We’re thinking over some container ideas for the late winter / early spring planting time. Last year we went with this Linaria reticulata ‘Flamenco’. Man that’s been a gorgeous plant.
Planted April 1st ish..no foolin
For some reason, I thought we started this planting a lot earlier, but looks lie it was on April 1st…ish. I bet would do fine with seed, but opted using 4inch starters instead.
April 16th.
Amazing how fast the Linaria ‘Flamenco’ took and started to flower…in less than a month. Those red and golden blooms are mouthwatering.
April 30th
May 22
Besides being a showstopper, Linaria reticulata ‘Flamenco’ is one of those bloomers that keep on giving. It flowered for us for at least half a year. We did cut it back a couple times and that seemed to extend the flowering. Oh, bonus…after established, we didn’t have to feed it much water.
July 2nd Linaria reticulata 'Flamenco'
As we sit and ponder what to plant next, we wonder what sort of plant combinations are you peeps are getting ready for this (upcoming) season. Share them…we would love to know!
Happy September Bloom Day! Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the monthly bloom-a-thon. Summer has finally arrived in Outer Sunset. For the first time in several weeks it hit seventy five degrees and was sunny! This little bee was pollinating its little heart out on a cutie mystery mesemb. Anyone have any ideas as to what it is? I don’t even remember where we got it.
Cuphea 'Strybing Sunset' action
Matti brought Cuphea ‘Strybing Sunset’ home from the pitiful pile at work, and it’s made a full recovery. I threw it in there to give Fuchsia ‘Fanfare’ some leggings to cover up some of its skinny leg show.
Linaria reticulata 'Flamenco'
Linaria reticulata ‘Flamenco’ is one of my favorite annuals. I’d even say it’s even in my top five. We planted one last Spring, and it bloomed like a crazy thing for months in a big container. I loved it so much, this time I planted three. It’s well on the way to being a giant ball of red-orange flowery goodness.
Petunia exerta fun
Crazy rare Petunia exerta from South Eastern Brazil is still going strong despite being trampled by a dog. We trample it, too trying to get to plants in the far corner. Greensparrow Gardens‘ blogger Joseph Tychonievich hooked Annie’s up with the seeds for this super unique Petunia. Joseph is so cool he actually tricked his tree dahlia in to blooming using a trash can this summer.
Plectranthus neochilus
Some folks don’t like this funky little groundcover’s herby odor, but I think it smells nice. The purpley flowers aren’t bad either.
Sempervivum starting to get crazy
We’ve got semps in all shapes in sizes, bursting with sea creature like blooms right now. Matti’s been addicted to semps for quite some time, but I was slow to jump on the bandwagon. We had one back in Wisconsin that I loved, but I was weirdly not in love with them when we moved here. I think one might have gotten rotty during the winter. While I still can’t rattle off all the cultivars like Matti, I do love them again.
Impatiens nyungwensis
Matti picked out mega-rare Impatiens nyungwensis, a native to Rwanda from Annie’s last winter/early-spring. It’s loving life next to the beach. We now have two thriving colonies of this hairy little guy, from a couple chunks of plant I shoved in the ground after it was looking sad in a container.
Brugmansia sanguinea
Pretty soon our Brugmansia sanguinea will have some flowers facing the garden where I can take a picture of it without sticking my head next to the fence. This guy has really taken off. It’s covered in buds right now, and getting huge.
Eccremocarpus scaber 'Tresco Gold'
Finally, after quite some time of not doing so much Eccremocarpus scaber ‘Tresco Gold’ is causing hummingbird brawls in the garden. We literally have over ten Fuchsias out back, and the hummers don’t give a crap about them compared their beloved Chilean Glory Vine. Earlier this week I saw my first full on hummer battle above this vine.
Verbena bonariensis and fluttery friend
The butterflies have been digging the Verbena bonariensis big time latey. Anyone know what this one is?
