Canna glauca ‘Panache’
Canna ‘Dawn Pink’
Canna ‘Cardinal Sinn’
First Canna Blooms
May 27th, 2009Canna Buds Appear!
May 25th, 2009
Dazzler Gaillardia With Canna Seedlings
May 20th, 2009
I’m definitely dazzled by Dazzler
This is the first bloom of Gaillardia ‘Dazzler’ – who I grew from seeds. I have five of them in my rose garden and gave some to my Mom, too. They are supposed to be different colors. We shall see.
Notice the canna seedlings in 6″ pots in the background. They are coming along nicely, already showing their own personalities. Some are shooting straight up. Others are short with curly leaves. Cute. It is a joy to watch them grow and develop.
Awesome!! Natural Enemy Turns Fire Ants Into Zombies!
May 12th, 2009BWAaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Exactly what their bite victims have been wishing would happen to them:
The flies “dive-bomb” the fire ants and lay eggs. The maggot that hatches inside the ant eats away at the brain, and the ant starts exhibiting what some might say is zombie-like behavior.
“At some point, the ant gets up and starts wandering,” said Rob Plowes, a research associate at UT.
The maggot eventually migrates into the ant’s head, but Plowes said he “wouldn’t use the word ‘control’ to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly. This wandering stage goes on for about two weeks.”
About a month after the egg is laid, the ant’s head falls off and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.
Iris Adventure Down On The Farm
April 24th, 2009
Yellow Iris found on the family farm
While we were visiting the family farm in Brownwood, Texas yesterday, I spotted some familiar blue-green leaves. And then, WOW-eeeee! There were irises in bloom at a spot were a couple families used to live. Their trailers and what-all are gone, but the irises remain.
Purple and white irises were most numerous
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27 (KJ)
Blue iris – yet a third variety found
Only one of the four varieties we found was not blooming (below). It was easy to tell it was different however, by the greener and very narrow leaves.
Long narrow leaves distinguish this iris from the others.
My wonderful husband grabbed a shovel and dug me up a “sample” of each kind.
Somebody is coming for a ride with me!
Blue Iris
April 13th, 2009
Yellow Iris
March 22nd, 2009
Vegetables Return To Canna Land
March 18th, 2009
Poolside bed with leaf lettuce, dill and cilantro
The poolside bed has been planted with canna rhizomes. They are starting to sprout! Before planting I dug out the soil and installed a plastic liner next to the block wall. This is meant to keep my water in my canna bed. I interplanted with leaf lettuce, dill ‘Bouquet’ and cilantro ‘Santos’. This is an experiment to see if the salad will have time to grow before the cannas shade it out. Stay tuned.
Martino’s Roma – heirloom tomato
Tomatoes have returned to Canna Land as well. The two varieties pictured here are planted in the pathway garden bed. The day after I set them out we had horrific wind, but they seem to have overcome.
Marvel Stripe – heirloom tomato
I collected the seeds for Marvel Stripe from a grocery store tomato. I couldn’t believe it when they all came up!
Omega’s Mega-Rhizome
March 3rd, 2009
Who Is Cinabrina?
February 26th, 2009
Cinabrina or Maculata – That is the question.
Such a complicated name situation for a pretty little yellow flower! Canna compacta var. cinabrina was first offered by YuccaDo Nursery. It turned out to be extremely fertile, so the predictable happened – seeds and rhizomes turned up all over eBay. The spelling “cinnabarina” is also common. Now this sweet canna is determined to be Canna indica var. maculata. Canna compacta is commonly called Robert Kemp and not the same species as Maculata.
Taxonomy aside, Maculata is darling with its wavy leaves and profusion of spotted flowers. The hummingbirds love it, too.
