The big excitement in the garden this week has been the colorful migrating birds that were passing through, especially the orioles that I showed you in my last post. Most of those birds, as well as the grosbeaks, have moved on now. and we're just waiting to see what will turn up next.
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In the meantime, the vegetable garden is quietly flourishing. We will have ripe tomatoes almost before we know it. The squash and corn are looking great and the green beans are up. The peppers and eggplants are looking a bit bedraggled. They got off to a slow start, but I'm expecting them to take off now.
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And the flowers are doing their best to steal the show.
On a recent trip to Arbor Gate to purchase cat's whiskers plants, I was struck by the
Alstroemerias, Peruvian lilies, and made an impulse buy. I hope it will prosper in the spot I've given it.
There's no question about the old 'Caldwell Pink' polyantha rose prospering. It will be full of blooms from now until December.
You can see how the cleome got its common name of spider flower.
This is a hybrid cleome, 'Senorita Rosalita,' that has been very successful for me in the past.
The old
Tecoma stans, or yellowbells, is beginning its bloom.
The first datura bloom of the year opened this week and had already started to close up before I snapped this picture.
And the shrimp plant is beginning to open its strangely shaped blooms.
An old-fashioned favorite, the 4 o'clock, was a passalong from a friend a few years ago. Now I have hundreds of plants!
My pictures never really do justice to the blue of the blue plumbago. The color always looks washed out, but in real life, the flowers are a clear blue.
Gerbera daisies are wonderful color accents for the garden. They are planted in several locations in mine and they are all in bloom just now.
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The rain gods continue to smile on us - we got 0.8 inch today. We should enjoy it while it lasts for summer is coming.
That Alstroemeria is a very exciting plant! Here we see it only at the florist's. This seems to be an excellent year for orioles, we are seeing six or more at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThe Alstroemeria is an experiment. I don't know if it will survive in my garden. But it's lovely while it lasts.
DeleteThe oriole invasion has been truly remarkable. It may be almost past here. I only saw one of the birds today, but what fun it has been!
Lovely blooms Dorothy, your garden is a riot of color already. I don't think I've ever seen an Oriole. I wonder if they might visit one day.
ReplyDeleteThere have been plenty of them in the area this spring. Perhaps some spring you'll get lucky as I did this year.
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