Garden Much

Pelargonium stinks

2010-11-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

No I mean it literally - they stink.

After moving some plants indoors for the winter I noticed my hands had a foul smell of .. well I would best describe it as cough medicine - you know that type where you'd almost rather stay sick than take the medicine. I quickly identified the source of the smell - the leaves of my 3 pelargoniums.. So thats why they are also called Scented Geraniums! :)

Pelargoniums - pretty they are but what a foul smell!

I looked it up and apparently Scented Geraniums come in flavours such as Lemon, Rose, Coconut, Apple, Peppermint etc.. The list dosen't mention Foul Cough Medicine scented geraniums.. So my question is - are cultivars naming plants according to what sells or have they lost their sence of smell?

Chrysanthemum november explotion

2010-11-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

I knew my chrysanthemum was a late bloomer but this year it didn't start to bloom until november. Considering I'm at a northern lattitude and it's getting close to freezing at night that leaves a very small window for the Chrysanthemum to show its splendor.

Ahh but what a lovely sight in such a bleak time of the year. It's an explotion of flowers :)

I had almost lost hope that it would bloom this year after cabbage worms attacked it mid season - thankfully it recovered but this may also explain the late blooming.

Admission of guilt!

2010-10-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I wrote about how the leaves of my huge indoor palm was turning brow. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that I had committed a crime of waterlocking.

Maybe it was my long vacation, the new job .. anyway enough excuses.

After cutting down the rotten parts of my once huge and splendid palm that gave my living room the wildness of a jungle (at least in one corner) its now reduced to a few green shoots.

So laden with guilt I decided to try and save what was left. I bought the best water level indicator money can buy.

This palm was once reaching for the ceiling of my living room - now there's almost nothing left - snif :(

I hope it won't take years before its back to its former splendor?

What is this coral-like plant??

2010-08-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Im back from my vacation with this photo in my camera:

I have never seen it before. Looks like something that should be growing in a coral reef! :)

Can anyone help me put a name on it?

Who's farting in my garden?

2010-08-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

One advantage of growing plants on a balcony is that any "byproducts" from pests eating my plants fall on the floor where they are quite visible! :) Don't get me wrong - I certainly don't like these "byproducts" but they are usefull as an early warning that I have unwanted guests..

The image shows strange black pellets that have been appearing under a potted plant on my balcony recently and raises the question who's farting in my garden!?

Wanna take a guess?

Alright I'll reveal it - it's a cabbage worm feasting on my Chrysanthemum.

It's time to whip out THE SOAP GUN

2010-07-24T12:48:00.001-07:00

I'm being attacked left and right by plant lice (aphids). First the little buggers attacked my Tivoli rose and just when I thought all was under control again they went for the Clematis!

It's time to whip out the soap gun and show them there are no good times in my garden for lice.. pew pew :)

Click here to see the horrible before and after pictures from the shootout!

Juli Blooming Day

2010-07-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been very hot and we have had evening thunderstorms with almost tropical-like rainfalls which is fairly unusual around theese parts. People and dogs are suffering in the heat but it's a major catalyst for plant growth.

My favorite bloomer right now is a "Tivoli 150" rose. This photo was shot in the last ray of sunlight of the day.

The next two flowers have been serial blooming since spring but they are still among the most spectacular flowers I have.

First the Canna Tenerife.

The second serial bloomer is a Hibiscus. I spent part of my childhood in asia and this plant always reminds me of that period of my life.

Finally this pink hotensia deserves mention for its survival spirit. After last winters extreme cold everything above ground looked completely dead but in late spring a few green sprouts appeared and while we weren't sure it was last years hotensia we let it be - although not as full as last year its now showing healthy growth. I promise to take better care of this pot next winter :)

The Clematis Cover Up Story

2010-07-08T02:32:00.000-07:00

Im staging a clematis climbing race to find out which type of clematis is best suited to hide an iron wall on my balcony in the least amount of time.

From left to right we have contestants Dorothy Walton, Miss Bateman and Niobe.

The photo above was shot in May. Dorothy on the left was first out of the gates with impressive growth. Miss Bateman in the middel however didn't move an inch - instead she spent all her energy on flowers.

Next photo is from Juli. Dorothy has been ahead of the field all the time and is now displaying some very beautiful blue flowers. Miss Bateman dropped her flowers in June and finally started climbing. Niobe took a middle approach growing until June at which point she started flowering.

Above Dorothy Walton is flowering.

Conclusion
In terms of covering the iron wall in green leavery in the shortest amount of time Dorothy takes the price. I also appreciate how Niobe has managed to distribute the flowers evenly along her stems. Now where do I find a clematis with both characteristics - fast climbing green leavery and an even distribution of flowers?

The iron wall on my balcony is a bit of eyesore and I had hoped that green leavery would cover the entire wall by now. I still have high hopes in Dorothy who seem to be cabable of flowering and maintaining a fast pace of climbing at the same time. :)

A Day In The Country Side

2010-06-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's refreshing to get away from you own garden - take a ride out in the country side and experience plants in a more uncontrolled environment.

So today my wife and I set off with no specific destination other than "out in nature away from the city".

First we came upon this field with endless rows of strawberries.

2 people picking berries for roughly half an hour - we assumed that would amount to about 2 kilos but it turned out to be 4. So what do you do? You start calling friends to ask if they are free to come over this evening..

A fair amount of berries were also consumed in the process of picking them but luckily we weren't asked to step up on the weight ourselves! :)

They were incredibly tasty :)

Next we sougth out flower fields. My wife picked a huge bouquette while I was photographing.

What was a day off for us was hard work for others :)

We highly appreciate this little guys efforts to keep nature beautiful. He only spends 2-3 seconds at each flower head making it very hard to do a macro photo.

Finally we reached the sea and couldn't go any further. The excursion had come to an end...

Grafted Euonymus Fit For Balcony

2010-06-23T04:55:00.000-07:00

Euonymus Emerald Gold is a scrub with spectacular leaves - dark green at the core and yellowish at the edge.

The scrub may be too unwieldy for a balcony. However a dwarfing effect can be induced by grafting the Euonymus on a donor stock. The dwarfing effect in visible in my Euonymus in the picture below - the Euonymus hasen't changed much in 3 years (although I can't rule out that periods of neglectful watering may also have played a role!)

Ofcourse if you have the space for it then theres no need for grafting. Euonymus Emerald Gold serves perfectly as Variegated Foliage.

Mid June Blooming

2010-06-17T03:28:00.001-07:00

Mid June and this is the coolest thing blooming in my garden now..

It's a Hibiscus Rosa growing in my garden. I believe the most common color is plain red but mine is slightly orange.

It's also known as Chinese Rose and has multiple uses, among others:

1) Shue shine in India.
2) Haircare.
3) Tea.
4) Salads.
5) pH indicator. Turns green in basic solutions and magenta/dark pink in acidic solutions.
6) ..and finally for medicin in China.

All in all a pretty versatile flower. Get the full details on Wikipedia.

Mint – the coolest weed in my garden

2010-06-16T13:57:00.001-07:00

Is mint just an uncontrollable weed or an old medicinal herb against stomach ache? No it’s the coolest plant in my garden

Why? Because with this weed growing in your garden it’s likely that you have all the ingredients to make a Cuban Mojito (you do have a bottle of rum lying around don’t you?).

Grow some Mint - make a Mojito

6 leaves of Mint
1 Sprig of Mint
1 Lime
1 dl Club Soda
4 cl Havana Club White Rum
2 cl Crushed Ice
1 teaspoon Cane Sugar

Clematis Fantasie

2010-06-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Clematis set to Secret Garden music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqP7aYMEMzw

Please help identify this flower!

2010-06-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

The flower bulb was dug up from the sand dunes in Saudi Arabia long time ago and planted in our garden. Or so we think! :)

Please help us identify it.