Having blue AND red porterweed and not sharing them with me? Tsk,tsk, tsk...

Omar

Well Omar, if you'd try being nice once in a while ... ;-)

Actually I am trying to start some from seeds with you in mind.

Hopefully the porterweed will at least survive until Fall, it's sad to think it may not make it through Summer. The Aztec Gold has blooms that smell like peaches. The flowers are also large. Grasshoppers have been a thorn in my side because they're everywhere and munching on everything. I think I have a photo of the Aztec Gold from last year?

Roselee, when I look through your photos, all I can think is, "It's ALL working!" Simply gorgeous! These photos look like they came out of Southern Living! My favorite is the view of the garden from across the blooms of the 'Yellow Sorbet' shrimp plant. Amazing.

My blue porterweed self-seeds every now and again. (The purple one does not.) It's not a consistent thing with the blue one - and I can't pinpoint what makes it happen - but every now and again there will be 5-6 seedlings around the base.

Carol

I agree with Carol.....................it ALL works for me................so beautiful.

It all looks good to me. Im not familiar with all those plants, so i will have to jot them down and see if they will work for me. I just went through some of my old photos and Ive learned cameras are very forgivable to my garden. Thinking i may make a public photo album somewhere and share.

Quarzon, you could put photos in an idea book which is on your Houzz page. Just click your name to get to your page, click on the idea book and load your photos. We'd love to see them. You might want to activate your Houzz message system also.

Carol, I checked the tag to be sure mine is the Blue porterweed and it is. Several years ago I bought my first Blue porterweed in the fall and put it in the green house for winter not knowing it was an annual. It was dead by spring, but lucky for me a few seeds had sprouted under it, which is the only time I've gotten sprouts.

Cameron, I put a deep saucer under the pot the porterweed is in. If that doesn't keep it from wilting for a couple of days I'll move it and put the variegated bougainvillea Raspberry ice there that Omar gave me. (He can be pretty nice at times, but he really has to work at it ... ;-) It's getting big and full and deserves to out where it can be seen.

Here's one more photo I meant to post. This is especially for Carol ...

And one more 'for the road'. Part the variegated bougie can be seen behind the bird bath ...

It sure is hot out there today. Summer is here, but didn't we have a long, cool spring. It's been wonderful.

Hopefully a saucer will help keep the porterweed from wilting. I haven't checked any of my container plants today. I tend to neglect my container plants sometimes. At least you'll have a pretty replacement of the porterweed doesn't make it.

Oh I forgot to say I really like the combination with the ornamental grass. What's the plant with the purple flowers to the left?

Cameron, it's Mexican oregano. It's evergreen here and I use it for cooking. It blooms starting in late spring and goes until late fall. A wonderful drought tolerant, shade tolerant, sun tolerant, neglect tolerant plant! And nothing wants to eat it but me ... :-)

Oddly enough I found it hard to transplant. I'd dig out pieces of root from other plants in the yard, but they never 'took'. Finally bought it in a gal pot in the spring of '16, but it didn't start blooming until this year. Well worth the wait however.

Roselee So much on which to comment!

i like yellow and pink very much but it seems that when summer arrives, pinks just aren't as stimulating as red, orange, hot pink , etc.

you could cut your tall plumie halfway but be warned that you'll get lanky arms at that point and I doubt you'll like the look. That cultivar was meant to be a big tall tree, period. An alternative would be to get a dwarf or a semi dwarf and plant as an understory to the big plumie. Or get rid of the biggie and get dwarf or semi. Those are not readily available locally. Would have to get online. Florida Colors is THE BEST and their website is arranged by colors and by sizes.

Blackwillow, Aztec Gold is in most experts' top 10 best plumie lists, in case you didn't know.

no voodoo lily seeds for me

i need to look up blue porterweed. I knew of the purple, from which I shy away as I've heard it's too grow happy. But I'm always looking for blue blooming plants. That oregano sounds interesting also. Need to look it up.

i did love our looong spring.

i prefer the short angelonia but I've grown tired of it b/c everybody in my area plants it.

I can't think of anything that is not working right now but I'm sure I'll be back.

caterpillars are ravaging my Aristolochia fimbriata

https://www.floridacolorsplumeria.com/rose-scent/

They have their plants arranged by color, growth pattern, scent. Can't say enough good things about this place

Wow it was definitely worth the wait. I've heard of Mexican oregano before but I didn't know it was tolerant of neglect.

Roselee, your garden is beautiful.

Love to have seeds of your voodoo.

jo

Well, glad to finally see "David" survived the hail storm. Guess I'd grown accustomed to him regularly photobombing your garden shots.... was starting to get concerned. :-)

bossyvossy I didn't know that about Aztec Gold. It's definitely one of my favorites because of the fragrance and the bloom size.

Ragna, as I scrolled down, I gasped at your new photos! Seriously! That bunny grass is FANTASTIC! I hope the nice section you generously shared with me looks like that one day! It's doing very well so far...

I'm probably telling you things you already know but for the benefit of others who may not: the blue porterweed, when mature, is somewhat smaller and more manageable than the purple - which gets HUGE. The blue will top out at around 3.5-4 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. The purple will go 5-6 feet tall and even wider than that - maybe 7-8 foot wide.

The blue is a very dark purpley-blue and some would mistake it for a purple variety. However, the purple is a royal purple and side by side, you can easily see the difference. I'll try and get a comparison photo later today.

My blue porterweeds, which are planted in the ground and have the protection of the edge of a live oak canopy, have overwintered just fine. Same with my purple which is in a different place in the yard. I'm sorry you lost one in the greenhouse. I wonder how that happened? They have all been perennials for me. Here's some photos:

Purple bloom (above).

Thanks for sharing all of your lovely photos, Ragna! They are magnificent! Is this the best year your garden has ever looked (in your eyes)? It is picture-perfect to me!

Carol in Jacksonville

Bossy, thanks to your input I have willed to enjoy the tall Plumeria just as it is and not try to make it into something it's not. When looked at it now it's seen as one of those tall palms on a tropical beach. Also I'm eager to explore the LINK you passed along. And I think you're right on how the effect of color changes with the seasons.

Brian and Josephine, I have you down for Voodoo lily seeds. After planting it takes several months for them to germinate. Here's what they look like when newly emerged. They are wonderful foliage plants and it takes several years for the bulb to get large enough to bloom.

Bostedo, David is still hanging around even after some shocking photos I've posted on here. Since then I put a trowel in his hand and hoe on his arm which disguises him somewhat, but he refuses use them ... :-)

Carol, thank you so much for educating us about porterweeds and posting the wonderful photos of your plants to illustrate! I don't know where I got the idea that blue porterweed is an annual, but I'll now treat them as root hardy and see what happens.

As for whether this is the best my garden has looked; yes, I think design wise it is better with fewer plants. The garden has been through many makeovers for various reasons and I've loved doing them all. HERE and HERE are just a couple of posts for those who like before and after photos.

My focus now is more on heat/drought tolerance and easy care. I used to put up half a dozen umbrellas ...

and string sheets on poles ... LOL!

All in all what a wonderful experience it has been to garden through thick (weeds) and thin (soil), baking and freezing, hail storms, heat waves, and floods, as well as many perfectly pleasant days in between all that. How about you?

Omar, I wanted to show you the pale branch on the variegated bougie 'Raspberry Ice' that you gave me. Odd, huh? The plant is getting close to blooming, but not yet. The flowers you see are from the bougies around it.

I bought five tiny Intrigue Canas last year from some site because they are purple and look different from canas sold around here. A year later they have completely taken over a flowerbed and yet are also highly susceptible to leaf roller caterpillars.

Water them w/ BT for leaf roller problems. May need to do it twice depending on severity of problem. Insects will die but you may still need to whack the cannas to get a new flush of leaves but foliage grows very fast this time of year. Rollers are worse depending on weather. For ex. Last year I didn't have to use BT once. B in 8a dfw, I think that is a very dramatic canna display.

I've long been intrigued by the "Intrigue" variety of canna lily. I agree with bossy in that it looks gorgeous there.

Thanks for letting us know it's not working since it has a tendency to take over and is subject to leaf rollers.

BT works and comes in a powder form as well as a liquid spray.

All about canna leaf roller(s)

roselee, i love how you create those links, I'm following your example. FWIW, when it's auspicious time for this pest, all my cannas suffer. There is no immune one in my yard

ETA: my guess is canna is taking over b/c low point in yard or lots of moisture.

Ragna, isn't that bougie something? My has bloomed for a couple of weeks now but without the gorgeous foliage development of yours.

Omar

Something else that is working is our front yard seating area. Thank you Pam for the inspiration. By sitting out here in early morning and late evening we not only enjoy the atmosphere, but we've met several sets of neighbors who walk by, some with dogs and children, who seem happy to come, sit and chat awhile.

So what else is working or not working for you?

Finally. I got this hibiscus from the sale rack at HEB for $5. It had a lot of dead buds and leaves but it looks good after a good cleaning.

Omar

Omar, you got a $5.00 hibiscus like that for me too, right? I'll be looking for it in the mail ... :-)

Seriously, I'm impressed with all that's working for you, things that you didn't even mention -- like that red canna by the bench. Is that the one with narrow petaled flowers and keeps making more and more buds and flowers on the same stem?

And you cut the grass! Wow ... *-*

:D It's a long story, but after getting the $5.00 deal with the manager, I cleaned the plant before getting to the register. When I got there, the cashier called the nursery to confirm the price and she asked "what was the reason he gave you the discount for?" :D

Yes, that canna was a "rescue". A neighbor placed a pile of corms on the sidewalk after cleaning his flowerbed. I placed the corms in different places and they only thrived on that spot. Let me know if you want a start.

For some reason that "wow" sounded "kinda" sarcastic :p

Omar

That's funny Omar. I'm laughing. And a good lesson for the rest of us! Clean up the sale plants after they are paid for. I'd like to have seen your face when you were asked that question by the cashier ... LOL

Sarcastic? Me? No way, but if it sounded that way it's only because I have a good teacher ... :-D

I might be interested in the canna someday when you're down this way. I had one with the characteristics I mentioned above and lost it in one of those awful drought years.

I told her that it had a lot of dead material on it and that I had cleaned it up. The manager saw me doing it. She still gave the "yeah, right!" look.

Ok.You got it. Next time I go to SA I'll take it with me. Somebody cancelled a visit to her garden on me last year promising she would let me know when we could re-schedule it but that never happened. You know, some people, tsk, tsk, tsk...

Omar

Ragna and Omar, you 2 crack me up! Your yard is stunning as usual Ragna, and Omar, I like your idea of the impatiens in pots, I might snag that idea!

Love the statue - she is beautiful.

Omar, Do you know if that hibiscus is a 'Disco Belle'? Form/flowers are very similar, but don't think I've ever seen quite that many buds at the same time on one of those.

Not working is the planting of 4 in. pots of Blackfoot daisy in a full sun area this spring. They don't have time to develop a good root system before hot weather sets in. Better to plant them in the fall. I knew that, but took a chance and lost. I just pulled them.

Ragna, how about trimming them instead of pulling them out? or, if you already pulled them out, maybe you can plant them in a pot and see if they can resurrect?

Omar

Bostedo, my plant came labeled as "Honeymoon" hibiscus.

Omar

Lorelei, impatiens require constant watering but as much as I try to stay away from frequent watering, most of times I end up doing it anyways, so why not planting impatiens if they have so many positive traits?

Omar

Omar, thanks for the idea. It may work on some plants, but I've never had much luck with trimming Blackfoot daisies. Granted, it's usually been in their second year when they started looking ratty that I've tried cutting them back. They always died when I did. It might have worked on these younger plants, but I already shook the dirt off the roots and they are in the bottom of the green recycle bin.

I think in trying to get them through by watering almost daily had already led to root rot. Will dig in some more decomposed granite before planting next time.

Amazingly, there are several Blackfoot daisies that self seeded in a graveled area over winter that are doing great with hardly any supplemental irrigation.

Temp is 101 here and it hasn't rained in a month. Some of our spring beauties will be struggling.

P.S. Been sitting on the back patio listening to the cicadas, watching black bumblebees and pipevine swallowtails nectar on Mexican olive flowers while I eat small slices of frozen honeydew melon and the dogs cool off chewing on their frozen raw beef rib bones. Life is good ... :-)

Omar, Thanks for the hibiscus cultivar name - a new one to me. At a quick glance, the 'Honeymoon' varieties look pretty much identical to the older 'Disco Belle' selections.... other than all those simultaneous buds. Couldn't find it confirmed in any descriptions, but in some photos it does appear significantly more floriferous than other compact hardy hibiscus I've seen. Just added the red one to the wish list.

Here's the resemblance in a small division taken off the dying core of our old 'Disco Belle' early this spring:

Bostedo, I had to laugh too. We both had the same great idea and ended up with the same disconcerting result!

Been meaning to tell you all that putting an inch and a half deep saucer under the pot of porterweed is helping a lot. For one thing the soil has time to soak up the water and insures that all the soil gets wet and is not just running through the cracks. As a result the plant doesn't wilt nearly as much. I have saucers under most of the plants that are in pots. I don't know why I didn't put one under the porterweed before now.

That's great news! Hopefully that will help it survive through the Summer?

It's really early for plants to be getting ratty but the Gregg's Mistflower as well as the Duelberg Salvias and Purple Ageratina all have ugliness in the form of browned foliage from the ground up about 12-18 inches. They were all so lush and pretty in March, really early. Anyone trim them back short during the summer? Wonder if they'll rebound now or should I just wait until the heat breaks to trim?

Roselee, I have a voodoo lily that's a dracunculus, and it's bloomed for several years but has never set seed. (I always know when it's blooming, as I look around for whatever's dead.)

I would love some of your seeds if you still have any. . .

Lin, I'd be happy to send seeds of "Konjac" when they are ripe. Konjac not only grows easily from seed, but multiplies nicely from bulbs. The mother plant dies after setting seed and divides into several little potato like bulbs.

I sometime reuse potting soil and have them coming up in the strangest places. Once a plant went out the hole in the bottom of a large black nursery pot I had inside a decorative pot and came up the side between the pots. I thought -- where the heck did that come from???? It was determined to grow!

Pam, I'm fairly certain that all the plants you mention above would have no problem regrowing if you cut them back. I know Greg's mist flower can take it. And the others come back from the roots here in the spring. I'd do it. Nothing makes a flower bed look worse than half dead looking droopy plants -- definitely 'not working'.

Anyone else want to venture an opinion on Pam's question?

I took some photos of the porterweed blooms, side by side:

The past two springs, having no hard freeze over winter, I cut them all back by about two-thirds. (Two-thirds removed, one-third left.) Here's the purple one just weeks after cutting it back hard (above). Like I said, it's a beast!

One of the things I like about this plant is that it is very vigorous, very easy to grow, yet non-spreading/non-invasive.

Carol in Jacksonville

Carol, thank you for photos and information about the differences in the blue and purple porterweed. They answered some questions I had.

Below is a photo of the red porterweed. Thank you Karen! It took longer to get going after spring planting but is beautiful now. It's definitely working.

Ragna, I went back and took another look at your porterweed. It is really a beautiful specimen and it goes perfectly in that pot. I got worried when you said it might not make it through the summer. Can you move it to a location where it gets half 'n' half?

Carol

Carol, it's doing much, much better since I've put a saucer under the pot. This gives the soil an opportunity to soak up more water. Here's a photo from this morning. There's something about the emerald green foliage which perfectly compliments the sapphire flowers that make me want to say it's absolutely glorious!

So I'm saying it; "Absolutely glorious" and the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds agree ... :-)

Another plant that keeps on 'working' like crazy all summer long is Fireworks gomphrena ...