Showing posts with label GBBD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GBBD. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2011

Thank you to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I'm very excited to be participating for the first time.

Spring is bursting out all over town here - daffodils, hyacinth, forsythia and weeping cherry trees. Here at my house, I have mostly containers filled with pansies. As the weather continues to warm up, these pansies will be replaced with summer annuals and a few perennials. But for now, here's what's blooming at my house:

The cute little faces of the pansies greet me by the front door

A little green caterpillar has joined the purple pansies

And an orange snail has nestled into the smaller flower box on the patio

A yellow mushroom and little "flying" bugs adorn the container in the corner


The rose bush my hubby gave me as a gift a for Valentine's Day last year has started to show some new growth. 

The strawberry plant is showing more and more blooms each day. My kids are so excited for the strawberries to come!

I have eight new impatiens plants I made from cuttings this year. One of them is blooming! I'm so excited these are doing well and can't wait to see them in the garden next month. 

Hope you enjoyed the little tour around my yard and I look forward to seeing you again next month for the May Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

After reading my post, be sure to head on over to May Dreams Gardens to check out Carol's April Bloom Day post to see what's blooming around the world!

What's Blooming: August

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month.



It's been a rainy past few days here in western Long Island, but at least I got to photograph a few of my plants while the sun was still shining.





The Black-eyed Susan's have finally bloomed. I just love their cheery yellow with the dark center.









The purple Salvia has really done well in these boxes and their darkness is a nice contrast to the lemon-yellow Zinnias.





Every time I look at these impatiens, I am still in awe that these were from cuttings I made. Look how full and lush they are!





The Morning Glory vines have really taken off and trying to grab hold of anything they can climb on. I love the shade it provides from inside the house and the way it looks from the outside. I planted a mix of seeds, so the flower colors range from a deep purple to pink to a deep blue. So pretty.









The ferns in the shady area of my backyard are also doing well (as you can see from the fertile fronds on the fern below). But even happier is the Tradescantia zebrina creeping along the grass below the container.









The Caladiums look great, although the spotted pink/green ones are competing a bit with the white Impatiens. Still, they look full and lush and add a spot of color under that maple tree.





The pink Begonias I transplanted from a full shade spot are much happier now in this partial shade spot.





Next year I must remind myself to only plant Coleus in this container. I love the foliage color, but it completely choked out the other plants I had planted with it. Frankly, I don't really mind because it looks so healthy, but still...



I've noticed some garden nurseries advertising garden mums already. Much too early for me - I'm hoping my garden continues to look good through the month of September. See you next month!



Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

What's Blooming: July

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day! Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month.

What a difference a month can make! Everything has really taken off and is blooming and growing well, despite the heat and humidity we've had recently.

The Morning Glory vines have finally taken off. They started out very vigorous indoors and then when I put them outside, they seemed to take a while to climb and look healthy. But now, they are climbing everywhere and some pink and purple buds are starting to appear.

I honestly thought my flower boxes were going to have some more space this year. But my Impatiens and Geranium cuttings have really done well. I love the deep purple Salvia and the bright yellow Zinnia.

The white Angelonia augustifolia (Summer Snapdragon) looks great here next to the pink Verbena. I love that lone pansy still holding on, despite the heat and sun!

The pink Impatiens are my cutting plants I created this spring. I am so happy with how they have bloomed and flourished! The hot pink Geranium is also a cutting and I think it looks nice peeking out above the purple Pentas.

I overwintered this Geranium plant for the first time this past winter. Last month, I honestly didn't know if it was going to bloom at all. But look at it now! It is like a hot pink explosion of color!
Probably planted too many annual Dahlias in this container, but oh well. They still look good and are enjoying all the sun. The yellow chiffon Superbells are getting crowded out though.

Another plant I overwintered inside was my Croton. What started as a small little desk plant has morphed into this huge beauty outside my front door. Just two weeks ago the new growth appeared and now it looks so healthy and happy.

I repotted the Columbine seedlings to a bigger pot. I doubt they will bloom this year, but there is hope for next year. I see some traces of Columbine leaf miner on some of the leaves. Anyone have experience with those? Simple removal of the leaves should help, right?

I love the color of this trailing Geranium. I looks like its peering through the vines.

The Ferns and Hostas I planted last month seem to be doing well, with the exception of the  Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) on the left. For some reason, it just flopped open and has been like that for the past few weeks. It's being well watered and fertilized. Anyone have any ideas what's wrong with it? I've seen a few new fronds, so I know its ok, but it just doesn't look great. The Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) on the right, by contrast, is looking very happy and lush.

The Lady-in-Red fern (Athyrium filix-femina var. angustum) is also doing quite well and I like the stark contrast in color and leaf form of the Tradescantia zebrina.

In the backyard, the shade plants are also doing well. Under the maple tree, the Impatiens and Caladium are looking great. The Caladium on the right is not as large as the other two, but I think it's because it gets a little less dappled sun than the others.

This is the Impatiens' mother plant from which I took the cuttings. Blooming profusely.

These cute little pink begonias were in another box mixed with Coleus. But they were getting crowded out by the Coleus, so now they are in their own box and looking much better. I love the delicate pinkness of them.

The other two flower boxes filled with Impatiens and Lobelia have also come into their stride.

Hopefully everything will continue to do well despite the warm summer we are having here on Long Island. Next month I hope to see some Black-Eyed Susans I planted as well as more Morning Glory flowers.

Many thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.