I'm a gardening fanatic. One of the things I regret most is not spending more time with my maternal grandmother (another gardening fanatic) when she was able to garden. It always sounds like a fishing tale when someone says this, but she could probably have planted toothpicks and grown pine trees. She never really had the finances to go "crazy" with her plant purchases, but her small garden was magnificent.
The pictures on this page don't always represent the current state of things--plants die, etc. Thus in some cases a particular picture is a memorial to a plant that has moved to a higher plane.
Memphis Garden Destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
One pic sums it up:
Finally, some new pictures. The garden is recovering from the abuse inflicted on it between 1/2004 and 6/2004. These pics are taken after a hard rain and are mainly to document the state of things before "winter" arrives. Not much was in bloom, but you can see how the garden has filled out. There's now no grass whatsoever on the lot--4 sides of garden. The pics are shot at 5 megapixel and are ~2MB each, so...
Here are some pics of the backyard. It's missing some trees now, which had to be taken down. The good news is that there's a lot more sun: One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
Here are some pics of the front: One, Two, Three, Four, I mean Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.
The rose garden on the side needs some cleanup, but this photo of the very back shows how the monarch butterfly catepillars have eaten the ornamental milkweed practically to sticks: One. And, turning over a leaf, we find one of the little guys! Eat faster, we want more butterflies! Catepillar. The photo was shot in macro mode--he's actually 1/2" or less.
Cone ginger growing at the corner of the house. I tied it away from the house after I took the photos--no more formosan termites, please: One, Two.
A bromeliad hanging in a camelia in the front, in bloom: One, Two.
A couple of new fountains, one in the front, guarded by a gargoyle, and one in the rear, with a lion's head: One, Two, Three, Four. Tiger closeup: One.
Some macro flower closeups. Even simple things like milkweed or creeping violet look amazing when you hop inside the flower: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven.
Vassil brought back some tulips from Holland. They're starting to pop up: One.
I love things that grow all over, including clover and creeping violet: One, Two.
Some people hate potato vine. I love it. This one has frozen to death and reincarnated many times. The pic is no big deal--it's primarily to document the new pot-mate: One.
More soon, when more stuff is in bloom and things aren't so muddy.
The multi-armed cactus blooms! Though I do raise some other cacti, I admit that I bought this one because it was a multi-armed "freak". Well, surprise, surprise, it exploded into bloom! Doesn't look like the blooming period is long--the first round of flowers are falling off, and I managed to snap pics before the second (and last?) fell off. I don't usually see cactus blooms in New Orleans, for what I think (?) are obvious reasons? Here are the pics: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth.
More shortly...
Wisteria (blooming virtually in isolation, because we're still recovering from some unusually cold spells): One, Two
(October 2000)
Summer 2000 in New Orleans was absolutely brutal. It was terribly hot and we received very little rain. Things are starting to recover now in the garden, so I took the following pictures. I'm now using a better camera.
RIP: Grape vine killed by formosan termites. Rest in peace, Mr. GrapeVine.
An aging (but still beautiful) monarch butterfly poses for the camera. In these pictures, she's sitting on a milkweed, butterfly bush, and an old mimosa branch. First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh.
A Chrysler Imperial red rose. Tops in the scent department.
Captive cacti that live in a big pot on my front porch. One, two.
The guardian of the rear garden. Another. Another.
Various gargoyles that guard the front garden. One, two, three.
4-o-clock in New Orleans.
A view from the rear deck.
Cat whiskers. And one more.
One of many butterfly bushes. And this and this ain't no butterfly.
An evil climbing fern takes over a copper lantern.
Sunshine through a giant banana leaf.
A herd of torenia and a closeup.
Twist off top, eat pineapple, plant top (with a little Rootone)...Voila!
A small yellow shrimp plant.
Morning glories growing wild on the back fence.
A moonflower. The same moonflower...the others were too high on the vine to photograph.
(April 1999)
An Angel's Trumpet in explosive bloom. The fragrance nearly knocks you over! Here is a shot from underneath. Don't try to grow these in the North...A centaurea that grows near the water garden.
An amaryllis that hangs from a giant camelia.
A blood red amaryllis that lives in the back yard (in a maple tree). Here is a closeup.
A new bromeliad that hangs inside our house.
A climbing rose bush. I don't trim it much, and it is very susceptible to black spot, but from the street it looks like a river of red blooms, so I leave it alone.
Climbing rose closeup.
Foxgloves not yet in bloom.
Ghost plant I've always loved these and finally found one. My grandmother used to have a giant one.
Hibiscus, with a friend.
Hibiscus closeup.
One of the many creatures in our garden.
Milkweed, keeping watch over our ADSL splitter.
The world's largest radish, now over 1 year old! It lives next to a giant parsley, which admittedly is more useful.
Red wildflowers.
A sweetpea creeping into a red flower's domain.
A squirrel planted this sunflowers in a pot holding banana trees.
More sweetpeas
Even more sweetpeas.
Tuberous begonia, in full bloom. And that variegated ginger ain't a baby anymore!
Some people think that these wild violets are weeds, but I love them. I always leave a few patches (much to the dismay of our neighbors!) when I mow the grass.
(July 1998)
Amaranthus, also called Love Lies Bleeding. Not as red as I'd like, but quite tall.
Asclepias, also called Milkweed. In this shot a bug finds one of the flowers tasty. I have seen lots of monarch butterflies poking around them, but I've never had the camera handy.
Aclepias, sans bug.
Balloon Flower, a new one. You can still see the tag! Ooops. Now deceased.
Bird of Paradise, quite large. Not in bloom in this shot. Stay tuned.
White Crepe Myrtle>, still a baby. It's been planted for a few months. You can also see one of our Angel's Trumpet trees, some of the big Camelias, and a Jasmine "sculpture" in this shot.
Elephant Ears. I'm going for the world record, but so far leaves are about 3 feet long.
Ferns, ferns, ferns, everywhere. Just a random shot. Hey, they were smiling, could I just ignore them?
Foxtail Fern, surrounded by rocks stolen from the NE.
Red Gerbera Daisy, with a single bloom.
Grape Vine again, showing exactly how little we prune it.
Purple Coneflower, one of my favorite flowers.
Vinca, a single bloom.
Red Caladium. Yes, everyone has them!
Rudbeckia, also called Yellow Coneflower.
Rudbeckia, the sequel.
Rudbeckia, part III.
Torenia, growing like weeds despite the heat.
Some shots of the water garden. We have a lot more pictures, but they haven't been scanned yet.
Salmon Water Lily (Summer 1998), in bloom.
Louisiana Iris (April 1999). These don't bloom for very long--probably about 2 weeks--but they are gorgeous!
Louisiana Iris, again (April 1999)
Some random shots of dragonflies. We install thin bamboo stakes around the water garden for them to sit on.
