Friday, May 8, 2009

Interesting Flowers In Bloom
in
Middle Georgia


Of course everyone has seen the Lace Cap Hydrangea in bloom here in Middle Georgia. There is not very much excitement about this bloom, but I feature it today because these are the first Hydrangeas to bloom in my Gardens.


The exciting Hydrangea in Bloom today is the Climbing Hydrangea. This plant was placed on the North Side of our Home and the planting was conducted using the recommendations of the County Extension Agent. I acquired this plant on a Horticulatural Society Field Trip to various Nurseries in the Athens, Georgia area. I was introduced to this plant when a Speaker from Calloway Gardens gave a presentation to our Central Georgia Horticulture Society some years ago. I paid five dollars for this plant and was told that it probably never ever flower here in Middle Georgia in as much as it thrives in the higher country near Calloway Gardens. I planted it with love and used garden soil, peat moss and fine pine bark chips as well as sand. I did not write the formula down but I do believe that I used a bag of each items and dug a really deep hole. Of course I am excited about this plant and it's blooms here in Middle Georgia.

The featured bloom in this Gardening Tidbits Post today is the Apostle Plant. Several years ago a Garden Club Buddy of my Wife gave this plant to us. We have kept it in pots and divided it so that we could Winter it over in the garage. This Spring I placed one six inch pot on the front stoop and it has flourished. It is also known as:

Neomarica gracilis
Walking Iris
Twelve Apostles
So far this plant has flourished in full sun and the blooms are a visual treat.
I have conducted a limited search using Google and have found one site that indicates that each bloom will only last a day, but that several blooms will open on each stalk. I have found that the quickest way to research a plant if I know the name is go perform a Google Image Search.