Bloom 2014 - Morning Glory: Grandpa Otts Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea)

8/27/14

Life Cycle: Annual

Uses: Beds, Borders, Cut Flowers

Sun: Full Sun

Soil: Slightly Acidic or Alkaline

Water: Moderately

Spread: 10 - 12 Inches

Bloom Duration: 12 Weeks

Height: 10 - 13 Feet

My most anticipated bloom of the season, my Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory has emerged! It is a beautiful shade of purple and was a welcome sight this morning. There are several buds all over the vine including one that looks ready to bloom by tomorrow. The flower that bloomed is already wilting and getting ready to fall off - ready to be replaced by another bloom tomorrow. I think I'm going to try and collect the seeds for next year.

8/27/14
This lovely purple variety of Morning Flower took about two months to bloom and is the September birth flower ( along with Asters)

8/27/14
This was a pretty low maintenance plant although some pruning was required while growing it indoors.

8/27/14
I can't get enough of this purple shade and I really like it. I might also try a Heavenly blue variety next year or Blue Star morning glory which is a beautiful light blue color.

8/27/14
This is the total height of my Morning Glory plant. 

8/25/14
Bud beginning to take shape 

8/22/14
The bud is a first sign of a bloom so I'm always very excited to see this!

Common Flower Gems - Classification # 8 - Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron strigosus)

This one was actually trickier to identify than I originally thought. This lovely white and gold daisy flower can be found worldwide and is commonly known as Daisy fleabane because it was once thought to repel fleas, and not the ox-eye daisy, which is a much larger flower. 

A colony of Daisy Fleabane on the sidewalk.

Despite all the tall grass, I spotted these partly hidden daisies without even trying

Bug Shots # 1

Here are some cool shots of insects I took with my camera phone this spring. Nothing more than your normal garden variety lady bugs, bees, and butterflies. I have to mention that the white butterflies are just too elusive for me to snap a picture of whenever I see them but I'll keep trying.

Been on white clover

The bee is a bit hard to locate on this shot but its there

Bee again...

Same bee different clover

Bzzzz...zzzzz

This was a nice shot I never expected to take

This butterfly was photogenic and didn't mind photos apparently

So I took some more

This is my favorite shot

Common Flower Gems - Classification # 7 - Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

This scraggly-looking plant is a sure sign of Spring

I spotted this Chicory flower species all over my neighborhood including parking lots, lawns, roadsides, and park areas. This is a personal favorite of mine because it resembles a Dandelion but has a variety of colors and shades as opposed to only yellow. Its also completely edible and is used as a coffee substitute. Blue shades are the most common but there are also white, purple, and pink varieties. I've yet to encounter one but I will be sure to be on the look out.

I found a rare pink/purplish version but this is as close as I could get...thanks fence.

Here are some images of White and Blue Chicory. (Proxy Image)

Common Flower Gems - Classification # 6 Yellow Woodsorrel/Yellow Oxalis (Oxalis Stricta)

The yellow flower of this clover species has 3 heart-shaped leaves 

Wow I keep coming across a new species of flower I previously missed every new trip to the park. Common Yellow Woodsorrel is known by many other names including common yellow oxalis, sour grass, shamrock, sleeping beauty, sour trefoil, and sheep's clover. This woodsorrel is unique because tends to grow in a more upright fashion than other wood sorrels (stricta means "upright"). Other varieties include white, pink, blue, and purple

The vivid yellow flower has 5 petals. All its parts are perpendicular to the stem nearly horizontal to the ground 

Far out shot of the lemon grass bunch, which also happen to be edible.

Bloom 2014 - Common Zinnia: Green Envy Zinnia (Zinnia Elegans)

Life Cycle: Annual
Uses: Beds, Borders, Cut Flowers
Sun: Full Sun
Soil: Acidic
Water: Moderately
Spread: 12-14 Inches
Bloom Duration: 12 Weeks
Height: 30 Inches

Although last years Red Carousel Zinnia came close, disappointingly they failed to bloom. Well the good news is this year, I've finally managed to grow my first indoor Zinnia to maturity and shes a beauty! I guess you can say every who sees her is green with envy...sorry I had to. Anyway, as happy as I am about the bloom, it was pretty measly  which was probably due to the small container space and multiple flowering heads.

8/22/2014
I was pretty surprised to find that my Zinnia had branched out and was growing three flowering heads. Actually 5, because the bottom of the stem branched out as well, but I clipped those two in an attempt at larger blooms. I'm actually trying to propagate one of the cuttings I saved and am currently growing the roots in a jar of water and plan to transfer it to soil.

8/8/14
The container is pretty small, but does the job I have to say. Its pretty amazing that such a large flowering plant can thrive in a peanut can container, although I'm sure its a bit cramped.

8/22/2014
A look at the bud opening up

8/8/14
Close-up at the flower-head forming

8/9/14
The florets are opening up and stacking it seems

8/9/14
Another picture of my Zinny. Really makes me want to retry and grow a Red Carousel Zinnia.

Common Flower Gems - Classification # 5 Dandelion (Taraxacum)

White Dandelion puffs are composed of hundreds of seed heads which are often carried as far as 5 miles from their origin!

I pulled some info online about Dandelions so I urged you to learn more about this common flower gem that is native to Eurasia and North and South America. Every year Americans spend millions on lawn pesticides to have uniform lawns of non-native grasses, and we use 30% of the country’s water supply to keep them green. The dandelion is the only flower that represents the 3 celestial bodies of the sun, moon and stars. The yellow flower resembles the sun, the puff ball resembles the moon and the dispersing seeds resemble the stars.

Fun Facts :

• The dandelion flower opens to greet the morning and closes in the evening to go to sleep.
• Every part of the dandelion is useful: root, leaves, flower. It can be used for food, medicine and dye for coloring.
• Up until the 1800s people would pull grass out of their lawns to make room for dandelions and other useful “weeds” like chickweed, malva, and chamomile.
• The average American recognizes thousands of logos for commercial products, yet recognizes fewer than five plants that grow in his/her area. Dandelions are most likely one of those familiar plants.
• The name dandelion is taken from the French word “dent de lion” meaning lion’s tooth, referring to the coarsely-toothed leaves.
• Dandelions have one of the longest flowering seasons of any plant.

Yellow Dandelion head is composed of hundreds of florets