I arrived home to find my potted garden in glorious bloom! My kind neighbor had watered all the annuals transplanted before I left -- result, potsful of bright colors. And, yes, I have a lot of snapdragons this year. Not only are they reliable, but in our climate, snaps are perennial, growing a little bit bigger each year.
The pyracantha is a cloud of blossoms -- plenty of little red pomes for the robins next winter. Right now, the bees abound. AND. I finally captured a decent picture of one at work.
More happy snapdragons in the round horse-feed containers. I took a chance with marigolds, which I'm quite fond of but, as a rule, avoid, because the bugs devour them unmercifully. And unfortunately, the crystal palace lobelia, another favorite, does not photograph well. I'd have to really get to know PhotoShop to bring up the deep, rich blue of those flowers in the lower right hand corner above.
Nice color mix on this snap.
Oh, yes, though I'm not a serious rosarian, I have four neat miniature bushes. You know, the kind you buy in the grocery store as a gift when you can't think of anything else to give to an elderly aunt. They work quite well in my larger pots, growing into small bushes with pretty little roses. As long as they get watered, they're content.
Another old fashioned favorite -- dianthus. Very productive -- and perennial in Prescott.
Even the coral bells were blooming when I arrived home...
...as was the iris, one of the few tame plants actually in the ground at Chez GrannyJ. Bearded iris are quite at home hereabouts; one can find them growing without any help in abandoned locales where there may have once been houses, now long gone.
Also in the ground, my supposed-to-be-red California poppy blossomed wildly, immediately followed by a proliferation of seed pods; I haven't decided whether to deadhead the plant for more flowers. If you look very, very carefully, you will see that the underside of the petals is red. Curious. My aunt up in Victoria had a neighbor lady whose California poppies were red or white. She believed in evolution -- if a flower showed up in orange or another color, she immediately cut it off. Needless to say, her flowers bred true. The poppy, BTW, sits right next to my Famous Everblooming , very R.E.D. Paintbrush, as you can see.
More paint brush. Aren't they super? This plant is my version of those gigantic cabbages grown up in Alaska -- it really impresses everybody.
And here is another of the local wildflowers -- desert four o'clock. Each year, this particular plant just grows a little bit bigger, with more flowers in the spring and later once the monsoons arrive. Very easy from the pretty seeds -- if you pick the right spot.
I arrived home to find my potted garden in glorious bloom! My kind neighbor had watered all the annuals transplanted before I left -- result, potsful of bright colors. And, yes, I have a lot of snapdragons this year. Not only are they reliable, but in our climate, snaps are perennial, growing a little bit bigger each year.
The pyracantha is a cloud of blossoms -- plenty of little red pomes for the robins next winter. Right now, the bees abound. AND. I finally captured a decent picture of one at work.
More happy snapdragons in the round horse-feed containers. I took a chance with marigolds, which I'm quite fond of but, as a rule, avoid, because the bugs devour them unmercifully. And unfortunately, the crystal palace lobelia, another favorite, does not photograph well. I'd have to really get to know PhotoShop to bring up the deep, rich blue of those flowers in the lower right hand corner above.
Nice color mix on this snap.
Oh, yes, though I'm not a serious rosarian, I have four neat miniature bushes. You know, the kind you buy in the grocery store as a gift when you can't think of anything else to give to an elderly aunt. They work quite well in my larger pots, growing into small bushes with pretty little roses. As long as they get watered, they're content.
Another old fashioned favorite -- dianthus. Very productive -- and perennial in Prescott.
Even the coral bells were blooming when I arrived home...
...as was the iris, one of the few tame plants actually in the ground at Chez GrannyJ. Bearded iris are quite at home hereabouts; one can find them growing without any help in abandoned locales where there may have once been houses, now long gone.
Also in the ground, my supposed-to-be-red California poppy blossomed wildly, immediately followed by a proliferation of seed pods; I haven't decided whether to deadhead the plant for more flowers. If you look very, very carefully, you will see that the underside of the petals is red. Curious. My aunt up in Victoria had a neighbor lady whose California poppies were red or white. She believed in evolution -- if a flower showed up in orange or another color, she immediately cut it off. Needless to say, her flowers bred true. The poppy, BTW, sits right next to my Famous Everblooming , very R.E.D. Paintbrush, as you can see.
More paint brush. Aren't they super? This plant is my version of those gigantic cabbages grown up in Alaska -- it really impresses everybody.
And here is another of the local wildflowers -- desert four o'clock. Each year, this particular plant just grows a little bit bigger, with more flowers in the spring and later once the monsoons arrive. Very easy from the pretty seeds -- if you pick the right spot.
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17 comments:
Fantastic pictures. You have some beautiful flowers. Damn good shot on the bee.
Flower pictures bore me. But that one of the iris was positively voluptuous.
I think I want to live in your backyard. Your flowers are gorgeous.
Great photos and flowers GrannyJ!!
Tis the season right now for all sorts of blooming goodness. :)
steve -- I was amazed at how bounteous they were when I arrived home -- and thankful for good neighbors.
boonie -- iris are like that, as van Gough and other French artists discovered.
ronni -- the pots are out front for everyone to enjoy!
tombo -- you are so right! I have to go check my favorite delphinium spot to see if the several plants lasted through the recent dryness. I think I'll wait until tomorrow when it cools off.
Your photo of the paintbrush looks sort of like some ocean foliage. It has a certain wispyness about it
The Iris photo is a work of art... print it, frame it, hang it!
Next winter, it will keep you warm.
mark
the artful adventurer
qd -- that's an interesting idea -- never occured to me, but then most of my ocean experience has been in the South Atlantic, where there was little to no sea plants.
mark -- believe it or not, it's almost impossible to take a close-up picture of an iris which doesn't turn out voluptuous and remarkable. It's the nature of the critter.
Great flower pictures! I really like the desert four o'clock
Your garden is just lovely! Beautiful photos of all the flowers.
Amazing what a little well distrubuted precipitation will do.
Lovely shots.
Hermano
Well, I was going to comment on the O'Keefe-ness of the iris, but then I saw the four o'clock. Just magnificent! -FNFM
warren -- that particular four o'clock is one of my most favorite plants. It's a huge, spreading critter; must have a HUGE sweet potato down there near the center of the earth.
meggie -- I (and my flowers) thank you for the nice words.
bro -- it's especially neat if you have good neighbors to distribute the recips...
FNFM -- that makes it two for the four o'clock! Thanks for reminding me of O'Keefe & the iris, tho it's amazing (or not so amazing) how the iris has caught the attention of so many artists.
WOW! I knew you were a good photographer but this takes the cake! I just want to sit down all day and stare at the 4 o'clock
tall nephew -- I'd be happy to send you a few seeds for your own desert 4 o'clock, but I fear that the great sweet potato down a couple of feet in the earth would rot in your lovely moist soil! If you're inclined to experiment, using, say, a 5-gallon pot filled with sand mixed with a little bit of potting soil, watered every couple of days until a new plant is established, I'll send a handful.
Wow aunt, I mean Granny J, you're the best! Mother donated a pot to my cause and I will be staring at the mailbox for the next few weeks. (waiting for seeds that is)
TN -- done deal!
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