Still blooming its head off is our Midnight Blue rose. Yes, the bloom heads seem to be smaller this season, but this high performer has still more flower power in store for the coming week. Count all those new buds!
Two hours later, the Midnight Blue bares it all!
I brought indoors all of my potted tender plants Thursday night in advance of the cold front that hit us. The big potted ginger lilies didn’t join the others in converted bathroom greenhouse, since I had taken up all of the available counter space. For about next 4-5 months, these plants will be hanging out here in relative safety.
I really need to snip off that chili pepper bloom head. But then again, I think all the young pepper plants could use a trim to encourage more foliage. Not so with the new hostas leafing out.
I took a cutting of the groundcover salvia sinaloensis, or more commonly known as bicolor or Sinaloa sage, when I trimmed them back earlier in the week. This salvia is unusual in that it hasn’t turned woody and that it spreads via runners. It competed against an aggressive yarrow and has managed to hold its own, with a little intervention. The electric blue blooms have been disappointingly sparse and sporadic in its current part-sun location. It’s better valued for its foliage though; it has distinctive purple-tipped leaves on new and fall growth.
I do need to move some of the pots into the bathtub, to make room for seed starting flats. Saturday morning, I collected 3 sandwich baggies of seeds from the Cosmic Yellow Cosmos, Durango Marigold Red and Durango Marigold Bolero.
The Durango Marigold Boleros tend to bloom on the smaller side compared to the standard marigold colors.
Sadly, I didn’t collect any Cosmic Red cosmos seeds or Lady in Red salvia coccinea. The red cosmos was nowhere in sight, while I didn’t have much luck finding seeds of Lady in Red still on the plants.
A bouquet greeted me this morning.
Methinks he was trying to bribe me to sleep in. It was a cold day today, the coldest yet this season. Winter is coming.
Another day, another eggplant flower. The fruit is looking pretty good, despite some skin damage.
Purple pastel salvia greggii behind a red salvia greggii cutting in bloom.
In the same bed, you can see the hack job I performed on the Oertel’s Rose yarrow, which was once three times its current size. That doesn’t stop it from budding and blooming. But the smaller footprint allowed some room for the irises; here, Mariposa Skies is putting out new foliage. A neighboring iris, Immortality, also displays new leaves.
In the lily bed, the white mums are aging gracefully into blush pink senescence. Now, if I hadn’t stuck markers where those strap leaves were emerging, I’d have forgotten the spider lily bulbs I planted in the bed sometime back in June of this year.
The tree ring out front is still non-stop a-bloomin’! Of course, it’s looking somewhat bedraggled these days–apparently, a hare or a family of them has been using it for daytime cover. So it looks well-trampled in some parts. I can’t bring myself to yank out all the marigolds and salvia. It’s always fascinating to watch how long they will keep blooming their heads off.
I also managed to catch a lone loropetalum bloom. And a nice arrangement of Hot Lips salvia triplets.
Here is something I haven’t observed; fall foliage color on the potted lantana. Is this normal?
And the rest of today’s photos: caladiums, vincas, potato vines, Thai basil, miscellaneous herbs. And let’s not forget the many rose buds on the Midnight Blue.
Unsightly weeds, pests, and uninvited guests beware: I’m hiring a ninja to protect my garden.
That’s right, a ninja.
And not just any ninja, but a RED ninja.
See how he blends easily in with the red flower bed? Natural camouflage.
This is just one of many photos that I browsed through at A Lego A Day. I realize it’s not strictly gardening-related, but I was entertained by the remarkable and funny photos. Please give it a visit and enjoy !