Beautiful Bulbs

[cflutist]

I believe the fragrant white flower in Tahiti that you are talking about is called Tiare. They were handing them out at the hotel to put behind our ears (can''t remember which side meant single vs taken

) and you are right, they didn''t last very long.

How about Hibiscus? They were all over Tahitian Islands also. We liked them so much that we planted 9 bushes in our backyard this summer. They don''t like the cold and are not doing so well right now. However, a neighbor has a Red Brilliant bush thats doing quite well ... I think it is because it is planted in a more proctected spot near his front door. I have some books on Hibiscus, and yes, you can plant them in containers.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Mara, is narcissus the little smelly one that looks like a mini daffodil (with a yellowish center)? I love those.

The white flower you are describing has me curious. Despite the evil customs man taking yours away, I think most plants/flowers that grow in Tahiti can also be found here.

Wonder why he behaved so evilly to you, especially if there was a stamp on your package.

I''m wondering if you are talking about white ginger? The petals are very delicate, the lei do not last more than a few hours once worn, and are usually strung in a designed "rope" fashion. Or possibly tiare, as cflutist mentioned, in which case it is a relative to the gardenia, explaining the strong fragrance. Can you describe what the blossom looked like?

 

[Kamuelamom]

Date: 1/24/2005 4:44:31 PM
Author: cflutist
I believe the fragrant white flower in Tahiti that you are talking about is called Tiare. They were handing them out at the hotel to put behind our ears (can''t remember which side meant single vs taken

) and you are right, they didn''t last very long.

cflutist, for as long as I have been wearing flowers behind my ear, I was told that worn on the left side means you are taken, as with a ring.

 

[Mara]

Yes it's the Tiare...for whatever reason the flowers do remind me of tuberose. I loved those!! In terms of why the customs guy would not let me keep them, who knows. He certainly wasn't forthcoming with the information on WHY I couldn't keep them--only that I couldn't (but what do they do with them since they confiscate them? They were already in the US!). Greg dragged me away because he didn't want us to be strip-searched!

Narcissus is just another way of saying Daffodil basically...it's terminology. Paperwhites is term for a type of daffodil that is usually forced to bloom inside the house. They are very easy to grow in rocks without soil and flower about a month after planting. People say they are Christmastime flowers, but you can plant them basically anytime and they will bloom a month later around here. Esp since our house climate is the same regardless, the flowers don't know when it's Christmas!

Narcissus Definition:
1. (Bot.) A genus of endogenous bulbous plants with handsome flowers, having a cup-shaped crown within the six-lobed perianth, and comprising the daffodils and jonquils of several kinds.

 

[Mara]

Here is an image of Paperwhites Ziva, the ones I usually buy, they are the most common. The other one is a yellow called Soleil D''Or but I prefer the white in the house!

 

[Mara]

Here are the ones in the house for Christmas, they were blooming right at Xmas time...

These are only 'budded'...they got about another 5" taller and then sprouted. Multiple flowers to a stem. They lasted for about 2 weeks from first bloom to end.

Cflutist..Hibiscus are definitely pretty. I love the Hawaiian flower Plumeria...those are one of my favorites. For the wedding we had white dendrobium orchids scattered with the yellow Plumeria all along my 'aisle' -- we were just going to do orchids and added Plumeria's for their beautiful scent.

I'm mostly a fan of scented tropical flowers...since it seems they have best of both worlds, beautiful and fragrant!

 

[Kamuelamom]

Thanks Mara. I shall call you are the gardening geek.

I bought a (do-it-yourself) pot of those for my girlfriend a couple of years ago. The kit said it was easy to grow. She had just gotten into a bad car accident and was not going out, so I got them so she could watch them grow. I remember them being kind of "papery." Like in CA, the plants barely know any seasons here

, with the exception of Snow on the Mountain and Poinsettias, both which are related.

Have you ever tried growing freesia? They're fun since they come up every year. Colorful and very subtle in scent.

 

[Mara]

Oh yes I love freesia....my favorites are the yellow ones which are very fragrant but I like the white ones too which to me smell exactly like pepper! There are other colors too such as the blue/purple, reds/fuschias but the yellow and whites are my staples. My problem is I always forget to order them in the fall (when they are mostly sold elsewhere, because they are a spring plant in the East but will bloom here in Spring, Summer or Fall) because I prefer them as Summer plants to round out the garden more, and then no one carries them come Spring! This year I remembered and was going to buy 100 of each color from John Scheepers, but they were sold out. And no one else really sells in bulk at that type of pricing. 100 was only about $20! Locally they are about $.30 EACH bulb! So I got about 25 at a local store, but that was all I could stomach paying for. Hehe.

 

[cflutist]

Mara, is this what you are talking about? I believe that white lei is made of tiare flowers. I think our ship was docked at Huahine that night when all these kids came aboard to give us a Tahitian dance show.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 1/24/2005 6:25:37 PM
Author: Mara
Yes it''s the Tiare...for whatever reason the flowers do remind me of tuberose. I loved those!! In terms of why the customs guy would not let me keep them, who knows. He certainly wasn''t forthcoming with the information on WHY I couldn''t keep them--only that I couldn''t (but what do they do with them since they confiscate them?

Dept. of Ag. are really vigilant at the customs checkpoint. They are the ones with the beagles. They are concerned with pests, plight, etc that we don''t have any natural defense for in this country. One lady in our group from England was carted away and questioned. Her crime - carrying in an apple. Funny, the apple was orgininally from Washington State. They went through her bags. Greg was right to wisk you away. Don''t give them any reason to search you.

I hope the flowers are going to be o.k. here. We had such a warm beginning of January that the leaves started to pop threw. Now it''s frigid as January should be.

Am I the only wild flower lover?

 

[Mara]

Quite possibly cflutist...though the ones we got were only single row while that one looks more like a double row of blooms.

F&I, I love wildflowers too but you have to have space to grow them!

I don''t really prefer putting them in a pot, even one particular cultivar, but rather seeing them strewn in meadows or on the side of the road of a freeway etc.

One of the best displays I have seen in general of flowers that obviously were not there originally is over on 280 towards SF where someone planted some daffodils, about 100 of them in clumps along a 1/2 mile stretch. They bloom every spring and are really beautiful!

Also I have often thought about throwing a few packets of wildflowers along a freeway exit or similar where there is nothing existing, just to beautify the area! Sometimes those exits are hideous, with no lanscaping and it''s barren or with weeds or ugly trees. I''d have to go very late at night and wear BLACK! hehee. So far it''s just a thought.

The only thing I don''t love about wildflowers is that after the first bloom they tend to start to look dry and scraggly (or they do around here anyway), and then I just want to yank them up, which is why I would probably only have them in a big open area where I could plant bulbs for fall/winter and then the wildflowers could come up every spring and summer, and I could leave them alone for good!

 

[fire&ice]

re: the wildflowers on the freeway - No need to be stealth! - start a grass roots (pardon the pun) campaign! VA & NC did a few years back - and our freeways are now full of wildflowers. They are pretty - and help with drainage - a win-win. Also, here in VA, you can "adopt a road". Hubby adopted the road that our drive resides on. He named it "F&I" road and presented it as a gift (sweet - he said for the women who has everything - gotta love those creative types). We''ve been tending to it for over 10 years.

I don''t think you have to have a large space for wildflowers. We do have the space in the country & they reside all through are long row of forsythias. But, the best application is someone near our city house. The have a sort of English Garden pathway. It''s a slice of heaven.

You''d think in the country wildflowers would abound. But, it''s the bulbs - tons of Iris''s, Daffodils, Tiger lilies. We even have some Lady Slippers each spring. Someone told me it was against the law to uproot them as they are endangered. I have no idea if that is true; but, someone told me they only grow in the wild.

Ah, I like to think of spring as I look out at the white stuff!

And, I LOVE my herb garden - any fans of those?

 

[Matata]

F&I....I''m an herb addict. It started a long time ago when I bought a Rodale Press book about the ancient and modern culinary and medicinal uses of herbs. In my early years, I used to experiment making poltices, teas, and infusions but these days I plant herbs simply for their beauty & fragrance. I''m particularly fond of those that aren''t at top of everyone''s list such as valerian, vervain, borage, pennyroyal, henbane. And then there are those I plant just because their names are so unusual -- horny goat weed, scullcap, wormseed (epazote) and on and on. Some of them are pretty, some aren''t but all are fascinating.

 

[eks6426]

For all you garden gals out there this is a great website for all sorts of information. It''s mostly forums like PS but garden focusted. Tons of different topics like cottage gardening, container gardening, California gardening etc. I used the information I gleened from this forum to turn my front yard into a cottage garden heaven. There is still a bit of grass left but not for long...unless of course I get distracted by the back yard. The attached picture is my yard in mid-spring before I got most of the perennials started blooming. I''ve been working on painting too...I originally wanted a lavender house but settled for lavender colored shutters with cream siding. Now, the door surround is lavender too and I am searching for an old wooden door with windows which will be stained a light walnut color.

Here''s the link to the site: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/#title

 

[Mara]

Island your house is so cute...I love the color scheme and how the gardens tie in!

GardenWeb IS a great forum, I used to frequent it years ago when I first started gardening and was soaking up knowledge like a sponge! It''s particularly helpful when you''ve got a Q...there are so many people who have been gardening for years who know what to tell you!

 

[Kamuelamom]

Island dreams, welcome to Pricescope! Your house is adorable!!

I love the colors and it is sooo quaint looking. Where are you located? Looks like a very nice neighborhood you live in.

You can PM me if you prefer not to answer that on the forum.

~kmom

 

[eks6426]

Kmom--

Thanks for the compliments on my house. I know the colors are quite a bit different than what most people use but I wanted something different...besides my neighborhood is not a "beige" neighborhood. The house next door to me is school bus yellow, the next one is peach and blue and the next one after that is blue-green so my house is actually pretty tame compared to others. I can''t wait to find just the right old wood door. I keep checking salvage places but so far nothing in the right size & look.

I live in northern Indiana about 1 1/2 hours directly east of Chicago. I live near the city center in an old neighborhood. (I can walk to work!) The street behind my house borders the river that runs through our city. The river street is lined with big, fancy houses...my back yard looks at a Frank Loyd Wright brick house. My street is much less fancy but still kind of old worldish. Across the street from me is a city park with crab apple trees etc. (no playground equipment). All of the houses on my street are different which is nice. It is a very family oriented neighborhood. Many of my neighbors were raised in this neighborhood then bought houses to raise their own kids. My first house I built new in a subdivision on the outskirts of the city. I loved having no maintenance issues but the house and neighborhood had no heart. My 7 year old boy is so much happier in this house even though it is much, much smalller. I have learned that size isn''t everything....although it will be interesting when my fiance moves in with his 15 year old this summer. (My house is 1400-1500 sq feet, the house the 15 year old mostly grew up in was 4000!)

Flower gardening is one of my passions. My grass died the year I moved in and I took that as a sign that I should convert the yard to flowers. The city offers grant money for fixing up front yards so each year I apply and get FREE money to plant flowers. The city also has a place where you can get compost & mulch for free if you go get it. I have spent many lunch hours standing in heels shoveling mulch into buckets & bags. But I love to see the flowers grow. It has been a great way to meet people because I always have someone stopping to admire the flowers. My favorite are the children who want to come and pick a bouquet for their moms. I always help them with the scissors and send them home with canning jars trimmed in rafia ribbon for their prized bouquets.

Almost all of my flowers have come from a mail order company called Blue Stone perennials. http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/index.html?id=5sztMXr2 The plants are small when I get them but by the end of the summer they are always bigger than my neighbors plants even though they started out with gallon size pots. They have fabulous sales starting in April and last throughout the summer.

This year I am tackling the back yard. I bought a huge metal gazebo from Mexico last summer and spent many hours scraping off rust and painting it. It is big enough to put my table and chairs for 6 inside. I plan to lay a granite (neighbor works for granite company and gives me all the scraps

]) floor for the gazebo & paths through the yard then fill with more flowers & probably a fountain of some sort. I am really excited to grow vines up the gazebo. I loved Monet''s Givenry garden when I was in school in France so I''m going to try wisteria & roses along with the midwest standard--clematis.

Sorry for getting a little carried away here. It''s the dreaming of spring & summer that helps me make it through the cold 2 degree days. KMom you are so lucky to be in Hawaii!

 

[Matata]

Argh, my lower back feels like it''s in a vice. Spent 5 straight hours pruning, weeding, tilling, clipping in the front yard on Saturday. Why oh why did I buy rose bushes with monster thorrns. I''ve got so many pricks in my fingertips that I can hardly type. Ouch.

 

[Mara]

hehe matata...after i spend the weekend playing with the rosebushes, my hands look like hamburger meat. i should also note i garden without gloves, ouch! too lazy to find them and put them on usually.

still waiting for my bulbs to sprout through the dirt, we had tons of rain last week but this week was exceptional....however i hear the forecast calls for more rain starting sunday...booooo!

 

[Mara]

here are a few shots i took last week in between bouts of rain...i have a few pots of daffodils up right now but 90% of the bulbs have not bloomed yet.

 

[Mara]

I like to have some color and I adore violas and pansies..it's funny considering they are such common and easy flowers, also the alyssum which re-seeds itself like mad...I love the colors the pansies and violas come in, mostly the purples, pinks and blues. I do alot of underplanting with bulbs and roses so that something is always going on!

I've noticed I really gravitate towards blues for underplantings with some pinks and whites thrown in..and alot of pinks and apricots for larger flowers such as roses and bulbs.

 

[yellowfan]

Mara:

I love pansies! Your flowers look great! You are such a neat little gardener. Does your little Portia help you outside? My dogs step all in my mulch and potting soil and make a huge mess. I still love em!


Take care,

Lori

 

[Mara]

It's funny Lori because my old garden was far from NEAT...but the patio with containers makes it a bit easier to keep things 'contained' and a bit neater looking, sometimes I miss the chaos of my old yard though! I don't miss the BEES though!! Had tons of them.

Portia loves to be out on the patio...she just sticks her nose into the pots and comes out all black muzzled..I am constantly telling her to keep out of the pots or the bag of soil etc...but the rest of the time she just wanders around and sniffs the ground, sniffs worms, plays with leaves, etc. She also loves to sit and look around, and nap in the sun...so now that the weather is finally getting better, she was out there this wkd chillin' out for a while and looking around.

Funny story though, when I was planting my big bulb box that Greg built for me (and sits on the side of the house where our patio curves around the house a bit)...she was all agitated because a dog was walking by with it's owner, she got so worked up looking for the dog that she jumped INTO the bulb box (which Greg built about two feet off the ground with legs for drainage) and looked surprised for a second...I quickly scooped her out, but it was hilarious. So far she has not done anything like that again!! My burgeoning bulbs would NOT be happy with 16 lbs of squirmy dog on them!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mara,

I love your plants AND your pots

. . .these latest pictures inspired me to purchase some plants for containers. My huband is planning to bring in a mini excavator and dig up all that's icky from our yard, so I want plants around the few areas he's not going to attack with power equipment.

Picking out plants was a daunting task. It's taken me almost three hours just to pick out two pots and five plants (lol). .. plus some seeds and bulbs which I have no idea what to do with

. Pots are painfully expensive too! One hundred and fifty dollars for a pot that gets filled with dirt! Yikes! I'd better take the price stickers off before my husband sees these and takes my handbag spending money away from me. . .

So now I feel a bit overwhelmed and plan to pick out one more pot and then add in some strawberry plants for my kids & catnip for the cat and call it quits for now.

We also have a huge shipment of trees that we ordered from a conservator which arrived last week. Giant Sequoias in our yard in the city! Imagine. lol FIFTY of them. hehehe

 

[Mara]

oh my god michelle do not spend $150 on a pot!!

i dont know if you have an 'orchard supply hardware' out there where you are but they are a hardware store, kind of like a home depot but rather an old-fashioned smaller version. with people who actually know what they work around, aka you can ask them a question and they will know what to tell you!

i get most of my pots there, i got an absolutely HUGE one for $50 whereas at the expensive nursery garden center i got one the SAME SIZE for $150!! this was obviously before i knew any better.

now i get almost all my pots at orchard, they range from about $10-50 depending on size and i like their color palettes too, lots of blues and greens which i like. i like getting 2 of each color sometimes, because i think big bulb plantings like daffodils or tulips look best in groups of 2..aka flanking a door or something. but that's just me.

anyhow, look around a bit i would suggest...the garden nurseries can be very pricey with pots, so if you can find a pottery place and/or a place like an orchard .... it would save you ALOT of $$!

good luck!!

oh and edited to add that I also get some very good deals at local flea markets and stuff on pots and the wrought iron stuff shown in the pictures. in cupertino, a slightly upscale city, they have a 'flea market' once a month in the college parking lot, alot of vendors come out, people who aren't selling typical garage sale stuff, but rather manufacturers of alot of types of things, huge on garden stuff as well...so there are a few wrought iron guys that come. the plant holders/stands that are shown in the pix are from these guys, they are so cheap too, aka $12 for a plant stand and i love wrought iron. so you can also get some great deals on gardening stuff at places like upscale flea markets or something...don't know if you have something like that in your area !

 

[MichelleCarmen]

lol - I was kidding!!! Actually the pot I liked WAS $150, but I ended up paying $27 each for two really cool pots, which now I see is still too much

Ah, oh well.

We do have tons of private nurseries and the guy at the one I shopped at was extremely helpful and showed me the appropriate plants. . .I guess the first batch I picked out would have been less contrasting. The plants were so much diverse than Home Depot (a store I cannot stand) so luckily I found a decent selection for early March.

Thanks for the tip re: supply stores. I'm sure these exist around here but I'll have to hunt a bit. What kills me is that I use to make pottery and know how cheap clay is! If I could get my husband to buy me a propane kiln, I'd be set for life

Oh, also for curiosity sake, have you ever tried drilling holes in the bottoms of your pots? I found one pot that was unglazed on the inside but didn't have any drainage holes. I'm wondering if a ceramic drill bit would crack the pot. . .My husband WILL drill the holes for me, but I'm not sure how risky this is. . .

Edited to add: thanks again for your ideas. I really like the iron stand you have and have in mind to find something similar. This may take awhile. I need sturdy plant holders because without a doubt, my kids will be touching and handling my plants and pots. The strawberries are meant to distract little chubby hands from the delicate plants.

 

[Mara]

Oh $27 is not bad at all!!

Greg has drilled a few holes for me in pots, he''s done terra cotta and clay...so I think you''d be fine. I''d ask the nursery guys though just in case, maybe they have a few tips or something.

We don''t use a really huge bit, I have him make a few smaller holes rather than huge big ones which may cause a crack more than smaller ones will. Also, those pots really eat up the drill bits so I''d buy your hubby a spare for his troubles.

In terms of colors, I love doing purples, whites and pinks...apricots..for plants. For bulbs I try to do larger color blocks, aka 25 daffodils in one pot--maybe with an underplanting of purple pansies or blue forget me nots. etc.

Have fun!!

 

[belle]

poor daffodils......no pot, no underplantings....but here they are! i''m always excited to see bulbs in the spring!

 

[Mara]

beautiful belle! not everyone likes to underplant, some are purists! the people in my rose group never liked underplantings because they felt they competed with the rose for food and water, etc...but i prefer the better visual aesthetics and smaller possible roses...hehehe.

 

[belle]

thanks mara

these were actually left overs from a failed pot project (can i say that!?) of last year. i just stuck them in the ground, so they would have a place to live...and here they are! ......i love bulbs, they''re so forgiving!