Summer is slipping away. Already I'm thinking of the winter ahead. Still things blooming here. There have been daylilies in bloom since May due to continual rebloom - a nice surprise. Here are some things I found interesting to photograph today.
Pentas. Not really my sort of plant, but I usually end up with some because the hummingbirds and butterflies really like it. This bunch was at death's door on the clearance table at Wal-Mart and I overcrowded the container so it has to be watered every day. They recovered from a pitiful state and the hummingbirds have appreciated the effort
Glottidium vesicarium aka 'Bladderpod'. Hard to get a good photo, but in real life it's making an attractive planting. This is an annual plant poisonous to cattle that grows in the pasture and I wanted to identify with certainty, so I collected some beans and grew it last year. I enjoyed it, so I collected the seeds and then nearly didn't get them planted. They are barely going to have time to have some mature seeds. These only grew to about 42", but the few that are down in the pasture are 8-9' tall. An alternate source for beans if these don't have time.
Antigonon leptopus aka 'Coral Vine' is another I grew from seed. The original plant got killed in the first freeze. I'd planted seeds that were up, but they were protected on the porch. They refused to grow at all until we got hot this summer, so I didn't expect any bloom. There's going to be some fall bloom if the grasshoppers don't eat them off. Another one the hummingbirds appreciate. I just have to get them inside before the first freeze and hope next year I have more mature root stock (and, hopefully, a grander something to climb on).
Some white Portulaca that reseeded in the container. I expect I'll bring this in this winter and hope it reseeds again. I think it's the whitest white bloom I've ever seen.
Trycyrtis aka 'Toad Lily' from one of those sad Wal-Mart packages I grabbed a couple of years ago. This the first bloom this year. There was going to be quite a few blooms, but this week something started eating the plant, so one main branch is gone and quite a few buds
. I don't know what's doing it. Squirrels maybe, or rats coming out at night. If there's more damage tomorrow, I think I'm going to simply move the container somewhere else and see if that helps. I consider this a fall blooming plant, so every time I look at the blooms I'm going to wondering where I'm going to put the things that have to be protected. This one, fortunately, doesn't require that.
