Experimental Garden

Saturday, June 15, 2013

June bloom

To say we had some rain in the last week, is an understatement.

This is my road after 4". These are not puddles but two places that the stream has flowed over the road.

Thank goodness the stream that was overflowing is back in it's banks.

This all started with one peppermint crinum plant. Now we can get up to 50 blooms from the expanded plant.

My husband tried for years to get a hydranga to live in our experimental garden. This one finally made it. It is three or four years old now.

Maybe I will add a little lime and see what happens. Below gives you an idea how big the blooms are.

Beware those bulbs in a box that they sell at the grocery store. Will they really grow? Just gets bigger each year.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Garden Tour

This garden tour is for Millie.

Thornless Blackberries are covered with blooms, can hardly wait, yum, yum.

Several varieties of blueberries are getting ready to produce and this promises to be a good year.

A very small purple iris.

Banana tree grove has about 14 so far. Big ones are growing from the old trunks and lot of babies. The largest are about eight feet high.

The pot grew back from last year and the frog is a begonia.

This is one of the wandering iris.

They have shown up in an area where we do not mow.

And are trying to take over the fish pond.

First day lillies, Stella Dora

Candy Cane Crinum

Dragon Wing Begonia

Stay tuned...

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April 2012

Can you identify this plant?

How about this one?

The one on top was from seeds from darling daughter and the second one was a plant she gave me. It sat in a bucket from summer, through winter and I just put it in the ground and it started blooming.

Thanks daughter/

Also blooming:
Wild Easter lillies

Wild little blue flowers

Snowball bush

Help let me in, it is dark out here.

Just catching some rays.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Experimental banana trees

Our banana grove grows each year. We usually cut off all the trees before the first frost. Last year we tried an experiment and left two trees with just the leaves cut off.

During the long hard winter ;) ;), one broke off about midway. Now the trees are coming up. The one that broke off has new leaves coming out the top and it is now 3 feet tall.

The one that broke off is shown with a yard stick. The tallest one on the right does not show any signs of leaves yet. In the background are many shoots coming up out of the ground.

Another update:

See the tomatoes grown from seeds? Notice the trowel to show how big they are. Ready to go in the ground.

Flowers from seeds donated by darling daughter. Ready to go.

Com'on summer, we are ready.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

March Bloom Report

Everyone seems to be enjoying early spring this year. We are no exception in NC.

The last of some of the spring bloomers include this daffodil. We have had daffodils blooming since January but they are about finished.

This has been the best winter we have ever seen in the Experimental Garden for Camillia. In the past the deer have stripped the leaves and blooms off the bushes. Not this year and we have enjoyed more blooms than ever before.

However we did have one problem. Squirrels picked the blooms off and we found them all over the place.

The pansies have bloomed all winter and due to the mild winter they have been showier than ever.

The forsythia is in full bloom now

As well as this beautiful red shrub. It has thorns but I do not know the name of the plant, do you Diana?
The bees are all over this bush today.

Oh ye nay sayers observe. When I planted seeds in January in the unheated green house you scoffed.
it was too early you said.

Carrots need to be separated.