Thankful Thursday in Tennessee

I'm thankful for the beauty surrounding me. Actually, I look for it. Perhaps it is why I am here on Blotanical where there are a lot of kindred spirits.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philipians 4:8

Thankful Thursday's origin is
Rose Colored Glasses.

Lotus

Blossoms

English Gardens

English Gardens

Lycoris squamigera

When it's very hot and almost nothing is blooming in late July or early August and triggered by a nice summer rain, a leafless flowering stalk of Lycoris squamigera magically shoots up out of the ground to a couple of feet in just a few days.

The blooms are pink with a bluish overcast.

After blooming, they disappear until January when the hardy foliage appears. Plant them where they will be in the sun at this time of year for they are storing energy. In April or May when most gardens are in high gear they go dormant.

A good time to dig bulbs is after they bloom and you know where they are. Plant right away and forget them. Plant them with necks just under the surface. I planted mine a little deeper and used mulch since I'm just inside Zone 6. You can always pull back the mulch and wash some of the soil away later in the year. They must be well drained, of course.

More About Lycoris squamigera

Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet'

Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet'

Crinum /Marcelle Shepherd

More About Crinum

Other Peoples' Crinums

July Daze

Swimming in Rudbeckias

On this very hot afternoon, come on out where

the succulents are taking a summer vacation by the pool.

Desert Conservatory Huntington

Surrounded by rudbeckias 

we will slip into the blue tepid water...not to cold, not too hot. You don't even flinch when you enter. My favorite time is about four o'clock when the entire pool is in the shade.  

After years of thinking I would surely die if ever I had to save myself by swimming, I took off like a fish nevermore relegated to the pool noodle set. 

Come back soon.

Hemerocallis 'Pink Rocks'

MRe 6" Rose Pink w/ Pink Halo Dor Dip Fra Ext Carpenter 1990 

Pink Rocks is a late bloomer that can extend your daylily season.

Daylily Terms Dictionary

I must plant it. It seems I'm always in the process of buying new things to add to the garden. This Hydrangea macrophylla 'Queeen of Pearls' is still waiting its turn. I have it with my other pot plants. It will not miss getting watered and be OK. 

All America and Blotanical are blooming with purple coneflowers. I saw these blooming by the roadside on our weekly visit to the seafood buffet at a local state park inn. 

Let's take a break from the garden chores with a cool pink lemonade.

Tropical Effects

Gorgeous Texture

We bought a new banana plant thinking the one we had was dead. It rained. The Musa in the garden was perennial and returned finally  because of the extra water and enough warmth. The Red Leaved Banana we bought, Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii', was actually not hardy in this zone.  So now we have one that is tropical to house in the winter but it is attractive with its red midrib and reddish emerging leaves. Also, it's quite palm-like with a fat trunk.

Hubby is the one fond of banana plants. I think he likes the tropical effects.

The Carolina wren nestlings have their eyes open. Their primary feathers are first to emerge. When I peeked in the nest today they were covered in moss like a blanket. It was a little cooler than usual.

Consider The Lilies

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Matthew 6:28

After rain in the early morning light, the Blue River Hibiscus is open today. I like this one because of its enormous all white flowers. I delight in white where the focus is on form and texture. It blooms profusely. This is the first blossom of the season. While searching for information I found, an Urban Oasis post, from last year about Blue River Hibiscus that has pertinent info. 

Watermelon break time. Yummy!

Classical Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon

I was reading  Steve Snedeker's blog and found in his June posts how he was involved with the construction of the Classical Chinese Garden in Portland.  I

was  surprised to find it was only three years old when I was there in 2003. It looked like an established garden that had been around forever.  

I have always remembered the unusual Buddleia colvilei 'Kewensis', largest of the butterfly bushes capable of forming a small tree. That was five years ago. I wonder what it looks like today. While searching I ran across the Classical Chinese Garden Master Plant List.

Steve is working on a pool project now and you can read about it on Steve Snedeker's Landscape and Gardening Blog.

Classical Chinese Garden Slideshow

Let It Feast or Kill The Beast

If you notice your lovely petunias are looking a bit variegated, it's thrips. So tiny, their damage is what is noticeable. About the time you are thinking what a feast for the eyes, they arrive for a feast. If you can't bear to throw the plant away like me, it is most important to isolate it and let it remain so even after treatment. Avoiding infesting more, especially more valuable plants, is the objective. I used an insecticidal soap to slow the onslaught topically, then a systemic.  A systemic is required because a topical cannot reach the innumerable hiding places. Feed and keep well watered. Though not as robust as originally, it looks pretty good. Mission accomplished. I prefer not to use chemicals, however, an apt treatment used sparingly and safely is sometimes necessary.

Blotanical

created and tended by Stuart Robinson of Busselton, Western Australia,  is a garden in itself filled with experienced and amateur gardeners alike. Stuart is at the garden gate ready to welcome you.  Something is always blooming among this international set of authors, artists, designers,  and photographers who capture and share the natural world from their unique perspectives. A harvest of resources, botanical data, product evaluation, and technical advice from garden gurus abounds. Seeds of appreciation, generosity, admiration, and gratitude are planted daily. Blotanical is a sanctuary fragrant with enthusiasm, dreams, ideals, and wisdom  where you are sure to find your gardener's soul filled to overflowing. 

Nestlings

After hatching, they don't look much better than an ultrasound...pile o bird. It's hard to make heads or tails of it.

But today, they are all beak and eyeball.  Doesn't look like they can see does it? I wonder why the fuzzy topknot.

Pale pink Oriental lily keeps adding to the garden fragrance.

Thomas Newman

What Lies Beneath?

A Carolina Wren has a nest just under the hosta leaves. When you approach the container, she moves off the nest but stays concealed in the leaves. You have to practically be in the nest to spook her from the container. There are three newly hatched and one straggler in the nest. They are no bigger than the end of your thumb.  More later when the last one is born.

Edible Landscapes

Oriental Lily

Can anything be more fragrant? Its intoxicating perfume can lead you right to them in the garden. Be sure to remove the pollen bearing anthers  should you want to  bring them inside. Pollen stains are impossible to remove.

Take from me all earthly raiment and place me deep in my 
Mother Earth; and place me with care upon my mother's breast. 
Cover me with soft earth, and let each handful be mixed 
With seeds of jasmine, lilies and myrtle; and when they 
Grow above me, and thrive on my body's element they will 
Breathe the fragrance of my heart into space; 
And reveal even to the sun the secret of my peace; 
And sail with the breeze and comfort the wayfarer.

Kahlil Gibran

Independence Day

will be celebrated here early because daughter has to work on the fourth.

Happy Fourth of July

Take a little insider tour of the Cottage Gardens of Depot Hill with Phillip.

Dig In

to pancakes with fresh blackberry syrup and whipped cream with a couple of sausage links. Ummm! Good. It's a beautiful thing.

Summertime

I was Garden Hopping and look what happened.

My Wordle is called Summer

Cycad

I noticed a Zamia furfuracea/Cardboard Palm on A Yard in Fort Pierce. Reminded of my own, I was pleasantly surprised to find it had, after being put out in the rain, burst into new growth.