Dragon Wing or Angel Wing Begonias

My favorite annual!

I've discovered they grow and bloom from spring to frost and provide abundant color and lushness to any full sun, part shade or shady area!  They are great directly in the garden soil but I enjoy them most in containers!

Big containers provide me with loads of lush color and save me watering time.  Any containers I have must have the ability to thrive and survive up to four days without water during the heat of our MN summer season!  

One of my favorite garden centers is near our cabin and I get my order in early for 23 of their first crop of begonias because their plants are not only huge but healthy and ready to enjoy immediately.  This year I decided to use the pink ones that have the darker leaves at home and the red ones with dark green leaves at the lake!  They also have a light pink color as well as a white and I've used them also but prefer the brighter colors!

The above picture is of three of my large containers at home. Each of them have only three plants in them!  That totals only $15 per container for plants!  Lots of bang for the buck! 

I only replace the upper third of the container with new soil each spring!  A handful of water holding crystals with the new soil to ensure my 4 days without watering will be met and they are good to go for the summer with some occasional fertilizing!

A birthday rainbow!

My friend Barb's birthday was this last week.  I had decided to get her a floral treat she can enjoy for several days!

While picking out a fresh rose for her I discovered this amazing one labeled "Rainbow Rose" and quickly decided it represented her personality perfectly!

How they produce these, is a big mystery to me!  Each petal is a color all of its own and obviously dyed, but??????

Hydrangea Time yet

This last week I was at Rita's and just had to stop and admire her Quick Fire Hydrangea Tree again!

Remembering it began blooming in early July with white blossoms!

This picture was taken this week after the blooms had turned to pink and then to a deeper dusty pink!

                           That's three months of beauty
                     with probably another month to go yet!

Flower arrangement, one Quick Fire bloom in a vase!  How easy and how beautiful!

I just may have to find a place for one next year!

Or, better yet, maybe I'll  find a good sale yet this fall!

Click here for more information on Quick Fire!

Quick Fire can be either a shrub or a tree!  Both are attractive, low care, and a focal plant!

Landscaping in a shade environment!

What a phenomenal team the Bond's make with their interest in gardening!  

A few weeks ago we visited some delightful AZ/MN friends in the Metro Area.  We had "talked gardening" and "Hosta gardening" frequently and shared time working at the Hosta Sale for our Hosta Society for several years. 

This is about the most beautiful and interesting landscaping I have seen in an almost all shade environment!  Their collection of hostas is complimented with interesting shade companion plants that blend seamlessly throughout their garden beds.  She manages to tuck in her beautiful desert and MN hardy succulents in the spots of sun that are available here and there!  An interesting combination done well!

The landscape in the back of their home was designed to be enjoyed from the inside and well as the outside of their home!  They were very successful at bringing the outside into the inside to enjoy!  

What a lovely welcome scene!  Yep, the barefoot gardener lives here!

What a fabulous place to relax!  

Sept. Garden Treat!

This is more  beautiful than it was in early summer!   I  was careful to deadhead it after the earlier boom and this is the result!  Wow!  What an eye catching  plant in my garden bed in Sept.!  Love it!

Wow!   This is only the second year on this plant so I am very impressed and will be looking forward to future years while keeping in mind Delphiniums are often not long lived!  Thinking I should plant another next spring!  The smaller varieties just haven't survived even thru one full summer for me, much to my disappointment!

Hostas in a container solved a problem!

I have many hostas in a large shade garden bed at home that is along the sidewalk and our driveway.
Right on that corner I have had a mature Golden Tiara for 10 years.  I finally got tired of the leaves hanging over onto the grass becoming very tattered and ragged looking as the result of my lawn mower person feels those leaves are in his way when mowing his grass and he isn't very respectful to them!

This spring I had several hostas and shade plants that didn't fit into garden beds any more (no space left to plant in) and resorted to making some planters with them!  They have been more than useful as I can place them in different areas that can use a bit of fill at different times!  As I was looking around for a spot for this planter I spotted my sad looking Golden Tiara on that corner and dug it out and plunked down the container! Presto,  the lawn mower never got a chance at a hurting  hosta leaves in  that location again!  And it was very attractive all  summer long!  Fall is beginning to affect  some of the leaves, but it is still looking mighty fine for Sept.!  It has two different hostas and a fern and they have been very happy together welcoming the active walking neighbors as well as those vehicles who drive in our driveway!  Yep, the container will spend a cozy winter in the garage!

Oh, the old  friend, Golden Tiara, was split into several hostas and found new homes at my annual garden club's plant sale in May!  Golden Tiara was one of my first hostas and I purchased it at a small town garden club sale 19 years ago for fifty cents and has a split of it in a hosta bed at our cabin yet!

My favorite reward from rain!

In 1999 a friend gave me a pot of very small bulbs all planted and told me to set them in full sun and watch for the beautiful lily type flowers that bloom  following a rain!

Common name "Rain Flower or Rain Lily"

Since then I've divided it a few times and shared with other friends.  When winter comes, I simply move the pot into the basement where it rests until spring without water or any light or attention!

When spring comes I simply bring up the pot, clean off the dried dead foliage, water it well and sit it in a full sun spot outside!  Before long, especially after a rain (something about the rain that works best to produce blooms), and suddenly I find these lovely pink flowers soaking up the sunshine and my smile!

What is it?  A variety of  Zephranthes!  It is a zone 9 so it is not winter hardy outdoors above zone 9 (which is way south).

This spring I forgot about it in the basement and discovered  it  late August sitting there with the dried up leaves still waiting for me!  Oops!  So, I took it outdoors, cleaned off  the dead  foliage, watered it well and was surprised within a week to find it full of green  foliage and a lovely flower greeting me with "hello and thanks"!

I think I need to divide it this spring and share it with some friends!  Email me if you are interested in some and live in SE  MN!   gramakj@charter.net

Check this out....

I am sharing  with you a garden blog that I have been following now for over a year.

I met this lovely woman last spring when I was developing a Bus Garden Tour for our local  garden club to the Mankato MN area.  I had heard that I should probably check her out as a potential garden stop for the tour.  So, my husband and I were able to locate her location and drove there one day to sneak a peak and found she was at the end of a long farm driveway so we couldn't see anything!  So, I picked up my cell phone and called her explaining who I was and why I was calling.  She found out I was sitting in a car at the end of her driveway and promptly invited us to drive on in.  Yes, you do meet the nicest of people when you meet a gardener!

End result, a truly delightful  new gardening friend, and a wonderful inspiring garden location on the tour I was working on, which proved very popular with the tour attendees!  She also introduced me to her blog, which gave me the incentive and encouragement to start one of my own!

She is a guest blog right now on an interesting site and wrote more words than she usually does.  She primarily uses few words along with some awesome photos she takes.  I think you will enjoy  "her short story".  It is also a clue as to her delightful personality!

check this blog post out....click here!

The mighty Monarch!

This little summer visitor wanted his picture taken!  He patiently waited until I took four pictures!

A joyful sight of summer bliss!

Each summer we make sure to drive by this fabulous flower garden on a country road in SE MN!

It is L shaped, about 200 feet along the road and 200 feet along the driveway up to the home on this farm!

The tallest plants are a purple/pink cosmo mixture, the middle height row are bright yellow marigolds and the shortest height row is a dramatic mix of bright orange and yellow marigolds!  Butterflies are abundent!  It is simply an awesome sight year after year!  We never miss driving by it!

Birds love this elegant bath!

Lucky birdies!

Nancy's creative paint techniques turned this inexpensive concrete bird bath from a Box Store into this paradise for birds to bathe in!

  

The tropics in Minnesota!

Stepping into Nancy's  patio area is like stepping into the tropics!

A cold drink under her umbrella is a special visual treat! The big planter, with some of the focus plants, is wintered inside her home each year and adds a dramatic flair to her living and dining areas!  Actually she has two of these containers!  Wow!  

Princess Diana

Which one?  So many plants have varieties named after The Princess Diana!

Clematis 'Princess Diana' managed to climb right into my heart this summer during the garden tour "Tour with the Masters" put on  by our local Master Gardener group.

Finally, one has captured my heart and it is on my list of have to add next year!  I think I am going to have to find a section of iron fence just for her!  

For more information click here!

Become a Master Gardener

Ever wonder how to become a Master Gardener?

For information on the Minnesota Master Gardener Program click here now!

Their next classes to become a Master Gardener begins Oct. 1st!

While I am not a Master Gardener, many of my friends are!

If you are in a different state, do a search under Mastergardener to locate information for your area!

Look up to enjoy this lily!

Yes, look high! 

This amazing lily grows to a height close to 6 feet tall!

Yes, it is worth looking up at it!  Bowe's have this growing against the front of their home and it is a striking sight inspite of its soft color.

The variety name has been lost but she does recall knowing it would grow tall!

A Saturday Road Trip!

An hour early morning drive took 13 of us to Houston, MN to attend a day of gardening information and networking with fellow area gardeners!  

This year's MSHS 1st District Fall Gardening Workshop was put on by the Forget-Me-Not-Club!

Coffee and muffins welcomed us!

Then we enjoyed several speakers on garden subjects such as "Not Your Mother's Hen and Chicks" on  succulents, Extending your Gardening Season and Hydroponic Gardening, Elements of Basic Design in Floral Arranging (by our own local club member and experienced show judge) and ended with "Fairy Gardening for the Joy of It", which was a humorous visit with one of the local club's members!

Lots of good food, of course, a Flower Show, some raffles, and door prizes!  What more could one want when sharing time with gardening friends!

Patti, our local floral design expert from our own garden club!

My Woodland Scene fairy garden did well in the Flower Show!

Some of our garden club members!