Carol from “May Dreams Gardens” blog, which you can find right here: is nice enough to host something called “Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day” which is where other garden bloggers post photos of their garden blooms on any particular day as long it’s the 15th of that month, that particular month….:-) You can post pictures from your garden from the 14th of that month or even the 16th of that month, but you’ll be liable for prosecution to the full extent of the law and let me tell you fellow gardeners something right now, Carol from May Dreams Gardens means what she says about the rules cause I know one gardener who just got out of prison after doing 3 years for posting pictures of her ‘Zeprhine Drouhin’ roses she took in April when they were really peaking and at the best but the silly girl posted them in the May Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day trying to slip them in. Carol and her investigators had her picked up almost immediately, they locked the poor girl up, she went to trial, was prosecuted and convicted for unlawfully posting pretty pictures of her roses in the wrong month, she did 3 years in the “Joint” and the investigators that Carol sent to her house to arrest her pulled up her ‘Zeprhine Drouhin’ roses just for spite !!!!……What did I tell you fellow gardeners? That Carol from “May Dreams Gardens” blog is just a barrel of laughs……:-)
But other than that one little thing, you know posting photos of your garden blooms from some other day than the day that Carol says you should, well other than that, Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day is lots of fun…..:-) And I hope you’ll participate too if you already haven’t…..I’m going to participate today and I might even try to slip in a couple of pictures that I DIDN’T take today but you see I already been in prison so prison don’t scare me. Only thing that scares me is mildew on my phlox paniculata (‘David’ ) or God forbid on my Monarda didyma (‘Jacob Cline’). I’m terrified of that. I used to be terrified that I might actually kill a plant that I’d planted in my garden but I’ve killed so many plants now it don’t scare me anymore at all, no it just sends me into bouts of deep depression from say early March to late September…..:-) But enough about me and my little quirks and enough about Carol and her unreasonable rules and vindictiveness….:-) How about some photos of my garden blooms I took early this morning or NOT….:-) Photo slide show is below, Photo galldery is below that, take your pick, both have the same photos along with intelligent, cogent, informative captions written by the same guy who took the pictures at 6 0′clock this morning…..:-) The ‘Addendum’ is below the photo gallery below, way below……:-)
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- The is entry way to our “palatial” estate….:-) I’ve already cut back the Russian sage ‘Blue Spires’ about 2 weeks ago, this is the second bloom. Coreopsis ‘Creme Brule’ is sprawling out on he ground. I didn’t tell it to sprawl it’s just one of those hardheaded plants.
- Looking out into the garden as you come in. Amsonia hubrichtiii is in the foreground, ‘Mystic Spires’ Salvia in behind that on the left. On the right is what I call the ‘Center Border’, you can call it whatever you want…:-)
- As you walk into our “palatial estate” or as we call it, “the backyard” I got Phlox paniculata ‘David’ growing in pots along the walkway. On the left of that in a raised bed is ‘Mystic Spires’ and ‘Storm Cloud’ Agapanthus. Looking straight on is “Hummingbird Island” and the North “side border” Again, you may call it whatever you want…:-)
- Here’s a photo of what we call the “Black Metal Corner Fence & Arbor”. We call it that cause amazingly it’s black, it’s metal, it’s a corner fence and it’s an arbor. The rose growing over the arbor is ‘Sombreuil’ but it’s just about leafless this time of year. You try putting on new leaves in this weather down here in Alabama and see how you like it….:-)
- We call this the “Right Side Border” You may call it Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne. Cosmos ‘Bright Lights’, Salvia guaranitica ‘Black & Blue”, Phlox paniculata ‘David’ and Stachys byzantina ‘Helen Von Stein’
- We call this the “Middle or Center Border” I’ll let you guess why…:-)
- This is also the “Middle or Center Border” I took this photo two seconds and two feet to the left after I took the last one of the “Center Border”
- This photo is self explanatory but I’m going to explain it to you anyways…:-) The fountain, the metal seat trellis with Moon Flower vine growing over it, what I call my “White Garden”, or just all kinds of white plants grown in containers scattered around the back porch. Looks wonderful in the evening and smells good too. It’s not unlike the ‘White Garden’ at Sissinghurst Castle in England only difference i can see is this one’s in Alabama…..;-)
- This is this a replica of the corner border area of the estate on Long Island of Woody Allen, if you don’t like Woody Allen or his movies I hope you’ll like the way I intentionally copied his design…:-)
- A wide angle view of our ‘estate” I don’t have that much room on our “estate” so I parked the Rolls Royces out in front…..;-)
- This is “Hummingbird Island” and part of our bird feeding station. We have 4 bird feeding stations and I only hope that your children or grandchildren eat as well as our birds do….;-)
- ‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum that’s been pruned in half so it doesn’t “lay down” come fall…Shasta daisies, ‘Becky’, ‘Miss Ellen’ butterfly bush and an umbrella rose trellis with a ‘Sombreuil’ growing up and over it. Looks puny this time of year and so would you if you stood out in our back yard day after day in August….:-)
- I you like the colors yellow, orange, white and magenta all together, well feast your eyes on this, if not, go on to the next photo……:-)
- I love this plant and you’d love it too if you had it in your garden. It’s Pennisetum ‘Princess Caroline’ and if you don’t like it then there is something very wrong with you…….:-)
- This is Hibiscus acetosella ‘Maple Sugar’ It has sporadic (read here ‘hardly ever’) blooms that are the same color as the foliage which makes its kinda tricky even seeing the blooms when and if they ever bloom…;-)
- Our garden is a “working” garden, hence the water hose curled up on the ground, if you don’t like water hoses in pictures then get up at 5 o’clock in the morning and move mine….;-)
- I live in a brick house just in case you were curious. If you curious about the grasses too, well they’re ‘Morning Light’ miscanthus on the left and ‘Gold Bar’ miscanthus on the right.
- When you look at this photo, think grass, not hat kind of grass silly, this kind…’Morning Light’ miscanthus, ‘Gold Bar’ miscanthus and ‘Princess Caroline’ Pennisetum . ‘New Gold’ Lantana is NOT a grass but looks good with any grass….:-)
- I know a lot of the photos look the same and it’s because they were all taken in the same backyard, MINE……:-)
- Along the edge is 7 ‘Low and Behold’ or ‘Blue Chip’ a Buddleia hybrid, that’s dwarf, well dwarf if 20 inches wide and 20 inches high meets your criteria for dwarf. I call it my ‘Munchkin” butterfly bush cause I love the movie the Wizard of Oz and I love the “Munchkins”. I always wanted to be a Munchkin but at 6′ 8″ tall my dreams were never realized…:-)
- We call this Moon Flower Vine growing over a seated trellis, we call it that cause that’s what it is……:-)
- We call this Hummingbird Island cause we couldn’t think of any other name but it seems to be working out fine….;-)
- The backside of Hummingbird Island. Living on this island is ‘Hot Lips’ Salvia, Bronze Fennel, ‘Miss Ruby’ butter fly bushes, white Sun Patiens and white Scaveola
- Wide angle view of nearly our entire “estate”…..;-)
- An over all view of the Middle Border with the Right Side Border thrown in at no extra charge…..;-)
- We have laws in Alabama. And one of them is if you got a neon blue pot you gotta grow scraggly ‘Crystal Orange” Mexican Zinnias in it. It’s LAW fellow gardeners.
- Pennisetum setaceum ‘Fireworks’ or as I like to call it Purple Fountain Grass along with a container of my own design. Coleus, Calibrachoa and a Spike. Like I said if you like it, it’s my design, if you don’t like it. Well my wife Linda did it and what does she know about designing?……Everything……;-)
- Purple Fountain Grass, Agastache ‘Blue Something Or Other’, Helianthus angustifolius and a purple beauty berry bush, Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Issai’
- Looking towards my neighbor’s storage shed, beautiful huh?…..Not the storage shed silly, my garden……;-)
- A lovely, professionally done photograph of Mexican butterfly weed completely out of focus., but I ain’t going back out to take another one cause it’s too hot…..:-)
- If you make a purple pot people will buy it, my wife did….:-) And then to make matters worse she put a Pineapple Lily “Sparkling Burgundy” in it and to add insult to injury she even put a chartreuse hosta in it, UNFORGIVABLE.
- This is what it looks like if you walk through our wooden arbor covered with Clematis ‘Armandi’, the picture is kind of blurry if Yellow Jackets are swarming over you when you try to take the picture…..:-)
- Edgeworthia chrysantha or ‘Perennial Paper Plant’, this plant blooms around Christmas which for my money is just weird…….;-) But it smells wonderful and the blooms are lovely.
- Linda and I built this wooden arbor ourselves. I just wish you could see it…:-) Somebody and I ain’t naming no names but somebody planted Clematis ‘Armandi’ on one side and Confederate Jasmine on the other side. What a waste of good treated wood…..:-)
- This is what call the Crinum Korner. Why? Cause we got two Crium’s growing here, one’s ‘Samgra’ and the other is Crinum ‘Ellen Bosanquet’. Neither has bloomed yet, when they do I’ll call you collect….;-)
- I suggest Ham with Eggs, I also suggest burgundy coleus with burgundy half pots hung up on a wooden fence, even ours…..:-)
- Another Alabama Law, You got a white pot on the front porch? You put a Red Star White Cedar and a ‘Blackie’ Sweet Potato vine in it, or else….;-)
- I took this picture about 6 o’clock this morning with neighbor’s dog trying to lick my leg, a pretty good picture considering the circumstances…..;-)
- If you walk through the black metal arbor, turn left, this is what you see. See it?..;-)
- If this don’t say August the 15th I don’t know what does. Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne’, ‘Black and Blue’ Salvia and ‘Bright Lights’ Cosmos. What does it say it to you?
- Looking back towards our “palatial’ estate…it’s made out of REAL brick too…..;-)
- After we paid for this ceramic container we ran out of money to plant anything in it…..Sorry…..;-)
- Our fence is 6 feet tall and the Rudbeckia ‘Herbstonne”? Who knows…..;-)
- A very rare, extremely rare day lily planted around our fountain, it’s called Stella D’ Oro, I predict big things for this day lily if anybody ever buys it but me…….:-)
- If you can ever walk your way past all this you can get on to our back porch. Good Luck…..;-)
- This is where I do some of my best writing, unfortunately it’s also where I do some of my worst writing too, like this photo caption…….:-)
- What I see while I am writing and writing and writing the captions on all of these photos. I’m tired of this view already……;-)
- Another view from the back porch. You can see Russia and our neighbor’s house from here too…..:-)
- You know what this photo says to me fellow gardeners? It says “You need to replace the batteries in your digital camera”……;-)
- Look at this real quick the batteries on my camera are nearly dead, dead as the Phlox is going to be in a few days…:-)
- Schefflera actinophylla ‘Variegata’ And if you can pronounce that you’re a better man or women than me Gunga Din…..;-)
- A Tea Cup Lilly and a couple of Sun Patiens, a Wire Grass plant and assorted other plants I ain’t going to have room or time to name…..:-)
- The “White Garden” at Sisinghurst Caste In England, wait a minute, no it’s not. It’s the White Garden around our back porch, sorry my fault…..they look so similar…….;-)
- Black African Basil or Blue African Basil. I forget which one but take my word for it.,it’s African something or other…….:-)
- My brother in law gave me these dwarf ‘Blue Chip’ butterfly bushes. Needless to say he’s my favorite brother in law, at least for now……;-)
- If my neighbor don’t quit putting up storage sheds that clash with the color of my plants, well I’m going to call folks at Fine Gardening Magazine and lodge a complaint……:-)…….:-)
- Everything in the ‘island” used to be red, then it was purple, then it was purple and white and now it’s purple, white an red. Sometimes I wish I could make up my mind…..;-)
- My wife, Linda, calls this the ‘Succulent” garden, I call it plants in gravel……I guess we’re both right…..:-)
- I love this, my wife Linda put it together, I love my wife. Is that a coincidence? How would I know? I’m just a gardener…….:-)
Addendum:
I’m glad you dropped by for Garden Bloggers’s Bloom Day. It’s fun and I love to post pictures of my garden as much as I love visiting all the other gardeners’ blogs who participate in GBBD. Thanks so much for taking the time to either read one of my little stories or to take a look at my photos on Garden Bloggers’s Bloom Day. Either way I hope you have a good time while you’re here and leave with a smile on your face. If you have time please leave a comment, I really loved hearing from folks who visit. Again thanks.
And, who wouldn’t get a blessing from all these pictures?! Paul, you and Linda are certainly two wonderful gardeners!! You have a talent with your garden visions….thanks for sharing. These pix would make anybody’s day!
Thanks KB, so glad you enjoyed the pictures, the plants and thanks for your nice comments. If my pix made your day then you just made mine…..Thanks again for visiting…..
Hi Paul - what a fabulous shaow of your garden! Itsa looking simply stunning, all lush and full of pretty blooms. Gorgeous!
PS: LOVE the Pennisetum ‘Princess Caroline’.
PPSS: Happy GBBD
Christine I wish I could send you a start of my ‘Princess Caroline’ but I think it’s patented and I’m sure I’d be apprehended as soon as I left the Post Office…..:-) Thanks for visiting Christine and thanks for your nice comments…..Come back soon
such beauty!!!
KMT
Kay, thanks so much for coming by, you take care of yourself and I hope to see you and Ed whenever you’re over this way.
HI Paul,
What a refreshing change it is to see a blog that is laid out differently and includes a slide show. I too like your pennisetum. How long have you had it? And how do you manage to keep it looking so healthy during the hot, dry weather?
Lovely garden.
Janet the ‘Princess Caroline’ is brand new this year, I planted it in early April and it just took off and has been happy everyday I since I put it in the ground. I bet it’d do the same for you too.
I have to agree with Janet above. Your layout was a nice change and your garden is so beautifully maintained. That crispness really showcases your plantings.
Thanks Linda for your nice comments. I “work” in the garden everyday just piddling is what I call it. I enjoy every moment till it gets just hot around noon these days……I wouldn’t know how not to piddle in the garden everyday, I just love it. And thank you so much for visiting and I hope you’ll return. I write something about everyday or so, I hope if you read something here you enjoy it.
Paul, which ones are the expensive plants? I need to know this information if I’m going to jump over the fence at night and steal them. It would be silly to steal the cheap plants.
Or, maybe we can trade.
What do you have that will live in an average high temperature of 104.6 F and an average low of 79.1 F (those are real figures from the National Weather Service for August 1st through 14th) that don’t require any water or care?
I already have rocks and dirt that are doing pretty good.
Dear flyingdj,
All my plants are “expensive” cause I go broke every time I visit a nursery. If they were cheap seems like I’d have some money left when I got home…..:-) No need to steal my plants or even trade, I’ll give you any extras you want if I got’em…….
“What do you have that will live in an average high temperature of 104.6 F and an average low of 79.1 F (those are real figures from the National Weather Service for August 1st through 14th) that don’t require any water or care? I already have rocks and dirt that are doing pretty good.”
My first wife?……:-)……Just kidding, she drank a lot of water if I remember correctly……:-)
It’s always nice to hear from you, you’re a hoot…..One of these days I’m going to make it to Texas again, I might just show up at your door. I won’t steal any plants, if you’re home that is…….:-)
Paul. Wow! What an awesome tour of your garden. I’m mighty envious of that fountain….
Hey Chris, First off I sure enjoyed the #gardenchat tonight, the video was lots of fun and I look forward to it next time Bren does it. As for the fountain, no need to be jealous, you just ease on over here one of these days and I’ll take you to Jacksonville to Bloomin Miracles, Victoria there will fix you right up, she did me and I’ve enjoyed that fountain so much. I gave it to my wife for her birthday one year and I end up cleaning it out every year, so theoretically it’s mine, right?……;-)Come back when you can, always nice to hear from you
What a treat it is to have a tour of your garden! You have placed such beauty in every single corner…I enjoyed this very much! Happy GBBD!
So glad you enjoyed the tour of the garden. I wish you’d been here in person but I sure appreciate you visiting my blog too. I try to fill every corner with something pretty. For one thing I like nooks and corners filled with flowers and two as time goes by you run out of room and nooks and crannies are all you got sometimes……Please come back anytime. I try to write something every day, sometimes with pictures, sometimes with me just rambling on…..either way I hope you return.
I didn’t have the heart to get out and make pics for bloom day in the face of hot and dry. Thanks for sharing yours so we’d have something to enjoy.
It’s going to be a nice fall day before you know it and me and you both are going to be out and about. I wouldn’t have been out myself but I got out early, early this morning. If I drink coffee on the porch and catch up with the news online from about 4 a.m. till 5 or daylight or so and then piddle till 10 or so I can get done about all I need to do……It ain’t never perfect but you know that. Only plastic flowers are perfect that’s why I don’t ever want any perfect flowers……:-) Come see us……
This was such an enjoyable read. So many laws and rules. I think Carol may really be from Alabama and not Indiana.
Well Bom if she’s from Alabama you could have fooled me…..:-) And thanks for your nice comments. I enjoy writing and I’m so happy you enjoyed reading my little story today. About the laws and rules. I ain’t never been a big law abider myself always but I follow all rules and laws to the letter now, well except for GBBD rules and laws…….:-) Come back anytime, nice to meet you.
Wow! Thanks for the garden tour. I enjoyed your sense of humor as much as the photos (very rare day lily, ha ha). Happy GBBD!
Caroline, have you seen that day lily before?……;-) Happy GBBD to you too….Come back ya hear…..:-)
beautiful gardens, and thanx for all the giggles…..how come your blue chip looks so happy? i have been utterly dissappointed with mine. Msut be that mason dixon line
Cheryl, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed the garden and I’m sure tickled you got some giggles. Giggles are good for ya. As far as the incredible performance of my little ‘Blue Chips’s’ It’s not he Mason Dixon line silly, it’s the way we talk down here, makes our plants just show out……:-) Come back ya hear…….I love typing that, “come back ya hear” , i wouldn’t “say” that in a million years but I love typing it……Go figure…….:-)
Paul, enjoyed this so much. Photos beautiful! I hardly ever comment but I read your blog every day (well some days I have to catch up) and always enjoy them.
Joy, you just made my day……and I appreciate you taking the time to comment and for reading my little stories. I hope you always enjoy them and I hope you’ll comment again sometimes whenever you feel like it. it always nice to hear from folks and its nice to hear from you. You have a nice week……
Paul! You got a lot going on there in Alambama and it all look terrific. About how many different plants do you grow in your garden? I had around 300 species and cultivars at one point, but it’s much lower now as drought and heat take their toll.
Happy GBBD & thanks for stopping by Tropical Texana.
David/ Houston
David I’d tell you how many different kinds of plants, species and cultivars I got in my garden but my wife reads this blog and if she ever found out just how many plants I’ve bought over the years, well you can see my problem can’t you?…..Let’s just say this and leave it at that, I got as many plants as I can sneak out of the car and into the ground before she knows it…..How many is that?……;-) Enjoyed blog too and you come back soon…..
Paul, glad I stopped by to look at your pictures. In between your humorous narrative I can see that you really enjoy all the details concerning your plantings. Even though I complain about the heat in Maryland, it’s clear you have had even worse to deal with. And you’re right, it looks just like Sissinghurst…
Howdy John, thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures and my rantings…as far as Sissinghurst goes well I don’t have their staff but then they don’t have my wife either, so I reckon that makes us even…..:-) I was looking at your yellow corydalis, they say its too hot down here for that but I’m going to try to see if I can grow it. love then looks and longevity of yours…..Come back again whenever you get a chance, we’ll be here…..
You can too grow yellow corydalis. It blooms here in the early spring with daffodils and then dies back until the next year. Native. Wonder if it is the same corydalis?
I posted about Corydalis on Dotty Plants blog and linked to you and John. It was here, it was gone for years after I identified it and suddenly one spring it showed up again on this side of the highway. That’s my rationale for not being too neat — you never know what will come up. Brought by birds, blown in on the wind, magic; I never question the source.
Two faves, Hummingbird island. Great addition to any garden. I’m surprised and amazed every time I see one. 2nd is the Sedum Autumn Joy. I believe that’s the one we grew back I’m WI. Need to pop a cutting in our garden. All your pics delight me. Matti
Matti so glad you enjoyed the photos and Hummingbird Island, I reckon I enjoy that as much as anything. If it ain’t full of hummingbirds it’s full of butterflies and bees for sure…..Please come back again and I hope you have a nice weekend.
I’m going to have to come back to this post when I have more time… the first couple paragraphs have caught my interest… for now it’s off to see my surgeon and he’d best not wreck my gardening obsession!! Larry
I sure hope your surgeon didn’t wreck you gardening obsession, an obsession is a terrible thing to lose not unlike a good car or a good wife, not necessarily in that order…….:-) My wife is gonna kill me when she reads this……:-) I hope you made it back and I hope you’ll enjoy whatever you see or read here…Hope to talk to you again soon
Well, I know this post is about the plants (which are gorgeous!) but I love all your big pots! You and I even have almost the same big orange pot sitting on a little brick island. The trick is to buy the plants before the pots so you don’t risk using up all your money on the pots!
I have a lemon tree in mine; what do you have planned for yours?
I like your strategy as far as shopping for plants and then pots goes. Are you a professional financial adviser or just a good garden coach?……:-) As far as what I got planned for my pot I got a plastic pot that’ll fit in the top of it, a 20 inch one. well two of them actually so I’ll have white lilies, a dwarf form of Casa Blanca kinda and then when they finished blooming I switch over to Scaveola as a spiller and as for thriller well I ain’t made up my mind yet……But come back soon as I’ll make up my mind as soon as my wife wakes up……:-)
What a well laid out garden- and blog. Glad you and Linda had an excuse to take the day off to watch Bogart. Not good if your garden comes to take you for granted):-
Lydia, thanks for coming by again its always nice to see you…The old garden does take us for granted sometimes and it’s nice of you to notice that, but she’ll be happy to know that I’ll be back in the bosom of my garden as soon as I find out where I put my gardening clogs last night……..:-)
Love the ‘Princess Caroline’ Pennisetum…is that really hardy to zone 8? If so, I MUST have one!
I’m not sure which I enjoyed more - the photos or the captions! I loved your lighthearted view of gardening and Bloom Day.
M Light I’m glad you enjoyed both, please come back again. I can’t take Bloggers Bloom Day to seriously as I have to read the directions to the camera every time I use it…….:-) But I love looking at other folks gardens either online or in person…It’s always nice to see what other folks are growing and how and where they’re growing it…….Please come back when you can…….