lilies – Page 4 – variegatagal

And yet more plants

We can’t seem to not find anything we like at Strong’s Nursery: 1 basil lime, 1 lemon balm (melissa officinalis), 1 pineapple mint, one Spanish Lavender and another Hakonechloa Aureola (Golden Japanese Forest Grass looking a little burnt). At Home Depot, we finally got our paws on 2 catmints, Nepeta faassenii, though they didn’t look at all too happy sitting out in full sun, plus a larger rosemary specimen, Tuscan Blue. From there I also picked up a cheap 6-pack of marigolds (Durango or Safari series mix, Bolero being the choicest color), 2 more bicolor salvia coccinea, 2 Calico and 2 Purple Flash Ornamental Peppers, and a Tropical Breeze verbena (for my blue-themed planter). My man also picked up some sale items at Calloways, 2 Oertel’s Rose Common Yarrow and 2 Golden Fleece (Dahlberg Daisies).

I planted my yellow-themed box with marigolds and coleus, with the old Salsa Jasmines as bookends to the box. I still have plenty of coleus to spare as I consider setting up another planter box in the same theme.

The first lily bloom is not surprisingly the shortest lilies in the flower beds: Lollypop. It made a showing last Saturday with 2 flowers. An even younger bulb boasts 3 pink-edged blooms on a 18″ trunk. Another surprise bloomer is the Red Peppermint Super Parfait dianthus. One of the seedlings hatched yesterday, and it appears several more seedlings are budding. I’m not sure that I should pinch them back to stimulate more foliage. Other bloomers include Macrantha orange and white gumpo azaleas. The orange actually looks more like what Crimson should have looked like, and the white gumpo is a pretty single-flowered form.

The first purple garden is in place, with the Lorapetalum as centerpiece, and rosemary Tuscan Blue close to the patio door, next to the house wall. It is currently populated with 2 Compact Ballerina white gauras, one Calico and one Purple Flash ornamental pepper, one Spanish Lavender, 2 violet salvia greggiis and 3 bicolor salvia coccinea. I also transplanted the purple picoteed dianthus from the lily bed to this one, since the colors worked well.

The 2 golden fleece and the Cherry Brandy gaura have been planted in the front flower bed, in front of the shorter azaleas.

Plants currently making an entrance in the flower beds: 1 Fanal Astilbe (in corner bed), 1 Picasso calla lily

More seeds are in. I get to experiment with the seed sower I purchased and give the Burpees pellets another shot.

3 bulbs to go, garden under siege

Something is eating the coleus.

They’ve been in their flower beds for almost 2 weeks…and almost every plant is riddled with holes. The holes are small, circular but do not display any browning. I’m concerned that if this siege continues, the coleus will be thoroughly consumed and killed. I’ve been looking into a systemic solution such as Bayer Advanced. I’ve used it in previous years with some success, but it may take time before it goes into effect. I may have to get an insecticidal soap to get faster results.

The most current tally of lily bulbs: 12. Which means only 3 more lilies (mostly Lollypops) have yet to make a showing. I’ve discovered that the Devil’s Wine calla has sent up a tiny spire. The Snowdrift Astilbe is making slow progress, fanning its leaves. With the recent rains, the azalea blooms on Delaware Valley White and Hot Shot are getting washed away, forming something of a papery mess. The other red azalea is finally showing buds, but the Macrantha and the Gumpos have yet to show off any potentials. With the crape myrtles finally fully leafed, the courtyard bed is nearly in part/full shade for most of the day.

In the front yard, the Encore blooms are sparse. Embers has about wrapped up their show, while the Monarch has not made a profuse showing, teasing us with a handful of coral red blooms. However, Twist is about to make a grand showing. The shrub is smothered with buds about to burst. If it doesn’t bloom in the 24 hours, I will be surprised. The rest of the front bed is settling in–the Firehouse nandinas are shedding the last of their winter coats. The 2 Dallas Stars have put out new straps. Still no signs of life from the Hosta Minutemen or the astilbe Fanal and Amerika.

Seed starting kits can dry up, so it’s always important to check the water level to make sure seedlings are getting the necessary moisture. Last night, I discovered that the water reservoir had been emptied, and the dianthus seedlings were the first to show any stress. I had intended to transplant them to their new homes, but it will have to wait until they are revitalized.

6 more bulbs to go, more seeds, and the search for more flowers

I counted 9 lily bulbs out of the 15 asiatics have sprouted. Only the lollypops are not in evidence. The flower bed is almost in full shade now. The tallest of the lilies (almost a foot tall) has begun its lean toward the sun. Of the azaleas in the same bed, only Hot Shot and Delaware Valley White have bloomed. Note: overhead watering should be avoided for these plants. I’m just not convinced that it is the preferred method. I always had better results using a soaker hose.

The lone astilbe in this bed continues to leaf out, but I don’t think it will bloom this year. We will have to see. The pansies are rapidly declining as the heat ramps up, but the dianthus are taking over, putting out masses of red and white blooms. Speaking of dianthus, my seedlings are raking the top of the starter tray. I plan to transfer them to pots soon to finish their growth outdoors. I love these vigorous little plants so much that I’m considering investing in another packet of seeds.

The 200 impatiens are crowding their tray pockets, but I’m a little leery of transplanting them. They seem to be more delicate than the dianthus. However I’ve popped the tray off to see how well they do with better circulation. Of this tray system, only 7 cells remain empty. It appears that the seeds in these perished due to mold or contamination. I am uncertain that I will purchase cell replacements since they are only available online. I imagine this system is beneficial for the types of seeds that require more starting maintenance than others.

I’ve noticed that with the daylilies receiving more sun they have put on a few inches and new strap leaves. It appears that they have settled into their new homes and have begun their journey to summer blooms. The free Hyperion that I received with the Dallas Stars has shown the most progress. Also, regarding fast starts, it only took a little more than 48 hours for the basil I sowed to germinate. I almost missed seeing the Red Rubin basil germinate (because of their rich dark leaves against the soil) but apparently basil are fast-growing. All of the seedlings have their cotyledons, whereas the catmint did not make an entrance until the 3rd-4th day, of which I’ve seen only 2-3 starts so far. I’m not sure if this is typical of catmint or if they dislike the starter soil I’m using. It’s also taking some time to convince the salvia cuttings to enjoy their controlled environment, but I think the secret is water, water, water…until they take root.

With so many plants under our grow lights, I’m hooked into starting more plants from seed. Right now I’m pondering snapdragons, more dianthus and felicia, and maybe even petunias. I also would like to get a hold of some ornamental pepper plants too. And more natural bug repelling plants, such as catmints, lavenders, and marigolds.

Seedlings and flower beds installed

I mentioned last week that the dianthus seedlings were the first to germinate. However, what I noticed the next day were the impatiens starting to burst out of their casings. I found many of the tray cells occupied by flecks of white. So I’m happy to note that it took about 4-5 days to finally see some activity from them.

Saturday morning, the rest of the dianthus had begun to bloom, 2 carmine reds and 1 picoteed (Telstar) violet. I was also pleased to discover that at least one of the lily bulbs (Red Alert?) I had planted had burst through the soil. The Snowdrift Astilbe seems to like its new home because its leaves have begun to color in and unfurl. With the warm (70 degrees) temperatures we’ve had all week, it seems that nature has switched to full throttle. Even the crape myrtles have begun to leaf out. Of course, with the onset of heat, that means the violas begin to wilt.

Our landlord brought over 10 bags of soil amendment and 10 bags of black mulch on Saturday afternoon. We then proceeded over to Strong’s Nursery and acquired the fixtures in our front flower beds. The finally tally? Three Emerald Snow lorapetalums, 2 Firehouse Nandinas, 1 Moon Bay Nandina, 2 Encore Azaleas Autumn Embers, 1 Autumn Twist, 1 Autumn Monarch, and 3 Hakonechloa macras Aureola (or Japanese Forest Grass All Gold). The Hakonechloas were a surprise discovery…we managed to snag the last 3 at the nursery. Along with these shrubs, we installed the Astilbe Fanals and Amerika and the 2 Hosta Minutemen (which I had potted earlier in the week).

On Sunday, we ventured north to look at some new nurseries. Lewisville had one off 35N but it was closed for Easter Sunday. So we ventured west into Flower Mound, but discovered that Huggins Nursery had recently come under new management and found a very sparse selection of plants. I got a sniff of the scented geraniums, saw some salvias, and finally went home with 2 Foxtail ferns (the first I’ve seen for the season). We then journeyed back south, hit another Lowes and Home Depot before trekking over to Christina’s in North Dallas. I’m never disappointed with this nursery…they had a vast selection of plants on sale, and I ended up bringing home an 18 count flat of Coleus Wizard mix. Pictures soon!

Azaleas, lilies, and germinating seeds

Saturday, I brought home some $1.88 azaleas that were on special at Lowes. For the price, I couldn’t resist picking up 8 of them, even though they weren’t the Encore types. I picked up two each of the Gumpo Pinks and Whites, 1 Hot Shot, 1 Macrantha Orange, 1 Crimson and a Delaware Valley White. On Sunday, I then installed them into the courtyard bed next to the fence along with the Navona, Lollypop and Red Alert lilies. I also got around to putting the Hyperion daylily as well as the Snowdrift Astilbe. I’m hoping that with the onset of summer the azaleas will receive enough shade under the myrtles to survive the Texas heat.

Prior to that, we finally got finished laying out the stone for the last front bed, next to the fence under the crape myrtle. Currently, a very small patch of the bed receives 2 hours of noon sun, but I suspect that will disappear once the myrtle leafs out. We went ahead and planted 3 hostas, Gold Standard on each corner of the bed. I also felt that after seeing the dessicated remains of Minuteman that I’d try to revive them by potting them up first. So 2 Minuteman and 2 remaining Gold Standards are sitting in pots under the full shade of Photinias, along with some salvia cuttings that I took earlier in the week.

Late Sunday night, I finally got around to testing our new seed starting venture. We had earlier in the week finished construction on a grow light in our second, unused bathroom. We invested about $85 in PVC, workshop lights and “plant” bulbs, which we used to make our DIY light plant stand. We invested about $15 in a seedling starter kit from Burpees. Then our basil, dianthus and impatiens seeds arrived from Stokes. I’m not entirely convinced that we’ll be successful growing impatiens under the light conditions, having read that these flowers absolutely require a heat mat. But we shall see. I’m also not exactly thrilled with the starter kit; the plastic warped from the hot tap water with poured in, and the plug medium was extremely messy. Those impatiens/dianthus seeds are so incredibly tiny, they need forceps to sow–I’m sure I must have lost 5-7 seeds per plug. If I don’t get roughly 200 out of the 250 seeds I supposedly planted, then I’m fairly certain this seed starting venture will be a bust. (FYI the starter kit has room for only 75 plugs.)

I forgot to mention that 1 of the dianthus that I carried with me from the patio garden and transplanted into the courtyard bed has bloomed. It was a white dianthus. I can’t wait to see the other 3 transplants to put out color…these plants are a testament to the hardiness of the species–long-lived even under harsh, transitory conditions. I have one more dianthus that I have yet to place into the landscape…and after seeing the successful bloom on the white, I’m ready to put it in. Maybe I will have some luck with the Red Peppermint seeds that I’ve started…