What flowers bloom in your region?

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

WOM, I love your pics! I really love your Tecoma stans. What do you have it on? Looks like your pond is filling in nicely as well! I have a spring in my backyard and I was thinking to dig out a basin around it, and make a small pond. I also have a ton of mosquitoes though, and that is the downside. I have a lot fo wild plants that are springing up in and around it though... watercress, cattails, snails, frogs, etc.

Thanks ! This gold Tecoma stans (usually called "esperanza" around here, or sometimes "yellow bells") is a less-common variety than the usual yellow form (which I have as well.) Not sure what you mean by what do I have it on -- it's just planted out there in regular garden soil. It will grow to 8 or even 10 feet tall here -- it's very heat and drought tolerant (you hear that a lot about stuff in my garden !) Despite scorching sun or little water, it will bloom away all summer long. Hummingbirds love it.

Grrr mosquitoes. The best thing is to keep your pond water actively circulating -- this helps keep adult mosquitoes from being able to land on the water to lay their eggs -- they will drown if they try. I use spitters to keep all areas of the pond moving. Also you can get some mosquito fish -- they will eat up any larvae that manage to hatch. If I happen to see any larvae, I just scoop them with a fish net -- they're usually hanging around in a group right under the surface.

Snails do a good job eating algae clinging to the sides of the pond. Wish I could find something to eat string algae

I have a native species of toad that likes to hang around the ponds every night in summer, in and out of the water. If you sit out there quietly just after dusk, you will see the males come hopping in from all directions, to sing and try to lure females. If they get lucky, they will "do it" right there in the water. Sometimes the pairs will stay in position for hours or all night, and I find them in the morning, still "clasped." Strings of toad eggs will soon be seen.

I also get lots of dragonflies and damselflies, in several colorful varieties.... they come around to lay their eggs in the ponds, too. The have some ugly-looking larvae which will grow in there for months -- eating anything it can find, even tiny fish and tadpoles. Eventually the larvae crawls up a vertical plant stalk and emerges from its skin as a beautiful bright-colored adult. I rarely see the larvae in the pond -- apparently they like to hide to ambush their prey -- but I find the exoskeletons still clinging to the plant stalks, so I know they've been there.

You know, the dragonfly is a fascinating species. The males are very competetive for females (who are absolute harlots.) The pairs mate in mid-flight in an amazing show of aerial acrobatics. But the most interesting thing is -- the male dragonfly has a special "apparatus" to deal with promiscuous females who have mated with another male. This "tool" actually scrapes out the other male's seed, clearing the way for its own. The male will then try to fight off all other males until it witnesses the female laying "his" eggs.

[Nasturtium 500]

I looked it up and I was confusing your Ts with something else, thinking it was a vine. Sorry! That sounds like a great plant for birds and blooms.

Right now my spring basin is tiny-tiny, at about 5 gallons.. probably 20 total if you count the flooded ground. I can hear my frogs singing at night, but so far I haven't seen a single egg clutch- -so I am wondering if there is just a lack of females. Yesterday I saw half of a frog out in the yard, but I still saw another one in the basin. I guess something got hungry. This morning I saw my little box turtle, a female I named Alice, out there, strolling, and taking a drink. I have a family of groundhogs as well in my backyard and some rabbits... I think that since I have the local watering hole I am quite popular. I have dragonflies as well. From my days of working at a state park, I recall dragon fly larvae hang around underneath rocks (or leaf litter) at the bottom of the ponds and are considered a sign of high water quality. What I have also seen that doesn't thrill me are leeches. I don't stick my hands in the water for a reason

Well, here are some shots I took a bit ago in the yard.. about last week or so... of the front bed.

That would be Lemuel, the lemon tree and only named plant I have.

Some of the roses in front: Eglantyne, Mollineaux, Vielchenblau, and R. roxburghii-- the chestnut rose.

The chestnut rose, R. roxburghii

Eglantyne

Two of mollineaux

Thanks ! This gold Tecoma stans (usually called "esperanza" around here, or sometimes "yellow bells") is a less-common variety than the usual yellow form (which I have as well.) Not sure what you mean by what do I have it on -- it's just planted out there in regular garden soil. It will grow to 8 or even 10 feet tall here -- it's very heat and drought tolerant (you hear that a lot about stuff in my garden !) Despite scorching sun or little water, it will bloom away all summer long. Hummingbirds love it.

Grrr mosquitoes. The best thing is to keep your pond water actively circulating -- this helps keep adult mosquitoes from being able to land on the water to lay their eggs -- they will drown if they try. I use spitters to keep all areas of the pond moving. Also you can get some mosquito fish -- they will eat up any larvae that manage to hatch. If I happen to see any larvae, I just scoop them with a fish net -- they're usually hanging around in a group right under the surface.

Snails do a good job eating algae clinging to the sides of the pond. Wish I could find something to eat string algae

I have a native species of toad that likes to hang around the ponds every night in summer, in and out of the water. If you sit out there quietly just after dusk, you will see the males come hopping in from all directions, to sing and try to lure females. If they get lucky, they will "do it" right there in the water. Sometimes the pairs will stay in position for hours or all night, and I find them in the morning, still "clasped." Strings of toad eggs will soon be seen.

I also get lots of dragonflies and damselflies, in several colorful varieties.... they come around to lay their eggs in the ponds, too. The have some ugly-looking larvae which will grow in there for months -- eating anything it can find, even tiny fish and tadpoles. Eventually the larvae crawls up a vertical plant stalk and emerges from its skin as a beautiful bright-colored adult. I rarely see the larvae in the pond -- apparently they like to hide to ambush their prey -- but I find the exoskeletons still clinging to the plant stalks, so I know they've been there.

You know, the dragonfly is a fascinating species. The males are very competetive for females (who are absolute harlots.) The pairs mate in mid-flight in an amazing show of aerial acrobatics. But the most interesting thing is -- the male dragonfly has a special "apparatus" to deal with promiscuous females who have mated with another male. This "tool" actually scrapes out the other male's seed, clearing the way for its own. The male will then try to fight off all other males until it witnesses the female laying "his" eggs.

Edited June 5, 2008 by julianna

[Nasturtium 500]

Other direction

Two of vielchenblau. This is a climber, and for 3 years it basically sat still making a root system. This year it is all over the place, and I need to finally put up a support.

Kniphofia, red hot poker, torch lily

Not a flower. This is the view out of that bay window which is the diningroom (plant room actually, I have a cafe table set up in there but nothing else other than my plants). This was the sky after a tornado.

My apples are going this year... and so are the peaches.

Edited June 5, 2008 by julianna

[Nasturtium 500]

These are rfom last year when he came. He came June 5, 2007 This was like late June, 2007. Daisies and clover

These were from Eureka Springs which is close by in the spring.

Tulips

Lilacs

Violets

And recently Dahlias:

Edited June 5, 2008 by julianna

[Nasturtium 500]

Woods in spring:

Redbuds, dogwoods, and may apples.

And from my yard, violets:

Edited June 5, 2008 by julianna

[Amby 490]

more flowers have bloomed since my last post so I went out and took a few pics today

[Alhamdulillah 0]

the 'state flower' in NC is the dogwood

those trees look awesome, white or pink flowers

I love dogwoods. They are all over the place here and bloom in white, pink and purple even. The purple dogwoods are my favorite.

We also have a lot of Yellow Bells (I don't know if that's actually what they're called... just what we call them) but they only bloom for like a minute and then they're just a bush again.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I have no idea what these are... but this is in my neighborhood, they're everywhere....

[Nasturtium 500]

I love dogwoods. They are all over the place here and bloom in white, pink and purple even. The purple dogwoods are my favorite.

We also have a lot of Yellow Bells (I don't know if that's actually what they're called... just what we call them) but they only bloom for like a minute and then they're just a bush again.

Your top photo actually looks like redbuds.. the bottom one are called forsythia.

[Nasturtium 500]

I have no idea what these are... but this is in my neighborhood, they're everywhere....

Can't see the bloom shape from the detail, but by the color and shape of the tree... is this it?

Cornus kousa var. chinensis, "Chinese dogwood":

more flowers have bloomed since my last post so I went out and took a few pics today

Nice!

Edited June 8, 2008 by julianna

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I don't know, I'll have to go in for a closer look.