‘Francois Juranville’ cascading

I’m fairly certain other gardeners don’t let him cascade off the arbor like this, but then they probably pay more attention to their gardens than I have lately. This scene struck me as rather idyllic when I walked through it with the camera. I’m not sure what I will do with FJ besides getting out the ladder again. I could trim him in the middle for pedestrian traffic (not much of that here) and leave the sides longish as well as sticking him up in the trees again. You can see that the first attempt was partially successful. Some canes did fall out of the tree, but most of what’s hanging is new growth.


In case you forgot ‘Francois Juranville’ is a once-blooming Rambler, having a huge flush in the spring – they say. Haven’t seen one yet, but this was only his first spring after planting. He had a few unimpressive flowers. Hopefully, next spring he’ll begin to strut his stuff a little better. I mainly just wanted something – anything - to cover that rebar arbor with green, so flowers in the spring are a bonus. FJ is very disease-resistant – even disease-free. And he has a long reach.


Here’s the land of the giants. The ‘Giant Apostle’s Irises’ are even more gigantic now. I really dread digging them up to divide them. They can’t stay there. They’re casting shade on two rose bushes like The Hulk. Gee, there is a color resemblance. Don’t know where I’ll put them given my small garden. They’re absolute devourers of real estate, and they better have a really impressive bloom next year or you know what will happen, don’t you? They’re decent structural plants but too reminiscent of yucca plants which I think are yucky. I do love their shade of green though. They make the ‘Periwinkle’ look sort of medium-sized even though it’s a good five feet across in this view. Gosh, what am I gonna to do with those things???

Ah-ha! Directly across the path from them is a vacant bed at the base of one leg of the rebar arbor, formerly the residence of 'Mme Scipion Cochet', the Hybrid Perpetual, who moved to Archer. It's five feet in diameter. I have a few other spots in mind, but probably not enough for all the little 'Giants' I'm going to have. Party favors, anyone?

Self-sowing

The seed packet said, “If allowed to flower, will readily self-sow for plants next season.” Gee, free plants!

But there’s always a catch to free. If the packet had said “will readily self-sow for plants everywhere”, I might have said, "I’ll pass." The seeds in question are Old Fashioned, Heirloom Mustard.  “Lovely yellow flowers for cool weather color!”, the packet said.

Here are some baby mustard plants that have already readily sown themselves. The blooming plants have been gone for months since hot weather set in. I might add that this is the second round of baby plants in this location. I’m wondering if they’ll ever cease to readily sow.


More.

And more.

And more.

They’re even worse than milkweed for reseeding. Buyer beware. Can you imagine if all these seeds were allowed to grow? Ocala would be one big mustard patch!


There are other plants that readily self-sow. We call these undesirable plants weeds. I’ve been trying to identify the big one above. It has a thick stem, is quite shallow-rooted and easy to pull up even when two feet tall (though I try to get them when they’re just inches tall), and will survive after uprooting for two weeks (or more) laying in the sun. They’re easy to spot by their large leaves.


This is spurge, I believe. I detest it. RoundUp takes care of it if only the gardener would use it. Spraying RU must fall into the same category as vacuuming.


I don’t know the names of these. Sometimes I prefer to remain ignorant. The one on the left grows into a vine. RU works on these, too.

Now these seeds (above and below) I intend to gleefully scatter myself. 

Coneflowers!!

 

This is Vinca major ‘Periwinkle’, growing in one inch of gravel. It also readily self-sows but only where conditions are dry. It looks like one bush, but it’s not. I don’t know how many plants this is, perhaps 30 or 40. I‘ve let the pile get bigger than usual. It’s so lovely that I don’t have the heart to pull up the plants plus I’ve been hibernating in the A/C for quite a while. The last time I reduced its size I stuck some of the rejects in an unirrigated pot. They’re doing fine and blooming. Fortunately, another path goes behind the tree, so I can indulge this rampant self-sower. It will freeze come winter and then “will readily self-sow for plants next season”. How nice.

Happy daylily babies

Happiness is….

For bareroot daylilies I guess it’s filtered sunlight and a couple of inches of rainwater in the pot. They’re not in soil, just water, and don’t they look like they’ve grown since Wednesday? Perhaps Mama Cochet, the tree-like climbing Tea rose, is doing a good job of mothering them with her shade, too. And, of course, a big high-five goes to Papa Charlie. It’s all I can do not to place another order. My wish list is calling my name incessantly!

Oh, goodie! Daylilies

Both of my daylily orders arrived today. They all look wonderful with large roots, and I’m very pleased.

Here's the order from Shaw’s Sunshine Gardens after sitting in water for a few hours. Really big plants!  They went back into the water after their photo session.

This is what those plants will look like one day next spring. The Bob Carr daylilies are 'Alien’s Eye', 'Passion District' and 'Sterling Tribute'. The next photos are from the website of Shaw’s Sunshine Gardens.

Evergreen, Early Mid, Rebloom, Fragrant          Evergreen, Early, Rebloom
Semi-Evergreen, Mid-Late, Rebloom                Evergreen, Mid-Late, Rebloom, Fragrant

Semi-Evergreen, Early-Mid, Rebloom              Evergreen, Early-Mid, Rebloom, Fragrant

Semi-Evergreen, Early-Mid, Rebloom              Evergreen, Early, Rebloom

Semi-Evergreen, Early-Mid, Rebloom              Evergreen, Mid, Rebloom

The second order has also been in water for a couple of hours. Good-sized plants as well. Ida Flynn is the precious lady who owns Bama Daylilies in Sulligent, Alabama. When I found her website about a month or two ago, she was having her final sale because she was closing her nursery after more than 20 years due to health issues. She is now selling only to folks who can come to the garden and dig their plants. So if you're near Sulligent, check out her website and contact her by email. The garden is also for sale.

 More glamor shots.  ‘Wait Until Dark’ is a Bob Carr daylily.


Evergreen, Mid, Rebloom                                  Semi-Evergreen, Early-Mid, Rebloom
Semi-Evergreen, Mid-Late, Rebloom


I'll be a busy gardener as soon as the weather breaks and the days are not so hot and humid.

Love bugs and hateful bugs

Floridians are all familiar with the bugs that get plastered on the grills and windshields of our cars every May and September. Well, it’s September and they’re b-a-a-ack. Who knew they like flowers? If anyone knows whether or not they do damage, I’d like to know… but then again maybe not. They're certainly ugly buggers. For the uninitiated they fly around in connected pairs, hence their name, often in swarms on the highways.

‘Pink Perpetue’, a Large Flowered Climber

The next four photos are all ‘Reve d’Or’, a Noisette climber and a very tasty rose apparently

‘White Maman Cochet’

The next three are ‘Climbing Maman Cochet’

Lovebugs are nuisances and can definitely damage your car’s paint job, but the next bug is the hateful one. AKA Stink Bug. AKA Large Footed Leaf Bug. Whatever. They are destructive to roses and other plants.

I’ve known these bugs were in the garden all summer, but I had only seen one and now the second.

Usually they're a darker brown color. Since I wasn’t wearing my garden gloves, I simply flicked him rather than put him to death. They stink when disturbed or smushed, and the smell does not wash right off. Sadly he still lives to destroy. After I flicked him, I wiped off the bud just in case it was a she laying eggs. Below is some of their handiwork on two roses that I found today.


I don’t know if the next damage is the work of a bug. I don’t know why one-third of ‘Souv de Francois Gaulain’ looks like it’s dying. I’ve never seen this happen except on canes that were broken. This cane is in tact and still green even though the leaves are brown and crispy. Tomorrow I’ll cut it off and hope it’s not spreading – whatever it is. Dang, I hope I didn’t get a drop of Round-Up on a leaf.


As I walked through the garden this evening I was sure I would do a post entitled “Derelict garden”. It would have been pretty ugly. Thankfully for all of my faithful readers there were love bugs. Alas, enough ugliness! I’ll leave you with some beauty from today's garden.

Row 1:  ‘Duchesse d’Auerstadt and canna lily
Row 2:  Dragon Wing Begonia
Row 3:  ‘Madame Lombard’ and ‘Quietness’
Row 4:  Coneflower and ‘Le Vesuve’
Row 5:  ‘White Maman Cochet’ and ‘Gruss an Aachen’
Row 6:  ‘Climbing Maman Cochet’ and ‘White Maman Cochet’
Row 7:  ‘Duquesa’