Oh, and I forgot to mention a blue wildflower that makes me happy every morning! It has self-seeded and sent up pups and has a crowd of flowers, several to a stalk, every morning. I don't know what it's called, but I remember a Gardenweber (maybe Katkin) pushing it on me at a swap, insisting I would love this little plant that looked like grass. She was so right.

Hmmm, I am thinking it's blue eyed grass. :o) I love it too.

Isn't it great? A garden with plants shared from other gardeners or even friends. I like going through the garden and remember who gave me what plants.....it makes it so much more special. It's the best thing to find a great gardening friend and shop in each others gardens. It's also neat to see how the other person places the plants.

Katkin, I just googled Blue eyed grass and that's not it. But I'm pretty sure you were the one who insisted I would love this plant, and I do. It's tall - 18 inches - and blooms in the morning, turning brown by noon. It's a three-petaled flower, but with more than one flower on each stalk, so it's actually pretty showy in the morning. By noon it's done, brown and looking like a weed. Only I know that tomorrow morning it's going to be glorious again.
And you're right Aroidgardener, it's so much fun to look around and think of friends who have helped me make it pretty.

Spider wort??

yep, Katkin. that's it. My neighbor has asked about it, so I'm trying to grow some from seeds for her. It's such a pretty morning flower.

Susannah

The dwarf poinciana seeds you sent me a couple years ago are 7' tall in my yard (2 trees) and three neighbors have plants in various stages from their seeds or plants passed along.

And when we got that cold spell a couple weeks ago a hummer visited both of my trees. We don't hummers often and it's gone now but still fun to see.
Hope they tell their friends and come back soon.

Denise

P.S. Some GW'er sent me some ginormous crinums too and I think of them when I see them in bloom (soon I hope).

The spider wort self seeds for me, so look around the mother plant you might find some babies already started. :o)

That's great Denise! We sometimes get hummers in our dwarf ponc too, and even had a cardinal family nest in it, in spite of the fact that it's very close to the deck and basically in a high traffic area.
katkin, my husband came in from walking the dog this morning and exclaimed how pretty all my flowers are. In the mornings, when the spiderwort is blooming, it contrasts so nicely with the pink impatiens and some lime-green broms out there. I'll look around for babies. it has definitely multiplied from the little one you gave me.

And Denise,
I'm so glad your dwarf ponc is getting so tall! I also have seedlings from that same mother plant out in the front yard, and they're not nearly as vigorous as the mother plant. Same sun and rain water, so maybe it's the dirt. The dirt in the front is generally better, so maybe they like rough soil.
One thing - the mother plant has brittle limbs. I've gone under there and found big limbs that were splitting at the trunk. So I prune it pretty dramatically about once a year, cutting off those big, low limbs that can't support themselves.
And I started with a one-foot plant that I had to protect from the lawn mower six years ago. So I bet yours will get as big as mine. Mine is 15 feet now and I've pruned it so we can walk under it and it throws some decent shade.
Plus, we get wild Amazon parrots in it periodically, eating the seeds. They're so fun to watch!
I'm so happy to hear that it worked out for you!!!
Susannah

wow 15' sounds great, you're probably 2 years ahead of me. And I forgot I actually have 3 of them, front, side and backyard. I love the non-stop blooming once winter is over with eye-popping colors of orange and yellow.

Denise