Catching Up

It's been almost 2 months since the last posting. Blame it on severe weather that knocked down our internet connection for about 3 weeks and hustle and bustle of harvest season. A lot has happened in 2 months, let's start catching up.

April 24, 2011 - Easter Sunday

Hydrangea Nikko Blue starting to bloom.

Nasturtiums coming up at the bottom of kalanchoe

in a strawberry pot.

©Burke's Garden Blog, 2011.

Mock Orange - Spring 2011

April 19, 2011.

Mock orange doing much better after being transplanted from the front fence to the flower bed by the house.

©Burke's Garden, 2011.

Hosta, Holly Fern, Mock Orange, and Rose

March 23, 2011.

Fresh foliage of hosta and holly fern.

Mock Orange has been transplanted from the front fence

to the flower bed by the house.

The shade of Winchester Cathedral rose

with its first flower bud (CLICK to see its bloom)

Purchased 2011 from Chamblee's Rose Nursery, Tyler, TX.

© Burke's Garden, 2011.

Tender New Growth

This is part 1 of 4 of The Turn of a Season photoessay.

Mature burnt-marked leaves and browned dead-looking limbs coexist with tender new growth.

-1-

Angel's Wing begonia green mature leaves

with burnt marks on their tips

coexist with reddish tender new leaves.

Jagged and red-edged

young Angel's Wing foliage.

Another variety of Angel's Wing begonia

with mature burnt foliage

coexisting with tender green new leaf.

A leafless stem of Angel's Wing begonia

is showing growing tips

at the top and along the stem.

They will be new fresh foliages.

-2-

Lime green, new growth frond of fern

above the old darker fronds.

-3-

Schefflera,

a tropical foliage plant,

is having new sets of leaf.

-4-

Fresh green tips coming out of both

green and brown dry-looking stems

of a variegated hydrangea.

New fresh foliage at the base

of variegated hydrangea.

-5-

A small baby Elephant's Ear Illustris

sprouting and yet to show

its dark color.

Floras

Gardenia

Gladiolus

Hardy Hibiscus

Front porch mix

Hydrangea

Sunflower - Sun Samba

Zinnias

Bloomers of the Week

Mimosa tree's blooms. Wild.

Mandevillia on trellis. Bought this year.

Dwarfed gardenia. Bought this year.

Lilliput zinnia (from last year's flower seeds), lantana blooms and big sunflower leaves on the back.

Chrysanthemums flourishes and full of flower buds on sunflowers feet.

Blue veronica, red yarrow, and pink chrysanthemum.

Giant-zinnias patch has just been weeded. They start blooming, too. Purchased the seeds this year.

Portulaca on sunflowers' feet. Grown from last year's flower seeds.

Portulaca.

The first cosmos bloom.

Hydrangea and hydrangea (variegated) blooms.

Foliage Appeal

Variegated hydrangea leaf. This one makes a heart shape.

Variegated banana leaf.

A hosta and red polka dot plant leaf.

Deep pink polka dot plant leaf.

Angel's Wing bumpy dotted leaf.

Another species of Angel's Wing plant dotted smooth leaf.

Oakleaf geranium.

Bloomers of the Week

The hot red Daylily and Bottlebrush

Nikko Blue Hydrangea (not fully bloomed)

-it turns pink due to alkaline soil we have around here-

Variegated Hydrangea

Chamomile

Onion Flower

Mushroom (not exactly a bloomer).

Mock Orange 'Natchez"

April 20, 2009.
Spurred by a mock orange and its sweet white flowers in one of the houses along Azalea Trail in Tyler, TX, this spring, I thought I'd try that if I could find one in a nearby nursery. Bruce Miller happened to carry them, so here it is in our yard.

It's under Hydrangeaceae family, its latin name is Philadelphus, Natchez cultivar.

I can smell the sweet jasmine kind of fragrance 2 feet away from the shrub.