Louisiana iris.
'Black Gamecock'.
'Jeri'.
'Grandpa Ott' morning glory seedlings.
Bees on salvia.
The first photo is bog sage. All the others are 'Blue Bedder' sage. See how much more of a "true blue" the bog sage is? The colors are fairly accurate in these photos, I think. 'Blue Bedder' is pretty, but it's not really blue; it's a nice bluish purple. Bog sage, on the other hand, is actually blue.
Tropical milkweed.
Cleome foliage.
It looks suspiciously similar to a certain other plant that is illegal to grow, but when it blooms, the airy pink flowers are probably a tip-off that it's something different. I like cleome for its old-fashioned charm. It reminds me of my grandmother's garden.
The Oval Bed.
Blanket flower (with Mexican bush sage in the back).
...and here with 'Blue Bedder' salvia.
'Russian Red' canna.
It's grown taller this year than last. Seems to be doing well-- the most successful of the cannas I've tried growing, and it's not getting any special treatment. It's not even in particularly good soil for canna lilies-- just the red sandy soil of our septic pad. A good, hardy plant with tropical-style leaves.
Summer flowers.
Volunteer sunflower.
Growing from seed dropped from the bird feeder over the winter.
Yellow canna.
The dwarf canna planted at the corner of the garage are currently in second place, in the Best Canna contest. The foliage is shorter, of course, and in my opinion somewhat dull compared to 'Russian Red', but it does have tropical appeal.
Our "too-red" rose is still putting out new too-red flowers.
Viburnum.
Gardenia. ('Double Mint'?)
Lantana.
This is one tough plant. I don't think it's cold-hardy much further north than this, but around here, it dies back the ground in winter and returns every spring. The flowers are intensely colorful, ranging from yellow through melon-orange to eye-searing hot pink. It attracts butterflies and doesn't seem to mind heat, humidity, or even drought.
This one is growing out of the fenced yard, in front of the garage (because I was afraid our dogs might eat the berries, which are poisonous). Plants in that area are on their own, so they have to be tough to survive, and the lantana is perfectly happy there. Another plus-- it's deer resistant.
'Lady Margaret' passionflower vine.
There were no flowers when I took this, but they've been blooming for a while, now. The Gulf fritillaries came earlier this summer than last (when they were unusually late, for some reason). There are caterpillars munching down even as I type. Last week, I saw one of them had made its way to our main gate and was in the process of forming its chrysalis. Then this morning I saw that another one on the same gate (a little further ahead in the race) had just emerged and was waiting for its wings to dry/harden/whatever it is that butterfly wings do just after they emerge from the chrysalis.
A whole life cycle unfolding (very visibly) in your own backyard. Passionflower vine would be a great plant for anyone with kids or grandkids!
'Joseph's Coat' rose.
Coreopsis.
These got started from a pass-along clump from Granny L.'s garden. It makes me happy to see them still popping up every year, meandering their way here and there, occasionally aided by transplanting. They're annuals, but there always seems to be at least a few that manage to reseed themselves, even through the pine straw mulch.
Hardy gladiolus.
I haven't been thrilled with the return-rate of the so-called hardy gladiolus I planted the autumn before last. They did well last year, but most didn't come back up! I'm not sure what went wrong. We did have some cold weather, but I thought they would've survived that. I'm unlikely to plant more of them, given these disappointing results-- but never say never...
There were two kinds that have returned. One is an unknown red (no photos, this time). The other is 'Atom', which seems to have come back pretty vigorously, even multiplying into the beginnings of small clumps (like a good little gladiolus). I can recommend 'Atom'!
Hybrid gladiolus.
I think I might try another bag of hybrid glad corms, next year... They can be a bit floppy, but I enjoy the ones that have survived from the first batch we planted so long ago. Most of them have petered out, but a few have been happy enough to multiply, over the years.
The fact that apparently we're not supposed to like them ("funeral flowers", too gaudy, etc.) appeals to my healthy streak of contrariness. I also plant orange, pink, and red all together, just for the heck of it. ;oP
Curcuma elata (giant plume ginger).
When I first started gardening, I never would've thought I'd ever come to like tropical-looking plants-- maybe as a result of not liking our tropical-feeling summers! But when you live in a semi-tropical climate, you're really better off just going with the flow. Give in. Bend the knee (and plant some ginger lilies in your garden). They are beautiful.
Bog sage.
Still months behind; still hundreds of photos to process and post!
