Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Color Combo


The two 'Barbara Karst' Bougainvillea shrubs are heavy with bracts, which is surprising because a lot of rain usually brings excessive leaf growth with fewer bracts.






My lone Coral Aloe  has a very small inflorescence compared with last year's fat multi-stalks. This size variation from year to year is inexplicable.




First Argentine Giant cactus flower of the season.




This small containerized Meyer Lemon is loaded with blossoms, and I will have to thin out most of the fruit that forms, as the trunk is just too spindly to support a lot of fruit.  I do love Meyer lemons, but I think my main reason I have this little tree is to smell the blossoms in spring.




This is my one surviving Blackfoot Daisy. It is quite large now, and will bloom for another month or so.  It gets more shade than the others did, and I think that's why it is still alive. 



For the first time, my roses were hit with Powdery Mildew, and I spent a good amount of time last week trying to get it under control. Right now, it seems most of it is gone. However, most of the buds and quite a few leaves are deformed on my eleven rose bushes, so I don't know if I'll have any nice spring roses. When I visited a friend this past week, I noticed her roses also had the infection. All the rain we had this spring, followed by warming weather, probably made the conditions just right for the infection. The rose shown here is Rosa 'Lady Elsie Mae', a mid-sized landscape shrub rose. Last year, this rose struggled in the heat, and even with its crispy leaves burnt by the sun, it continued to produce blooms, albeit very small ones.  




13 comments:

Claude said...

The bouganvillia are wonderful. as for the powdery mildew on the roses... well, I've found that there's always something with roses. Which is probably why I don't mess with them much, I have limited amounts of time to keep them happy.

Darla said...

Gorgeous blooms here, love that first photo!!

Julie said...

Ohhh...you really have some color going on there!!! Yeah!!!!! Nice to see some cactus blooms again, Aiyana! Hope all is well with you and Hubby!!!

Suzanne said...

Your Bloomin' Tuesday posts from the last two weeks are just beautiful. I always learn so much just by reading the dialog. I've sat here scrolling up and down trying to find a favorite picture. Not easy to do. However, that bougainvillea is absolutely stunning!!!

Elena said...

Your Bougainvillea is lovely. My mom had a small one but because of the cold she had to bring it into her greenhouse each year. She is loved it so much.

Jean said...

The first pic of the Bougainvillea is amazing! Perfect shot! Iwish I could smell the lemon blooms if they smell as good as they look. As always, fascinated with the cactus flower. Jean

Rock rose said...

It is wonderful to see your garden in bloom again. I imagine cactus blooms galore from now on. We have also had lots of rain and everything here is tall and spindly and weeks behind previous years. The Argentine giant cactus is stunning and what a healthy Blackfoot daisy. Lovely.

Paula said...

What beautiful blooms! I love your first photo- waht a fun thing to see everyday - amazing!
Thanks for sharing,
Paula from Idaho

verobirdie said...

Thank you for this fireworks of colors. Your plants are gorgeous

beckie said...

Those bougainvillea are stunning and set off so well with the yellow flowers in front. I love the catus bloom-I get my fix for them here. :) I hope your roses come out okay. And am sure the next 'crop' of blooms will do better. The 'Lady' rose is gorgeous and such a trooper. You must be very proud of her efforts.

kesslerdee said...

You have some lovely blooms going on...love that giant cactus...wow!

Sunita Mohan said...

I love that photo of the bougainvillea! They're one of my favorite fence-toppers... the more you neglect them the better they perform. And who would dare jump a fence which has a mean bougainvillea guarding it? Unfortunately all of my bougainvilleas are NOID plants. One hardly ever finds named plants at the nurseries in India. No matter ... if they bloom well, one tends to forget all that!
But oh wow! I've never seen such lovely cactus flowers! So very pretty!

Rock rose said...

Getting a little worried about why you haven't posted for so long. Hope everything is OK.