Hibiscuses, Roses, and a Smattering of Things

Posted on by capentalc

A few of my favorite hibiscuses and roses are starting to bloom in abundance this week. For this week one of my newer hibiscuses bloomed and some more than the previous year. Hibiscuses are very easy to grow here in California because they like warmer weather. It seems late summer is the best flowering period for my hibiscuses and they will flower all into the fall too.

I have some nice looking roses growing now too. Pretty colors these guys are but they are not scented ones, unfortunately. All of my roses here are first year growers so the flowering is not very impressive but I expect next year they will be more plentiful. I think the root system is not very strong so the heat we’ve been having caused the petals to be a little burned on the edges.

Below are the smattering of flowers and fruit that are appearing in my yard.

Dahlia
Dondo Blue
Chicory flower
Carrot flower – carrot going to seed
Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica)

I will leave you with this picture of my one and only papaya tree that has been growing fruit these past few months. I started out with about 13 successful seedlings but I gave some away. I kept about 4 plants but this is the only one that survived these past 3 years. It is now about 9-10 feet tall. The bottom fruit was the first one to turn into a fruit. I hope it doesn’t fall off the tree and getting eaten by my dogs or some other creatures in the yard. This was the first fruit that I have grown from seeds so a lot is riding on this!

Anyway, have a wonderful week ahead!

Amazing Orange

Posted on by capentalc

I don’t normally like to grow orange flowers but some of these were from a discounted “mix” pack in seeds or bulbs. One thing I’ve learned is never to buy a “mix” of any plant offerings online unless you don’t mind getting ugly colors. I didn’t know that so I bought several of daylily mixes and I got a bunch of bright orange that I would’ve never purchased had I known.

However, now that I have them, I learned to like them since I raised them from pups. They stand out in my garden of pinks and purples.

Now this Big Kiss White Flame Hybrid Gazania (what a mouthful) is actually one that I picked out on a seed website.  Have you seen anything more vibrant? The flower is about 3″ wide with bright yellow-orange and red petals. I gush with delight when I see this flower open up every morning!

This is an orange California poppy that was in a mix. I was hoping it was pink or purple but this is what sprouted. It is cute though.

This Ruby Spider daylily is the BOMB! What an amazing show of red and orange in this outrageous beauty! I would love to have a bunch more of these.  Sadly, it opened for a day or so and I was not able to enjoy it more.  There are some new ones getting ready to open soon though.

At Last rose is one of my favorite of orange roses. Flowers are smaller than most roses but it has beautiful shades of oranges and yellows.

Below is an orange zinnia from a mix. This is really an unexpected color in the seed mix but I think I am in love with it. This picture is actually a day before it fully bloomed that’s why it had those neat beige colors in the center. I wish it stayed like that forever.

These daylilies below are all from a mix. As you can see they are quite orange and almost red. I’ve had these for a couple of years but this is the first time I’ve seen it flower.  They are all over my garden and so ORANGE!

Here are some of my pretty garden pictures. The best time to catch beautiful pictures of my yard is on a cloudy day because it shows off the colors so vibrantly. In the picture below I have a plumeria, pink alstroemeria, iris, and tall pink Verbascum Southern Charm way in the back.

Below is another garden patch nearby where I have a 3 year-old sage bush with purple flowers, purple magnolia, purple daisies, purple roses, lily tree (center), and the pink, fast-growing Strybing Beauty.

In this picture below are General Sikorski clematis, blue chicory flowers, plumeria, and magnolia Souvlangiana.

Below are some rose mallow, yellow daisies, and a Red Baron peach tree. The Red Baron will change its leaves into red sometimes in early September, I believe. As you can see it has grown quite a bit since last year when I first wrote about it.

That’s all for now. I have more to show you in a few days!

Chicory

Posted on by capentalc

I love the color of blue in the garden and chicory plants are the answers to that! A couple of years ago when I was trying to fill my barren garden, I wanted to arrange the garden by color. All the flowers I grew in each of those areas have the same color either in pinks, yellows, oranges, purples, or blues. It seemed hard at the time to find nice plants in blue colors that would thrive in our hotter zone 10, Southern California. Most of the blue flowering plants only do well in the cooler climates.

Love the delicate blue filaments and stamens inside the flower
The blue color fades the longer it is exposed to light during the day.

When I was looking for seeds to grow, I found out that chicory served many purposes. Most people know that chicory roots can be used to make chicory coffee but may not know that the leaves and flowers are also edible. Chicory also has many health benefits such as aids in digestion, improves heart health, relieves anxiety, reduces arthritis, and treats constipation. I didn’t really care about all of that at the time of planting seeds but I was glad that I was growing something that does more than look beautiful!

Here are my simple tips to grow chicory: full sun is best, can tolerate part sun too but not much flowering; no fertilizer or special care; staking may be necessary since they can get up to 3-4 feet tall; leave about 2 feet wide room to grow; can grow in dry tough soil. They do tend to look like a garden weed when they are little though, so be careful when you weed.

These were grown in a larger pot and it is leaning and out of control.