Parade of Favorites

Now that my all-time favorite flowers, the daylilies have been revealed (again--I just realized I did that some years ago), here are some more lovelies--be patient with me if this has been done before, but these are THIS YEAR'S:

 Dragon Wing Red begonias,

 Eryngium (sea holly), the most incredible metallic blue,

 Heliotrope (heavenly scent) and Black Pearl ornamental pepper,

 Poor Man's Orchid, pale shade (aka Himalayan Impatiens), related to Jewel Weed.  When ripe, the seed pods explode.

 Center, Joe Pye, to the left, just behind--Sedum Matrona,

 Lychnis Coronaria--the picture doesn't do justice to the deep, rich magenta color of this flower on silver, velvety leaves,

 Pinky Winky Hydrangea--this flower will slowly turn darker and darker pink,

 Another Poor Man's Orchid, darker rose shade,

 Purple Emperor Sedum--leaves almost black,

 Tidal Wave Petunias,

 Yellow Monkshood,

 Ricinus (Castor Bean)--why I don't have moles or gophers in the garden,

This lovely 10-year old Ohio Buckeye (chestnut) drowned in last year's wet weather.  Will have to dig it out and replace it, and hope we don't get flooded again.  Below it to the right--Haskap (honeyberry) bushes.  Wonderful blue tubular berries that taste just like blueberries, very early and very prolific.  We are starting a big patch of these as soon as the weeds there are sprayed.  The lovely little white spot below the tree is Sparky, and the black spot between Sparky and the truck is Dazey.  They are my favorite dogs in the world.

It is really raining today, so tomorrow is not a gardening day--it will be a laundry and reno day--maybe I'll get the bathroom downstairs finished--this report will be on my other blog.  If you haven't visited there yet, you are welcome there, too.

How can you tell that these flowers are my favorite?

 This post will tell you.  I am sorry to say that I have no room for more new daylilies (Hemerocallis).  I love these flowers.  They grow under neglect, are relatively pest-free (unless a colony of ants takes a liking to one), most are not invasive (there are some that walk in the flower bed, but most just keep a tidy clump), and they can be divided any time of the year (although I try not to disturb them while blooming).  They are also good neighbors to most other plants.  I have them in sun and part shade, but haven't tried them in shade-something with that many flowers seems to want lots of  sunlight.                                                                       Flava--wonderfully scented flowers on tall, thin stems (that's the one above--formatting is also not a strength I possess).

 Frans Hals--when the flowers first open, the orange/yellow contrast is much stronger.

                                           Hyperion.  Huge flowers.

                                          Canadian Border Patrol

                                          Strawberry Candy

                                          Red Stella

                                          Summer Wine

                                         Tigger

I also have tons of Stella d'Oro, a white one with a center ring, and apricot double-flowered one, and a few others that have finished blooming.  Some I've had so long I forgot the names.  This incompetent photographer doesn't have the know-how to set the camera, so the subtle color differences are more obvious. The un-named red ones are all different, distinct shades.

I just realized that I don't have a pure white one, nor a mauve one.  Must check out the spring catalogue and do something about that.  Which weeds will have to die to make room for these?  quackgrass?  dandelions?  clover?

Reaping the Bounty I

In the long interval since my last post, everything has grown well, since we had a lot of rain and heat.  So, today I froze half the beans.  We like 4 kinds of beans:  yellow wax, green Romano, yellow Romano and Purple beans.  I froze the yellow ones and the green Romanos today, about 20 lbs., but didn't get pictures. Will do that tomorrow when I finish the others.
Besides the beans, I did 20 more cobs of corn.  I don't freeze whole cobs because they take up too much freezer space, and the blanching/chilling process is very critical or else the corn gets the taste of the core of the cob, so I kernel the corn.  I don't blanch the corn to do this.  I put on a huge pot of corn--way more than we can eat:
How to cook the best corn cobs:  
Place cobs in a pot large enough to cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil.  When it reaches the boiling point it is ready to eat.

After we have eaten our fill, I let the remaining cobs cool in the cooking water (or you could drain and cover with cold water).  When cool enough to handle, use a sharp paring knife to kernel the corn.  I tease out one row of kernels with the tip of the knife. Then the other rows are cut down with a downward motion of the knife, one row at a time.  Nice clean whole kernels.  They are fully cooked, so they can be just reheated.

I stopped bagging the corn (and beans and peas) in individual bags.  I now use the large heavyweight Ziploc freezer bags, put 8 cups in, sqeeze out the air as I zip, then flatten the package out.  It stacks neatly in the freezer, and it is easy to break off as much as I need for the meal or for the soup.

And when the corn freezing is all finished, the window and cupboards will need washing--corn sometimes squirts.

Here is a little  peek at my cold storage room.  Some of these tomatoes are from last year and the year before.  If properly canned, they keep for a long time.

Tomorrow I will finish the beans and do another pot of corn.  Oops, nearly forgot, there are tomatoes and cucumbers to pick, also.

Almost 2 Years

I have decided to resurrect this blog.  How I intend to use it, is in conjunction with my other blog , for all my greenhouse and garden-ly discussions.
February 15, the greenhouse season starts for us.  We usually plow through drifts of snow at this time, although this year we have had an unusually mild winter.
 These snapshots were taken on March 13.
1.  Baby Non-Stop Begonias

 2.  Baby Zonal Geraniums

 3.  Baby African Marigolds

 4.  Baby Pansies

 5.  Baby Osteospermums

 6.  Baby Calibrachoa (aka Million Bells)

 7.  Fancy Grasses--Pennisetum Rubrum (aka Purple Fountian Grass)

 8.  Little Dracaena (aka Spikes)

 9.  More grasses, Pennisetum Fireworks (pruned by the cats)

 10.  Baby Manettia (aka Candy Corn Vine)

Since then, a lot of growing has taken place and a lot of other plants added. 

Glimpses of my World

These are just random shots of some of my flower pots ,and garden spots and individual flowers of note.

Cheerful yellow bidens, red-yellow lantana, and a tiny red Ricinus (castor bean).

This spot under the deck overhang (East facing) has been a difficult place to grow a nice flowerbed:  not enough sun for geraniums or pansies, it's a bit raised, so in our Zone, no perennials will winter there ( I tried hostas, and even goatsbeard didn't make it).  The only thing that does well is non-stop begonias, but 22 feet of begonias is expensive, even owning a greenhouse.  So this year I dug it out, put in some chips, and planted dragon-wing begonias, which can stand to be grown somewhat on the dry side.  I have to place some of my mom's garden statuary among them.

Deep salmon Martha Washington Geraniums (aka Regal Geraniums, commonly known as Pansy Geraniums)  With an ever-color-changing solar light.

I love purple and black plants:  The heliotrope, with ornamental black Pepper "The Pearl" and blue bacopa.

My north bed has lots of different-colored hostas, white and pink fernleaf bleeding hearts, lily-of-the-valley, and several different colors of Lamium, as well as one volunteer ostrich fern.

The rock garden has been roughly cleaned this spring, but needs a thorough going-over.  In the bare spot near the foundation on the right, I am planting a Low-Grow Fragrant Sumac

This is my "I wish I had a pond, but I don't want the high maintenance" flower bed.  I plant a variety of blue petunias:  Ultra Blue, Ultra Sky blue, Daddy Blue, Ultra Blue Star, Hulahoop Blue and Celebrity Blue Ice, with white alyssum around the edge.  When it fills out it goes to the bottom of the little boat--fake pond. 

Tidal Wave Petunias (Purple and Silver).  These petunias will fill up to past the top of the foundation, and several inches over the sidewalks.

I can't rmember the name of this lily.  (my book is in the greenhouse).

I zoomed in on this lily, because each flower is only as large as the last joint of my thumb.

Henry Kelsey climbing rose.

John Davis climbing rose.

Iris Germanica-unknown name.

Pink Marshmallow fuchsia--I am told it is the largest fuchsia flower.

And finally, a sweet, aromatic different kind of "Flower".

I hope you enjoyed this little peek.