New York City Central Park at Sunset

Just returned from NYC. Not surprisingly, the garden has produced produce of gigantic proportions. I used the panoramic setting on my cameral to capture this stunning picture of Central Park tree tops with the skyline behind it. I recommend clicking on the picture to see the incredible detail.

I love the golden reflection of the setting sun in the skyscraper windows.

Pink and White Oleander

A sidewalk winds down the street in front of my neighborhood. It's planted with trees and oleander bushes. I've been walking at night because the air is cooler. The oleander bushes were begging to be photographed. The center of the pink flower looks like it is candy striped.

Yellow and Orange Cannas

Isn't it nice when neighbors plant a flowerbed right on the property line. I get as much enjoyment from this garden at the front perimeter of my yard as they do! This cannas actually faces my property. It is very shaded in this corner and the yellow flowers really brightens up the area.

The Bulb Hunter

The NYT published a very interesting article online. A bulb hunter in Texas is "reintroducing flowers long out of vogue, committing himself exclusively to those that have ably asserted themselves against the particular cruelties of exceedingly hot weather for decades, even centuries." He searches out old line bulbs and asks owners for permission to harvest a few for his company.

As a senior at Texas A & M, he devised a senior project around collecting bulbs from the area, propagating them and selling them to nurseries and on the internet. His company The Southern Bulb Company "has gained him considerable attention, earning him a spot on House & Garden's list of most important American tastemakers in April and turning him into a sought-after speaker on the garden club circuit." He goes to old neighborhoods to find these heirloom plants.

I love the fact that he is dealing in rare and heirloom bulbs which have climatized to the warm (hot) nature of the south. This is of special interst to me in zone 23 because I know that many bulbs do not grow in California because the weather isn't cold enough. Mostly bulbs are one season only. I saw he has a bulb which looks like it is related to the early snowdrop, one of my favorite bulbs. This seems like a great company.

He has a blog which chronicles his adventures in running his company. Very interesting.

GRRRRR...Honeysuckle

Unbeknownst to me, honeysuckle was strangling some of my shrubbery. I noticed my shrubs needed some pruning and when I investigated, I discovered honeysuckle had found its way into the area and had established itself.

I spent several hours trying to eliminate the honeysuckle from the area. I also untangled it from branches and limbs where I could. I think all the plants are very happy again to be growing unencumbered.

If you look at the photo, you can see the stanglehold the honeysuckle had on these two branches.

Fragrant Gardenia

The gardenia bush continues to bloom. The sun warms the blossoms and releases a very deep fragrance at the entrance at the front door. This bloom is the major one for the year but the plant will continue to produce a few blossoms through December!

I deadhead the flowers once they start to fade to yellow. I have a special soil mixture that I am going to add to top dress the plants. Because these plants are under cover (and since it never rains in the summer), I will hose the plants every few weeks to wash off dust from the leaves.

Grape Tomatoes

Two grape tomatoes are on the way. Grape tomatoes came out of nowhere a couple of years ago. They started appearing in place of the ubiquitous cherry tomato when ordering salads at local restaurants.

My taste buds prefer them over the standard cherry tomato. They seem to be a little sweeter. Their shape is more elongated than the cherry tomato and resemble an olive or grape, hence the name. These two are full size just waiting to ripen.

I wonder if they are making inroads in other parts of the country.