Heat Wave!!!

Here it is, February 4th and what a surprise, it's FREEZING outside!

To be honest, I'm not really complaining, some cold weather is necessary for the plants that are native to this area. Still, the thought of the sun on my shoulders seems like a faded dream so I thought I'd find a photo or two to warm me up.

Although this blog is for perennials, there's nothing like hot Hibiscus to make me think of a Heat Wave. Luckily there are also wonderful hardy perennial Hibiscus too for our gardens here on Long Island.

Coleus, not an annual, just very tender. You can keep a Coleus plant growing for years indoors but I just keep buying new ones for the garden instead.

Ah ha, here's two perennials that thrive in hot dry sun. Monarda and Agastache, why if I close my eyes  I can almost smell their heavenly scent too.

Finally a shot of something that could cause a heat wave on your tongue, some peppers! I believe these are ornamental, not for eating but still, even my mouth is warm now :-)

Just thought I'd drop a simple post today... got a great idea for next week for my other blog at Melanie's' Old Country Gardens. 

Till then, stay warm...

mel

November colors

Today was a day long in coming, I finally had the itch, the uncontrollable urge to explore the world around me once again, camera in hand. While my world has changed quite a bit in the past two years, my camera and computer have changed too so it is a true lesson for me.

Just a mile or so from my home here in Centerport, Long Island is Twin Ponds Park. I've passed the parking lot countless times, today I finally pulled in and went for the short walk. On the north side of 25A is mostly sand and scrub, basically an uninteresting walk unless of course you are looking at the world through your camera lens. I found a large stand of Opuntia (don't know the rest of the botanical name). Another quick lesson was learned when I tried to remove a leaf for this photo and found the entire tip of my pointer finger stabbed with teeny tiny but painful thorns!

Bittersweet is the gardeners nemesis, many is the time I cursed this plant as I pulled it's vivid orange roots from the ground. In the wild though, it can make your heart sing :-)

The south side of 25A was much more scenic albeit also a very short walk. I was fascinated by these points coming up out of the ground. They look similar to Hosta shoots when they first emerge. If anybody knows what these are, please leave a comment. My guess is skunk cabbage only because I really have no other idea.

The moss was everywhere and it literally glowed in the autumn sunshine! If you look close you'll see those spiky growths coming up right through the moss.

Walking along I remembered why one has to dress in plain jeans, hiking boots and an old sweatshirt. Lots of clambering over and under with whippets of thorns just waiting.

Now these are roots! I tried not to hear the tree cry as I gently tiptoed my way through them.

A final note for today, we are still in the thick of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I took this photo several times over and had fun playing with my i-photo enhancements. If you want to see the result it's posted on my other blog, Melanie's Old Country Garden

Mystery Plant!

One of the fun things about moving to a home with an established garden is discovering new things. Many of them I knew about before coming here even if I never grew them.

This grass is familiar to me but I have no real idea what it is. A Carex? Acorus? It looks like this year round and you can see the little spent bloom heads from last season.

It's not that impressive right now but I think it would look great near my little pond. I'd love some ideas on what it is and how to treat it. As you can see, there's lots of common orange daylilies growing around it and through it.

Believe it or not, in all my years of gardening I've never had pachysandra! Can't say I love or adore it but at least right now it's green and Claus my garden Gnome is quite happy.

Up close the blooms are actually quite nice. I'm going to try to take some more shots this weekend with my new camera.

For those of you who want to see my little cottage, I just posted some photos on my sister blog, Melanie's Old Country Gardens.

Love to hear your suggestions about my mystery plant!