Absolutely does age affect how much we can do, or care to do, for our plants. Some of my benign neglect flowerbeds over the years have also become favorites.

Ferns and forest grass.... Ah... we of course admire and like best the plants of others that we struggle with growing well. Still pretty sure Ostrich fern is gonna be the death of me. Or maidenhair fern. Or a fine crop of forest grass.....

I'm still happy to share...

Guys, thank you for all of the information. It seems to me that in my climate, pruning in February is probably the way to go. In this part of the country, the summer blooms are a bit smaller than the spring and autumn ones, but they're still respectable, and the plants have no trouble surviving the summer. They start to get really nice again in the autumn when it cools down, and I usually get the last flush of really nice blooms about this time (my Midas Touch is covered in buds right now, and they will probably be almost as good as the first flush in the spring when they bloom).

They stop growing in the winter, but they never lose all of their leaves, but they haven't stopped yet, so I think if I were to prune now, the new shoots would start to grow, and then they'd get blasted if we get a really hard freeze (we don't always get a hard freeze, meaning like in the 20s,or below freezing for an extended period of time, but sometimes we do).

I like comparing how we have to do things in different parts of the country based on our different climates. Although I think now my initial instinct to wait until February or so to prune is probably right, this has been an interesting discussion, and I thank all of you for sharing with me.

But I still thank you, ES, for suggesting that I plant with the graft union below the soil. The one I planted that way really has thrived in a way I never would have expected from a first year rose.

Hahaha this thread is great and super informative

My wife told me a year or two ago that I could not put any effort into plants that were not my orchids or did not give fruit or veggies.

I still like roses and hydrangeas and others but I choose to put my efforts elsewhere

You guys are super heroes

This is one of my favourites, Thunbergia Grandiflora, it's in bloom most of the year for me but I've never had one seed set.

https://i.imgur.com/IvLR5Tj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lCFYDgy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YJv2SGq.jpg

Another Thunbergia in my garden, Erectus, darker flower and completely different growth habit.

https://i.imgur.com/1vQfX3q.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oBCGZ2N.jpg

An easy grower, self seeds like mad, Datura Blackcurrant swirl.

https://i.imgur.com/DiHVUhQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CaDOXNG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/j4mHPZo.jpg

We had a rare bit of drizzle the other morning and I couldn't resist taking pics of everything in bloom, hundreds of pics to trawl through and delete :rofl:

very nice!! i especially like the cool edge on the purple one

Is it perhaps "Blackberry Current" (as in the fruit) swirl? We can grow all those as annuals only, unless wintered inside. If you have little ground water, and little rain, where does your water source come from?

It's definitely Blackcurrant (as in the fruit!) Swirl. I bought the seeds in England about 10 years ago. They are perennial but I find they bloom best in years 1 and 2 so I let self sown seedlings take over and cut the old ones out from time to time.

Water? From the sea!!
All our water is desalinated. I get through about 20-25 cubic meters a month depending on time of year. I think our water is quite cheap, 1.20€ per cubic meter, I don't know how that compares with where you are? The majority of my water gets used twice. EVERY bit of water used in the house goes into a dirty water system and when it has 'matured' it goes to an overflow tank that gets pumped around the garden every night. That covers the watering/fertilising for everything planted near the boundary walls. If I think those plants need extra iron for example I just tip a large dose down the loo and flush it on it's way! Not very scientific but it seems to work! I've then fixed up an irrigation system to water the plants that are inside that area, ie nearer the house. That comes on for 20 minutes every other day but has no fertiliser so I go around with a watering can every couple of weeks to cover that. I really enjoy that as I get to have a close look at everything and see if anything needs doing or has come into bloom without me realising etc.
My Phals get the desal water as well after it has been through the carbon filter that we use to produce our drinking water. Had some early worries that the desal water was affecting the phals but turned out to be bugs and maybe a temp hiccup in the desal. On Ray's advice I tried to get a full water report - I'm still waiting nearly 18 months later!

Sorry, seem to have run on a bit there :blushing:

No, I asked. I've always thought it wasn't cost effective to desalinate sea water. I've never had to think about recycling every bit of waste water either (although the grass is greener over the septic drain field.) But, recycling grey water (if possible) makes good sense.

We have a well and septic. Recycling those would be against code (I believe.)

I'm not sure if producing desal water is cost effective or not but there's really no alternative as we don't get rain and what groundwater there was ran out years ago. We've only had piped water in our village for just over 10 years, before that there was a never ending queue of water lorries topping up everyone's reserve tank every week. The energy for the desal plants are wind turbines and they put their excess into the general grid. The island has invested heavily in wind turbines, another 8 have gone up in the last couple of months for general electricity production and I'm sure more will follow. One thing we are not short of is wind! Everything here is run on electric, no gas (except bottled), no oil, but many places are now installing solar panels as well. One of the smaller Canary Islands, El Hierro, has managed to go totally self sustained with renewable energy.

Looks like a variety of Datura (the Blackberry Swirl part just describes the color)... you wouldn't want to be eating THAT one! It is beautiful! I was only familiar with the ordinary white Datura.

---------- Post added at 05:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------

Desal is on the expensive side but it's one of the ways of dealing with water uncertainty in a desert (like where I live)... there are a few desal plants along the California coast, and powers-that-be trying to get more. In my neighborhood, we have a cutting-edge reclamation plant that gets about 1/3 of the the secondary effluent from the Sanitation District up to, and well above, drinking water standards. Part goes to maintain the aquifer so that it is protected from seawater intrusion, the rest goes into the drinking water system. Since every drop of water on the planet is ultimately recycled (we haven't added any in a few billion years) we're just shortening the process (rather than dumping to the ocean and waiting for it to come back as rain, which can be a really long wait.) When it doesn't rain, people have to be creative!

ill resurrect this thread with a gem of a plant, Purslane!

most people think of it as a weed but it is both beautiful as well as tasty and really good for you! (loads of omega fattys)

i love the fact that each one can flower in different colors and that they are amazing on salads

i use them as a ground cover but only in the front yard as they are toxic to the pooches


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...00680c57_c.jpgUntitled by J Solo, on Flickr


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...03dfaac4_c.jpgUntitled by J Solo, on Flickr


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...263a98ca_c.jpgUntitled by J Solo, on Flickr


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6e36166f_c.jpgUntitled by J Solo, on Flickr

Last February while walking my dog in my new neighborhood I kept catching whiffs of the most amazing sweet lemony fragrance but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Turns out it was Winter Daphne (Daphne ordora). It is so powerful when in bloom you can smell a small bush outside from across the street. I am now obsessed.

Well shoot! Quit toying with me. I rushed off after reading this to find myself one. Zone 7-9. Go figure.

Wah, wah, wah... :violin:

I tried them here. It wasn't pretty.

Ooops! I didn't realize how restricted the zone map is. For the first time on this board I am feeling lucky about my local weather conditions vis-a-vis a plant I'm trying to grow outside.

Damn! 7-9. That is like a teeny window lol

I might try to push it and grow it in a pot in shade.

I love me some smelly flowers

It is really incredible. 24 hour fragrance. My girlfriend pinched a tiny bud from the top and brought it in and it smells up a whole room.

It also said they were sort of finicky to get started. You're even further outside the zone than Dolly and I... caveat emptor my friend!

Lol. I live dangerously


A cool flower for smell that I just discovered is
False Ashoka Tree

I am pretty sure. The person whose land it is is kind of an ass so I don’t want to ask lol

Smell Is like a frangipani and a lemon. Smack(kiss)!

Yesterday, WW and I were talking about pushing the zone envelope. When we were younger it seemed like the thing to do. I personally always likes to push my zones as far as I could and brag about it. However, as I got older, I was more interested in what would work than coddling it. I find myself going back to tried and true plants that work with little tending.

Years ago a landscaper gave me A Daphne that was supposed to be Hardy. Even in our sand it died a slow and painful death. There are just things that my conditions will not grow. And you can ask WW about ostrich ferns, they are the rats of the plant world to me. I've made hundreds of dollars off of my bed of ostrich ferns. But for her, not so much.

Just what you need to hang a lot of mounted orchids in a small space.

If you like fragrant flowers, freesias have a very strong aroma, and seem to be pretty easy to grow. I had an abundance of croms from red and yellow ones neglected in pots that I cleaned out. I couldn't figure out what to do with them so thought I'd stick them in the ground along a border.. there's no sun in this part of my garden from October through April, so they became terribly lanky and all flopped over. Despite this, they still bloomed and the aroma here when the breeze comes through is just awesome :)

Daffodils are very pretty. My first time growing them, for some reason I thought they were supposed to smell nice, but these remind me of latex water balloons :scratchhead:

It depends on the daffodil. There are thousands and some are highly fragrant. What zone are you in, 10A? Here, Freesias are pot plants, period.

And here, same zone as Dolly, they don’t even do really well in a pot

Same zone; very different conditions.

Yup, exactamente my point. Kinda like ostrich fern. :biggrin:

Ylang ylang!

I was way off

Oh wow! Beautiful, and all beautifully photographed.

YES!! welcome to the thread!! these are awesome!!!!

i have never seen or heard of a few and i am real real glad i now have


thanks!!!

This reminds me to be amazed at the beautiful world that is all around us.

Amazing, Tindo, as always. I remember you posting your Rhodies awhile back! I recognize many of the wildflowers but, none of the first batch of Rhodies grows here. WW and I just ordered the Geum (Prairie Smoke) in my case to try again.

Hi Tindomul. It’s the vireyas that interest me. I am wanting to grow a few of these too. I’ve heard they mostly get very leggy and unattractive after a few years. Do you find that to be true?

The leaves dark purple 💜 and the flower yellow 💛

https://i.imgur.com/UxkZ2PB.jpg

Black rose aeonium

Mediterranean, Rocky dry soil (Arizona style) weather. To tell you the trust, I've never notice them well until a few weeks ago. I am not into succulents, but I saw it with that huge yellow flower in a sunny cold day and it was beautiful.