Plants I started from seed

It is possible, for little of nothing, to get something large and worth having, just by planting a seed. Take this hollyhock, the seed swiped from a spent plant downtown and literally stuck in the dirt and sprouted last year, blooming this year, and now nearly 10ft tall.

I could have sworn that the color of flower I got the seed from was white.

The seed pod to this Datura Inoxia had well ovr 100 seeds in it. Started them march indoors. Set them outside after they germinated, then the squirrels dug up all but one plant, and here it is;

The Dollar Store carried seed from The American Seed Co. for$.33 a packet. I started some zucchinni and tomatoes in march.

The hybrid of tomato was called "Delicious" and they're not doing too bad.

Stuck them right in with the chrysanthemums.

On a different note, here's what I have in bloom as far as orchids is concerned.

Bought this as a lost tag plant, so my best guess is P. Primulinum x P. Philippinense.

nice display of caladiums;" Miss Muffit"

Leeks going to seed;

rediscovery

 Curiously and peculiar was my introduction to Yaber Mate Tea back in 1970, when a like minded yogi and I were discussing fasting, he pulls out a bag of paste made of Yaber Mate coated with honey. He said the Mate had a natural stimulant and could stave off hunger by eating just a few pinches of the paste. Hindsight tells me that might not be a good thing to do. But I had no ill effects. So  Eastern ideology went hand in hand with the appreciation of tea. My most favorite read back then was a book I found at a book sale, Book Of Tea By Kakuzo Okakura, 1906. Ripped to shreads by my dog Ivanho in the 80's, lol.
 But Yaber Mata Tea was not the tea of ancient asia, but of ancient South America. Black tea is from the plant Camellia Sinensis and Mate is from Ilex Paraguariensis. Technically, mate is not a tea, but a tisane.

Tisanes are herbal teas and herbs make me happy. The folkore is closer to home. Something I can grow. This sage made a wonderful tea. Have a favorite herbal tea? Mint? Rosehips?

Don't throw away your Aliums when you deadhead them, they make nice dried arrangements. Here we have a couple Globe Aliums, the smaller ones are Gladiators, and the short one is a Shubertii, along with some Pussy Willows. Nice arrangement.

Intentionally placed limestone steps leading to nowhere at Murdock Park. I haven't seen any ghosts, but the mere sight is kind of ghostly.

Hey!

lets have a fire! Can't really roast hot dogs on this one. This is for all you pyro's out there.

A rose by any other name

Rose Of Sharon is certainly not a rose, but they have been a fascination of mine for years. They belong to the genus hibiscus, in the plant family Malvaceae. So I say the flower is mallow like, like hibiscus, hollyhock.

I didn't actually understand just how variable they were till I raised them from seed. You'd think that you would get a white flower from seed from a white flowered tree/shrub, but those seeds will produce a rainbow of colors. You'll never get a doubled flowered bloom from a single flowered plant.

The thing is that it takes 3 to 4 years to bloom, you can grow them as a tree or a bush. I like them as a tree, small in size 10-15 ft. It's easy, just don't let them sucker. Keep lower limbs from growing on the trunk. No matter how you grow them, the secret is pruning. Want just a few flowers on a unruly shrub? Don't prune it. People complain about fruit trees, wisteria, and such, but won't take the effort to prune. Get in the habit and the knack will come to you.

The pictures here are just from around the neighborhood, if I was to start pruning everybodies shrubs, they'd probably get mad. So the ugly shrub whose name has biblical connotations, remains common place and relatively unnoticed.

My new orchid

I've had a fascination with orchids for about 20 yrs. now. They've come and gone, I.ve given some away as Christmas presents, lost some to disease, power losses in winter, and as with all perennials, they come back from year to year, but they are not immortal. Rebuilding my collection I came across one that I've wanted for a long time. The right place (EBay) and the right price, and a little bit of luck, I obtained this little jewel. Supposedly near blooming size, it started spiking a week after I received it. I remember being invited to dinner at a neighbors house way back when, after dinner we went into his greenhouse and he showed me his orchids, mostly Catleyas, they were breath taking. I got to get me one of those. Of course one led into an another.

This one happens to be a paphoipedilum, Paph Sanderianum 'Show Shan' x Philippinese '9F'.  I always  got a kick from the way R.J. Rands would describe paphs; "The bees aren't as busy as you think, that they would often crawl into the pouch of the phaph and take a snooze," lol.

The long peddles are truly exotic. Ten years ago these were difficult to get. They do make a nice center piece for the dinner table.

If I could only have one orchid, I believe this would be it.

Just for me

Walking in a wooded park north here in Lafayette (Murdock Park) as I have for many years, found, as usual, an assortment of mushrooms. Which is a relief in that I haven't seen them in a number of years, and I thought it might be because of the bike trails that have been made. There are a lot of hills and the trails weave rather tightly all through out the woods and has affected much of the flora here. ( Trillium, Jack In The Pulpits )  

 I kicked over some leaves and found this milky.

 This An American Ceasers Mushroom

 Boletes are my main interest because They don't have gills.

 Instead of gills they have sponge like pores, very distinctive, which is crucial for identification. There are few poisonous look a likes for boletes so I feel more confident eating them. Although this one isn't very appetizing, I like Boletes as much as sponge mushrooms, although they are very different. Boletes don't ordinarily come up till the second week in August here, after a good rain of course. My rule is harvest if only sure of it's identity, and only take enough for a side dish, and this is true for any wild edible.

 This one has a number of look a likes, the bulb at the base is a bad sign.

 Here's a Cokers Amanita with a couple of small milkies in back.

 Don't know what these are but they look so cute. And by the way, how does your hedge apple grow??????????

Like this! real close to the stem. Don't be under one of these trees when they let lose. 

They say you can't take it with you when you die. Is that true with memories? I wonder--- and sometimes I think that mushrooms come up only for me to see.                                                                         

Rock garden help?

A little somewhat neglected rock garden I've adopted for friend. I stuck some petunias and nasturtiums, but it seems so blah. So I'm thinking of perhaps some Euphorbia myrsinites (Myrtle Spurge)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia_myrsinites, and I guess I really need to get familiar with some cute alpine plants, being German, the one that comes to mind is Edelweiss http://www.treknature.com/gallery/photo20634.htm, but I'm not sure if it would work here. So! Got any suggestions???

While walking in my favorite woods I found something that might make a good walking stick. It happens to be what I used to call Ironwood, but apparently it has other names like muscle wood or blue beech. It's actually American Hornbeam - Carpinus caroliniana http://www.mntca.org/resources/treeid/tree_dec_alt_bir_hornbean.html, It's not seen too often and is an undergrowth type of tree, so it doesn't get real large, extremely hard and with its muscular growth makes for a good cane.