Wednesday, July 25, 2007

More July Flowers

I was out in the garden weeding yesterday and noticed the dahlias had some really beautiful blooms and loads of new buds coming on so I indulged myself by cutting a few for a vase on the
deck. The pink ones are almost as big as my head!



I saved the tubers last year - just dug them up, threw them into some paper bags and stored them in an unheated part of the basement. In March, I potted them up and planted them outside in June. I think they'll bloom profusely til the first frost. Oh no, I just mentioned that "f" word again!

The rest of the flowers on the deck are really blooming their hearts out. I wonder if it has anything to do with my new organic, fertilizer? I gathered a bunch of dried seaweed on the shore last month and put it into a plastic tub, added water to cover and let it steep for a couple of weeks. I have a five gallon bucket in which I put 1 gallon of the "mixture" and fill the rest with water. I water my plants with this diluted mix and they seem to be thriving. A Google search on the internet says seaweed compost tea is high in phosphorus, which is good for lots of blooms. The only drawback is this stuff really stinks, but the odor fades away quickly.



The plants seem to like sitting around the fountain



It's rather difficult to see, but the tall plant in the corner is that little banana my son sent me from Florida two years ago. It's now taller than me. Wouldn't it be great if it actually bloomed and had fruit this year? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!



The cannas are just about to bloom and I'm sure the hummingbirds will love the red flowers.



4 comments:

LostRoses said...

Love that fountain, Giddy, and I agree your plants look very happy grouped around it. Sounds like your seaweed fertilizer did the trick. Keep hoping, maybe you'll have your very own bananas for breakfast one of these days!

Anonymous said...

You certainly have happy plants! I'm not sure on the bananas, but I think you need a male and female plant - when I lived in Florida I saw lots of banana plants and very few bananas, and that's what somebody told me, but I don't know how true it is. It's a cool plant to have anyway, bananas or not!

Diana LaMarre said...

Those are some bright dahlias. They look nice with the hosta leaves. I love the banana plant. How cute if you get little bananas on it! I wonder what the flower looks like?

Thanks for the nice comment.

Kerri said...

Those dahlias are gorgeous! I actually lost my red dinner plate dahlia rhizomes. Got them out early in the spring, along with the glad bulbs, and have no idea where they went to! My hubby planted half the glad bulbs in the vege garden...he wonders if he did something with the dahlias. It's a mystery.
Your containers are looking wonderful. That seaweed tea must work!
I'm envious of your Mandevilla vine in the post below. Do you winter that over inside? I saw a real beauty at the Cornell Plantations last Saturday.
I hope you get bananas :) The tree looks great!