O is for Orchid!

Well, well, well, I managed to make it to the Lowes Garden Center once again.  Yesterday, my husband was looking for paint, so that gave me plenty of time to browse in the world of plants ...

 

 I'm partial to white orchids.  Thought this one was a beauty ...

 and this one ...

Very exotic!  I had to take a close look to make sure it was a real flower.

Pretty in Pink

If a tropical drink were a flower, I think this one would be it. 

Symphony

My shopping cart ... notice I'm being strong.  There's not an orchid in it (this time ;-).  I did get an onion chive and a beautiful dianthus.  I have found that dianthus weathers our scorching summers quite well.  Our summers seem to be getting hotter with long periods of drought, so I've started appreciating drought tolerant plants over the last two or three years.  I baby the daylilies and the irises, but everything else has to be pretty tough.  It was 87 here today!

And a little something for the hummingbirds ...

Honeysuckle



Yellow and White Honeysuckle

 Honeysuckle is my other garden perfume besides confederate jasmine and tea olive.  I have this planted on the corner of a fence with my non fragrant carolina jasmine.  I can almost smell the honeysuckle when I look at this picture.  I'm not sure what kind I have because I grew mine from a cutting from a wild honeysuckle bush.  Whatever it is, I have a very tough species because it survives our scorching Alabama summers with very little extra care!  I know of very few plants that can do that unless they are in the succulent/cactus family!  Did you know that honeysuckle nectar is used in herbal cough medicines?  Another plus is that hummingbirds love it!  I have only seen one hummingbird so far.  I heard whirring in the air and turned around to see a male ruby throated hummingbird hovering right behind me.  He was such a dark grey that he was almost black with a brilliant ruby throat.  This one must have just been passing through because I haven't seen him since.  I had to name him of course, since he was the first one this year ... he looked like a "Sebastian." :-)

All about honeysuckle.

Designer Daylily



JESCO - MY FIRST "DESIGNER" DAYLILY 



The beginning of my addiction ... this was the first "designer" daylily I purchased from the local daylily farm (a beautiful place in the country about thirty minutes from our home).  The owner of the daylily farm is a fascinating lady named Marjorie with sparkling blue, wise (over eighty years wise) eyes, and she knows EVERYTHING about daylilies.  Upon first impression, one would wonder if she's has ever left her daylily farm, but that's far from the truth.  She's traveled the world and has many tales to tell.  We go there for the daylilies and for the tales!

The name of this daylily is Jesco.  I've haven't had very much luck finding any information about this daylily on the Internet since I purchased it.  Jesco blooms three or four times per summer.  The blooms are quite large and the petals have a tissue paper like consistency upon close inspection.  Jesco was my husband's favorite daylily when I began collecting them, but I think he has "eyes for another" now ...

Bethany

Daylily - Lola Branham



Daylily - Lola Branham

 This is one of my favorite daylilies from 2011.  I have a feeling it will be on my top ten list again this year.  I hope everyone enjoys the photo.  This is not an optical illusion.  The blooms on this daylily are gigantic!

"Look Here Mary" is it's name.



Look Here Mary ... Beautiful Daylily!

 "Look here Mary" is a tall daylily with a gigantic bloom, and it's a repeat bloomer in southeast Alabama.  This beautiful daylily is also a late bloomer, which helps extend the season in my gardens.