Garden June 2008

Here you have a picture of the potting I did today. I put down about 30 moonflower sprouts, and about 15 sunflower seeds. I'll be transplanting the sunflower to the sideyard as soon as they're big enough to survive out of their pots. The moonflowers will be both planted and gifted to neighbors as soon as they're big enough. I'm getting some climbing roses from one neighbor in exchange for some of the moonflowers, and I'll be giving another neighbor some since she gave me the canna lilies that are now on the side yard.

Moon flower seeds I got from your Aunt Sheba. I sprouted them using a ziploc bag and a damp paper towel after nipping the ends off the seeds and soaking them for 24 hours.

This is what the plants look like when they start growing - believe it or not, this is just 3 days after I put the seeds into dirt.

This is the mint bed and the thyme bed. It's kind of blurry, but the mint is on the left and the thyme on the right.

I'm so happy to see this little guy coming up - it's the first sign that the black elephant ear I planted last year will be coming back. Below you can more easily see the size difference between the normal elephant ear and the black elephant ear.

This is what the bed looked like back in March of this year. I really had my doubts at that point that anything was going to come back.

This picture is my lily bed. I have 3 varieties of lilies growing here; Stargazer, Oriental, and the one I call "trumpet" lilies since I can't remember the exact name of their species.

And of course, my newest installation, the trellises. I'll be putting the moonflowers down along the fence so they can grow onto the trellises, and as I said, trading a few moonflowers for some climbing roses, who will also be using the trellises.

As you might guess, Andrea, I do love my plants. It's a vice but it's one of my healthier ones.

I *HATE* squirrels

I know, I'm supposed to have a heart. I do.
However, given what I just found in the yard, it's turned to ice where those tree rats are concerned.
This year, I finally allowed myself to indulge and planted gladiola in the gardens. I put them in the front, a few on the side, and the majority in pots in the back. Things were going well, everyone was coming up, and in a few weeks, I would have had a major color explosion.
I looked outside a few minutes ago however, and couldn't believe what I saw. A squirrel had dug up one of my sprouted glads, and after chewing on it for a few minutes, left it on the concrete surrounding the storm drain. While normally, this wouldn't upset me, it indicates to me that they now realize that I have glad bulbs planted. And they'll be back for more.
This means war.

Audrey - Colocasia gigantea Thailand Giant Strain

In case you're wondering, I recently acquired a new plant.

It's a Giant Elephant Ear.

The picture is representative of what this particular strain looks like in the wild, although they don't promise such results, saying 8 foot in height and leaves 8 foot by 4 foot are more what you'll get as the home gardener.

Regardless, I got one.

That's her picture up top... I've named her "Audrey" after the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors".