Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, July
I was feeling a bit under the weather so I'm late for Bloom Day.
Just a few noteworthy flowers, all with gorgeous scent and an oddity.
The "Edith Bogue" Magnolia looking like a giant gardenia continues to bloom and is at its best now.
The Singapore plumeria Frangipani has really done well this year. Usually the flowers would open sporadically but it opened all at once this year. The bumblebee decided to park itself on the blossom overnight. A nice place to be.
This is an enormous Asiatic lily with a wonderful scent. The flowers are a good 8-10" across.
And...a weird looking ox eye or green eyed Susan. My wife remarked that it looked like an alien flower. Something from another planet. So she calls it the Martian flower.
Thanks to Kim, the Black Swamp girl, the alien flower has been identified as Rudbeckia hirta Irish Eyes or Gloriosa Daisy, though I'm sure it will always remain the Martian flower in our household.
Just a few noteworthy flowers, all with gorgeous scent and an oddity.
The "Edith Bogue" Magnolia looking like a giant gardenia continues to bloom and is at its best now.
The Singapore plumeria Frangipani has really done well this year. Usually the flowers would open sporadically but it opened all at once this year. The bumblebee decided to park itself on the blossom overnight. A nice place to be.
This is an enormous Asiatic lily with a wonderful scent. The flowers are a good 8-10" across.
And...a weird looking ox eye or green eyed Susan. My wife remarked that it looked like an alien flower. Something from another planet. So she calls it the Martian flower.
Thanks to Kim, the Black Swamp girl, the alien flower has been identified as Rudbeckia hirta Irish Eyes or Gloriosa Daisy, though I'm sure it will always remain the Martian flower in our household.
posted by Ki at
4:54 AM
15 Comments:
Is that 'Irish Eyes' rudbeckia? I've seen them before when they were little,b ut don't ermember the petals being that dark gold.
I have no idea what your magnolia or frangipani smell like in real life, but they look so beautiful that they are very heavenly in my mind's nose... :)
Hi Kim, you have a remarkable memory. I believe you're right that it's Rudbeckia hirta Irish Eyes or Gloriosa Daisy.
This Magnolia has a clean and very nice aroma. Not at all cloying and overly sweet. If you've been to Hawaii or are planning to go, the most common lei garlands are made with the plumeria flowers. A very lovely smell. You have a great imagination as well ("...heavenly in my mind's nose...").
I love your magnolia photos. They remind me of where I grew up (SC), and I can almost smell them.
I really like that magnolia and in fact, I am envious of it, as I don't think that would grow in my zone 5 garden. Thanks for participating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Hi Pam,
Glad to be able to rekindle some childhood memories with the Magnolia pictures. There are certain flower's scent that have made a lasting impression on me and send me back to being a kid again whenever I detect its smell.
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Hi Carol,
There is a person in Mid Ohio, Zone 5 who grows 'Edith Bogue' w/o winter burn. But I have my doubts that it would grow well because our tree suffered winter burn the previous winter when the temps didn't even go below zero.
See the second article in the thread.
RE: Northernmost Southern Magnolia?
And thanks for starting ...Bloom Day. It's nice to see some interesting plants I have not seen before.
Nice assortment of stuff , Ki.
They had HUGE specimens of Edith Bogue at the BBG. Very nice tree. When I was on Molokai I met a local and told them I was interested in plants and they said I should visit her parents place which turned out to be a Plumeria Farm! It was heavenly as they had a bunch of other interesting plants. I grow BES with a green eye called 'Prairie Sun'. It has an interesting darker yellow band with lighter yellow tips on the flower.
My 'Little Gem' magnolia opened a flower today so I don't have to use any mental powers, just breathe in. Aren't magnolias wonderful, Ki!!!
Too bad the flowers turn brown so quickly.
I grew Irish Eyes myself in Illinois but never thought of it as Martian, just thought it blended better with certain daylilies than the regular gloriosas.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Love those martian flowers. ;-) Your magnolia looks wonderful, very pretty! How lovely to see so many flowers in bloom in your garden Ki. Great pics!
Hope you feel better soon!
Such elegant white flowers - both the magnolia and plumeria! I was planning to plant some Southern Magnolias, but I thought I was just going to have the species, not any named varieties. I wonder if I should reconsider?
Hi Chris,
You must have seen some incredible plumerias on Molokai. I saw a dark Maroon almost black one with small flowers but it made up for size by being very fragrant. The trees are not much to look at especially when they drop all their leaves but the Singapore variety keeps its leaves throughout the year and is dark green as opposed to just green or green yellow. There are actually some pretty large Magnolia grandifloras around our town. They must have been planted soon after Edith Bogue discovered her Magnolia. I think the 'Irish Eyes' is creeping me out so I don't think we'll get anymore. ;) Thanks for your comment.
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Hi Annie,
You 'Little Gem' sure flowers for a long time! We have maybe 3-4 flowers to go and that's it for this year. Indeed, this is the time to breathe in deeply. The Magnolia and lily are planted within 20 feet of each other so depending which way the breeze is flowing you smell one or the other. Now if the minature Gardenia I bought would only flower we'd be surrounded by perfume. It is a shame that the flowers last only a day or two and the Japanese beetles love to eat them, leaving ugly brown markings on the flower. I don't know why the green eyes of the Rudbeckia bothers me so much but it does. I'll try sticking them in with some daylilies as you suggest but they may have to go. I guess they're a short lived perennial anyway so it may just disappear on its own. Thanks for stopping by.
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Hi Yolanda Elizabeth,
Not as many interesting flowers blooming as in your beautiful garden but enough to be satisfying. It is amazing that the Magnolia seems to be interesting to most people. After all it is just a large white flower and we still don't have smellovision.;) I wonder what gives it a special visual quality? Thanks for your comment.
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Entangled,
Since you don't have to worry about hardiness, I would do some research to see which of the M. grandifloras are the best bloomers. Annie's 'Little Gem' started out blooming earlier than ours and is still blooming. For a small tree, she had a large number of flowers and I think this was the first year it bloomed. We had only one flower last year, the first year our tree bloomed and about 8 flowers this year including the buds which remain unopen. The Singapore plumeria remains green indoors during the winter so it makes a nice houseplant but you have to watch for scale insects. It definitely loves full sun though because as soon as I put it out in spring it puts on new growth and flowering stalks. I hope you find your Magnolia but doing research is most of the fun. I used to love pouring over stereo equipment years ago. Now it's digital cameras and plants. The actual obtaining the camera or plant is anticlimactic. Cheers.
Lovely blooms and beautiful pictures. Love the magnolia and plumeria.
Thanks Nicole. The plumerias must be common for you but a treat in NJ. Thanks for stopping by.
How can you grow a Frangipani here in New Jersey!.. I am amazed... any tricks? I would love to plant one in my garden, but what about winter?
Beautiful pictures by the way...
Hi aymeric,
I was driving along a road that fronted some condominiums and noticed a plumeria in bloom on one of the balconies. I mail ordered a starter from Hawaii which was an 8" long tip of a branch. I stuck it in some loose potting soil in a pot and it started to grow fairly soon after planting and it bloomed the first year. I bring it inside when the temperatures fall below 50 degrees. I have it in direct sun during the winter in back of the patio sliding door. Even so it's just barely enough sun so by the time it's ready to go out in spring it look a bit tired but revives quickly in the sunshine.
It's very easy to grow. It's a hassle to bring it in and out but worth the effort when it blooms.
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the tip Ki. I appreciate it.
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