No Deer Here

| Flower Roberts

Last week I enjoyed my annual stroll through the gardens

of my friends’ former daylily farm, Whippoorwill’s Call.

There are hundreds of hybrids of daylilies and obviously, no deer.

It is interesting to me how many forms a flower can take in one species of Hemereocallis

if you mix up its genes a bit.

Stargate Portal

Different ruffles and watermarks and tepal markings…

Admiral’s Braid

Here are some of my favorites.

New Journey

I will get the Rumples to check behind me about names.

Tuscawilla Tigress

Of course I was busy talking while photographing, so there are probably some mix-ups.

Always Tomorrow

Check back in a few days if an accurate hybrid name of one of these is important to you.

Jean Swann

If I ever quit talking,

Isle of Capri

I may be able to get something done correctly…but it won’t be as fun.

Druid’s Chant

Aren’t these uneaten flowers amazing?

FLOW

 

 

Too Much White is a Parasite

| Flower Roberts

I love plants with variegated leaves.

That means that the leaves have patches that are not green.

The non-green parts can be white, yellow or other colors.

The point is that the non-green parts lack chlorophyll.

That means that an all white leaf makes no food of its own.

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Variegated Hydrangea leaves

Therefore, all white leaves are parasites on the rest of the plant’s resources.

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Variegated Hoya leaves

When this occurs, the pure white parts should be removed.

FLOWHITE

An Oasis at the Beach

| Flower Roberts

One of the highlights of my recent trip to North Myrtle Beach

was a visit to Tropical Nursery on 25th Avenue South.

It was within walking distance of my beach-front condominium,

but felt as though I had left the American shore for the southern hemisphere.

The place had an interesting selection of tropical plants.

Unique pieces garden art were displayed throughout the nursery.

I especially loved the giant triangular canvas that shaded the potted plants.

What a treasure to find near the shore of South Carolina.

FLOWER

Here She Is

| Flower Roberts

How can I withhold food from a nursing mother?

She was so hungry she came back to snack on the bank at 5:30 in the evening.

This mama is ravenous.  Maybe she has twins?

I could see her milk bag as she climbed the bank.

At least she stopped and posed for me before running into the woods.

I guess I’ll just clean house and read the rest of the summer.

FLOWERLESS

 

The Not Eaten Treasure

| Flower Roberts

I will start this post with a beautiful new flower

that opened for the first time this morning.

It is a ‘Splendens’ Tiger lily, Lilium tigrinums.

It has my two favorite colors peachy/melon orange with plum-colored spots.

I am extra grateful to get to see this bloom this morning.

Hundreds of my other blooms did not have the opportunity to open this morning,

because they were eaten by deer last night.

Have I put my heart in transient treasure?

Twenty-eight years of carefully planning and tending my gardens

to become a high-dollar delicatessen for deer?

My living jewels eaten by marauding mammals.

Is this really how one should invest one’s time, money and energy:

to supply the locals with exotic cuisine, free-of-charge?

I must say the FLOWER is feeling rather foolish.

So today, I will enjoy my treasures that have not been eaten.

I need to love things that are not edible…

like my bunnies.

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FOOL

 

Hang On!

| Flower Roberts

I try not to share sadness. There is too much in this world all ready.

This is a sad date for my family.

A past tragedy has cluttered my thoughts all day.

Then I saw this.

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If you are sad.  Hang on!

If you are sick.  Hang on!

Reaching out with faith.

Held up by a splinter and a tiny tendril.

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My vines are teaching me life lessons again.

Bless them.

FLOWER

 

Lovin’ some Lucifer

| Flower Roberts

This crazy bloomer is another “top three” for me.

Montbretia is a perennial bulb.  The genus is Crocosmia. 

There are also yellow and orange forms, but Lucifer is the superstar.

It is deer resistant and rodent resistant.

It likes full to partial sun.  No special water or fertilizer treatment is required.

Support is needed as the hundreds of blooms develop on each stem.

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The structure of the whole plant forms a lovely three to four foot fan.

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Each stem has alternate arms which hold an array.

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It’s easy to miss the beauty of each bright red flower, because of the number of blooms.

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Even the buds are works of art.

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Easy care plant, deer resistant and beautiful.

Win:Win:WIN!

FLOWER

 

 

Easy Hot Chocolate

| Flower Roberts

I wish all my flowers were as easy to please as my Hot Chocolate Callas.

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No matter where I plant them, they thrive.  They do best in sun and moist soil.

No trimming, no staking, no spraying…

I do have favorite flowers.  This is one of my top three.  Stay tuned for another top three.

This one is officially Zantedeschia ‘Hot Chocolate’ PP15294.

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I left most of them out for the second winter. They all came back.

It’s description says cold hardy to 10 degrees F, so I do bring in a few over the winter.

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I wish they were all this easy!

FLOWER

Cheater, Cheater, Color Reader

| Flower Roberts

It happened again this morning.  A new daylily bloomed with an unusual color.

Its name is South Seas, but that color…

South Seas daylily

Time to pull out the cheat sheets.

I used to use my colored pencil collection, but this got rather cumbersome…

carrying around a box of pencils…holding each up to the flower…

Now, I whip out my color charts from the internet.

Hot Chocolate calla

I happen to know that by the time it gets through my printer and the photos and the internet,

there is bound to be some change in tint, tone and hue.

I know someone is going to tell me there is a APP for that.  There is an APP for everything.

I can only use “lipstick” so many times (twice) before it gets redundant.

So now you know. The FLOWER is a cheater.  (Blushing scarlet.)

I’d like to think of myself as a color-reader over-achiever.

FLOW

P.S.  South Seas looks candy with hints of blush and a honey throat. (i.e It’s red and yellow. )