I’m excited that some previous bloomers came back for a second round of flowers. In this post I have a couple of beautiful purple hibiscuses, pink powder puff plant, “Twilight Zone” rose, red portulaca, and a variety of ornamental kale.
Only the “Black Dragon” hibiscus below is flowering for the first time this year. I love flowers and am always excited when a plant flowers for the first time. It’s a new beginning for me and my plant. It shows that I must have done something right for the plant and it’s happily flowering. I know you must think I am nuts to be so fanatical about flowers here and in my previous posts but in real life, I really don’t sound crazy at all. I’m really sane, intuitive, and comical sometimes too.
My most favorite flower in the world is the hibiscus. I mentioned it and showcased it a lot in my posts. I collect new ones every year. However, this “Black Dragon” hibiscus is probably my favorite because of its intense maroon-red color. In full bloom it is about 6 inches wide, that’s HUGE for a hibiscus. It’s so enchanting! I love it! I am in always in awe of God’s magical flower creations.
Next, is this “Fiji” hibiscus. I love this color purple and when it is standing big and bright in my yard in the midst of tall weeds, it captivated me. The flower is pretty wide, about 4 inches. It is a short 13 inches tall but have flowered twice this year already. These two hibiscuses are must-haves in your garden if you live in warm climates like I do. Pretend you didn’t see the overgrown weeds around this beauty – I’m so embarrassed by them!
Pink Powder Puff
My pink powder puff flowered again the second time this late summer. I have it in a small pot but the plant is so tall that it flops over whenever a slight breeze blow on it. Imagine a 6 inch pot for a 3 feet tall plant! The plan is to convert it to a bonsai tree…eventually, when I have TIME.
“Twilight Zone” Rose
Purchased this one early in the spring and it finally flowered. I am in love with this deep purple color! This was a young rooted plant of about 9 inches when I got it.
Portulaca
I tried for a long time to get a picture of this flower as it only flowers in the morning and usually closes by the end of the day. At the end of the day, this area, where I grew the portulaca is quite shady so it’s hard to get a good picture of it. I have it trailing on the ground under some trees. Flowering hasn’t been as plentiful as I had hoped. It squeezed out one a day or something like that. I have white ones too but I never have a perfect flower to show.
Ornamental Kale
Early this year I went nuts and purchased several variety of ornamental kale from Harris Seeds online. I was inspired by another ornamental kale that I’ve had for a couple of spring seasons now, I wrote about it here last fall. These ornamental kale here will eventually change colors to white, pink, or red. Some are not doing so well but some have gotten quite big about 6 inches wide. I have about 10-12 plants all over in the yard. I can’t wait for them to change colors!
These bulbous looking ornamental kale have really long, leggy stems that spread on the ground. They look almost like a rose right now. I’m hoping they will change color by late fall or winter. I think my last ornamental kale was flowering well into winter.
That’s all of the flowers I have this week! I hope you have a great weekend! May you be blessed in everything you do.
Verdant Garden 