories before, soak the seed over night before planting. Don't fertilize or all you will get is leaves. Keep in mind that this is a vine and will crawl under shingles and between loose bricks. It will, however, cover any unsightly buildings in your yard. I think I'll plant them to cover the garage.

The morning glories shown here, Heavenly Blue, were dangling from Mom's deck. They do come in other shades of blue, red, purple, and white. Heavenly Blue will be more than 2 inches across, while others seem to be a bit smaller.

Hibiscus

A few years ago, maybe three, I bought a hardy hibiscus on impulse. I had no idea where I would put it or how big it would be. I didn't know a thing about it except it was a nice plant that should produce pretty flowers.

What an understatement! That plant turned out to be about four feet tall and maybe the same width. The blooms are the size of dinner plates! Mine has three colors of blooms; pink, white, and a combination of the two that varies from barely there to a medium shade of pink.

There is difference between hardy and tropical hibiscus. I have both. The tropical is a tree. The tropical must be brought inside for the winter, a real annoyance if your space is limited. The hardy is just what it implies, tough enough to withstand cold temperatures.

My tropical was given to me last year. I doubt that I would have bought such a large indoor plant for myself. It has large red blooms that appeared in the fall. We'll see what it does this year.

I believe I will look for more of the hardy type. It is stunning in bloom and I would love to have another.

Photo courtesy of freenaturepictures.com

Red and yellow

Several years ago, my friend Mary put red and yellow zinnias in front of her business in Nashville. Maybe I hadn't noticed the color combination before but that year I decided that red and yellow were my favorite colors for flowers. It took several more years for me to work those colors into my kitchen but now that I have, I don't think I'll ever change.

I have no trouble finding seed for the giant yellow zinnias but I haven't found the red in my area stores. They can be ordered from Park Seed. Mary always used pots of blooms that she found at a garden center so there would be instant color in front of her store, Trolley's.

The photo here is not the Dreamland Scarlet in the link above but more likely Dreamland Red. While they are both reds, they are distinctly different colors.

Photo from Mississippi State University Agricultural Department

Sprouts

The hollyhock seeds are coming up. Well, one. They will be ready to go outside early in May. When the weather settles into spring, I'll gather up all the branches from the yard and tidy the flower beds. I think I'll have a neighbor till up one patch of lawn for flowers. I've planned this before but haven't followed through. It's a narrow strip of lawn between the driveway and the neighbor's fence and isn't good for much. It's uneven and the grass is patchy. It will serve me better to have flowers there.

I would like to find some edging for the flower beds that I really like. I look at garden centers but nothing jumps out at me. I think I would like Brown County stone but it's a bit pricey, I imagine. I need to browse, I guess. This is exactly why things don't turn out as I expect them to... I do them a bit at a time instead of making a plan and sticking to it. Ahhh.

Seeds and weeds

I started a few seeds Tuesday, the hollyhocks and Shasta daisies. I used twelve cell boxes like you get plants in at garden centers. I have them in a spot where they get plenty of sun and no cats. They should be ready to put outside the first week of May. Indiana weather is so iffy and I have waited until mid-May to set out plants and sow seeds. I'm going to give myself a head start this year.

I'm going to clean the flower beds well and add more dirt and peat moss. I need to kill off some shrubs that have found their way into the beds. I don't know what they are but I have them all around the house, close to the foundation. I've cut them back several times and have poured salt on them to kill the roots but I'm just going to use some sort of chemical killer on them... I'm tired of fighting them. I don't like using chemicals but these things are too close to the foundation of the house. I have enough house problems.

Surprise lily

There are green shoots in the back yard. They have been coming up for several weeks... through the snow... and are maybe two inches high. It's a flower called Surprise Lily or Magic Lily or Naked Lady. Whatever it's called, it is definately one I don't want. It is the dumbest thing ever. There will be mounds of green leaves, sort of like daffodil leaves. They will be around most of the summer, then will die off. One hot day in August, bam... there's a flower on a tall stem with no leaves. Who needs it?


I tried to dig these out a few years ago and only managed to double them. Wonderful. I may try to just kill them off this year.

Photo courtesy of freenaturepictures.com

Dusty miller and wax leaf begonias

Last summer I took a ride around town with a neighbor in her golf cart. It was a great opportunity to get a close up look at flower beds and the creativity of my neighbors. One of the most outstanding was a bed of dusty miller and pink wax leaf begonias that went all around a house. The contrast of the colors caught my eye and I realized that I wouldn't have put the two together. Mainly, I love begonias but don't care for the wax leaf variety. And I'm not particularly creative. But this display was absolutely gorgeous and the homeowner uses it every year.

Dusty miller has silver gray foliage with small yellow flowers. The foliage is the attraction, not the flowers. It can be started from seed but I would just get a few plants from a garden center. This annual will grow about 8 to 15 inches high, a real variation in height. It does well in beds or pots. Just be sure to plant in well drained soil.

The photo here from Mississippi State University Agricultural Department shows dusty miller partnered with two shades of sweet alyssum. Both require sun to part shade and you'll want to keep that in mind when combining plants. I often don't, then wonder why the results aren't what I wanted.

Mexican sunflower

I was looking through the seeds I saved from last year and one of the packets is Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). It’s a stunning plant… more than five feet tall with multiple branches full of orange blooms.

This plant needs a lot of space simply because of it will branch out to about four feet wide. This annual tolerates heat and drought and needs a well drained location. Enjoy blooms from summer till frost.

The orange flowers in the photo are Mexican sunflowers, though they are much shorter than the ones I’ve had. Many seed companies have dwarfed these plants, so read the seed packet carefully for size. The smaller ones may work best in your garden.

Keep in mind that while these beauties will attract butterflies, they will also attract bees.

These are a nice addition to cut flowers arrangements but keep in mind that they have a hollow stem so cut carefully.

I've read that this flower will reseed itself but I don't know that it will in Indiana's cold climate so I consider it an annual.

Hollyhocks

My mother has told me that Grandma had hollyhocks when she was a little girl. Mom turned the blooms upside down and used them as a skirt for a small doll. Cute.

My neighbors to north have pink hollyhocks along their back fences and it’s a nice display. I’m going to try them this year. For some reason I picked up this packet of black seeds. My son had them at a house he rented years ago and I remember them as being rather pretty.

This picture shows a double bloom. I hope that’s what they turn out to be. I’ll put them along the side fence that belongs to my neighbor to the south. It gets afternoon sun so that should work. Hollyhocks need full sun. Or I could put them along the south side of the house. It gets sun most of the day. These should grow four to six feet high so I want them to have plenty of room.

Hollyhocks are a perennial so they will come back year after year and will bloom summer to fall.

Note to self: think ahead. Often when I plan on putting flowers in a particular spot, I neglect to remember that when the trees fill out in summer, that spot may not get the sun that the flowers need.

Cosmos

A real favorite of mine. I put them behind the garage last year and my neighbor across the alley said she enjoyed seeing them all season. There is more than one variety of cosmos but the ones I’m familiar with are tall with spindly stems so they need to be staked or tied to keep from falling over. I neglected to do that. I thought the small wire fence in front of the plants would hold them up. Wrong. I kept pushing them up and into each other to hold the upright. Why I didn’t just get some twine to run across from one side of the garage to the other is beyond me. So easy but I just kept putting it off.

Planning ahead is one of my goals for this year. Getting all the tools and other necessary stuff before I start a project. I do tend to make lists but often I just don’t follow through. Note to self: tie up the cosmos.

Cosmos is easy to start. I just scatter the seeds in loose soil and keep the soil moist. Plants will begin to appear in 10 to 15 days. Put these in a sunny spot or part shade.

I love adding cosmos to vases of flowers. Some will stand upright while others droop over to create a unique look to each arrangement.

Again, thanks to Missippi State University Agicultural Department for use of the photo.

Globe amaranth

Or gomphrena or bachelor buttons will bloom summer till frost. It’s a beautiful cut flower and dries well for fall and winter arrangements. I’ve seen the entire plant pulled up and dried upside down.

Colors are purple , lavender, orange, pink, red, or white. Plants will be about a foot and a half tall or maybe a bit more. I haven’t used these flowers before but I’ve always admired them so I have a few packets of seeds for this year. Mine are mixed and I’m thinking I might put them in front of mixed cosmos. Or not. The colors are very close and I’m thinking it will work well.

Thanks to Missippi State University Agicultural Department for the photo. Oh, the globe amaranth are the purple ones.

New beginnings

Even though our winter here has been mild, the time of year is still dismal. A customer at work mentioned this very thing the other day and I suggested that she start buying flower seeds for the coming spring. It’s something to look forward to, an acknowledgement that spring will arrive.

I love flowers and plant them in every bare spot in my yard. I tend to use a lot of seed but I add blooming plants to have color while waiting for the seeds to come up. I’m partial to annuals because of they are quick to come up and I have flowers sooner. And annuals seem to have a long bloom time.

I’ve bought my first seed packets and I’m thinking that I will start them inside this year. That’s assuming that I can find a place for the flats that the cats can’t reach. (I must be dreaming.) I’m going to try a few things this year that I haven’t planted before. You’ll read here about success and less than.

This will be a place where I will keep track of what I plant, what I want to plant, what works and what doesn’t, things I may or may not try, gadgets that I find useful or to be junk. Nothing complicated, just gardening and flower stuff.

I tend to keep things simple. I remember what my grandpa told me when I asked for details about planting seeds: “Just throw them in there. God will take care of the rest.”