Rum Runner is a hibiscus that changes color during the day. These are the same two flowers taken at different times of the day.

Photo taken at 10:45 AM


Photo taken after 8 PM

We were gone a couple of days and came home to spider mites on some of the brugmansias. In the foreground, a couple of smaller brugs that have already lost their leaves to the mites. I've doused them with Bayer's 3-in-1. They're already putting out tiny leaves along the branches.

I had stuck Eternity in back of the bed because it had already bloomed twice this season. It was covered in buds and no mites. So I dragged it out and waited for it to bloom again. The limbs are spindly because I had withheld fertilizer due to the intense heat we're having. This morning the side yard smelled like Heaven! Behind Eternity and ready to bloom is Kyle's Pink. I got it as a cutting and this will be the first time for blooms.

Hanging basket of mixed Bougainvillea

Lovely! That must be a BIG hanging basket.

No, it's just a regular sized basket!

These were picked this morning. I was so surprised to find the lily 'black beauty' blooming



Here's the Japanse lantern hibiscus which I'm so happy to have, been wanting this one!

Those are beautiful and with bright colors too. What kind of berries are those yellow ones?

The berries are from the duranta. I like your brugs....mine only had 3 blooms, hopefully one day, mine will be loaded with fragrant blooms, too.

Oh, of course, Duranta! I couldn't place them. I have several in the backyard, but yours look a lot healthier than mine! We've had temps over 100 for a few days now. The brugs are really suffering. All the big blossoms on Kyle's Pink are hanging down unopened and browning. I've never seen brugs do that. The spider mites are still hanging around. I think it takes a while for the Bayer stuff to work its way up the plants.

OK so this canna is not so exciting to most but this is happening in my almost full shade back yard. We don't get many canna blooms so we celebrate everyone of them. The big trees are naturally uplifting giving us mottled sunshine, just enough for my canna, I guess?

This is more of the type of blooms we get in my shady yard, a bed full of red impatiens. They have grown so tall they cover up the caladium back border! The white ginger in the back actually bloomed this year. Must have been the mild winter?

Nice canna bloom! Do you cut your impatiens back when they get leggy? I took the plunge today and whacked mine down. They looked great at 8 AM, but not so good at 3PM, the last couple of weeks. I hope they will come by the time it gets a bit cooler. I left about three inches of each stem.

I just leave the impatiens to their own devices. I do cut some others down in other beds becuase they need trimming to look good but the ones in the beds are on their own. There are 6 flats in the bed. That is a lot of cutting. I will cut them back when it gets colder and mulch over them. Many times they come back but never 100%. This is the second season for the caladium.