Choice Morsels

Today was moving day for my Agapanthus-- The container it's been occupying for years has gotten over-crowded. They are a true-blue perennial  flower, also called "Lily of the Nile," common in Southern landscaping. It's actually related to the Amaryllis family. The name "Agapanthus" means "Love Flower" in Greek. (This photo of one of mine in bloom) Presently, they were just starting to pop out green leaves in this container below: I used an old shower curtain to dump the container out on, so I could separate the rhizomes. A couple bulb-based weeds had gotten in among them and this was a chance to get rid of those as well. Once I separated the rhizomes and replanted this container with a few, I put all the remaining rhizomes in a bucket and carried them to the rain garden area in the back yard. Along the outer edge of the flagstones edging this rain garden, I've had orange Native Day Lilies for several years, but they...

I'm very excited today---I captured a fantastic photo of a adult Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly! He was poised on a stick in the back yard near the back fence. I was looking out the sliding glass door and saw him land he stayed there until I walked back their to take his photo! (That they perch to rest is something they're known for.)  I'm pretty sure it was a male, which has a blue back, but he was in the sun with his head facing me, so mostly his black-filigree wings and large blue green eyes were prominent. Also, I discovered I can take a pretty good picture of a bird right through my sliding glass door!  I got a really good shot of a Blue Jay today, eating a piece of popcorn on the nearby fence! (He was about 12 to 15 feet away.) I'm still getting used to my camera's capabilities! Today's Garden Pic of the Day is my giant Red Hardy Hibiscus in the front yard! This thing is towers slightly more then 8 feet tall! I have an 8 foot stake in the middle I...

Today's Garden photo is one of my garden favorites: agapanthus or Lilly of the Nile. I like it's because it's a blue flower, considering true blue flowers are a minority in the flower world. Mine are light blue. They do come darker to nearly purple blue and also come in white. It has a circular head full of these small flowers that open a few at time over several days. No, they don't bloom all at once. I grow mine in a pot, but they are fine in the ground. They're a common landscaping feature here in Florida. They bloom once, but their grassy greenery remains as nice texture in the garden till frost, which is why they're so popular in landscaping. They're a fine cutting flower for vases,  though you will need to clean up dead blossoms at they fall off. When I change the vase water, I snip off expired blossoms, which gives the head a interesting pin-cushion look that's nice texture in a vase. That's a little flower-arranging secret: it's not...