Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[SquarePeg]

More dahlias!

 

[greybeard60 33]

Blooms this morning

Nikon D850, AF 35-70 f/2.8 @ 70mm f/8 iso 64

 

[Ysarex112 106]

I love when neighborhood walkers and dog owners stop to chat, as long as I’m not out there watering in my pjs. You know how it is, you’re having your morning coffee in your pjs on your back porch and you spot a weed that needs pulling so you go get it and then you see something around the side that needs staking or watering and next thing you know you’re watering the front roses in your pajamas.

Or is that just me?

Yep, that flower garden is on a major street that forms the eastern boundary of the neighborhood -- so a fair amount of both pedestrian and auto traffic. Having the neighbors stop to say high is definitely a plus for me. And no worries about pjs as it's not connected to my house. A couple doors down, I have to get dressed and walk over.

 

[cgw143 169]

More dahlias!

View attachment 290124

You can never be too rich, too thin--or have too many dahlias!

 

[terri60 1]

More dahlias!

View attachment 290124

You have the magic touch with these - every variety just blooms brilliantly under your care!

Love the little pitcher (or bucket, whatever it is!).

 

[cgw143 169]

You have the magic touch with these - every variety just blooms brilliantly under your care!

Love the little pitcher (or bucket, whatever it is!).

Them dahlias are a great demonstration of the "Fibonacci sequence." Sorry but I'm surrounded by
over-sharing geeks who adore this stuff-hah!

 

[terri60 1]

Them dahlias are a great demonstration of the "Fibonacci sequence." Sorry but I'm surrounded by
over-sharing geeks who adore this stuff-hah!

Let's not spoil things with math, now.

 

[jeffashman35 8]

My garden is a wreck, but I managed to find some nice flowers in spite of that. As I get a better idea of what will grow here in containers, it should start looking better. My zinnias are 3 to 4 feet tall and all laying over, some all dried out on the bottom half but green on the top.

1 Gazinia - planted a lot of these, but only this one bloomed. Turns out I'm one zone too far north for their liking.
sep05202501 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Zinnia - all tall and straggly looking, but pretty flowers.
sep05202502 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Bougainvillea - Can't wait for this to grow larger. The "flowers" really pop in the right light.
sep05202503 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Zinnia
sep05202504 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Madagascar Periwinkle - These guys love the heat.
sep05202505 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

6 Sunpatiens - A specialty Impatient that can tolerate direct sun, but sure is temperamental. I pretty much have to drown the thing each day to keep it alive.
sep05202506 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

 

[terri60 1]

My garden is a wreck, but I managed to find some nice flowers in spite of that. As I get a better idea of what will grow here in containers, it should start looking better. My zinnias are 3 to 4 feet tall and all laying over, some all dried out on the bottom half but green on the top.

1 Gazinia - planted a lot of these, but only this one bloomed. Turns out I'm one zone too far north for their liking.
sep05202501 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Zinnia - all tall and straggly looking, but pretty flowers.
sep05202502 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Bougainvillea - Can't wait for this to grow larger. The "flowers" really pop in the right light.
sep05202503 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Zinnia
sep05202504 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Madagascar Periwinkle - These guys love the heat.
sep05202505 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

6 Sunpatiens - A specialty Impatient that can tolerate direct sun, but sure is temperamental. I pretty much have to drown the thing each day to keep it alive.
sep05202506 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Considering the heat index you all have down there, I think you're doing quite well! I struggled a lot with the heat while living in Georgia. I came to rely on vinca (aka periwinkle, but for whatever reason they were always sold as vinca there), and they were so hardy they acted as perennials most years. Spread everywhere and I just loved that.

Also liked sunpatiens and just about any kind of superbell I could find - very hardy.

Lovely shots!

 

[SquarePeg]

My garden is a wreck, but I managed to find some nice flowers in spite of that. As I get a better idea of what will grow here in containers, it should start looking better. My zinnias are 3 to 4 feet tall and all laying over, some all dried out on the bottom half but green on the top.

1 Gazinia - planted a lot of these, but only this one bloomed. Turns out I'm one zone too far north for their liking.
sep05202501 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Zinnia - all tall and straggly looking, but pretty flowers.
sep05202502 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Bougainvillea - Can't wait for this to grow larger. The "flowers" really pop in the right light.
sep05202503 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Zinnia
sep05202504 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Madagascar Periwinkle - These guys love the heat.
sep05202505 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

6 Sunpatiens - A specialty Impatient that can tolerate direct sun, but sure is temperamental. I pretty much have to drown the thing each day to keep it alive.
sep05202506 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

I haven’t had a lot of success growing zinnias in containers. By mid summer the foliage is burnt and they look awful.

 

[jeffashman35 8]

Considering the heat index you all have down there, I think you're doing quite well! I struggled a lot with the heat while living in Georgia. I came to rely on vinca (aka periwinkle, but for whatever reason they were always sold as vinca there), and they were so hardy they acted as perennials most years. Spread everywhere and I just loved that.

Also liked sunpatiens and just about any kind of superbell I could find - very hardy.

Lovely shots!

Yes, Vinca and Periwinkle. It seems places like Calloway's call them Madagascar Periwinkle and places like WM call them Vinca, but they are one of the few that thrive in our climate. The patio is getting a makeover and will have many more Periwinkle along with French Marigolds and Texas hardy Lavender, because both of those are supposed to do a better job of keeping mosquitoes away from patios. We'll see.

I haven’t had a lot of success growing zinnias in containers. By mid summer the foliage is burnt and they look awful.

Yep, that is pretty much what happened. They grew to 3-4 feet tall, dried out below, and a good wind layed them all over. The flowers are pretty, but the picture is not. Slowly replacing with hardier plants that will thrive in a planter. I mowed today and hit my Basil with the line trimmer and the air just smelled heavenly. I've planted a Rebel Jasmine by the back fence, and it looks like it is already taking off, so should be good and ready to withstand Winter when the cold weather sets in. The Zephirine Drouhin is also taking off in its planter and I added a five-foot obelisk trellis to the planter for it to climb. Plans are in the works to take a cutting of Wild Grape and propagate it and run it up a large arbor or pergola. Pictures of the work coming soon.

 

[greybeard60 33]

Hibiscus center this morning

 

[SquarePeg]

Yes, Vinca and Periwinkle. It seems places like Calloway's call them Madagascar Periwinkle and places like WM call them Vinca, but they are one of the few that thrive in our climate. The patio is getting a makeover and will have many more Periwinkle along with French Marigolds and Texas hardy Lavender, because both of those are supposed to do a better job of keeping mosquitoes away from patios. We'll see.

Yep, that is pretty much what happened. They grew to 3-4 feet tall, dried out below, and a good wind layed them all over. The flowers are pretty, but the picture is not. Slowly replacing with hardier plants that will thrive in a planter. I mowed today and hit my Basil with the line trimmer and the air just smelled heavenly. I've planted a Rebel Jasmine by the back fence, and it looks like it is already taking off, so should be good and ready to withstand Winter when the cold weather sets in. The Zephirine Drouhin is also taking off in its planter and I added a five-foot obelisk trellis to the planter for it to climb. Plans are in the works to take a cutting of Wild Grape and propagate it and run it up a large arbor or pergola. Pictures of the work coming soon.

Have you tried zinnias direct sowed in the ground? They do ok in poor soil and don’t need a ton of water.

 

[jeffashman35 8]

Have you tried zinnias direct sowed in the ground? They do ok in poor soil and don’t need a ton of water.

View attachment 290191

I will try that next year, because the ones I have seeded and are coming up in the lawn. Unfortunately, not the place where I want them growing... I try growing everything in containers, because we have very heavy clay soil, called black gumbo, that makes growing things difficult. I may try to build some more raised beds, but everything has gotten so expensive anymore, for what the weather resistant lumber costs I can about buy the metal above ground beds, but wood looks so much nicer. I'm going for the butterfly trifecta next year, zinnias, purple sage (salvia), and passionflower (a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary). I may look for a spiny ash to plant in the yard as well, because they are host to tiger swallowtail butterflies. I had one years ago that was a volunteer, and they grow quite well here.

 

[SquarePeg]

I will try that next year, because the ones I have seeded and are coming up in the lawn. Unfortunately, not the place where I want them growing... I try growing everything in containers, because we have very heavy clay soil, called black gumbo, that makes growing things difficult. I may try to build some more raised beds, but everything has gotten so expensive anymore, for what the weather resistant lumber costs I can about buy the metal above ground beds, but wood looks so much nicer. I'm going for the butterfly trifecta next year, zinnias, purple sage (salvia), and passionflower (a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary). I may look for a spiny ash to plant in the yard as well, because they are host to tiger swallowtail butterflies. I had one years ago that was a volunteer, and they grow quite well here.

I went with the metal raised beds. I got them on Amazon and they were not that expensive. I like the look of the wood beds but didn’t want to deal with replacing them when they eventually rot. The ones I got are by Plant & Pot company. I paid $35 each for two 4x2x1 and they’re very sturdy. It’s only year 2 though. I liked them enough that I bought 3 more other sizes. Just using them for my dahlias and a few clematis. The biggest expense was the soil to fill them!