We have more interesting Begonias than this, but this is the one I got a picture of. People don't really seem to care for it, and I can't say as I blame them. The ones at work are only now, two months after people would maybe have bought them, starting to look presentable. Not so much fashionably late to the party as showing up to the party at the wrong location, the day after it was held. We will have to propagate earlier next year.
I haven't taken any pictures of the roses at work before this, mostly because the roses are the domain of the nursery lot, not the greenhouse, and so I don't normally have much of a valid, work-related excuse for being among them. (Same thing for the trees and shrubs, actually: we do have them, I'm just never around them.) Also I just kind of don't get what the big deal is (please don't hate me, Niels): as far as I can tell, they're just one more flowering plant, one that gets sick a lot. I used to like the cut flowers, too, until I read Flower Confidential (I'm still intending to do that review someday.); now I'm a little uneasy about them. I'm willing to be educated on why roses are the best plants ever, if anybody wants to: it's clear that there must be a lot of people who think this.
The color is even more eye-searingly red in person. It's hard for me to see this, which is surely among the reddest red I've ever experienced, as being related to L. erinus, which is just about the bluest blue. But apparently they are related, and there are other plants in the genus that they resemble even less than they resemble one another. Lobelia is just a varied genus, I guess.
All the Zinnias were sold a long time ago; this is from a planter that the nursery lot put together to decorate the lot with. (It's probably technically for sale: pretty much everything is for sale. The boss would sell the floor if someone made a good enough offer. There is, however, no marked price on the planter, so if someone were to ask we'd have to make up a number on the spot.)
My way of renouncing the comment I made earlier about not liking black-eyed susans. They're okay. I'm a little confused about what the difference is between 'Goldsturm' and the plants I see growing along the sides of the road here. There's nothing that jumps out at me to say this plant is clearly better than those plants, yet it's a cultivar and those are not. Why?
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3 comments:
Lovely blooms for the first day of August. I don't know what to tell you about "Goldstrum", other than it has a name and the ones on the side of the road don't? :)
I see these everywhere here too, growing rampant and wild......you must have read my mind because I was looking for an id on the black eyed susan's. Begonia's are cool in that they are quite diverse, I am not a fan, but they have nice flowers.
The Rose's you want to plant are the knock out types . The person who breed them put every promising plant in overcrowded beds . Then the rose breeds were watered just enough at sunset to get the leaves good and wet ! ( try this with any regular rose bush you want to kill )
The best of what lived became knock outs . Plant in sun water well 2x a week the first year . Don't spray you don't need to . They take a while to grow to full size ( bigger in warmer climes )
There is one thing many people do that ruins the plant - don't prune them like regular rosebushes - knock outs have there really simple pruning rules ( you can find the rules on line ) Once they settle in a few years , knock outs will out bloom any other rose .
A few points :
A there is no such thing as white knock out ( it is not strong enough to be called a knock out and such labels are fake )
B Red double knock out is a deep crimson with cool nights but a pinky?red in most of the country
C pink double knock out is barbie pink - I love it ! but look at all of them some are more double than others .
D yellow knock out's flowers are paler than the picture and it is slower growing and a bit smaller
E knock outs are not the best cut flowers but once you start growing them you may RIP your other rose bushes out
Rudbeckia goldston will produce a ton of flowers and here in MA is great for a sunny garden . It's just the sort of thing for someone who likes that sort of thing !
Profusion zinnias come in other colors . The pink double cherry ( a mid pink + not neon ) If your looking for neon this is an annual for you ! The best part is this zinnia doesn't go moldy a common problem with zinnias in many states . Short , neat + easy from seed . George plant queen from MA
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