coming out of my shell

coming out of my shell

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

At last!

I did some serious gardening this morning.  Now my lower back is killing me.  I need to bounce back fairly quick, as there is still a lot of digging and planting I need to do.

Last August I wrote, rather pathetically, about the Louisiana irises I planted in a wet area. I have been desperate for color in our small back yard for almost two years. I know most Central Florida people plant hibiscus and crepe myrtle to satisfy their color needs. We have both, but apparently I am a bit of a glutton because they are not enough. I want flowers, dammit

The rainy season
(aka summer) is really hard on flowers down here, so I have been trying to plant things in the wet areas of our small yard that will survive both the mercilessly hot summer deluge and the drought that torments all growing things for the remaining 8 or 9 months of the year. I am happy to report that the first of the irises started blooming this week. They are fabulous! I will try to name them for those of you who lust after flowers like I do.  I believe this one is called Spicy Cajun Louisiana Iris:
























I have also inexplicably fallen in love with canna lilies. There were some red ones in front of the house when we moved in and I just didn't like them. I'm no spring chicken and moving to such a drastically different climate was hard for me.  And when I say hard, I mean mentally hard. I was a huge sulking brat about the whole gardening thing. I thought I needed something familiar. Now I realize I just need something colorful, some flowers for crying out loud. Is that too much to ask? 

I
missed the many varieties of flowers that can only be grown up north and resented the cannas for not being day lilies.
Does that make me a bad person? Probably not.

Well, all I needed was more time to adjust and a few victories, because now I am in love with these crazy cannas.  I planted a few varieties last summer and they are starting to take off and bloom this year. They are slightly deranged flowers, always a bit out of control. I have discovered that is part of their charm. Each variety seems to have a slightly different personality, yet they are all stark raving mad. In a good way.


The next two are Cleopatra dwarf canna lilies in various stages of bloom.  They are not really all that dwarf: 






















 














 





The next one is my favorite.  It is a Louise Cotton dwarf canna, and the color just knocks me out.

























And here is a repost of that red canna out front that I didn't used to like.  I don't know what kind it is.  Now I love it.  What a difference a year can make.





















And here is a precious flower from the past, Etta James singing "At Last."

  

17 comments:

  1. I spent ten minutes looking at one section of the front flower bed. it needs a complete redo! I'll be thinking it over, trying to get happy.

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    1. You'll be happy when it is done. Such a great feeling.

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  2. Good lord, I just read this whole thing as "calla lilies" - I kept wondering why they looked so different down there...!
    I fell in love with calla lilies a few years ago. I always thought they were weird but suddenly I think they're beautiful. Now I know canna lilies are beautiful too. Such pretty colors.

    Love Etta!

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    1. I love calla lilies, too. When I visited a family member in San Francisco a few years back I was knocked out by those beautiful flowers that grow wild nearly everywhere. They are definitely weird, but weird is good.

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  3. So pretty. Just the right note to end this day.

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  4. Have you thought of wild flowers for the wet areas? Dig out an area , put in some soil and throw in a handful of mixed seeds, cover them up and wait and see. My friend who lives most of the year in Tampa does just that and from the pictures she sends me, they are lovely and very colorful. They are also little to no work.

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    1. I had not thought about that. I can think of an area where that would be great. Thanks for the tip.

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  5. I love iris and canna. You make me very jealous. We mix them with blue and white agapanthus. Would that grow and flourish in Florida?

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    1. Yes, in fact we just bought two agapanthus for the bed in the front of the house. The common name in Florida for these wonderful flowers/plants is Lily of the Nile. They would work perfectly with the corner bed I'm developing out back. And a little white and blue would pull things together.

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  6. Even though we had a mild winter, it doesn't seem to want to let go. A freeze killed off most of my early budding flowers, so I am hungry for some color myself. Thanks for posting these beautiful pix and making me just a wee bit jealous.

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    1. I remember so well the kind of havoc a late winter/early spring blizzard can wreak on the early spring flowers in NYS. So sorry. Nature can be cruel.

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  7. Those are beautiful flowers! I live in Zone 2-3. I've never seen flowers like that.

    I'm looking forward to having my own yard again this summer:)

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    1. Thanks! Good to hear you'll have your own yard again. So fun to begin a new gardening space. Zones 2-3, wow! How long is your growing season?

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    2. I usually plant in mid May and the first frost is usually in September. We have lovely long days though. Light until 10pm.

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  8. What gorgeous photos -- this post just made me think of a peaceful walk. Thank you.

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So, whadayathink?