More Day Lilies Blooming and a Long Over-due Project

Two more daylilies are blooming in the garden.  They were planted at the end of last October as bare root fans, which I ordered from smokeysdaylilygardens.com.

PANDORAS BOX   

(Evergreen, early-mid, rebloomer, 4" flower, 19" scape height, white/cream, Ruffled, fragrant, recurved)

CHORUS LINE 

(Evergreen, early, rebloomer, 3.5" flower, 20" scape height, pink/rose, Ruffled, extended bloomer, very fragrant)

I wish these daylilies can thrive in my garden for many years coming!

Now here is an over-due update of a loooong over-due garden project.  (Can you hear the word "procrastination" whispering in the air?)

In August 2010 August, we started building a path on the west side of house and back yard to replace a muddy grass area.  You can see how it looked then here.  It was just a path with grasses removed, and layered with weed block clothes, plus the pea sized gravels.

Later, we added the step stones (you can see the picture in this post). We were then looking for bigger sized stones to lay on the top of pea gravels to level with stepping stones to finish the job, but never got time to do so.

During the recent Christmas holidays, DH and I had a couple of weeks off the work.  We finally found a local landscape place had the river stones for sale,  just what we were looking for!  After dumping 40+ bags of river stones, now the path finally had a finished look.

This is the portion of the path at the west side of the house, looking towards the South (backyard).

Now looking from the back yard towards the North (front of the house) of the same path.

Zooming out more in the same direction (towards North).  The majority part of the path shown in the picture now is in the backyard, west flower bed.

Now turn around to look the other direction (towards further south, lake side) of the west side. The portion with four stepping stones were just created this past Christmas by removing the grass there.  Now the whole west side along the house includes only flower beds and stone path, no grass at all. 

I am really enjoying the soothing and tranquil feeling of this new river stone path gives.


On the east side of the back yard, there was a short path leading to the fence door going out of the backyard.  Since I often need to hauling the soil to the back yard for planting, and river stone path won't be easy for a pulling card to go through, we turned this pathway to a brick paved path.  Now I can easily transport the soil using my little pulling cart.


Although it is not a perfect job, we were proud to have this path paved all by ourselves considering this was our first time ever to try this.

With the above project finished, now within the fence, we only have last strip of grasses left, which is along the lake side (see below).

Two small Christmas palms were added last December.  Between two palms, the small tree in the container is "Michelia champaca", which should produce very fragrant yellow flowers. Now I have already put it under the ground outside of the fence  since the above picture was taken, and I cannot wait for it bloom for the first time!

Removing this last piece of grasses, and converting it to another planting area is in progress, I will post it once it is finished. One hint, this area will be involving some rocks.

Last, let me use this full opened hot pink gerbera daisy wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day!

Celebration Bouquets for the New Year

Do you know this Sunday, Feburary 14th,  is not only the Western Valentine's Day, it is also Chinese New Year Day?!

Chinese New year or Spring Festival is the most important traditional Chinese holiday. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese (Lunar) calendar and ends on the 15th; this 15th day is called Lantern Festival.

Because the track of the new moon changes from year to year, Chinese New Year can begin anytime between late January and mid-February. This year it is coincident with western's Valentine's Day, and it is the Year of the Tiger according to Chinese Zodiac.  If you were born in 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 and 1998, you most probably are a tiger (with the exceptions of those who were born early January since it could fall into the previous year of the Lunar Calendar). You can find your exact sign here.

Chinese people loves to use abundance of fresh auspicious flowers such as peach blossoms, narcissus, orchids, and chrysanthemums and fruits such as oranges and tangerines to decorate their house. A home with a plant that bloom on New Year's Day signifies a year of prosperity. For this reason, before Lunar New Year, the city streets will look like a florists shop.

My sister, who is a professor teaching Botany at College in China, also loves gardening in her own backyard(of course!), sent me a group of photos she took at her local flower market on the street.  I thought I will share with my fellow gardeners here, and hope you can share my joy through all these beautiful bouquets with me.  I also included some of Chinese common names here, so if you can not recognize some characters, just ignore them :)

Oranges, tangerines, or Calamondin are symbols for abundant happiness. Tangerines with leaves intact assure that one's relationship with the other remains secure. For newlyweds, this represents the branching of the couple into a family with many children. The second picture shows Calamondins.

Branches full of Peach blossoms are sold as bundles.  Peach blossom is not only the symbol of prosperity, but also is believed will bring the good luck to a person's love relationship.  So families who have unmarried grow-up children would put these bundles in their house to wish their kids will find their true love in the new year.

Japanese Ardisia (紫金牛).  Those red berries make this plant a perfect holiday decoration!

Chaenomeles speciosa (Flowering quince, 贴梗海棠): This ugly duckling of the garden spends most of the year as a shrubby tangle of branches and nondescript foliage. However, for a brief few weeks in late winter to early spring, it transforms into a ravishing beauty. 

The plant in the middle (adore that planter!) is one kind of Orchids, Cymbidium Hybridum Hort (大花蕙兰).  Seems they are mostly found in Asia.  Have any of you seen this one here?  

Notice the Bromeliads and phalaenopsis orchids around it?  Their bright blooming colors made them very popular as New Year plants. You also can see the variegated Ginger plants in the background, which are often found in Florida garden as well.  My sister lives in a city (Shen Zhen) south of China, and its climate is very similar to Florida. 

Chrysanthemums: The name Chrysanthemum comes from the Greek 'chrysos' (golden) and 'anthos' (flower). Florist Chrysanthemums are native to China. The wild plant bears small yellow flowers. They have been cultivated in China for over 2500 years.  The flower is considered a symbol of happiness, long life, cheerfulness, optimism, rest and ease.


The Narcissus flower is perceived quite differently in the east than in the west. Whereas in the west, the Narcissus flower is seen as a symbol of vanity, in China, the same flower is seen as a symbol of wealth and good fortune.  I remember when I was little, most of my neighbors grew Narcissus in their home.  Certain variety has heavenly fragrance.

Dahlias (大丽菊):

Azaleas (杜鹃).  I especially love the Azaleas with delicate pink colors.  Oh, I also spoted my favorite Fuchsia plants next to the pink Azaleas.

Reiger Begonia (玫瑰海棠).  I recently saw that they were sold at local Costco center.

There are still some more flowers which are quite common here as well, such as Hawaii Ti, Wax Begonias, Bird of Paradise and some house plants for foliage use.  I won't bore you with more pictures.

It is just amazing that seems all those common plants are connecting the two sides of the world together.  No matter what culture you hold, the bloomings never fail to touch the soft spots of people's heart.

So, if you celebrate Chinese New Year. Happy NEW YEAR! For the rest of you, Happy Valentine's day! Or, just simply have a good day!

For me, we will have feasts with our Chinese friends here.  Phone calls will be made tomorrow morning (New Year Eve of China time) to our families.   This is a day we will always hold near and dear to our hearts, no matter how far and how long we have travelled away from home....