Month: August 2020

One of the most enchanting and most delicate flowers I have ever seen is the cosmos. They have willowy stems that hold a single bloom. I really love the delicate petals. They have beautiful, cheerful colors in shades of reds, pinks, whites, peaches, and yellows.

When they bloom in spring and summer, they are prolific. They are so prolific that you will need to create a staking system to keep them standing. They tend to get awry as they grow 2 feet and taller. On my first year growing them I didn’t know how massively big they grew for the area I picked. They flopped all over my smaller geraniums and roses. When you look at their abundant blooms they are such a beautiful sight fluttering in the wind in unison! Watch out for those bees when you deadhead them for additional blooms! Bees love them, too.

They are very easy to grow and are heat and drought tolerant. They reseed and grow again the following spring but for some reason only one of my four reseeded plants bloomed. I’m not sure why but it definitely is something I want to look into for next time!

Alstroemeria is one of my top favorite flowers to have in the garden. They have beautiful colors and markings. They are very easy to grow and extremely drought tolerant. In fact, I learned recently that too much water is not a good thing for these beauties! They prefer it a little dry. The tuber roots allow them to store water and they can go for several days without watering even in the heat.

Alstroemeria comes in many vibrant colors. I particularly love yellows, oranges, purples, reds, and various shades of pinks. The pictures here are ones I have in my garden. They make excellent cut flowers. They can multiply by seeds or by dividing the tubers. Some of my pink alstroemerias reseeded in my garden. I don’t mind them, they are not invasive and so adorable to look at!

I can go on and on about the care of these flowers but I wanted my posts to be mostly pithy. I know everyone is busy and don’t have time to read. These posts are intended to be like a feast for the eyes and displaying plants that I love. Hopefully, if you are like me, you love beautiful things and admire what other people are growing in their gardens. Enjoy!