Monday, June 20, 2011

Oh, NO! Some Gardening Adventures

Some good and others not so much.
And so it begins. The little shiny green monsters are arriving.
So far I have only saw them on these wild roses that bloom along the woods, but the Japanese Beetle watch has begun.

Wildrose_JapaneseBeetle

These roses have been blooming along the neighboring woods ever since we moved here about forty years ago. I call them Wild Roses but in fact I do not know what their proper name might be. The weeds have about taken them over now so I should try to get some of it dug up and moved to different locations along the woods around the house before it is lost.

Wildroses

The achillea “Cerise” that was grown from seed last spring are now starting to bloom for the first time. I think they will turn to a darker shade of pink as the blooms mature.Achillea_Cerise2_Yarrow

HotPapaya_Echinacea
I do not know what happened to the “Hot Papaya” Echinacea but its double blooms have disappeared on some of them after only a year. Just like the pink “Double Decker” coneflowers I had that lost their top blooms eventually.

Echinacea_Achillea_ApricotDelight 
I still like the Hot Papaya but it looked prettier with double blooms.

Coneflowers_Daisies RazzaMatazz or Double Delight Ecihnacea,it all depends on where you purchased it, has kept its double pompom blooms over the years.

Florida_Sieboldii_Chewed
Speaking of pests some disappearing insect has been munching on the blooms of the “Florida Sieboldii” Clematis. It could be those pesky Earwigs who like the dark.

Gaillardia_Burgundy The “Burgundy” Galliardia are starting to bloom out back.

RichardNelson_Achillea
And another Achillea “Richard Nelson” is blooming.
I do have a lot of yarrows in my garden beds.

Glowball_CrazyDaisy
The Shasta “Crazy Daisy’s” I grew from seed last spring are also starting to get their first blooms.

Clematis_AvantGarde
Clematis “Avant Garde”  which I purchased from Van Bourgondien I can see is not going to look anything like it was pictured in the advertising. It will be a long stretch for mine to look like the pictured one below.
Sorry Nurseries, I call them as I see them.

scan0001

And while I am on colors these pretty “Rambling Nu Blue” petunia seeds were suppose to produce a  very blue petunia and was advertised with the picture below ….

petunia_ramblin_nu_blue_2

but when grown was a in fact a very purple petunia instead. I usually expect or  am very leery of any flower with  “blue” in the name to  not a true blue so it was not much of a surprise that it turned out to be purple, but you always have that hope. It is the enhanced advertising pictures from Swallowtail Seeds that I object to. Maybe all of these color changes are just due to my soil??

Petunia_NuBlue

Clematis Crimson Star is blooming away now. I have noticed that the blooms on it are lighter in color this year.

 CLeamtis2

And Patsy Look! I have Blackberry lilies growing from the seeds you sent to me. Yeah! LOL! Thanks again for the seeds.

BlackberryLily_Patsy

 Until Next Time,
Lona

25 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

You know my RazzMaTazz has not bloomed yet or else it was taken over by others. We'll see within the next week as I have a lot of buds not open yet. I hope I haven't lost that one as it's one of my favorites. You are always a few days ahead of me on blooms. Weird as close as we are, although I do have one Daisy open today and bunches ready to burst.

You know you should move about some of those wild Roses, if for no other reason than maybe it would keep the beetles over on them. :)
Cher Sunray Gardens

GRACE PETERSON said...

I love your honesty, especially where the Clemmy 'Avante Garde' is concerned because I've considered buying this one. I hope you'll post a photo of it when it opens all the way. Right now it looks like 'Purpurea Plena Elegans' which is a beauty in its own right but definitely NOT 'Avante Garde.' How frustrating.

Patsy said...

It will be next year before the blackberry lily will bloom, are so it was with my seeds. This year they are in bloom. I will post a picture later. I love the true blue and like you I keep trying.
Hugs, Patsy

Egretta Wells blog said...

Lona, I do like the purple petunia that was supposed to be blue, and your Clematis is really beautiful!

Becca's Dirt said...

Unless I buy a plant that has blooms I often find they are not like the picture shows. Of course soil does effect the color. Blues are hard to get. Most plants that say blue really mean purple. I'm like you I want a true blue flower.
Have a good one Lona.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I have seen that Clematis in cataloges too, reminds me of crepe paper.
Sorry to see some of those pests in your garden.

greggo said...

I yearn for yarrows.

Giga said...

Czy muszą żyć różne szkodniki, które nam niszczą nasze kwiaty? Niestety są i musimy z nimi walczyć. Nie zawsze wygrywamy. Pozdrawiam

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Probably not your soil Lona, but more colour enhanced photos. How disappointing when they don't turn out as expected! Still, lots of beautiful colour in your beautiful garden. :)

myomyohi said...

Fortunately, those voracious beatles haven't attacked my roses yet, but I'm sure it's only a very short time before they and I are battling it out. Unfortunately, I always lose...
I love the hot papaya. Very pretty.

Anonymous said...

Lona, you have had a lot of luck with seeding. Here it has been hit or miss. Japanese beetle watch is soon beginning here too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lona,
You have some very pretty flowers in your garden. The only good blue I have found is Campanula persicifolia 'Telham Beauty'it has a ligt blue flower.
Sue

Margy said...

I agree Lona, if things came out as advertised I'd be happy. All my double coneflowers resorted back to a single bloomer also.

RURAL said...

It's shaping up to be a bad year for bugs, which is a shame, because your flowers are so lovely.

Could that be weevil damage? But there are holes inside the petal on the clemmy, so probably not.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Unknown said...

Earwigs at night, eating plants. OH! That could explain what used to happen to my cleamtis as I've never seen Japanese beatles in my yard and never could figure out what it was.
The echinacea is a stunning color as are the petunias.

jerilanders said...

Lona, I can send a few chickens your way to take care of those Japanese beetles in about 2 hours! Of course they might take an interest in digging a pit beneath your coneflowers and clematis too... hmmm, not worth the risk I guess. BEAUTIFUL AS ALWAYS!

Anonymous said...

Your garden looks beautiful, and I do so love all that vibrant colour!

debsgarden said...

I like the way the Hot Papaya looks combined with the achillea. and the old rose is definitely worth saving - forty years, my kind of rose!

Kate @ Gardening and Gardens said...

Hi Lona - I love the yarrow you have - so pretty! I also have a bunch of holes in many of my plants. They look too small for slugs, but might be earwigs, as you noted.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I like your flowers, even the ones that don't look like they are supposed to. I am trying to decide if I'm going to buy some more yarrow for the front yard, or divide what I already have.

I like your blue ball, too.

pogonip said...

The true blues are the hardest to find--so of course they're my favorites!

I do like to see a plant in bloom in person so I know what to expect. Color is so deceiving. Oh well, gardening is a whole lot of trial and error!

Anonymous said...

Oh no Lona, I haven't checked in two days so I better not go out there this morning and find those nasty little buggers eating my roses! I don't think either of my double coneflowers came back this year, so I am going to stick with the basic purple and whites I love so much from now on. That red penstemon has been a real hummer magnet. Next year I'll put it in a peony hoop instead of having that little piece of fence in front.

Rose said...

Your garden is certainly looking very colorful for this first day of summer! I've found, too, that plants advertised as blue usually turn out purple instead.

Sorry to see the Japanese beetles have arrived. I haven't seen any here yet, but it's about their usual time to come--I'm not looking forward to their visit:(

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Oooh.... I'm lovin' that Clematis. Such a pretty color combo. Intersting about the coneflowers. I see the same thing in my garden. After a couple years the hybrids revert back to looking more like the native cones. Hope you're having a great day, Lona!

Cathy and Steve said...

Lona, despite the headaches with insect pests, your blossoms are stunning!