All Natural, 2001/09/03:14:52
caro's home ~*~ caro's index |
Brugmansia x Candida "Plena" Care: Very easy! Requirements: 75%-100% sun, lots of water, lots of space. Features: Enormous, abundant, double night-scented blossoms in pure white, large leaves, fast-growing. Makes a wide, light-green canopy. Dangers: All parts are narcotic and hallucinogenic, containing tropane alkaloids. Susceptibilities: White fly and mites. Family: Solanaceae. Relatives: Tomato, potato, tobacco, atropa belladonna. |
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now in bloom on my patio
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The two orange blossoms from tea rose "Tropicana" just disintegrated after 2 weeks on my dining room table. When I first brought the buds inside, I noticed that the petals of one were tied together with spider thread. Afraid that the bud would be prevented from opening, I pulled the thread away. Time-lapse photographically, the hidden whorl of petals unfolded, rotating simultaneously, and within 5 seconds my rose had opened. Blooming:leptospermum scoparium, Ruby Red and Snow Whitebrunfelsia solananum rantonettii solanum jasmonoides impatiens, double and single, all colors epidendrum alyssum scaevola ivy geranium punica kalanchoe, pink and yellow Martha Washington geranium "Morwenna" stargazer lilies South African jasmine brugmansia x candida "Plena" plumbago mandevillea petunias tuberous begonia (third year) nerium euryops tibouchina lobelia hibiscus "Mrs. Jimmy Spangler" primrose (just the yellow one) fuchsias "Dark Eyes, "Silver Queen", "Dusky Rose", "First Love", "Nicci's Findling", "Baby Blue Eyes", "Jingle Bells", "Winston Churchill", "Golden Marinka", "Guinevere" In Full Budstephanotishibiscus "White Wings" gardenias rhododendron satsuki "Daishuhai" hibiscus bougainvillea "San Diego Red" magnolia bouvardia (pink stripes) camellias fuchsia "Voodoo", "Flying Cloud", "Blue Satin", "Dollar Princess" In Fruitcalamondinpittosporum Still Taking Their Good Ol' Timeplumeriableeding heart variegated bougainvillea "Raspberry Ice" South Carolina jessamine Meyer lemon navel orange Sad NewsAn attack of scale killed my precious 3-year-old boronia this month. I hadn't looked closely at it for a few weeks, and one day while rearranging the nether regions I found that every stem was thoroughly coated with the insects. I sprayed with parafinic oil and the scale were dead and falling off within 2 hours; then I washed the oil and scale off with water. But it was too late. I will leave the dried remains of the plant in the shade for a while, just in case there's any life left in it, but I'm not hopeful. Having never seen any pest on it at all, I assumed it was safe and didn't pay much attention to it. I'll replace the plant--the strong winter fragrance and bright color is not to be missed--and be much more vigilant this time. |
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wildlife
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Perfect swimming and sharking today, warm clear water. Low tide left the leopard sharks behind in the roped area in front of the hotel. There's no net, just some floats, but the sharkies swim back and forth there. I counted probably 20. The gentle rolling waves made magnifying lenses, and for a change almost everyone in the area was watching. This week I've been bringing fuchsias in to sit on my desk just inside the door. The hummingbirds, usually precisely respectful of the plane of the threshhold, zoomed right in and buzzed around my desk to visit the flowers. I guess they are obliged to taste every flower they see no matter where it is. My Say's Phoebes have been coming to bathe every day, sometimes twice a day, in the little white Pyrex bowl of rocks on the patio. After splashing half the water out of the bowl, they sit in one of my little trees and thoroughly shake themselves dry. Then they plop down in the soil and roll around for a while. To finish off the bath, they have a lie-down in a spot of sun atop the garden wall, flattened fluffy mounds, tails spread wide. |