Wednesday, August 5, 2009

not to be deterred

star of india


Not everything in the yards has been deterred by the hot dry weather.  This small tree (large shrub?) is about 7’ tall and covered with blooms.  It was very hard to get a good picture of the flowers because they are so white and the sun is so bright.  I finally had to settle for a close up instead of a larger view.



mexican petunia 


I love these wild petunias but they are extremely invasive.  Right now, after the neglect my yard in the city has received the past two years, they have spread everywhere.  In the morning it is a sea of purple.  These delicate flowers only last til about noon when they fall off and are replaced the next day by hundreds more.  These were also hard to photograph and still the color is not exactly right.



hummingbird bush


This large shrub is taller than the eaves of my house and is covered with these small blooms.  Come fall, when the hummingbirds migrate through it will be the scene of many a pitched battle.



plumeria


This particular small tree was a gift from a friend and it is a profuse bloomer.  I have other plumerias but none are matched by this one.  It probably has 20 clusters on it.



yellowbells


Another of my favorites, these shrubs can also get fairly large and can be pruned into small trees forms.



mexican bird of paradise


This one is actually in my sister’s yard and is as tall as the eaves of her house.  They love the hot dry weather.

8 comments:

  1. oh ellen those plants are beautiful!! really beautiful and i know none of them!!! wow!! i haven't got favourites but if i could i'd love to have the plumeria and the mexican petunia growing right here!!! you lucky lucky person. thanks for sharing these. have a lovely day in your garden, steven

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  2. You have such marvelous exotic plants that we don't have up here. At least I don't. Loved seeing these!!!

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  3. I have not seen these plants in the Northwest. Lovely.

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  4. The plumaria and star of india win my vote. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Mexican Petunias. I want them. I have an open field where our billboard is and I can just imagine them bobbing in the breeze. You would have to look at nature's beauty and then you would catch the billboard. If only my mind's eye could do the work!!

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  6. Hello Ellen

    I have popped over from the delightful Steven's place.
    I was surprised to see that you have similar range of flowers to me here in the subtropics. I think your top one may be a mock gardenia.
    I am not familiar with the Mexican petunia.

    thanks for the pretty post

    Happy days

    The plumeria - was call frangipani is a beautiful one..I can smell it from here...so delicate in scent...

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  7. Hi Delwyn, welcome to my blog. Yes, we are able to grow semi-tropical plants here. Some winters stuff will freeze to the ground but it all comes back from the roots. This particular plumeria (also called frangipangi and I've heard it referred to as lei flower as well) has frozen back a time or two. And mock gardenia is another name for the star of india.

    Kathy - I will be happy to send you some seeds. I don't know if they would survive your winter or not but it's worth a try only, if they thrive...no cursing me allowed. You can get my e-mail address off my profile page.

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  8. Wow, that's a pretty good list of what still can thrive in this drought, beating sun and relentless humidity. I love hydrangeas but they can't thrive in a climate like this...

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