Saturday, February 23, 2019

Weed or Not?
























This one is called Oxalis purpurea Garnet. I got it from a friend many years ago. I love the compliment of burgundy foliage and pink flowers. 


It's a bulb that comes up in the cool weather and blooms. Then it dies back when it gets hot. It originates from South Africa(as many of my favorite plants do). 






























This is what it looked like this morning at 7:30AM when it was 37º.  Brr.  But Oxalis just shakes it off. 


Do you grow the desirable Oxalis or the weedy Oxalis?  I grow both unfortunately. 

Happy Gardening! 



Thursday, February 14, 2019

Rain & Another Orange Vine

Ahoy plant lovers! Sorry I've been absent for awhile. January is all work work work rose pruning jobs. And even though it's not an El Niño year it sure feels like it with all the rain we've had setting me back so much. But with lots of rain makes a good spring bloom! I finally finished pruning my own rose bushes just a couple days ago. I weeded along the way.  But there is still so much more weeding to do.  And the rain keeps bringing more weeds.  So, it's good and bad.  

Yesterday in drizzle after a postponed job I was out in my garden putting alfalfa and Epsom salts on all my roses(a handful of each on the soil next to the plant). So I'm super glad it poured rain overnight and this morning to water it in. It's always tricky getting nature to work for you. Put out food and hope it rains. If it doesn't, the fertilizer could burn the plants. So yay! 





So between rain showers I noticed that my Pandorea Golden Showers burst until bloom! Yay! I love orange flowers. I forget where I first saw this plant. But I hunted for it and always found it super expensive. Then I took cuttings from a friend and they didn't take. Then I finally found it at a decent price. It's only been in the ground for maybe 2 years. As you can see it's kinda sparse growing up one of my rebar arches. But the flowers are so pretty. The common Pandorea is pink. So, orange is special. 




Happy Gardening!