It is amazing – I did not think my garden had much happening in the way of blooms! But I did find some. This is what’s flowering in my garden at the moment. My roses are always a great pride! They never let me down!
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Potato Tree[/one_half]
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Rosemary[/one_half_last]
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Peppermint[/one_half]
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Rose[/one_half_last]
Today I thought I’d share with you what is still flowering in my garden. As we are nearing the end of summer I didn’t expect to have that much to show you until I stepped outside and started clicking away. The usual suspects are still flowering (read: annuals) and a few summer bloomers are showing their last flowers. Some new kids on the block (planted out last weekend) surprised me with their new blooms but the biggest surprise is the tomato plant you gave me! It has two teeny little flowers. (You understand of course that this tomato plant is my very first attempt at growing a vegetable, so finding a flower on it was a huge surprise!).
So here is my gallery of “A Friday of Flowers” …
[one_half]Dietes bicolour
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[one_half_last]Sweet William
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[one_half]Vinca
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[one_half_last]Tulbaghia Violacea
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[one_half]Predictable Petunias
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[one_half_last]Alyssum
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[one_half]New kid on the block
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[one_half_last]Mandevilla Splenens
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[one_half]Impatiens
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[one_half_last]Newly planted Begonias
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[one_half]Scaevola Aussie Salute
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[one_half_last]My flowering Tomato!
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[one_half]More Sweet William
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[one_half_last]Potato Vine
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[one_half]Last flowering Agapanthus
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[one_half_last]Azalea
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[one_half]Hibiscus
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[one_half_last]New indigenous ground cover
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[one_half]Star Jasmine
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[one_half_last]I don’t know the name**
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My favourite flower at the moment is the Mandevilla Splenens, I love the Scaevola and Hibiscus … but the biggest thrill today was the Tomato!
I hope you like my “Friday Flower Post” – What’s flowering in yours?
Happy Gardening
xxx
* Duranta Sapphire Showers™
** Lobelia (thanks Alistair!)
[one_half]Scaevola Aussie Salute
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[one_half_last]Close up of the flowers
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Hi Barbs, I’ve had a very long day – I’ve had so much work to do which meant I had no time to even venture into the garden. Apart from a quick glance at my now thriving new Tomato and basil plants, its been work, work and more work. And now I need to unwind a bit so thought I’d tell you a little about the plant you admired when you were here last week.
This unassuming plant is the Scaevola Aussie Salute I bought a few weeks ago. It has been flowering continuously since I bought it, lovely little fan-shaped purple flowers that seem to almost hide the foliage. I’ve read up about it and found out that it’s used a lot in pots, border planting, hanging baskets and as a ground cover. It’s branches grow upright but also spread sideways so its looks very “neat” – like a tidy little bush covered in these sweet purple flowers. The branches are about +/- 4o cm and it will spread to about one metre across (wide) once I plant it out. It apparently flowers continuously from spring through Autumn, is water-wise and can tolerate some drought.
It is supposed to do very well in full sun but will also tolerate shade. I’ve had the pot sitting in a spot where it gets full on afternoon sun for a good few hours. Now I need to decide where to plant it – I don’t want to keep it in the pot. Any suggestions?
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
I love colourful annuals. I planted a few at the beginning of summer and most have given me a lot of pleasure. The Dianthus did well (and are still happily blooming) and the Petunias I planted in pots are doing great. In fact, I hardly water them, pay them very little attention and look at them go …
This one (on the left) is purple – they start out a pale blue / purple and then turn dark purple before they wither up and die. I’ve done very little dead-heading and yet they have still spread and grown very bushy, completely taking over the pots they were planted in. Their position is in the one area in the garden that has full sun – on my back patio.
Two of the pots have white petunias and one has the the purple. Here are the white Petunias on the right. They have completely taken over and are growing up the tree that is behind the pot. I wonder what would happen if I watered them more often or, as all my books suggest, fertilised them every two weeks … I think we would have a mass petunia invasion on my patio.
I love annuals – even though they are short lived and need to be replaced after the season, they fill the garden with something fresh every season. Easy to grow and care for, I think I will always reserve some beds and areas in my garden for annuals.
On a visit to the famous Cellars-Hohenort in Constantia recently, I was totally enchanted by their gardens. The gardens at Cellars are acknowledged as one of the finest hotel gardens internationally and have been voted by Garden Design, a top American magazine, as one of the top 30 hotel gardens in the world. And a visit to Cellars-Hohenort reveals why …
We parked in the parking lot and walking up towards the Hotels’ main entrance you will find the most enchanting Rose Garden … all beautiful white roses with Star Jasmine everywhere! The scent of Jasmine fills the air and its got to be one of the most magical “walks to the hotel entrance” anywhere. I absolutely love it. Their gardens are extensive and incredibly beautiful. And I’m really very envious of what they have achieved there.
Compared to Cellars, my garden is just a little “wannabee”. We will never be featured in any fancy magazines or win awards, but that’s not why I garden. I garden for the sheer joy of watching things grow and the immense satisfaction I get from seeing the plants thrive. But oh I do so want to smell jasmine when I walk through my garden. So we have the lovely Star Jasmine planted everywhere in the hopes that one day, maybe next spring, the air will be filled with the sweet scent of jasmine, just like at Cellars.
So far so good … the Jasmine planted on the trellisses in the front garden are thriving and the new ones planted in December are growing at a rapid pace. They appear to be “easy” plants – at least for a novice like myself. I have yet to see a pest on one of them and every day they seem to be getting bigger and stronger and are constantly flowering. Very rewarding for a “brown-thumb” like myself!
One of these days I am going to lunch at Cellars-Hohenort again and will go armed with my camera (or with a photographer-buddy in tow) so we can share the beauty of the gardens at Cellars-Hohenort here on the blog.
Happy Gardening
xxx
Notes on Star Jasmine:
Common Name: Star jasmine
Genus: Trachelospermum
Species: jasminoides
Skill Level: Experienced
Exposure: Full sun, Partial shade
Hardiness: Half Hardy
Soil type: Well-drained/light
Height: 900cm
Star jasmine is a woody, evergreen climber with rich, dark green leaves which turn bronze in winter. From mid- to late summer, pure white, fragrant flowers are produced. It can be grown against a wall in milder climates or in a greenhouse or conservatory in areas prone to severe frosts. Grow in well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade with protection from cold, drying winds. If growing indoors, plant in loam-based potting compost in full light but not direct sun. Water freely and apply a balanced liquid fertiliser monthly during the growing season, and water sparingly in winter.
Talk about a long wait! I bought two little bougainvillea plants just under a year ago and planted them. One has dark green leaves and the bright pink / crimoson flower bracts, the other has pale green leaves ands white flowers. They were both in flower when I bought them. Iplanted them and they prompty dropped all their flowers and stopped flowering.
Then someone offered to make me a trellis to tie them to so that I could train them upwards against the wall and over our garage roof – which I gratefully accepted. When the trellis was put up against the wall we managed to tie one little branch – just the tip of it – to the new trellis, and I wondered how long I would have to look at the trellis before my Bougainvilleas covered it from view.
I then dutifully watered my bougainvilleas. Every day. I fertilised them. Often. They grew. And they grew, and they grew. But they never flowered. Not even once, slightly in almost a year. The trellis is almost no longer visible – in under a year they have grown a LOT!
And then I started buying gardening books and read up about bougainvilleas. Aaaah … big rookie mistake – all the watering and patient fertilising resulted in prolific growth and no flowers. According to all my books and internet searches, I’ve discovered that … “These plants flower best under stress. Keep the plant slightly on the dry side. Water thoroughly, then allow to become moderately dry between waterings. They respond extremely well to stress, such as drought and heat, and reward you with excellent bloom”. So I stopped “caring” for them, ignored them completely and my reward?
My Bougainvillea has finally rewarded me with a flower …
I am continuing to”ignore” her … in the hope that she rewards me with more flowers. The branches of the white bougainvillea are mingling with those of the crimson one, so one day … we should have a lovely show of crimson and white bougainvilleas cascading up the wall and over the garage roof, onto the pergola …