My Favorites -- August 2010

Once again, I am joining Susan at Simply Susan! to show my favorites of this month.  

 

 
From top left clockwise: Cats' Wiskers (Orthosiphon stamenis) seems very happy with the new partial shade spot in my new sidegarden bed. One kind of ground orchid is also at the blooming peak. Torenia is my new favorite in the garden. It really brings lots of color into the shady spot of the garden. Angelonia angustifolia is the new addition to the garden. Datura metel double layered huge trumpet shaped flower sometimes looks so unreal, yet just gorgeous! Siam Tulip (Curcuma alismatifolia) is also my new favorite of this month.

The above are my heat loving favorites.  From top left clockwise: Zinnia, Allamanda (It has been blooming so flower prolifically!), another type of zinnia (a gift from my son);  Marigolds has passed its peak time, but now I have lots of seeds for the new season.  Canna Lily (Bengal Tiger) is soaring high into the sky.  My biggest zinnia in the garden! 

My favorite foliage:  From top left clockwise:  Crotons (can you believe they were just bare sticks after our January freeze?), Charmed Wine Oxalis, young caladium leaves hidden among the ornamental sweet potato leaves, Brazilian Red Hots (Alternanthera), more Caladiums!

Here comes more of my favorite foliage:

From top left clockwise: Coleus, Bromeliad (Neoregelia X Ultima), Coleus, Bromeliad (Neoregelia Tequila), Bromeliad (Neoregelia spectabilis), coleus. 

Center: Two kinds of bromeliad (identification, anybody?).

What are your favorites for this month?

It Is Not Always Pretty

By no mistake, my gardening passion all started with pure admiration for the beauty. The endless beauty of the plant world gives me the great temptation that I can not resist.

With one short year of gardening experience, I also quickly learned that it is not always pretty around the garden, and that perspective is still the hard part for me to deal with. 

Like what I found on my new Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia) leaves...  I caught two of these in the act!  I used two sticks to grab these two big guys off before they could nibble away all the leaves. 

What is this?? Except eating the leaves, do they do any other harms to the plants?

Ugh!  The below one really grossed me off!!!   These are two leaves I took off from my Lantana.  There are more of these ugly leaves on the same plant.  

My fellow gardeners, please help me to identify this pest, and what should I do with it to save my lantana?

I experienced the same thing last year with the lantana planted in the same spot. I sprayed with fungicide, and seems did not do much good. The plant stopped blooming all the sudden. When this plant regrow its leaves after this past winter's freeze, I was glad that new leaves looked healthy, and it even quickly bloomed. I thought the freeze might have killed whatever that has bothered it. I guess I laughed too early, now the same nightmare came back again!

Ok, enough of the ugliness.  I need some beauty to help me calm down...  Here are some of flowers currently blooming in my garden.

Rose corner is still going strong although some leaves have started some black spots.  It seems not impacting  the blooms though...

Peace

Peace (with color variation)

Double Delight

Desert rose (Adenium Obesum) is blooming its heart out!  Some cluster contains more than 20 flowers, which made the branch so heavy that it bended down.

Desert Rose (Adenium Obesum )

These marigolds are the ones I started from seeds this year.

Marigold

These pink vincas are self seeded from last year's plants.  They grow like a weed without much care.

Vinca (Periwinkle)

New addition to the garden... Love the purple leaves and white flower combination.

Charmed Wine Oxalis

Ok, now I need to go back to think about how to get rid of those ugliness shown in the beginning...