Sunday, October 08, 2006

Glad Late-Season Surprise ....



... Guest photos by Fernymoss ...

Tonight, we're going to revisit an oddity I posted about earlier in the summer ... the mysterious gladiolus that we initially thought was a long ago planted Crocosmia (Lucifer), but after having put up leaves for the past several years and never blooming, decided to treat us finally this year. Well, this past week, it decided to give us a repeat show very late in the season ... as we face an almost likely frost later this week.

Perhaps it's a gift from the goddess in the autumn garden ... but no matter the source, we're glad to see this lovely combination of pink, yellow and white make a rare re-blooming appearance. Though we've never known gladiolus to re-bloom, this has been an odd year for such occurrences around the garden here ... what with the hibiscus that ceased flowering in late August, only to have reappeared in full bloom (if a bit smaller) in the past few weeks though the Delphiniums seem to have taken to their autumn rest for now... Other plants are giving us their best farewells to sunny weather ... the zinnias, the Spanish Flag, morning glories and other annuals, as we face the prospect of a likely freeze later this week. We'll hate to see them go, but in the cycle of the garden itself, it's an inevitable moment we face each fall .... so a late-season surprise such as this seems even more worth savoring while it lasts ....

In the first shot you can also see a small visitor near the top of the shot ... it's a lacewing, a more than welcome predator who has decided to call our garden home. These are the kinds of guys you want in your garden, as they feast in the most discriminating way upon those little nasties such as aphids who want to consume and destroy your flowers. And unlike the especially proliferous Preying Mantises this year, lacewings won't just eat anything in sight ... they will selectively choose the bad guys who may be trying to devour other flowers. So if you see them in your garden, give them a smile and thanks for making your flower beds their home ... they will prove to you that they're worth having around.

The last two shots are especially luscious tight shots of the flowers, where you can get a much better look at how they look slightly unopened, as well as revealing their inner bits in more detail. The mass of chartreuse green you see in the background of the third one is Ipomoea battata or Green Sweet Potato vine... which alas, is now putting on lots of buds that may never have the chance to reveal themselves this year .... if we do dodge the freeze and they do bloom, you can certainly expect to see them here soon.

Enjoy these while they last ... that's what we plan to do!

8 comments:

olivia said...

These are really pretty ... and what a nice surprise to find them blooming again - a real gift. I like the darker edges ... really nicely captured by Fernymoss!

Family Man said...

Wonderful pictures IVG. I was just thinking. Once winter gets here, what are you going to post?

Whatever it is, I know it will be great.

olivia said...

FM's got a point there ... any plans or ideas for winter b-ing IVG? Last year I was buying cut flowers, which made the house pretty. :-)

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi there O and FM! At this point I've given it some thought for winter... well there's snow... there are the evergreen plants (Holly), not to mention my huge backlog of photos I've not yet used. One idea I had was a sort of countdown to spring ... using photos of the bulbs from last spring ... or maybe just catching up on all those topics I never really covered as well as I wanted or at all.

That sound like a plan to you?

Larry Kollar said...

Wow, they look all dressed up for the prom or something!

Winter — and I mean a real winter, with snow and all, not this cold nothing we get on Planet Georgia — has its moments. Either it will be a glorious day where every shot you take is worth sharing, or it's a grey nothing that only Ansel Adams could make something of. :-) It'll be interesting to see what you (and Olivia, for that matter) come up with for the bottom of the year.

Family Man said...

Hey IVG - I think the count down to spring is a good idea. Actually I think it would be cool to see a weekly update on a bulb, flower, bush, etc that either starts on its own or comes into full bloom during spring.

olivia said...

I like the countdown to spring as well! A primer on all the spring bulbs would be great.

And yes, go through some of your photos and put together some posts.

Oh heck, anything you chose to write about sounds fantastic to me! :)

Family Man said...

Feast or famine......

I think I've worn out my toes from tapping, but I do hear that metal trash can tops make a large enough sound when banged against the sidewalk. :)

Hope everything is going well with you IVG.