Author: Flower Roberts

Hang these Weirdos

| Flower Roberts

Epiphytes get their name from living on other plants.

This does not mean that they are parasites, just that they share space with larger plants for support.

They have long succulent leaves that are heavy.  These have strange shapes that may vary on the same plant.

I have several Epiphyllums.

Since they normally live in the semishade of trees in Mexico,

I hang them in trees so that they will feel at home.

Both of these Epiphyllums were obtained as pieces, not whole plants.

I asked to buy cuttings from two of my favorite garden centers.

No point in my buying a giant plant when a piece will do.

I know that this orchid cactus will bloom red.  It has not as of yet, but its parent plant had red blooms.

These Epiphyllums bloom during fall or winter, so I hope to see a bloom soon.

This fishbone/zigzag cactus should have white or yellow blooms.

Its blooms are nocturnal.  I will be watching both these plants in the coming weeks for signs of buds.

If you get an Epiphyllum, you had best hang it up.

They love to swing in the breeze from the trees.

FLOWER

 

My Three Favorite Dahlias

| Flower Roberts

I have many dahlias.  It may not surprise you that most of them are purple.

I have three favorites.  Only one of which is purple.

These three are the most trouble, because they are dinner plate dahlias.

The blooms are so large that plant must be supported by stakes and fences.

These three need more water that the smaller dahlias. They need more nutrients.

It takes a lot of work on my part and the plant’s part to produce those big beautiful blooms.

I have decided to let some of my dahlias go.   I can’t bring them all in.

There is not enough space… or energy… or time to save them all.

So which three will be dug up, stored and treasured?

Firepot Dahlia

The three big, needy ones will.

Thomas A. Edison dahlia
Snowy Country dahlia

Because when we work together, we make something beautiful.

Synergy in the garden.

FLOW

The Year of the Eggplant

| Flower Roberts

I promised my readers more purple and here it is.

An edible purple fruit, eggplant.  Call it a vegetable if you must.

I got three small plants from the same source in June.

All three have been producing fruit for months.

This is the biggest plant.   It is sprawled out like a large shrub.

I have had to prop up its limbs to keep the fruit off the ground.

With all this eggplant, I have had to get creative with recipes.

Eggplant Parmesan, eggplant lasagna, eggplant sauce on spaghetti-squash, eggplant casserole, ratatouille…

Still the eggplants keep coming…and it’s October.

I wonder how eggplant would taste with pumpkin spice?

If you want some, let me know.  I will share with plenty to spare.

Purple food.    What a wonderful world!

FLOW

Purple October

| Flower Roberts

I have a passion for all things purple.

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Purple mum

Purple is a color that changes in different light.

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Thomas E. Edison dahlia

It is one of my favorite colors because of this transitional property.

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Stokesia ‘Peachie’s Pick’ aster

At dusk purple flowers almost look black.

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Passion vine hybrid

At high noon purple leans toward pink.

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Picotee Blue morning glory

I love when the flowers also have white in the blooms.

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Acidanthera Orchid glad

The contrast makes the purple pop.

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water hyacinth

Mona Lavender also has leaves with purple undersides.

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Mona Lavender Plectranthus

Some leaves have purple veins.

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Frydek Elephant ears

There is even a lovely purple vegetable

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Purple Food ; Eggplant

which will be the subject of my next post.

FLOWER is lovin’ some purple.

 

 

The Beauty of Decay

| Flower Roberts

There are many reasons that I love fungi.

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I have featured them many times on this blog.

When one sees mushrooms, brackets and their kin

we know that something is dead or dying.

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Beauty in death?  Yes.

Everything must die.

Fungi takes the valuable organic molecules and recycles them back

to a usable form.

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Decomposition is a renewing process.

I think these weeping conks are beautiful.

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The dying tree is all ready sharing the wealth it harvested from the sun

during its growing years.

Giving back to its neighbors as it declines.

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Beautiful isn’t it?

FLOW

Barley’s Bottom

| Flower Roberts

I promised Barley I would not share photos of his bare bottom.

It was not pretty.  He seemed ashamed and hid in his box more than usual.

It all started on a trip to the mountains.

Barley urinated in his crate and had a wet bottom when we arrived.

It tried to clean his fluffy rear with wash clothes and wipes.

Bunnies hate to be wet, so we both ended up soaked and I got bitten twice.

Barley has never bitten me before, so I knew this was not going to end well.

The fur on his cute,  little rear end was soon matted and dirty and clumped into locks.

It was time to visit our specialty vet.

This woman is amazing. Anybody that can hold a giant rabbit with one hand and shave his bottom with the other is my hero.

I must add that if this had been Charlotte, the attack rabbit scene from Monty Python would have been reenacted.   She is a beast!

We came home with an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and sulfa cream to slather on his bare rear.

Yes folks, Barley had diaper rash.

Charlotte had to be isolated during this period, because she would have licked off the cream.

I am happy to report that the crisis has passed and his bottom is back to its former cuteness.

All’s well that ends well.

FLOWER/ BUNNY MAMA

The Heat is Gone

| Flower Roberts

I hope this cool Monday morning is a sign of things to come.

There seems to be a collective sigh from the garden.

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Water hyacinth blooming among parrot feather and water lettuce in the pond

This summer has been a struggle.

I have constantly pruned and watered in an effort keep things alive.

The stress has shown in yellowed  leaves,  fragile stems and smaller and fewer flowers.

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‘Picotee Blue ‘morning glory single bloom

The tide seems to have turned this morning.

A light rain has plumped up the plants and made them glisten.

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Pink Muhly Grass/ Muhlenbergia capillaris

My favorite dahlia, Thomas A. Edison has decided to stand up and bloom at last.

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Thomas A Edison dinnerplate dahlia

Let’s hope that we all can thrive for a bit in this cool.

Except for the weeds. They will be killed as usual.

FLOW

Forced to have Fun

| Flower Roberts

It’s hard for me to leave tasks unfinished.

Since I am never finished, I rarely voluntarily stop working.

Sometimes a family intervention is needed.

This weekend I was forced to stop weeding, washing and writing

to travel up river by boat with the kayaks piled onto the front.

We have been wanting to do this for years.

There are side channels of the river that can only be reached by canoes and kayaks.

We anchored the boat and paddled under bridges

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and through leaning trees to explore two of these protected areas.

I was pleased to see that nesting boxes and platforms had been erected for bird habitats.

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The turtles, fish and snake I saw seemed undisturbed by my floating by.

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I felt this was not only a haven for them, but also for me.

Maybe it’s time for FLOWER to get back to biology?

I returned home wet, tired and hungry…but with a new attitude.

Let’s call it water therapy.

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That’s my kayak, but I don’t recognize that old lady in it. Ha!

FLOW

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Evaluations

| Flower Roberts

It is a bit early for the usual fall preparations, but this has not been a usual fall.

In preparing for Hurricane Florence, many potted plants had to be moved for protection.

Vines on trellises had to be trimmed and tied.

Limbs and leaves of the tropical trees had to be preened off to lessen wind resistance.

Now that Florence has passed, I find myself dragging plants in big clay pots back out

just about the time they should be prepared to be moved in for winter.

So this fall, the transition has been complicated.

As the clay pots come out of the shop after Florence, their plants are being popped into a plastic pot of similar size.

Some late acquisitions are being put in the ground.

This is the first fall ever that I have considered tossing my FLOWER status.

It has been one calamity after another in my garden this spring and summer.

I have never worked harder nor had this many failures.

I am carefully considering the future of each plant and my position as their gardener.

Florence brought in the winds of change.

Where will the FLOWER blow off to?

FLOW