Flowering Hosta: Christmass Tree, Blue Umbrell, Fortunei Albopicta

flowering hosta, and seen a bee buzzing around this morning:

 

Bee visiting Blue Umbrella Flower

 

Flowering Christmas Tree in the ground - Blue Umbrella in the black pot

 

Fortunei Albopicta

Flowering Hosta Christmas Tree - front yard

The Tropicals, A Touch of Birthplace!

some tropicals to highlight a dull garden...

Backyard Garden: Squash, Eggplant, Carrots and Tomatoes

 Squash, Eggplant, Carrots and Tomatoes

My backyard vegetable garden is small about 8 feet and 2 feet wide. The squash I posted in early spring has grown huge, and it has fruits. And so did the eggplant, and the carrots were trying to live under the big leaves of the squash.

Here are the pictures captured this morning, I can say the veggie garden rocks this summer!

Butternut Squash occupying the whole 8 feet of my garden (see the yellow flowers under the leaves)

 

Lovely Yellow Squash Flowers

Small squash with the flowers still on. :) Exciting Times

 

Another baby squash, sitting by the childrens chair, ah, the run out of space to grow. 

The squash tag from the store, squash flowers in the background. 

Eggplant fruits, ah maybe I need to harvest these soon (touching the ground already)

And more eggplant flowers...

 

Another variety of my eggplant, sort of round-ish 

Kenneth's carrots, trying to survive under the shade of the squash. 

Tomato - (Roma) full of fruits, just beside the mammoth squash.

Perennial : Tiarella Sea Foam

 Perennial: Tiarella "Sea Foam"

I got this pot of Tiarella, cousin of Heauchera.  Perennials that loves sandly loam and well drained soil.
The variety sea foam has very nice leaves, green with contrasting purple vein in its leaves.

Very white foamy flowers on cooler temperatures. Forms great clump, very nice accent to a lovely garden.

 

Tiarella Sea Foam - I can't wait till it flowers soon!:) 

Interesting Clump - 3 kinds of Tiarella, Heauchera Palace Purple and Hosta Royal Standard and Hosta Gold Standard. 
I eventually spread the Tiarella to a new pot to give it growth.

Karlina: Dress Up Moment

I seldom dress her up and she is pretty happy with shorts and t-shirt. Yesterday, our neighbor dress up for a party, and she wanted to dress up as well.

So, I dress her up and it lasted 15 minutes. Our neighbor took off to attend the party and she took up the dress, and back to her shorts and shirts.

 

Hosta Blue Umbrellas: Purple Flowers, Just Lovely!

From: Hosta Library description: " Paul Aden gave us this large plant in 1978. The parentage is 'Tokudama' x sieboldiana 'Elegans'. A mature clump may well be 4 1/2' x 3' tall. The light lavender flowers appear on 36" bloom scapes. It grows rapidly and prefers 1/2 to nearly full shade. It has excellent substance and texture. The giant blue-green cordate leaves are 12" long by 10" wide. The flowers are lavender."

My blue umbrella in the pot has flowered, and oh, it was sooo beautiful. It seems to be leaning to a bit, and I put the pot beside flowering "Hosta Christmas Tree". 
The other pot I set aside for Blue Umbrella was also outgrowing its 1 Gallon Pot. i divided it into 4 smaller pots, hoping this will last them for awhile:


2 pots in square planter: 1.00 L (1.06 qt) 
H = 13 cms (5 inches)
W= 10 cms (4 inches)


2 pots in wide circular planter: 1.45 L (1.53 qt) 
H = 11 cms (4.2 inches)
W = 15 cms (6 inches) 

These 2 pictures were showing the buds coming out of blue umbrellas. 


This morning, the blue umbrella flowers opened up, and I will put updated flowering pictures soon. 

Hot Day about 47C in Ottawa City: Planting Cactus from Seeds

Very hot day in Ottawa, 47C with humidex and I end up staying home. Kids have a turtle playsand, now converted into water tub. They jumped in the morning and so as in the afternoon.

Between nap times and  breaks, I manage to plant my cactus seeds. I used Jiffy pot #3, cooled boiled water, cactus mix soil, vermaculite and perlite.

Germination time is 7 days to 60 days. Nice to observe how soon it will really germinate.

 

Soil Mix for Cactus Seeds Propagation 

 

Germinating Pots - Soil Mix with Cactus Seeds 

I also recieved some seeds i bought from ebay, the username is: theseedhouse, located in Ontario.

It was 50 seeds of mixed hosta varieties, so this must be exciting in the future, if and only if, I succeed.  This is my first try for hosta seeds. 

I have no sterile supplies, but cheap kitchen re-usable items. 

The clear plastic container was from "roasted chicken at Loblaws".

Water was cooled down -boiled in a pot.

Soill mix - cactus soil, perlite, vermaculite (1-1-1 mix)

Well, hope this works and I will update soon when it germinates. 

Here is my germinating container for hosta, with 50 seeds in. 

Hosta Gold Standard

HOSTA GOLD STANDARD-Banyai 1976

This one is mentioned as a fast grower, with leaves that has light gold center and dark green margin.
Considered as medium size hosta.

Now, what they did not mention was this hosta is "slug-o-magnet".  I took a night walk in the garden and this one was slugs favorite. Hosta Canadian blue was not touch at all.

I put it in one corner in the ground, and then it was devoured by slugs. So, she is back in the pot, going for higher grounds.

 

Taken today, July 20, 2011

A closer look at this gold standard leaves 20 July 2011

Heat Wave, Annuals that Thrive & Some were Fried

Its July, heat wave is here.

my white petunia got leggy and sure fried. A loser this year.

Another big pot arrangement in my front house worked well. They tend to survive and enjoyed summer.
Marigolds flourish too.

 

An arrangement of Variegata Pineapple Mint, white Chrysanthemum, and Red Salvia, taken today July 20, 2011

 

A picture of the annual arrangement taken last June 2011. 

 

Flourishing Marigolds taken today July 20, 2011

Hosta Salute

HOSTA SALUTE - Benedict 1995

Mound size: Small to Medium

Hosta Salute is an upright vase shape hosta, can grow at 14 inches tall. Mine were potted in 1 gallon nursery pots, separated them for growth, and one baby plant in each pot. I will observe their growth habit, they seem to be very interesting indeed.

Maybe, by next year, I will end up putting some annuals beside the pot for nice view. :))

Potted Hosta Salute: July 18, 2011

Hosta Christmas Tree, Flowering in July

 HOSTA CHRISTMAS TREE - Seaver 1982

Hosta Christmas Tree - another one of those healthy and lovely potted hosta, that I ended up planting in my front yard besides Hosta Thunderbolt. 

Hosta Christmas Tree has corrugated green leaves, almost heart shape leaves, with cream colored edging. Definitely an eye-catcher! 

From Hosta Library: "Christmas Tree' comes to us from both Kevin Vaughn and Mildred Seaver (1982). The foliage mound reaches 36 x 20" with 18" bloom scapes. It has often been confused with Aden's 'Grand Master'. The leaves are 10 x 6", cordate, and deep green with a cream-white edge. The plant has very nice substance and is heavily crinkled. Van Wade says that it prefers shade to 1/3 sun. The funnel-shaped white flowers bloom in July. To quote Van Wade: "...flowers in July produce a flower with vestigial leaves in the shape of a Christmas tree, hence its name." It makes a very nice pod parent, passing along a number of desirable characteristics."

Here is a picture of my plant in my front yard: [ flowering today july 19, 2011 tue]

 

Flowering H. Christmas Tree in my frontyard - July 2011

Hosta Fragrant Blue

This hosta Fragrant Blue was so cramped in the pot. And I washed down the roots and divide the roots and rhizome and then plant one in the corner. Must be one year old in the nursery, the roots were peaking at the bottom of the pot. 

 Hosta fragrant blue with abundant roots.

 

Hosta fragrant Blue - leftover roots, after planting and potting

And here they are: 1 gallon nursery pots, with more room to grow.

Jack in the Pulpit

This jack in the pulpit was wondering around my backyard fence early spring. I put it under the shade in the backyard garden.

Sorry forgot to take picture of the beautiful flower, (maybe next spring) but here it is with the fruit. 

Note: these berries are poisonous, so this is planted very close the fence and the garden is enclosed by a metal fence, so the kids  and pets do not get to it. 

leaves of Jack in the Pulpit

June 2013. This might be called Jack in the Pulpit flowers?

Jack with its berry like fruit: (POISONOUS)

This might be what the called Jack in the Pulpit flower. (June 2013)

Perennial List and Hosta List - Angelinas Garden

This is a list of perennials growing in my garden, at least the ones that I keep the tag. I will list it here, so I can update on their growth, mounding habit, and its life in years. Some perennial do not survive in Ottawa City winters, so I am keeping this list as my guide for survival.

Pictures of the actual plant to follow:

 

This picture is taken July 25, 2011.

Alpine Columbine (aquilegia alpina) - bright violet blue flowers, over compack grey leaves - full sun, part shade. This plant is still in the pot, recieving  full sun, and seems to be triving very well.

This picture was taken July 25, 2011.

Black Hollyhock (alcea rosea "nigra") - single maroon black flowers, full sun. This plant is planted in a pot, and seems to be surviving even in the heatwave. Regularly watered every day. 

This picture was taken July 24, 2011.

Bergenia - "Winter Glow" (Bergenia crassifula- known as elephant ears, red flower bloom, full sun /full shade. This plant is planted in the ground, shaded by the fence and have sun in the afternoon.

Carpet Bugle (ajuga reptans black scallop) - full sun or shade , purple-black leaves, crinkly texture, dark blue flowers. This is ideal ground cover, and it seems to adjust partial shade in between hosta.

Coral Bells -Palace Purple (heuchera) - full sun/part sun, purple to bronzy green.This one is on the border between my hosta plant and the paving stones. It  seems to like the partial sun and shade from the fence. The white chrysanthemum seems to give it nice accent.


Creeping Jenny, Yellow Loosetrife (lysimachia nummalaria)  - part to full shade, ground cover, studded with yellow flowers.

Goliath Alpine Aster - (aster alpinus goliath) -full sun, average to dry watering, large
flowered strained daisies

 This picture is taken July 25, 2011.

Goldstrum (rudbeckia fulgida) - coneflower, nice yellow flower, full sun.  
This one is planted in a pot and recieving full sun, and so far, surviving well.

 

Hibiscus with flower bud, and it opens below (at noon).

Hibiscus Purple Galaxy - a tropical plant. We call these Gumamela in the Philippines.

 

This picture was taken July 25, 2011.

also, on the left is Dahlia (semi-Cactus)

Lilium (Lily - Asiatic and Oriental Hybrid) - planted in the ground, with full sun exposure.

This picture was taken July 25, 2011.

Tiarella (foam flower) - Spring Symphony, Crow Feet, Sea Foam - all in pots with part shade in the morning.

Vinca Minor (bowles variety) - ground cover, purple flowers

HOSTA List 2012
1    Alex Summers – Sta. Lucia 1989
2    American Halo
3    August Moon-Summers 1968,  clump size, 24 x 42" ML
4    BirchWood Parkys Gold-Shaw 1986, clump size 5" x 4",
5    Blue Mouse Ears
6    Blue Umbrellas – Aden 1978
7    Bridal Veil - Bob Hird 2003 Iowa, M, clump size 20 x 48
8    Canadian Blue – Van Vliet/Walek 2009, SM, Halcyon Sport
9    Captain kirk – Brill 1999
10    Chariots of Fire
11    Christmas Tree – Seaver 1982
12    Dancing in the rain – walter gardens 2004
13    Diamond Tiara – Zilis 1985
14    Earth Angel
15    Empress Wu
16    Fire Island
17    Fireworks
18    Fortunei Albo marginata
19    Fortunei Albopicta – AHS 1987 ( been around since 1860)
20    Fortunei Undulata-Medio Variegata – Bailey 1930
21    Fragrant Blue
22    Fragrant Boquet
23    Fragrant Queen
24    Francee - Minnie Klopping/AHS 1986
25    Frances Williams
26    Ginko Craig – Summers 1986
27    Gold Edger – Aden 1978
28    Gold Standard – Banyai 1976
29    Guacamole – Solberg 1994
30    Guardian Angel – Thompson 1995
31    Halcyon- Smith, 1988, M, clump size 38”x20”
32    Invincible – Aden 1986, SM, clump size 38” x 20”
33    Janet – Shugart/O harra 1981
34    June
35    Kifukurin Ko Mame -Ruh 2002
36    Krossa Regal – Fisher 1974
37    Lancifolia – 1888 First Hosta to reach Americas
38    Pacific Blue Edger
39    Patriot
40    Pauls Glory
41    Pilgrim – Malloy 1997
42    Plantagina
43    Praying Hands
44    Purple Dwarf – Hensen 1983
45    Red October – Herold/Walek 2009
46    Regal Splendor
47    Rhinohide
48    Royal standard- John Grulleman/Wayside 1964/AHS 1986
49    Sagae- Watanabe 1986, clump size 24x20, VL
50    Salute – Benedict 1995
51    Sieboldiana Elegans-Hylander/Ahrends 1987
52    So Sweet- Aden 1986
53    Spilt Milk
54    Striptease
55    Sum and Substance-Aden 1980
56    Thunderbolt -Hawkridge Farms NR
57    Tokudama Favocircinalis
58    Whirlwind
59    Wolverine – Wilkins 1995