Bourbon, the bees seemed to end up in the bottom of the bloom as they voraciously gathered food, and it was too slippery with nectar on the walls of the bloom for them to crawl up, and too tricky to fly out (being intoxicated does that). It was kind of hilarious, and I would tell them this when I guided them out. They were not the least bit gracious, and continued their outraged buzzing as they flew away. But I never got stung.

Flowers, really there is not all that much to see and certainly not for a tour. Right now, you would be horrified at how awful everything looks. Talk about fallen leaves. They are all over the place because things just keep on dropping leaves all winter long. What I want to do is tour your place. I've seen the rose photos you've posted, and the gorgeous trees that surround your garden. How many roses do you grow? I would think quite a number because you have so many interesting ones. Diane

Diane, I don't believe for a moment that it wouldn't be an inspiring tour to see all your roses and companion plants. Cameras would be clicking and snapping continuously and there would be lots of note taking. Your roses are spectacular and your way of combining annuals and perennials with them is masterful.

The bane of my garden are all those 'gorgeous', as you say, pine trees that constantly drop needles. Pine needles on every inch of ground and hanging off every plant and bloom does not make for a beautiful garden. Keeping them raked up is like having to vacuum the entire house every day. But, I'm not complaining. I'd rather be out there raking than sitting in here looking out at all that snow.

Kristine,

What beautiful delphiniums, please share details on the beautiful fat and happy apricot snapdragrons.

Diane,

You must be the oasis in the middle of the desert. I just noticed on the penstemon pic that not only do you have otherworldly plants, you have really gorgeous soil. (Very much a soil noticer and admirer here). How do you amend your soil?

Marianne,

I’m probably overstating the difficulty of petunia seed, I’m just lazy and I do end up starting them from seed pretty much every year to try a new variety. When they are young, the plants are tiny, so use a mist spray bottle on them.

Erasmus

On Morning Glories, I totally agree, months of nothing but crazy growth, and then suddenly you wake up one morning to an ocean of flowers. I did not know the blues were especially late, I’ll have to try some other colors. But Heavenly Blue (a most well named plant) is my favorite once it gets going:

Hardy Amaryllis is another spring treasure, very tidy, totally carefree, attractive foliage, and a big spring show:

There were a number of new additions to the garden last year that I'm looking forward to. Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours' is one of them.I planted a couple of Daphne odora 'Aureomarinata' one of which got the rot and died. The other currently has buds. I went a little crazy for bulbs last year, with a half dozen 'Globemaster' alliums, a dozen 'Purple Sensation' alliums, a bunch of bearded irises. I also purchased a number of lilies from The Lily Garden. Of these, I'm probably looking forward most to 'Eros' although I'm also eagerly awaiting 'White Butterflies', 'Midsummer Night's Dream', 'Red Velvet' and 'Anastasia'. They are currently under snow. I am of course looking forward to seeing how the roses do this year. There is always hope.

Diane, I got them in a small pot at the Grange. I believe they are called Peaches and Cream. Chantilly also rings a bell. They lasted 3 years. My favorite snaps ever. If I see them again this year I will grab a bunch.

Beautiful rudabekia!

Thanks so much for the info, Kristine. I'll hope against hope that my friend purchased some of this seed. What luck finding a pot of them ready to go. I just got notice that my order of Snaptastic magenta/purple snapdragon seed has shipped. It's brand new, available from one or two seed places in huge quantity for nurseries, but I bought, anyway--500 seeds. We'll see if Snaptastic measures up to La Bella seed, no longer available, and which sets the standard for snapdragon seed, as far as I'm concerned. So next up is tracking down Peaches and Cream seed. I'll start with Swallowtail Garden and on to Stokes in Canada....You should try rudbeckia Indian Summer. It's technically an annual, but reseeds so reliably, that it's quite dependable from year to year. It has a much longer bloom season than the perennial types like Goldsturm.

Ben, those Heavenly Blue morning glories are so gorgeous and worth waiting for. It makes me wish for more patience to try them again. I didn't know there were hardy amaryllis and they are quite beautiful. They should be more widely available--aren't they different from the regular ones we grow at Christmas inside the house?

Flowers, those pine needles sound awful. It's something I forget about, living in this bare country. But you don't have quail! No dusting bowls!

Dave, thank you for being so gracious in allowing me to blab away on your thread. This has been such a fun place, and the info and photos are wonderful and useful, too. Diane

Thanks everyone for the information on seeds. I used to be into it, but got side tracked. You're great enablers.

Ben, the HB morning gloried are GLORIOUS, but I'm also grooving on your hardy amaryllis. I have some white ones that I didn't dig up. They're meant to take it about 0F, but we went to -7 a couple of nights and now I'm worried they won't make it. That's what I get for being both lazy AND optimistic.

Ben's HB looks divine! I am growing mixed colors this year but this garden chat makes me crave the thing I'm NOT doing (single-color mass planting of Morning Glories a la Ben). Oh well!

I have some Lycoris radiata given to me by a friend from Texas years ago. They have multiplied but never flowered! My friend doesn't know why because where she lives they flower no matter what you do. Does anyone have an idea? I've heard conflicting advice about watering, especially summer moisture (they need a lot; they need none). The other thing is that the bulbs are usually an inch below the surface because mulch and leaf litter gets spread around. Should they be peaking up from the soil, do you think?

Because I've been so sad about the Lycoris another friend gave me some Amaryllis belladona bulbs. Your Hippeastreum amaryllis photos made me think of mine, Ben. They're the size of basketballs and I have them in pots. No flowers this year but we'll see!

Kristine- you’re delphiniums are amazing! I tried them again in 2017 but I’m not sure if they made it through the prolonged drought despite supplemental water. They do not seem to like some of the extremes in conditions in my area. I wasn’t planning on purchasing more this year but with after seeing your pictures I was looking at Bluestone’s site and found this one - I love the soft lavender color:

Ben - the color of the Morning Glories are striking!

Noseometer - Allium great structure to the garden - I love them! I’d like to try another type of clump variety allium like Millennium this year (2018 Perennnial of the Year as well). Your lilies sound exciting.

Diane - Oh, please continue to share! This year I would like to try a shorter, spreading campanula similar to what you have. Do you have a favorite?

Thank you Dave. I don' do much from seeds. I use starts for my Delphiniums.

Some come back year after year and some I just enjoy for the year .I don't have much luck with the white ones

I love that here the Delphiums show up at the nursery in Feb. Whoop boo, almost time for more

Oh what a great thread !! I love all the photos . Ben I had a disaster with my blue morning glories . They swamped my arbor and almost took it down ! I swore no more but I have an idea! We have an ugly hedge that runs along side my house cut with hedge trimmers. I think I'll plant some so they cover the hedge ! Either this will be amazing or another disaster! Haha

those delphiniums look beautiful! I need to try them even though it's probably too hot. I love those datura and brugs too ! They are so pretty.

diane did those campanulas come from seed ?

Time to go seed shopping!

Dave, check out the New Zealand hybrids of delphs. My friend grows those and the Pacific ones here where it can be a challenge. They do need to be staked in this climate. But she has some gorgeous ones. I think she buys most of hers at Edwards greenhouse. I wouldn't try them from seeds, either, Kristine. Diane

Lily, the campanulas were small (4 inch pots) perennial plants that I bought. You should be able to find them in nurseries. Sometimes they are sold as a shade plant, but don't believe it! Blue Chips (or Clips--I wish they would settle on the preferred name) love the sun, and do best in it by far, blooming all summer. You need to sheer off the spent blooms, though, to keep them coming. I grew some in the shade at my previous home, and they didn't do nearly as well as in the sun. Diane

I've got to try those Blue Clips campanulas also. They are so cute! If they do well for you, Diane, they should do well for me. I've tried some campanula from Trader Joe's - those in the little pots, and they fried, but probably because I forgot to water them. I've also tried C. portenschlagiana and it grows, but hardly blooms. Hmm...Blue Clips...now where to find them?

Thanks Diane! I have seen them in little pots , never in a garden ! I had no idea how delightful they were ! I will get some this spring for sure !

Diane, I had only skimmed some of the posts here, so went back to thoroughly read them and saw that I'd missed the part about you having a freeway spin out and ending up in the center divider. That truly is horrifying. What's the rest of the story? Did you drive out by yourself, or were you trapped in deep snow? I assume you were ok? Makes me shudder to think about it. Mine were just on country roads where there isn't much traffic. There's usually a farmer around to hitch up the car to his tractor. I'd totally freak if I did that on the freeway.

Never fear, flowers. That little incident happened back in 1989. I needed help to get out, and two young men pushed me out (I had just read that book about Ted Bundy, and was nervous as heck). A cop was checking out a flipped car a little ways away and ignored us. It went on and on, quite an ordeal. But I survived to see the next day and two flat tires. Missed my uncle's funeral because of those darn tires.

Back to the campanula, I think a local nursery might be your best bet in finding the plants. Noseo, looks like my try at spelling the portenschlagiana went down in flames-ha. Thanks for rescuing me. That one does quite well here and looks better than the photo. I hope Blue Clips does well for all of you. We can compare photos. And it's the Carpathian harebell, not Siberian. I was thinking of Siberian bugloss, which is brunnera or false forget me not. That was a mouthful. Diane

False Forget Me Not, an antique passalong plant.

I own White Cap peony too & it’s one of my best peonies. Port Royale is another beauty. Awaiting this year the blooming of Bartzella which was moved to where I had a shrub that outgrew the spot. I am hopeful that Diana Parks peony which is a deep red & fragrant blooms 1st year for me. Awaiting a Livermore poppy to emerge so I can move it to a dryer spot. Our clay soils are wet for it & I will move it so it doesn’t get too much water from sprinkler system.

I always look forward to when the gingers start blooming here.

Globba ginger Sangria..globbas aka Dancing Lady gingers are hardy to zone 8 they go dormant in winter and the rhizome can be lifted and stored indoors and planted after frost. They usually come out of dormancy in May.

Variegated Shell ginger.

Curcuma Sulee Rainbow hybrid

Curcuma unknown

Another Globba Blue Hawaii pic

and the vines:

My own hybrid

Ipomea alba..white moonflower vine

Passifora Victoria (left) and Belotii (right)

Passiflora Belotii

JMG Sunrise Serenade

That's a 5 gallon bucket for size comparison lol.

Passiflora nigradenia

Double Rangoon Creeper aka Drunken Sailer Vine..These color change from red to pink to white. They are vary fragrant I usually smell them before I see them. They are listed as zone 10 but they come back from the roots here in zone 9a.

Wow, SJN that one by the bucket is insanely huge. What is that?

Your gingers are very pretty. I'll have to read about them. Thanks for posting.

Oh, incredible! Your ginger blooms are awesome! I can only purchase them here in cut flower arrangements - so great to see them! Love the passiflora, too. I’m wondering what that giant bloom is as well.

Its a Dutchman's Pipe Vine the variety is Aristolochia gigantea ‘Brasiliensis'. My dh says it looks perverted...won't even go there lol.

Its seriously cool when there's a ton of them hanging way up in the tree it climbs on. They look like some strange party balloons. They make weird seedpods that look like parachutes hanging down. I think they are hardy to zone 9 but I chop it back and put it in the greenhouse for the winter. In March, I stick its pot back against its tree and it grows up it again till frost.

Oh, love it! From the beautiful to the "perverted" (not really), but your Dutchman reminds me a bit of those carnivorous plants that look vaguely like meat. Your gingers are lovely especially the one looking a bit like an elongated pineapple, but very pretty. And that adorable froggy looking out. What flower does he live in? Thanks for this wonderful look at your tropicals. Diane

That is a moonflower vine aka Ipomea alba. It is similar to a morning glory but fragrant at night. Smells like some kind of yummy shampoo to me lol.

They open at night and close in the morning. The little frogs sit up in the flowers and eat gnats, little moths, and male mosquitoes that are attracted to the fragrance. The flowers close in the mornings. On many occasions I've had to rescue a trapped frog from the flower bloom because he didn't jump out before it closed lol. In the photo the frog is sitting in a half closed flower.

I've seen the Ipomea alba seeds at Home Depots and Walmart etc. by the morning glory seeds. There is also a lavender moonflower but they aren't fragrant..just pretty.

The seeds are easy to grow..just nick the seed coat. I use a nail clipper. Then soak the seed overnight then plant. They are very frost tender so just treat them like annuals. I let them climb all over my taller plants and trellises.

Wow Sultry those gingers are so unique and such a novelty since I can’t grow them here. They are gorgeous! I hope you share more photos of them as the seasons warm up. They’re really special. Thank you for bringing us to the tropics!

Thanks Cori ann. You might be surprised by gingers. I grew them in Lake Havasu City, AZ (desert with summer temps up in the 110-120 at times..super dry climate) in pots on the patio. They got slanted morning sun and afternoon shade. As long as they get watered daily in the summer they can do well. I even had some grocery store ginger I got to flower there lol. Some gingers can go dormant in the winter and survive zone 7b. The butterfly gingers/hedychiums are sun lovers. In a super dry climate I would grow them in dappled afternoon shade and morning sun.

Diane,

Hardy Amaryllis has smaller flowers than the Christmas Gift type, only about 4”, but it forms and especially beautiful and durable clump.

SJN,

Such beautiful and exotic gingers and vines!Is the first vine a morning glory? I’ve never seen that form and that color before. I used to grow moon vine, it grew and bloomed well enough, but I never got those cute little frogs as tenants :(

Yes that is one of my own hybrid japanese hige morning glories. It doesn't hardly make very many seeds but its pretty. I also have a purple hige that makes more seeds.

If you like Japanese Morning Glories I highly recommend Onalee's Seeds. She has lots of pretty ones. Some have variegated leaves. Some are hige and some single flowered with beautiful coloring. You can also find seeds on ebay. I just make sure I search for seeds from the US and not Japan. You can get them from Japan it just takes a long time to recieve them usually. There are US sellers on ebay called jmglover or another called southern pines or something similar that has been reliable.

I got a kick out your rescued froggies. I used to have to rescue bees that went to the bottom of the big datura blooms in my flower bed. They were so angry, you could hear them buzzing all over the yard. This was in the evening when the datura opened. I think the bees were half drunk from the toxic datura nectar, but I was able to guide them out of the blooms and never got stung, though the bees were quite unappreciative.....sigh, my one try at Japanese morning glories resulted in no germination. The seller had a huge variety of them on eBay. I'd try again if I had the space. The photos were beautiful. I'm going to look at Onalee's Seeds.

Ben, I like your hardy amaryllis better than the Christmas type. It's a beauty. Diane

Wow Sultry, I am always a bit envious of the cool tropical that you can grow. My favorite part of traveling to somewhere tropical is all of the fabulous plants.

I love all of your vines. I never had any luck with the moonflower. This year I tried a Japaneese Morninglory.

I have better luck starting my moonflower and morning glory seeds in small cups w drainage holes or small 3 inch pots. I mix half perlite and half seed starting mix. Wet the seed starting mix before planting. I always nick and soak the moonflower seeds in warm water overnight then plant.

The japanese morning glory seeds do not need to be nicked but I usually soak them in a little warm water and a capful of hydrogen peroxide to prevent rot for a few hrs before planting.

I cover the cups/pots with saran wrap and put them under lights on a plant heat mat. You can use a little spray bottle every few days to keep the soil moist.

If its really sunny outside you can start them outdoors in semi shade in the little pots and use a pop bottle top to cover them but leave the tiny round lid part off so they don't cook. They will need to be watered more if outside.

Once the seeds sprout and put up leaves, you need to take off tge plastic so they dont damp off/rot.

Kristine, Your JMG looks like Sunrise Serenade. I grow that one too. Its so pretty and easy to grow. Your second photo is a Hyacinth Bean. Yours it really beautiful! They are really a showstopper! I've grown those and a few of the runner beans like Painted Lady. Super easy to grow. I want to try one called Sunset. It is orange sherbert and peachy cream colored. I think the Sunset ones are edible.

Diane thats funny about your drunk and disorderly ungrateful bees. I sometimes grow a few double or triple datura. I will have to pay more attention to see if any poor bees get trapped lol.

Does anyone here grow sunflowers? I like trying different kinds. This year, I got some seeds for one called Honey Bear. It is supposed to get 6-8 ft tall with fluffy powderpuff 10 inch heads. Similar to the dwarf Teddy Bear sunflowers but bigger. I might start the seeds today. They look like this photo (not my blog)

https://aprimitiveplot.blogspot.com/2011/09/goldy-honey-bear-sunflower.html?m=1

Honeybear looks fun. I haven’t grown sunflowers in my current yard yet, but have regularly grown them in the past. I was thinking of trying the strawberry lemonade mix from Johnny’s Seeds. Haven’t clicked the buy button yet though. Waiting to see if I will need/want any other veggie seeds first. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/flowers/sunflowers/tall-branching-sunflowers/strawberry-lemonade-mix-f1-sunflower-seed-3356.html#q=Sunflower&lang=en_US&start=1

Ooohhh those are pretty. Cori Ann your yard is already so amazing. It will be smashing with all those pretty sunflowers. I think I got the Honey Bear from Burpee when they sent me a coupon code. I think there is the same one or very similar for cheaper at Park Seed.

Hyacinth bean and pretty runner bean seeds can be found at Baker Creek seeds.

Thanks everyone for such great pictures and ideas. The gingers and hyacinth beans are sending me over the edge! CoriAnn, those sunflowers would look great somewhere in your yard and they make wonderful cut flowers and are edible to boot, (but you already knew all that)! : ) I guess I could grow some of these things as annuals. I especially like the vines. I just grow the native clematis Virginiana which has always been in my yard.

I had never heard of the hyacinth bean until my friend sent me some seeds. I collected my own this year so I should have a nice full trellis. I have seen the seeds available through a few different companies though so If I do run out there are options.

vaporvac, The ginger rhizomes can be lifted and stored over winter just like gladiolas or caladiums etc. I even let my globbas dry out in their pots after the first frost kills the foliage and I just store the whole pots in our utility shed till March then I set them back out in the garden and try not to water them too much until I see new growth. I will usually add some fresh potting soil and osmocote on top.

Armadillos love to eat my dormant globba tubers. They must taste good to them so I store them in the winter. In the summer I keep the pots fenced off from the critters. The first year I had some I had them in flowerbeds and they kept disappearing. They dont bother my other gingers.

Thank you, Sultry! That is GREAT news. I just love the look of those flowers and think they'd really suit my brick veranda. Now I just need to re-read this post to see where I can get some. : ) Does anyone grow agapanthus? That's another favorite I'd love to try.

@vaporvac I have TOO MUCH Agapanthus. They have swallowed an entire border!

Feel free to send some my way! I guess if they're crowding out the roses, one can have too many, but that's a serious accusation from where I'm sitting! : )

I newly got agapanthus last Fall, and I put them in large pots for the patio. This way they can be tucked into an alcove by the house for the winter.

Putting them in containers is the better way. The ones I have, they were already growing in the ground when I got here. They're fast growing and could take abuse and neglect and their flowers were very pretty. But that meant they spread and spread. Every year I find a clump that's getting a bit hollow in the center and divide it. But every division forms its own clump and now I can't give away divisions fast enough! YMMV, they may not be so expansive in cooler climates. Here it's z9/10 and very very sunny.

@vaporvac - Send me a message and let me know when the weather is safe for sending bulbs (sorry it took me so long to see your reply!)

Wow SJN you have got some beauties!

Your garden must smell wonderful. I only have the white ginger lily and my whole yard smells like it when they are in flower. Imagine all your gingers flowering together - must be intoxicating!

Yes it really is lol! I do think the white hedychium is the most fragrant though. I think my most fragrant wafting plant when in full bloom is Michelia alba. If I could bottle that exact scent and wear it every day I would be in heaven!

@sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida 9a) - Champaca is a close relative and smell similar to Michelia alba and is a very popular scent in perfume! Some of the perfumes are more impressionistically champaca and some are more faithful to the real thing.

Here's a list! https://www.fragrantica.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=58649

Nice link Bourbon! I do know about the Champaca. I've tried sprouting the seeds a few times without any luck lol. I may just order a plant. Its another one I would have to put in the greenhouse though and I am running out of room. One of the reasons I started adding more roses is to have more color in the yard during the winter months here plus I don't have to put them in the greenhouse like many of my plants. I really need to move further south!

Champaca is also called The Joy Perfume Tree. Chanel no 5 is supposed to mimic the Ylang Ylang tree. I am probably gonna get shade for this but I don't really like Chanel no. 5 lol. I do like the smell of the Ylang Ylang tree. Something must get lost in the transformation to perfume. I haven't smelled the Joy perfume yet.

This is a great website to search and read about tropical plants. I have only ordered seeds from here because a lot of their shipping seems high but its a good resource to read about stuff.

https://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Michelia_champaca

I also have a couple Michelia figo aka banana shrubs which I can leave out in the winter here. It smells just like bananas and vanilla. They aren't as widely grown in North FL and they were when I lived in Louisiana but they should be.

Chanel no 5 is supposed to *mimic* the Ylang Ylang tree but they did it with what was then a revolutionary new ingredient to perfumery: aldehyde. It was so revolutionary that EVERYONE from the most expensive perfume houses to the most humble household cleaners wanted to use it! Soon people got tired of it and began to associate the smell with "old man aftershave" or "room spray". The newer perfumes don't use so much aldehydes unless they're trying to achieve very specific effects!