A Bevy of Flowers

Posted on by capentalc

Today I thought I should start creating and eventually print a gardening book that will contain all the flowers I showcased in this blog and more that I couldn’t post before. I would put in tips on how to care for them and where to plant. It would be overloaded with pictures of beautiful flowers.

Basically, it is going to be a book I want to use as my go-to gardening book. I have so many gardening books but they are not comprehensive enough or tailored to the plants I love to grow. I want to combine it with pictures of my plants that I love. It would be an eye-candy book for the flower gardener. There are not many books out there that fit my needs for a comprehensive flower gardening book in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

So that’s going to be in the works in the future. For now, let’s look at this week’s favorite flowers.

Fiji Island Hibiscus

This four inch pot produces the biggest hibiscus flower I’ve ever seen. It’s bigger than my hand. It is such a beauty! I am in love!

Twilight Zone Rose

Princesses Charlene de Monaco

My very first rose from this plant so I am super enamored by this. What a beautiful shade of peach and pink!

Chicago Peace Rose

This is the first year that this bush has produced the best number of roses all at once. For the past 2 years it eeked out about 2-3 for a whole year and they were never perfectly shaped. This here, showed I have at least 7!

Linaria “Licilia Peach”

Abutilon “Blushing Belle”

Dondo Blue Ageratum

This is a great plant that I grew from seeds in the spring of 2020 and it still alive and happy today. Beautiful purple color!

Hollyhock Indian Spring

I grew these from seeds last spring and it has finally flowered for the first time.

Cranberry Hibiscus

This tree was grown from seeds 3 years ago. It’s a beautiful cherry colored tree. The flowers opens for a few hours in the early part of the day. By the time I get home from work it had already closed.

Peach Orange Lion-tail Hibiscus

“Fruit Punch” Poppy

I’ve had this plant for three Spring seasons now. It is alive all year long but flowers only in the spring. The color is spectacular every time. This year seems to be a little slow going for it though as this is the second one so far. I normally get at least 5 or 6 by now.

Okay, this picture of my dog Hunter is so cute that I have to share. He used the toy as a chin rest after he chewed the heck out of it! I love him!

Bye now! Have a good day!

Summer Blooms

Posted on by capentalc

Rosella’s Dream Lily

Rosella is a beautiful light pink lily. It had three large flowers on a short 12-inch branch, maybe because it is only in its first year of bloom.

Shrimp Plant

This Shrimp plant is very unique and tolerates heat and dryness well. I have seen them grown in masses on the streets. I like how they look so I purchased them years ago to fill my garden. The flowers are soft and feathery and look like shrimps.

China Asters

I grew a mix of China Asters this year and so far I have many beautiful colors. A few blogs ago I showed them in purple, white, and dark pink. I don’t know much about asters but I love how they grow to have so many pretty flowers!

Poppy or Mantisalca Salmantica

I thought this was a poppy but I cannot find proof in my seeds collection that this is a poppy. I used a plant identification App and was identified as being similar to this Mantisalca. I can tell you that it is heat tolerant and has many beautiful blooms.

Red Courtesan Sunflowers

Just a beautiful red color! I love these sunflowers!

Plumbago

I love plumbagos for its drought tolerance and beautiful flowers. It blooms in clusters in the summer. It is great to grow as a privacy hedge since it fills up and out very quickly .

Amaranth

This new amaranth sprouted in the same location that I planted several last year. It must have reseeded. The ones from last year had their leaves munched up by some creatures. These are edible leaves to humans too. Somehow this perfect little amaranth was unscathed. I love red leaves in plants, so striking in the garden!

Daylily

Beautiful yellow daylily to end the blog! Have a great weekend!

Interesting Mix of Flowers

Posted on by capentalc

A few new varieties this week that I haven’t shown before and there are some old favorites as well.

I am what I call a haphazard gardener. I say that because I don’t usually plan where my plants go. I don’t have a garden design plan. I know all the gardening books always suggest gardeners have them but I don’t. I just haphazardly plant them wherever I think I have room for them. Now that is crazy and dangerous so don’t do what I did or you may end up with a beautiful jungle! The worst part of it is I don’t keep track of the names of plants that I grow either. I really should because that would make it easier for me to identify most of my plants. I did try looking up the names of the plants below but a few were in a mix so it is hard to get the exact names. All I can say is just enjoy them for their beautiful colors and forms.

Poppies

The poppies below were grown in a seed starting tray. At some point I had plant labels but it either got lost or the words faded away so it is difficult to know who is who here. This one below is incredibly CUTE with its lavender and white colors. I have never seen one like this before and I really love it.

The bee and its white poppy!

This looks to be the Shirley Double Poppy seeds.

Thai Silk Rose Poppy with its ruffled pink, cream, and orange colors

Four O’clocks

These Four O’clock plants are sprouting everywhere and normally I would oppose such invasions in the garden but these plants produced such beautiful, abundant flowers. Below is one of my favorite colors. I have a bright pink one in my yard too but I didn’t get a chance to get pictures for this post. This was grown from seeds and it has grown so big. The bush below is about 3 feet tall.

Kirigami Ornamental Oregano

This ornamental kirigami oregano is the cutest little thing! I love the different shades of lavender, pink and green. It flowered happily when I had it in the ground a few years ago but after I moved it into a pot it has been kind of lackluster! I was lucky this time to get some nice colors here.

liLY TREES

I love lilies! I’ve had these the year before and they are coming back again this year with double the blooms and height. These have a lovely fragrance.

Nicotiana Lime Green

These are really lovely lime green flowers. It would look great with any groups of flowers in the yard, a nice accent.

Dianthus

Sweet Potato Vine Green

This potato vine is one of the few potato vines that have colors. I love these groundcovers. They have potatoes growing out at the roots but they are not edible.

DAYLILY

Columbine

That’s all for now! I will have some new flowers to share next week!