Massive blooms

Finally - FINALLY - the hibiscus flower I've been waiting for has bloomed.  And I waited a looonnng time.  It didn't even show any growth until mid-July and these flowers only bloomed this month!  It's a new plant, so I only got 3 flowers on it this year, but boy were they big and beautiful.  I'm wondering if they bloomed so late b/c they didn't get quite enough sun so I might try moving the plant this fall.

Here is my Kopper King Hibiscus.

The leaves are supposed to have a coppery/red tone to them.  You can see it a bit on the bottom leaves and in the veining.  I'll be interested to see if they change color w/ the Fall season.

The blog post pic is of the back of the flower, which I thought was interesting.

In the Pink

The grocery store rose is still blooming, as is the celosia.  All the other flowers you've seen here are now gone.  BUT that doesn't mean we aren't flowering!  The Pretty Jessica-David Austin type rose is in bloom as is my Elodie Lady double flowering lily.  The lilies are almost as tall as I am this year.  And they're doing so well in their spot that I may have to plant more lilies around them.  And maybe a peony. And some tall phlox. And...  Okay, I'll stop.

Here are my pretty pink blooms.

The Pretty Jessica rose

The Elodie Lady lily

A couple of the Elodie Ladies (Lady's?) didn't fully double bloom, but they they still look cool

The Stargazer carpet lilies and my dahlias should be blooming soon, along with my new climbing rose.  So come back in a few for more pics!

Roses & Lilies

One of the best times of the flowering year - when my roses and lilies are blooming.  It starts with my Hot Cocoa rose and the "supermarket" rose.  I have no idea what kind of rose it is, I bought it for the house a couple of years ago b/c it was a neat red w/ purple overtones (undertones?).  Anyway, I planted it that fall and it has been a GREAT bloom producer.  It's grown to about 2' x 2' and produces more flowers every year.  I like it so much that I just bought two more grocery store roses.  They are called Victory roses, one red and one yellow.  I'll be in good shape if these produce as well.

Hot Cocoa Rose (excellent fragrance)

Supermarket Rose (no fragrance, but lots of blooms)

As for the lilies, the Lolipop and yellow (I forget their name) ones are up, as well as my Red Border lilies.  I'll have to post again when the other lilies are blooming.

Lolipop lilies (I keep telling myself I need to move these as they don't get nearly as much sun as they really need.  They come back faithfully every year, but I think they'd do a lot better in more sun).

The same goes for the yellow lilies

Finally, the Red Border lilies.  I may have to replant these as well.  I planted them per the directions, one every so inches apart, but I think they'd look much better in clumps.

There will be another Roses & Lilies posting when the Pretty Jessica roses are in full bloom and when the Stargazer Border lilies and Elodie Lady lilies are in bloom.

I'll also have to do a catch up posting of the peonies.  I love them so much, but they come and go pretty fast.  Honestly, I could probably do another 4 postings with all the flower pics I've got! :)  As always, I hope you enjoy the flowers as much as I do!

Filling in the gap

There's always a week or so in between the peonies dropping their blooms and the roses coming out in full where there's a bit of a lull in flowers around here.  So to fill in the gap I try to make sure I've got plenty of annuals.  There are pansies and petunias in the back and in the window boxes.  And in the flowering pots I've got African daisies, Celosia and one w/ teeny little white flowers that I buy every year and always forget the name of...

African Daisies

The Celosia

The White Stuff

And just this morning I planted two hanging baskets full of Torenia in pink & purple and Alyssum in purple and white.

A bit of Fauna

Not sure if insects count, but why not?

I was taking pictures of my new Karl Rosenfeld peony when this buzzy bee decided to do some work.

The Neighbors

Lest I give the impression that I'm the only one on the block with flowers in my yard, I'd like to share a couple pictures that I "stole" from the house across the street.  Other neighbors have some pretty blooms too... I just have to wait for them to be out so I can sneak into their yards. :)

So, a preliminary thank you to Steve & Maura for taking pictures they have no idea about...

The Bleeding Heart

The Lacecap Hydrangea

Last of the Spring Flowers

The Spring flowers are starting to fade now.  All the daffodils are gone, just one or two narcissus hanging on.  The tulips petals are stretching out and a couple have fallen off.  The phlox still looks gorgeous, as does my daphne.  That isn't actually in full bloom yet and will be fabulous when it is.  That's my favorite shrub, so I just bought another!   Yep, that's right, not done planting yet.  Will I ever be?  I planted a bunch of summer blooming annuals, but the real beauties are the daphne ("Carol Mackie") and the red, double peony (Karl something-or-other). 

Here are pics of the last of my spring flowers.  As always, enjoy!

Pics are of 'Carol Mackie' Daphne, Blue-grape Hyacinth, White Carpet Phlox, Pansies

Tulips, Tulips and more Tulips

The sun was shining so brightly on my flowers today that I couldn't resist taking more pictures.

Flora, Fauna & Merriweather

So, for those of you Disney savvy people, you'll recognize the title of my newest blog from the movie Sleeping Beauty.  My intent for this newest blog is to share my love of Flora with you.  I am by no means a professional photographer, but I never get tired of taking pictures of flowers.  My little family seems to have taken this quirk of mine in stride, but I often wonder if my neighbors think I'm a bit off when they drive by and see me laying on the ground so I can get under a flower to get a good angle.

Not to ignore the other two fairies, I'll be sure to sneak in some other pics of nature.  I like to try taking pics of birds, but the little critters are usually too quick for me.

The pic in the blog title is of a Japanese Andromeda.  The pics below are the insides of my tulips.  Enjoy!