Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, June 15

Here are some pictures of ginger flowers from my garden here in SW FL.

Note that the flower spike comes up and then in the small cups another "blossom" occurs that can be pollinated, On the white flower the blossoms are purple and on the large red flower the blossoms are orange. The blooms last a long time and the large leaves are very showy also.

The need only filtered light; the Florida sun can toll a toll on them.

I prefer to remain a lurker for now.

Beautiful and fascinating. Thanks for sharing some flowers most of us can't grow.

Here's a a couple of the flowers from my yard.

The large red flower is a scarlet swamp hibiscus flower that is a native SWFL plant and member of the hibiscus family.

The red veined flowers are tiger eye Chinese lantern flowers.

I think these have a wider climate range than the gingers. I have grown something related to the Chinese lantern flower. It was fun. Yours have much more intricate markings.

Always love to see our native hibiscus, too. That one is gorgeous.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

From 40 Miles North:

6 foot Parsley tree

Don't let this happen to you:

KT, I need to pull a bunch of weeds to I can take a picture for you, unless of course you have a 7 footer.

After many hours of weeding, I have some pictures for you KT. Here is the foliage at the base of the parsley plants. I believe that is flat leaf Italian parsley. There is a Penstemon behind it

It starts to get bitter when the plant bolts like that.

Here is a close up of the buds on top:

That's more parsley seed than anyone needs.

I have a couple of two footers, one three footer, and these are the 5 and 6 foot parsley trees next to each other

Nice flowers behind it, too.

What a crazy year. Without pictures, it would seem like a fisherman's tale. Take care

Yes, gardening can get crazy.

Questions about a Garden Favorite

Miley recently asked about the adaptability of Centaurea montana, or Mountain Bluet, which she grew in Sweden. Here's the profile from the Missouri Botanical Garden.

It's a perennial relative of Bachelor Buttons. It is also related to one of the plants we call Dusty Miller, which has a very different look.

It looks more similar to Stoke's Aster, which is not as closely related.

I kind of like the look of a newer cultivar, Amethyst in Snow:

A perennial flower with soft, mildly-fuzzy gray/green leaves that pushes up Dr. Seuss-like spikes of blue-purple flower cones with white fluted petals protruding from around each cone. Main bloom is late May through June but reblooms somewhat if cut back in early summer.

* Great partner: Salvia 'May Night' or 'Marcus' or at the base of purple clematis vine.

The Missouri Botanical Garden lists it for Zones 3 - 7.

This vendor is more optimistic about growing it in warmer climates.

Hope this helps.

Puttering

Knot tying. A few more examples in the responses.

Useful knot tying tip
pic.twitter.com/JS1jYA27OU

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) May 7, 2024

Garden Defense

You may not actually need the battery.

Protecting tomato plants from snails 🐌

pic.twitter.com/CXzq1yfDyl

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) June 12, 2024

Gardens of The Horde

From NorCal Sierra Foothills Lurker:

Fairy Lanterns

Such magical wildflowers

Some people can read a lot into a Fairy Lantern:

Thus, we see in the growth habit of the plant itself an expression of the soul qualities addressed by the flower essence. The delicate sensitivity of the blossom is kept in a semi-closed protected space. The blossom never fully opens, never fully raises itself up to the light, never fully matures. It appears to hold itself back, hiding from the sun in the woodland shade. Spying a population of Fairy Lanterns lighting up the rocky slopes with their cool moon-like glow, we are struck with their fragile beauty. Yet, these appearances may be deceptive: the plant is more robust than it appears, clinging to rocky slopes, persisting for many years in its chosen habitats.

The challenge for those needing Fairy Lantern is to find their strength and self-confidence as mature individuals, while honoring the beauty, innocence and interior sensitivity that such soul types most naturally express.

There's more.

Blue iris from 40 Miles North

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, June 8

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:15 PM

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