skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Because Olivia just has to have them! So here ya go, toots ....!
These are a couple of inner bits shots of the Hibiscus 'Disco Belle' I posted earlier this week. (Photos taken 22 July, 2007 by IVG.)
I think the colour gradations in the flowers show up pretty well here (and yes, these were two different blooms), despite the shadow, which was totally unintended. Bonus points if you can identify the source of it ....
When you think about it, it's pretty amazing that a flower that lasts but one day goes to such intricate extremes to lure its pollinators to visit. I guess that's one of the reasons I've always been such an enthusiastic promoter of Hibiscus in general, and H. moscheutos in particular. It was definitely the tropical look in the midst of the midwest that hooked me initially (though I grew the tropical varieties for years), but the longer I've grown these beauties, the more I've come to appreciate their complexities. And when you add in the 'wow' factor they produce in their admirers, I just can't see how any garden is complete without a few representatives. And even the tropical varieties are pretty easy to grow inside over the winter, and will even reward you frequently as long as you provide them with a sunny window and adequate water and humidity. I actually look forward to pampering Erin Rachel come winter, so we can keep those giant 'froot loops' (Fernymoss' description) blooms coming!
Just a quick post tonight, since I've been trying to take it easy today ... haven't been feeling so great the past few days, so hopeful I got my batteries recharged today!
These are two shots of the hibiscus taken this afternoon... (Brilliantissima is the red one and the other, of course, is our new girl, Erin Rachel.) I don't usually think to turn the lens on the spent blooms (the red one was blooming yesterday), but I thought this looked like it might be an interesting perspective on the IBs ... I kind of like how it turned out, all horizontal and everything. Erin Rachel is turning out to be one gorgeous plant, who's going to soon find more space in a bigger pot. Seems like that feeding with fish emulsion was appreciated, as she's putting on tons of buds, along with Brilliantissima.
Tomorrow I vow to get some more weeding and seeding done, but that job just never ends around here! Wish me luck ...
Tonight's Movie Choice at Casa IVG is Breakfast of Champions, a 1999 adaptation of Vonnegut's classic novel directed by Alan Rudolph (a personal favorite of mine and former acolyte of Robert Altman). Don't let Bruce Willis scare you off, because if he hadn't gotten involved producing, this film would never have been made. And he's actually quite good in the role of Dwayne Hoover. It's a goofy, somewhat surreal romp through suburbia, and though of course it can never fly to the heights of Vonnegut's inspired fantasy, it does a pretty damn good job. Worth a look if you're a Vonnegut fan ... others, I'm afraid (especially those who haven't read the book) might be a bit confused and bewildered by it ... I guess it's one of those films you either love or hate. We love it, and just got the DVD yesterday to replace the aging VHS copy we've had for several years. Looking forward to seeing it again after quite a while! You can buy it here on Amazon, for a nice price!
And here we have the last few examples of Darwins to wind up our mini-series of tulip inner bits as captured last April, when the tulips were at their spring best ... And given the current terrain out there (as of today), these magnificent specimens were indeed in their prime blooming mode .... 
Though this year's tulips are trying valiantly to put on a show this year (see the bottom photo taken today), it's clearly not going to be anywhere near as show stopping as we achieved last year. So we'll have to content ourselves with some prime specimens from last April (2006) ... From the top we have an example of a simple (if that adjective could justifiably be applied to this flower!) basic yellow Darwin ... closely followed by one of the constantly dwindling Parrot Feather varieties that was planted among those first bulbs mentioned in a previous post ... and finally --just for Olivia, of course-- a dirty pink Darwin, one of a mix that I planted along the line of the sidewalk leading to the street.
Of course I'm especially partial to the yellows ... and I may be tempted to get a few more of the Parrot Feathers to replenish the stock, because though they are a fancy variety, the textures they exhibit are just far too fascinating to dismiss casually (as I tend to do with such cultivars). I particularly relish the "pinking shears" effect on the petals, not to mention the mysterious inner bits this particular tulip offers up ... just primed for an enterprising bee to explore and pollinate....
And to my eye, the brilliant yellow (above) edged in inky black just screams bumblebee mimicry ... an inviting landing and collection pad just waiting to be used on a warm, sunny spring day, the likes of which we hope have finally arrived this year to banish the last of the winter woes we've had recently in the garden.
And, as sad testimony to the damage caused by our recent freezes, as well as the tenaciousness of these Darwins, I've included a shot of one of the masses of reds and yellows we have out in the main boulder bed. As you can see, they're doing their best to give us some blooms, but nothing close to what they've achieved in the past couple of years ... In any case, we plan on feeding them before they disappear for the season, in the hopes of better performance next year, weather permitting ....
