Friday, June 26, 2009

Fertilizer Friday

It's official! I'm joining in the fun at Tootsie's and making this my first Fertilizer Friday post! Head on over and visit other gardeners flaunting their flowers!




Every two weeks or so, my entire garden gets a thorough feeding from Miracle-Gro. You know the plastic canister of blue crystals that attaches to your hose? That's my secret! I water every plant by hand so it's a 3+ hrs. chore! One of these days, our well will probably run dry!! So that's it....no manure, no fish tea, no mushroom compost...just those magical blue crystals! I do concentrate on my daylilies...so they'll grow big, strong, and beautiful!


'Wineberry Candy'...first bloom on a favorite daylily! Almost 5" across and she's fragrant, too!
Primroses/sun drops are out of control!
I needed a low maintenance perennial to go around one of the maple trees so in went 18 'Munstead' lavenders. An early spring trim to the base and they bloom beautifully 'til mid July then I clip them back again to keep neat. This planter is too far away for my hose so they're on their own...I wasn't kidding about low maintenance. Add blossoms to your bath for a relaxing soak and you'll smell nice, too ;)
A second flush of blooms on 'Ebb Tide'. The flowers are smaller but, ooohhh, the fragrance...hypnotic!
I don't remember planting these pinky/white Rose Campions. Do they change colors like that?
The first three blooms opened this morning on one of my favorite (broken record...I know!) daylilies...'Scarlet Orbit'. There are 17 scapes (yep, I counted!) on this clump with an average of 9 buds per scape! That's over 150 flowers!! Can you tell I'm a just a tad excited...

Wild daisies growing around the a/c unit. These don't get watered or fertilized.

This 'Niobe' clematis was planted last fall. The late blooms in Oct. were a very different shade of lavender so I thought it was mislabeled. However, the blooms this season is much more true to the cultivar...

Here's a few of the large pots filling in nicely. Due to all the rain, I've not had to water them for almost 2 weeks! And I try to follow the 3 'ER' rules for planters. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about...? You need a ThrillER plant...something tall and unusual. In this case it's the trellis with the morning glory. You need FillERs and, of course, the SpillERs...to cascade. It's that simple.But when it comes to color, I don't follow any rules...just whatever looks healthy and catches my eye. Somehow, they just all 'go together' in the end. Well, maybe this 'Bonfire' begonia clashes a little...



Almost three ft. tall, this astilbe is putting on a great show.
And a pretty mini one loaded with plumes.
Asiatic Lilies were planted a few years ago from a 'mixed collection' but they've ended up being mostly this deep orangey-red color..which I do really love.
Tootsie, I did it! My first Fertilizer Friday post! Thanks for letting me flaunt my stuff!

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

21 comments:

  1. Not too big on color schemes either, I prefer character in my gardens!! Yours are beautiful.

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  2. Your yellow primrose is so pretty. They must spread like crazy like the pink ones. I cannot believe your Ebb Tide is blooming again already. I am ticked because mine is suppose to e the deep purple like yours and you saw the crazy red monster that was taking over the garage earlier.Looks nothing like it should. My lavender is just taking off after many attempts to grow it failed until I realized it liked sandier feet. One day ! Your container combination's are so pretty and I did not know that rule but it makes such sense and I will try to remember that rule. Your astilbe is just beautiful. I have a few that are going crazy this year and are taller than they ever have been. Since you are now doing fertilizer Friday does that mean you are not having foodie Friday anymore ;D

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  3. Lynn, your blooms are miraculous! The Rose is outstanding, what a dramatic color!

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  4. every photo is just gorgeous...but my favorite is that rose!!! what a beautiful color!!!
    thank you so much for joining in and sharing with us...your flowers are definitely worth flaunting!!!

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  5. You sure have a good eye for combinations. Your containers look great! That 'Ebb Tide' rose really is beautiful!

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  6. Wow!! what beautiful gardens. I don't think I've ever seen a day lily the color of your first one. And do you know if the Primrose has a nickname "buttercup"? A friend gave me a little buttercup a few years back and it is slowly spreading and looks a lot like your primrose. I am envious of all your plants.

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  7. Lynn it's all so beautiful I don't know where to begin! Your planters are super - love the artwork coming up out of the one and stuffed to the brim like I like to do - only this year mine are kinda crappy! I bought to late and couldn't get what I usually do, got a couple of TLCs for less, don't like them and the list goes on. Guess I won't be showing my containers on the deck off this year! LOL
    On the other hand - I love your Astilbes and I just bought my first one yesterday. And your daylilies are great - guess what? I purchased 23 yesterday. I have no idea what they will look like but it was a deal I couldn't refuse! LOL Whatta day I had.
    Your Niobe Clematis is gorgeous - love that color.
    Oh and by the way my Lilies are blooming and they deer didn't get one bite! HOORAY!!! Thank goodness they missed something!

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  8. Darla, thanks! I just make sure to get some white blooms and that usually ties everything together.

    Lona, did you see my note on the last post about not being able to see your blog? I still can't...just tried! What am I doing wrong?? Yes, lavender does like sandy soil...I add a few bags of sand when I planted these lavenders. The rain really did make the astilbes take off! Btw, I'm not sure about your reference to the Foodie Friday..?

    Tatyana, the fragrance on this rose is the strongest I've come across so far..maybe you'll find it locally!

    Haha..thanks, Tootsie! I had fun! Gotta make visits to all the links tonight :)

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  9. Thanks, Catherine! Your garden is chockful too! I LOVE that peony poppy!

    Hi Siteseer, thanks for popping in! I tend to like very bold colors so the 'Wineberry Candy' daylily, with it's dark contrasting eyezone, was a must for me..lol! And this common yellow primrose bloom is a little larger than the buttercup flowers. And you'll see the buttercup has a sheen to the petals, this doesn't. They do look very similar though and both tend to get invasive so be careful.

    Thanks, Jessica. Notice I didn't show any of the rose foliage...bad shape!

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  10. Your garden is outstanding...love the daylilies and that rose...and the clematis...and, and, and...

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  11. Lynn, this is it... I'll do a Fertilizer Friday from now on, too.
    I love love love all of you blooms.

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  12. Wow, everything is so pretty; and it must smell amazing. I use MiracleGro for my flowers too. I mix it by hand in 5 gallon pails, using water from my rain barrels. Then I lug it all over the yard. I tried the sprayer but didn't care for it. Doesn't take too long this way - I can't imagine how many flowers you must have for it to take 3 hours. Wow!

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  13. Linda, 23 daylilies!! You're as nuts as I am...lol! I going to the Garden State Daylily Growers meeting this morning and there will be a sale..I'm sure I'll come home with a few ;) Give it some time, I'm sure your pots will look great before too long.

    Millie, thank you so much! With the garden in full bloom, it's hard to pick a favorite :)

    Hà Xuân, you will have plants most of us don't grow so yes, please join us! Have a great weekend!

    Thanks again, Chuck :) Latest update on your book?

    Hi Jacki, thanks for visiting! We have an acre of yard...maybe 1/2 of that are gardens..so I go through several refill bags of crystals when I water. It IS time consuming but with earphones on, it's down time from the hard work!

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  14. Beautiful blooms Lynn! I like your philosophy on color combinations. There are very few color combinations I don't like.

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  15. Such a beautiful post! I love the purple rose! The color is incredible! -Jackie

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  16. wow! Your flowers look great. Your astilbe is so nice. Mine never has looked like that. Your photos are very good too. Thanks for showing us!

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  17. Thanks, Linda! Though I do love pastel combinations, I find if you add white(s) in with the pots, the colors blend ok.

    Hi Jackie, Ebb Tide is not difficult to find, get yourself one! If you want strong fragrance, this is it.

    Thank you for visiting, Teresa. I think the astilbes really benefitted from all the rain we've had...they've never been this lush for me :)

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  18. So many beautiful things going on in your garden... love it! The fountain and combo planters are wonderful blends ;-)

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  19. Oh I'm glad I found your blog. I love gardening too and I enjoy reading blogs of other gardeners.
    I have those Rose Campions ? all over my yard for many years but I never knew their name until now. Mine are always the same color though.

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