Gardening neighbors

Passiflora - Passion Flower

I surmise now that not everyone is passionate about gardening. Hell, some people could give a rats patootie. It is evident just driving down the road or though a neighborhood. I don't expect everyone to care like I do, or like just about anyone reading this. But some people never, ever, go out in their yard. Some people just scalp mow and that's it. Never having planted a flower or tree. Oh well. To each his own.

I do have one neighbor who cares. She lives up at the end of the street. She always looks as she is driving past, and every once in a while will stop by and ask what we've done that is new. I've shared clippings, seedlings and occasional wisdom with her. She does the same. Yesterday she offered me some babies of some plants that I have been meaning to get for a long time. Passiflora, or Passion Flower vine, Wisteria and Hummingbird vine. She keeps pulling them up and I keep wanting them. To return the favor, she was wanting some butterfly bushes. We have plenty, so off she went and already planted some.

My neighbor also rescues Eastern Box Turtles. Some are missing appendages, some with cracked shells. The has a corner of her yard cordoned off and allows them to eat well and be safe. And they do eat well, eating all they want of corn on the cob, tomatoes and other veggies from the garden and worms. They seem to love it there as they have even started to breed. A couple of years ago, one of the females, the one with only 3 legs, laid eggs and they hatched. This past July she did it again. So we are waiting and hopefully I will be able to post some pics of newborn box turtles!

Two-year old box turtles

Late summer thoughts...

Echinacea in their last throes

Late summer is upon us. Flowers are fading, growth is slowing and there is sense of urgency just starting to creep in the background. I can hear the squirrels gnawing away at the hickory nuts in the neighbors tree. They are also seen using their little squirrel highway, the fence top across the street, hauling large pears back to the monstrous Willow Oak where they live, trying to pack on the pounds, or in their case, the ounces, for the upcoming winter season.

The Goldfinches are busily plucking all of the available seeds from the echinacea and cosmos and have managed to macerate the Zinnias. As I said in the last installment, the Ginger lilies are blooming nicely now and the house is filled with wonderful fragrance.

Ginger lily

Then there are always last minute surprises in the garden. A last bloom on the Gardenia, a late rose or Crocosmia blossom. It is like a last ditch effort to reproduce, to get the last chance in the season to be pollinated.

Crocosmia blooming now in my garden. I planted the bulbs in the spring, not expecting anything until next spring.

Yellow rose blooming now

Then there are the late bloomers anyway. The toad lilies are getting ready to bloom, and are now about 3 feet tall. They are getting later and later due to the fact that the River Birch we planted is robbing them of much needed light. I'm just noticing this now. The photo I took today says we are way off on the blooming time. An older image shows it was blooming in mid July back in 2009. I guess it is time to move them. We started with one plant and they have self propagated and take up a 4'x4' space.

Toad Lily, July 16, 2009

Toad lilies, August 26, 2013

Unformed Toad lily blossom, August 26, 2013

Late summer blooms and other thoughts

Polianthes tuberosa

Upon my return from India, I was greeted with weeds, and lots of them. Most of the plants fared well as we had a lot of rain and milder temperatures than we usually have in Central Virgina at the end of July. Moving all of the potted plants to the back yard under the trees seemed to be the right call also.

The late summer blooms are starting to appear. Tuberoses and Ginger Lilies are blossoming right now, a little early for our area. They usually come out late August, but still seem to be too late to the party and get zapped too soon by colder weather. If we only had another 30-60 days.... oh well. I'll take what I can get.

I love these plants. My wife introduced me to these and other plants whose blooms present us with wonderful scents. Most come from white flowers and are used throughout India and other countries as garlands for puja and other offerings. When in India, we will have the driver stop so I can get some before heading out for long drives, just to smell the wonderful fragrance as we travel around.

hedychium - Ginger Lily

It is hit or miss, it seems, for the tuberoses here. Sometimes we have plenty, sometimes just a single stalk. The Ginger lilies, on the other hand, have been doing quite well for the last several years and are starting to get out of control. They have to be treated like bamboo, which spreads by shooting out rhizomes. It needs to have a barrier set several inches into the ground to stop the spread. I failed to do that on 3 sides and they are spreading into the grass. I guess it could be worse. At least they are growing. Each winter I let the stalks brown up and die. I then cut them back to ground level and cover them with a thick blanket of mulch. So far so good. We did not, however, have much luck with the variegated variety. They didn't make it through the winter.

The last blooms from the Jasmine are still there and one last flower from the gardenia before fall sets in. We will be bringing in lots of cuttings from the Ginger lilies in the next few weeks. The house is going to smell wonderful!

last of the Jasmine...

Polianthes tuberosa

Albizia Julibrissin: Mimosa or Silk tree

Albizia Julibrissin: Mimosa or Silk tree as it is more commonly known, grows everywhere in India. Unlike ours back here in Virginia, the blossoms are almost all magenta, where ours is mostly white with light pink tips. The leaves are a bit different also, being a bit larger and more space between each set.

We saw these in Bangalore in 2011 and the trees can get massive, covering an entire city block with it's ever spreading branches.

Check back for more images and stories of plants in Incredible India!

Frangipani planted everywhere in India

Frangipani or Plumeria grows everywhere in India

Just a quick shot of the Frangipani or Plumeria plant. It grows in most parks and even in the median strip of roads. Always a treat for the eye!

A little taste of India flora

India is amazing. There is a huge "Green Movement" in most major cities, where planting trees, bushes and flowers in almost all conceivable and inconceivable spots is not only encouraged, but practiced, not only by the government, but by most Indians. Even in the poorest neighborhoods, those without means to even eat properly, have a potted plant nearby. There are trees and shrubs and flowering plants in the median of most streets, parks and roundabouts.

In the next couple of weeks, I will be posting images of some of the flora I saw in India this trip. We were in Banglalore, Delhi, Agra and Amritsar and on most roads in between. I will try to identify the plants, though hard, as I'm not familiar with them all. I will do some research as I go along and might even go back and edit over the next few weeks, so check back.  If anyone can identify the plants in the images, please feel free to comment, and I will adjust as needed.

There is not much going on in my garden at the moment. Just weeds. Weeds and more weeds. The August blooming of the Ginger Lilies and Tuberoses are coming up. They never disappoint. I'm also going to be deadheading some of the echinacea, to see if they will rebloom before the fall.

While I will miss India and am sad to depart, it is good to be home.