What looks beautiful in your garden today?

Well, over-the-top cherry trees are looking wonderful in other people's gardens - we still don't have one. The hellebores are still out and have been particularly good this year. Bright orange wallflowers are wafting scent outside the front door. How about your garden?

These bleeding hearts are particularly lovely in the front yard:

My dill and cherry tomatoes are looking good just by virtue of being so robust and enormous. I like it when my food plants are healthy and happy, it means more food for me!

I have a small azalea in a pot which is covered in mauve-blue flowers. And the camassias are coming out.

Well, I think all the snow is gone...

I have a riot of watermelon red tulips in my backyard...so beautiful...especially in the 'lemon light' of early evening.

I live at 750 foot elevation, so everything blooms a bit later than in Portland.

Hellebores have been exceptionally prolific this year, and the blooms are still going strong on most, although Helleborus niger (Christmas rose) is beginning to fade.

Several varieties of Oregon grape are beautiful right now - I have Mahonia aquifolium and Mahonia nervosa.

Rhododendrons and Azaleas are blooming everywhere. Unique is at its peak, and old reliable Hino crimson is displaying its riot of brilliant red. These will soon be followed by an absolute monster that may be Lem's Cameo.

The wild Bluebells that we dig up from the wood & plant all over the yard are blooming.
A lot of different flowers are called Bluebells, but these are Meretensia Virginica. Their flowers are a bright blue like the sky in October. I planted pink "Toronto" tulips (the kind with several stalks of flowers) around them & white narcisus.
After they bloom, the bluebells will disappear. The leaves will turn yellow & the poor things look like they've been struck with a virus, but that's their style, bloom, then collapse. I try to put small sticks to mark where they are because they will come up again next Spring.

There was a hill near here that was covered with Bluebells eveery Spring, just a solid carpet of blue. Eveerybody would slow down when they drove past it, it was so pretty. Then some developer got ahold of it & bulldozed out the Bluebells to build condos. It was after they had bloomed & were in the process of disappearing so the developer & associates got a lot of calls from angry people & he said anybody could come & dig them out. So a lot of people did & just about every yard around here has some Bluebells blooming in it.

The pansies aren't quite gone. The daylillies are starting to bloom.

Chives in front of my house...
Not particularly elegant, but I love their humility. :)

Our lilacs are just opening, and smell as beautiful as they look.

In my garden crocuses and omphalodes verna are blooming. I need a proper plant dictionary, it is annoying to not now name of the plant in english!

I have a lot of little blue scilla and some daffodils :)

my weigela have opened!

Oh, I'm so jealous of all of you! There is still snow in my backyard in west central MN--though finally it's melting fast, and today I wore a spring jacket instead of winter...even my indoor seeds that I'm hoping to transplant to the garden in late May (looking more like early June at this rate) aren't growing...:-(.

This is the earliest spring I can remember. Last weekend we went to our summer cottage by boat. At sea there were any ice left. In my childhood we had to row though ice to cottage island. I'm not living in Grönland. Change of climate I assume...

Our bluebells are just passing their prime, there really isn't anythign better than a woodland carpeted by native bluebells.

Various small alpine's and violets have got their flowers going before the bigger plants dwarf them, I always like the early shows. Everythign else is just looking so virdent green which is also nice after winter.

I'm really enjoying reading about everyone's beatiful gardens.

Since I started this thread last week, we have had some beautiful, sunny days here in the East Midlands. Just looked out of the study window and the Judas tree is suddenly in full bloom. We have another in the front garden, but it has dark red leaves and is always later.

Another week and the tree peonies will be blooming. I love their flamboyance.

Hi thoughtshapes

What is the Latin name for what you all call the Judas Tree. I have heard it is similar to our native Redbud (Cercis Canadensis) It is a beautiful small tree & right now it is covered with small pink blossoms. I wonder if they are related.

A bird's-eye view of everyone's spring garden: :)

azaleas - brilliant red
bleeding hearts - lovely
cherry tomotoes - robust, enormous
chives - humble
dill - robust
hellebores - good, prolific
Judas tree - red-leafed
lilacs - beautiful, fragrant
narcissus - white
Oregon grape - beautiful
redbud - pink-blossomed
scilla - blue
tree peonies - flamboyant
tulips - beautiful, pink
wallflowers - bright orange

We love our contorted trees and shrubs. This is a contorted cotoneaster that bloomed recently and has the most lovely gentle vanilla-like scent.

Hi MarianV,
It is called cercis siliquastrum. I found a good image of one but haven't worked out how to put it into the message - technophobe! The leaves are sort of heart-shaped with flowers of sugared almond pink and directly on the branches.

Since this morning, another stunningly hot day, the tree peonies have fully opened. I forgot how fast everything is in nature from May onwards.

I love what SqueakyChu did with our lovely plants -there's a poem waiting to be written in there.

Here in Arizona we are well past "spring" and quickly moving into summer! I'm in an apartment so I have to stick with containers, but I'm getting quite a collection. Basically I need to stop looking at plants when I go to the store!


Here are my African Daisies from earlier in the spring, but they have mostly stopped blooming. I think they'll start back up when it get cooler again in the fall.


This I just got last weekend. It is an aptenia cordifolia and I'm loving it. :D

My wisteria! My husband bought it and planted it for me six or seven years ago for Mother's Day, and this year it has really come into its own.

We planted it at the base of what we thought was a dying pink dogwood in the corner of the front lawn, but the dogwood came back beautifully (possibly frome the loving care we gave the wisteria) and now we have a beautiful contrast between the pink dogwood blossoms at the top of the tall tree and the lavender wisteria blossoms hanging like grape clusters about six feet off the ground.

amancine -- two of my favorites! The wisteria in Portland this year is gorgeous. I lust after it, but it isn't practical for us here. Can you share a photo please?? That combo sounds lovely.

I second that! I was noticing my garden tonight after darkness descended and the shadows made each plant look flawless. There was still light enough to make out the colors of my sharp pointy leafed bamboo bush, which is actually two meeting in playful abundance. Behind those to the left, in the rear of my garden, are two full, flourishing bushes that I believe are a sort of azalea, when in bloom they are softly pink. Between those is a yellow, yes, yellow rhododendron, about half their size. In the front of the garden, a small shapely, white azalea glows, in full bloom. The garden that runs the length of the driveway is in shadow but each plant stands separately,defined by the darkness. Mary Beth

Let's see if this works:

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Gorgeous!!

Is that wisteria? What kind of tree has the pink blossoms?

SqueakyChu - see message #24

Thanks, SqueakyChu. The photo doesn't even capture how lovely it looked. We were so pleased with it.

We are having such a cool, wet spring that all the plants are holding their flowers longer than they usually do. The lilies of the valley are blooming, and I think their fragrance is my favorite of all. Our whole back yard has the heady scent of Muguets des bois.

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The lilies of the valley are blooming, and I think their fragrance is my favorite of all. Our whole back yard has the heady scent of Muguets des bois.

How interesting! That's my favorite fragrance as well!!

I, too, have Muguets des bois in my garden. That was (and still is) my favorite eau de toilette scent as well - although it always has made me sneeze. :(

The wisteria down the street was so heavy with blossoms, it fell over the other day!

Everything is popping this week - columbines, irises, crimson clover (which I have to pull out to plant beans and tomatoes :o( ). I see little cherries and plums on our trees and honeysuckle starting to open. Mmmm, lush. Just hope our heat wave this weekend doesn't cause problems.

Be carefull of Lily-of-the-valley. it can take over your whole garden. it forms big, tuber-like roots deep underground & send its shoot up all over the place. These innocent-looking shoots will invade & force out all the near by flowers & all you will have is a summer of green leaves. LOTV needs a place all its own, preferably blocked in by concrete sidewalks & sides of buildings, or else a wild area where its O.K. to spread.

>#33

Yeah, my brother has let his take over the back yard. My husband keeps ours in line, however.

(And the scent makes me sneeze, too, SqueakyChu!)

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Mine never take over the garden because they grow under my azalea bushes (in deep shade). When they try to creep out of there, I either pull them up (after they bloom, of course) or they wither away in the bright sunshine.

My LOV is beginning to spread over one corner of my garden closest to the street. I enjoy the sweet scent. My daughter was in a musical this weekend and I picked a bouquet for her, which everybody noticed! I understand that it is poisonous for animals! I am having so much fun watching my seeds coming out in their little peat pockets. I have the greatest success with morning glories,(Scarlet) trumpet vines,(white) and 4-o'clock's (multi) they seem to grow well and quickly, Mary Beth

And in my garden today is this little gem:

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Stunning!

What a wonderful iris! I wish we could grow them - the ones round the pond do well but we have no luck with the other type.

This week the most beautiful flowers in our garden are the alliums. I took a picture but still haven't worked out how to put it on here. They are next to some rare paeonies which are nearly ready to bloom.

This is a week full of anticipation - everything seems to be in bud.

My Rose arch has exploded over the weekend, it's just chock full of large pure white blossems with a delicate fragrance. I'm sure the lawn will be covered with the petals the moment we get a breeze. But it looks fantastic today.

Oh please post a photo of your rose arch! It sounds beautiful.

I guess this guy is beautiful in a weird sort of way. He chopped my one dill plant clear in half! He was identified for me by christiguc as an anise swallowtail caterpillar. They love to eat fennel and parsley as well.

My salmon pink poppies with velvety dark purple centers were quite lovely until the heavy rain last night. Now they are very large petals scattered across the lawn.

And that caterpillar is quite attractive, SqueakyChu, but better in your garden than mine ;)

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The caterpillar was gone by yesterday afternoon. My one parsley plant was left uneaten so I harvested some of that rather quickly! :)

I get very excited by the beauty of nature - in all its aspects.

It is raining! It hasn't rained for many weeks and my garden has been dry like a desert. Wet garden is very beautiful sight - for a while!

This clematis just won't quit. The flowers are almost as big as dinner plates! The symmetry astounds me.

After a great rain last night in Louisiana....my zinnias and my creole tomatoes look great...also have moonflowers coming up.

>39 Thoughtshapes: thoughshapes, our allium are particularly pretty this year too. Here's a photo from this (rainy) morning;





And this is a shot I took last month before they were completely open. Who knew?

What gorgeous photos everyone has been posting! Thanks for sharing them.

#46, teelgee - We have clematis just like that! Sadly, the plant almost died during a drought last summer (my bad) and we have only had one platter-sized flower so far this year.

These photos are simply gorgeous and I am enjoying them so much and sharing them with my 14 year old daughter who will be helping me to download pics of my beloved garden tom'w. I took photos at night just as the sun set because it is a lovely twilight garden. I have new blooms now. I don't know what the lilies are called, maybe someone can help name them. Maybe Egyptian lilies? I've also added some flowers, rifling my neighbors basically untended wildflowers. My children are mortified but I saved them from being crushed by branches the electric company had trimmed after a storm. HEhe...I'm thrilled to say that the wildlife is returning to my yard since they plowed under the entire forest behind us, around 20 acres and put in of all things a mobile home park. I have seen a large snake, two turtles, and several toads, and two bunnies. Delightful!

Well, two things caught my eye in the garden yesterday.



The yellow loosestrife was one.
The other was...



You know, I love the opportunity to post these photos. As I look around my garden, everything appears to be in disarray. However, when I use my camera to focus on a particular spot or two, I can always find something of beauty or ... er, interest! :)

I planted some Love Lies Bleeding seeds, and one of them actually grew! It's starting to look pretty good.

This is not my garden, but this is what it is beginning to look like:

Rain!
We hadn't had any in so long.

Yeah, raining here too, and I'm pleased because I bought and planted a whole pile of new perennials yesterday (my fave is Barberry 'Rosy Glow') and so the rain will be giving them a good start. Also the lawn was starting to get crunchy in places. I do NOT water grass and I'm not much for watering anything else, either. Except the vegetables. Love my veg!

Stupid rabbits (actually, white-tailed hares, but I seldom remember to be that picky) ate off many of my beans. Grrr.

Yesterday, I saw a swimming hare/rabbit! I was with my neese in boat and suddenly she said: "Memmuli, don't row over the bunny rabbit." As a matter of fact it was quite good swimmer.

That's so funny! Where were you?

I remember a story years ago about Jimmy Carter being in a boat and being attacked by a rabbit! Here's the story (or should I say "hare's the story?")

That was the first thing I thought of, as well, Terri! ;)

Hare-rabbit was swimming in seaside of baltic sea.
The nature of hares seems to be mysterius. Carter-Hare incident was new to me. Thank you or sharing it. You can never been too cautious with rabbits, for example rabbit of Caerbannog. In my garden there are hare two hares, they eat clovers ja seems to behave properly ;-)

Today: first ripe raspberries AND blueberries. Oh yum.

I've had respberries for a few days, but sadly not very flavorful. I went to toss an apple core on the compost pile and just stood there and munched away on the berries. I'm wondering about my soil and what I might do to improve the flavor. A friend told me they "water-ripen" when there's too much rain rather than linger and sun-ripen. Hmmm....

Sadly, not many blueberries this year. But they are beautiful.

Ooh, I am jealous of those blueberries! I planted some in my yard a few years ago, but I have mature Douglas firs all around, and not nearly enough light for blueberries. I do have huckleberries growing on old stumps though.

My yellow loosestrife is finally dropping its petals but a few weeks ago it was in full bloom.



And this stuff grows on top the rocks edging my house. I can't find anyone who knows what it is. All my mom knows is that my grandmother grew at her home in the 70s. The stuff I have was taken from there after she died but before the house was sold.

fleela - whatever that is, it's gorgeous! The leaves look like a succulent.

We have some huckleberries in the yard too. Nice treat after all the blubes are gone. Love those berries!

My raspberries are ripening--and I've been eating them right off the bush! Sadly, they're not all that flavorful this year--nor were they last year. Hmm...

My containers with giant coleus, hosta, New Guinea impatiens and asparagus fern are making me very happy! I sit with on my porch with a book and look up every now and then to enjoy them.

>64 DaynaRT: fleela--that looks a lot like the Golden Sedum (Sedum sarmentosum) I have growing in my yard.

Yup. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SESA

Thanks guys! My mom will be glad to know what it is.

#63 - I'm surprised that you can't get blueberries to grow/fruit. In the UK they are native in many woods forming a blanket undergrowth.

My are coming along but still a long way from ripe - we've still got strawberries fruiting here, and won't expect other berries till the end of this month.

>70 reading_fox:

My so-called yard is more than a little bit shady. It looks a lot like this photo. I suppose I could get a tree service to climb up high and thin some of the canopy, but I like the big trees, and I don't have to mow anything.

How beautiful, oregon! Lucky you.

>68 teelgee:
That link you gave helped me identify several other plants I have growing in my yard. Thanks!

looks like it would be fine to me - they grow like this

Everlasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius)

#74 Blueberries and Bilberries are not the same. You can read about the differences here

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Gorgeous!

Finally finally here is my pride and joy (please disregard the fact that the pictures are one month old and they all look totally different now)
This is my unusual yellow rhododendron.

Now that I have the hang of it here are the rest. Purple Columbine-in honor of those we have lost in terrorist attacks and school shootings. There are three of them, two different shades of purple and one fuschia. My little garden girl and the plantain with the bluish leaves-they look great in the moonlight. My huge hostas, even bigger now, and different styles, frilly, striped and now blooming with their purple blooms that pop. Dusty miller which just grows and grows and also looks beautiful in the moonlight and has a soft fuzzy texture to its leaves. On to the next batch...

And here is the last of them. I think the pink flowers are Denver pinks and then comes Coreopsis and a lavender color butterfly bush. The other bush is very dark grape color. Does anybody know what the orange flowers are? . Soon to follow are some pics of the beautiful house my husband built for me nd my girls

It looks like some kind of lilly - ? Nice photos, thanks for sharing them with us!

All so lovely. The daylily looks like Stella D'oro.

My Stella D'oro is more on the yellow-side of golden yellow. (I apologize for the dark picture--I took it at dusk, but you get the idea).



Daylilies for the most part have a grass-like mounding habit. Judging from your lilies' growth habit, I would say you have some sort of Asiatic Lily (Lilium). In my area, the ones that are close to that color are 'Orange Pixie' (which, from your picture, appears the closest match), 'First Class' and 'Farfalle'; however, I'm sure there are many different varieties which depend on your zone and location.

Edited to say: I actually meant 'Farfalla' not pasta ('Farfalle')! Maybe I should think about lunch. . .

My daylily is kind of red... :)

christiguc, mmignano

So right about the mounding habit! I should know better, having both asiatic and daylilies in my garden. Now, this calls for a good book on lilies for my library.

Christiguc, now that you say Asiatic lily, that is exactly what it is. I needed a little jar to the memory. That picture is beautiful. I simply love yellow flowers in my garden because they make every other flower pop! Since these pictures were taken other flowers have bloomed and everything looks so different I am going to get out there and take some more pics. Also, I took all of the first batch of pictures at dusk because the flowers in my garden all have a lovely silvery cast to them that makes them really pretty at that time of day. It doesn't translate as well on the screen,I probably need a fancier camera, but I spend too much on plants. I also just recently got several new bird-feeding apparatus. Can't wait to get them out there. Pictures to follow. MB

My Blazing-star has finally started to bloom.


And the ficus is showing its love for the recent humid weather by popping out new shoots like mad.

The zinnias are cheery today:

My whole garden is looking pretty good - the Horticulture Society's competition judging is tomorrow and the day after and I've entered my just vegetable garden, but I've spent all day tidying and ended up doing more than just the veg garden are. I don't know how I'll compare to the other entries, but I should learn a lot from the judges feedback.

>89 tardis: tardis, how did the competition go?

I came in second (or first loser as my dear husband so kindly puts it :) ). Apparently the first place garden is something really special and I look forward to seeing the pictures and hope it is on the garden tour.

I enjoyed the photos in this thread, I don't always know the english names of my plants, so the photos were helpfull.
My blazing star is blooming too ;-)

The columbines were early this year and can be seen at my Spring flowers Picasa album at http://picasaweb.google.com/xinfengchowchows/Spring2008FlowersInOurGarden

The highlights of June were the roses: http://picasaweb.google.com/xinfengchowchows/June2008MonthOfTheRoses

Right now the Dahlias steal the show. I'll put some photos up at the end of the month.

Dayflower

Fleela, that is gorgeous! I had never heard of this plant, and was surprised to see it is an East Coast native. Virginia Tech says it is a weed!

I guess it is a weed. It creeps and climbs and probably chokes out other plants, but I love it.

What a brilliant blue!!

I love this site! I have been wondering what the heck this creeping invasive plant is that is growing around the base of the pine tree at the end of my driveway. occasionally it sprouts the very dainty blue flowers that only have two petals. It is that very vivid blue! That is what it is. It is very easy to pull out of the garden but it only grows where it is shady and as soon as it hits the sun where the rest of my garden is it dies off. Thanks for the info. The only thing is that there are not that many flowers blooming on it. If it bloomed more often I would be much happier to have it in my garden.

More day lilies...

These double-flowered ones were a gift many years ago from one of my friends. These flowers bloom beautifully every year with little or no care.

Those are beautiful!

re #80-
I believe the pink flower is Rose Campion.

Good eye! That was a mistake. The pink flowers I was referring to are on a long stem and are tiny, same color pink but look like a star. They come out brifly and close up before the end of day. The ones in the picture grow abundantly everywhere and I love them because of their silvery stems and leaves and they are very hardy. I never did manage to get a picture of the others on here, but I hoppe I can. They are the tiniest things ever and yet so perfect, but you have to catch them befor they close up. Mary Beth

My new neighbors put up a fence early this spring, gifting me with a clump of daylilies that really belong to them. This morning I was greeted with this -

Hey! It matches mine!! :)

Here's mine:

Can someone please explain how to put photos in messages? Thanks!

>105 oregonobsessionz: oregonobsessionz,

Use the "height" to control how big you want the picture to be. I believe I made my zinnia picture above 400px, if you want an idea of scale. Your image source should be http://www.something .jpg or .gif, etc.

I was fascinated by my day lilies this year. They've always had double petals, but some this year looked as if they were trying to display triple petals. Sadly their beautiful show is almost over.

When the flowers are in bloom, I don't pay enough attention to leaves. I think this grape leaf with the evening sun behind it is beautiful.





And the grapes aren't too shabby. These are ornamentals.

What stunning pictures, teelgee!!

Wow, those grapes are gorgeous!

Absolutely beautiful pictures on this page, and a wondeful use of light.

wonderful

This is what is growing in my kitchen right now. :D



It is a sweet potato. I accidentally left it sitting on my counter a bit too long and it sprouted. It has the coolest purple sprouts, so I just left it. Then I eventually planted it in this little container just because I'm fascinated by it. It has just begun leafing out. :D

I've been monitoring the Stargazer Lily buds for weeks. Today is the day!!!

Yesterday:





Today:

I put a slideshow on my blog showing the gestation of those stargazers. Here's the link

My fall-blooming asters are a bit confused right now. You'd think with the sweltering heat, they wouldn't consider blooming. . .



Stokesia laevis 'Klaus Jellito'

So pretty and delicate, a bit like lacey pompoms. I have some flowers coming up in my garden where I threw out a large bag of assorted wildflower seeds. It is so much fun waiting as the tiny bits of color become flowers and then trying to identify what they are in my flower books. I have a beautiful mallow, love-in-a-mist, and I think a zinnia but I'm not sure yet. I wish flower books would show more of the leaves cuz then I could identify for sure since some of the flowers look alike. They are supposed to be all pink but I have some that are purple and one that is royal purple and deep blue together. I'll try to get a shot of that. It's stunning but I have no idea what it is. And another that came up on the other side of my wall, in my neighbor's yard, I don't know what that is either. Maybe, somebody here knows? I'll try to get the pic in today. You know I have to wait for my daughter to do the uploading. One of these days it will sink in...

Gorgeous, christiguc! Do they have much of a scent?

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I love the color. I'd really like a dress in that color!! :)

beautiful christiguc, great photo.

Some of my plants bloom very early too, my japanese anemone started blooming half july, while normally it would be nearly two months later.

Thanks, all!!

I don't know if it has something to do with odd weather, but at least they appear healthy.

teelgee, no, unfortunately, they don't have a scent. But they are prolific bloomers, with fairly large flowers (almost 4" now, a bit larger when the weather is cooler).

FAMeulstee, what is a japanese anemone?

hi chrstiguc

It is also called (translated, as I am Dutch) autum anemone, here is a picture (taken on July 23th)


On the Wikipedia page for Anemone it is called Anemone hupehensis var. japonica — Japanese Anemone, but the plant has no page of its own.

I like it! Thanks for the picture.

Hubby and I weeded finally being able to discern what was not growing into a flower. Big job, but I like feeling like I got a work-out and some sun. The cat is in there, too. We call him "King Faruk," ever since somebody told me that he was an "exotic predator." Because he comes from Egypt.



























Hope you enjoyed my garden.

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I see you, too, have a feline who rules your garden. Would he be king to my queen of the garden? My calico cat (one of three feral cats that I feed) is named Lord Bravery although, in fact, it is a "she" - but a very "alpha" cat.

I also appreciate seeing your tomatoes. This is the first year in many years that I've grown vegetables as my neighbor just chopped down three trees that had been shading my garden for years. At first I was upset, but then I decided to take advantage of that hot sunshine. This summer bounty has been great. I have my very first patch of corn - with real ears (complete with silky hairs) showing now. It's very exciting. Yesterday's harvest was tomatoes and jalapeno peppers.

P.S. Is it possible for you to reduce the width of your largest pictures as they as too wide for my computer screen and cause the scroll bar to activate sideways?

Our artichokes have gone to bloom:

Wow! Look at those colors!! They've completely dazzled that bee... :)

Gorgeous!

Edited to add: Those look almost like optic fibers. Interesting!

Yeah, the artichoke flowers fairly glow in some light.

WOW, great photo!
I guess the bee is having a ball ;-)

It is forget-me-not season.

They're gorgeous!

Mine disappeared last year. I wonder what happened to them. They used to grow in many places...almost like a weed. Now they're completely gone. :(

My garden's not done yet, folks! Look what a fabulous pumpkin I have. It's the first pumpkin I ever grew in my entire life!! Can you tell I'm excited? :)

It's a Great Pumpkin, Squeaky! Gorgeous color and shape.

I caught the morning sun through the autumn currant leaves the other morning;

That's a beautiful picture, Terri. It captures all the glory of a bright autumn day.

Thanks.
Re your pumpkin plant -- I notice the leaves have that white powdery stuff on them; my squash and pumpkins often get that too - any idea what it is? The plants still seem to produce ok.

It looks like some kind of fungus. It's just on the older leaves, not the newer ones.

How many pumpkins does one plant usually produce? One vine has only one pumpkin. The other vine has only two pumpkins. The rest of the flowers of both plants are the female kind of flowers - having those long, thin stems.

I just looked it up. It seems to be "powdery mildew".

From gardening.swu.edu:

"Almost all gardeners are being plagued by powdery mildew on plants, caused by a very common fungus organism. Leaves look gray or white. Symptoms seem worse in late summer and early fall because the disease is worsened by cool nights and warm days. The symptoms of the fungal disease are uncomplicated: a gradual whitening of leaf and even flower surfaces, as the fungus infests the plants and produces spores. Small black specks may also appear amid the white powder late in the season."

"The plants will survive. The good news is that powdery mildew seldom kills a plant. It's disfiguring, and troubling, but not often fatal. Some leaves may fall off, but a plant can lose up to 25% of its leaves without problems."

It says to do this:

"Hose off diseased plants with water if possible. The organism, oddly enough, can be checked somewhat by being washed off. It won't go completely away nor will water end the infection. It simply seems to help reduce the problem."

"Don't worry about the problem if the plant is annual, and will be removed from the garden after it completes blooming or fruiting. Just pull out the plants, and don't compost them. "

Wow, some beautiful photos on here! Terri your grapes are inspirational. We' ve planted 2 this year, to the amusement of many friends. Wellington's not a famous grape growing location.

I'll be back when I've braved the wind (mid-summer, but it's 16 C/60F here today... how will our tomatoes ever go green!?) and worked out how to put the compact flash card into the laptop... I may be some time.

Our winter blooming witch hazel is in full bloom. The scent is glorious!





Next will be daphne. Another heavenly scent.

Wonderful! My garden is full of snow. Mr or Ms Moose is eating my appletrees. Don't know about blooming next summer. I am gong to say to the moose like Gary Larsons Santa to reindeers: Venison!

Spring is coming! The hyacinths are starting to peek out!

Could we start another thread for this spring? I don't like that I have to keep side-scrolling on this thread. Thanks!

Good idea, Squeaky. It's also best if photos are a maximum of 600 px. You can resize the width when you add them to the post. just add width="600" to the code. (It automatically adjusts the height.) Then people don't have to do the sideways scroll.

My tulips are lovely right now! sorry no pics!

Guys, I'm sorry. That was my fault that I put the pictures in too big because I didn't know what I was doing. I don't know if I can go back in and make them smaller. If I can I will. If not then let's start another thread because I really enjoyed it last year and I promise I will make my pictures the correct size. That was the first time I ever did that. What is the right size for me to select for them to not affect the screen?So sorry. Mary Beth

Don't fret Mary Beth. We've already started a new thread for 2009, it's here:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/57880

To resize them, just add width="600" to the image code.