Karalynn: What a lovely site you have to display the ABB. I do know what you mean about it being "pretty big". I also planted it earlier this year and it grew..and grew..and grew. I made some cuttings, and shared some cuttings, and then yanked it out because it was too big for the space. I'm making a new full sun bed so eventually it will have a new home.

Just a few days ago, I saw the pink porterweed at a local nursery. As with so many potted plants that are yearning for more space, it looked lanky and unimpressive. Then this A.M. on my morning walk, I spied a healthy clump in someone's yard and began to think better of it. Your clump also puts this plant back in the "favorable" column.

I look forward to opening the links in this forum each day. BUT, just when I convince myself that I will NOT add another plant to the garden-with-no-more-room, you all post a picture of the-plant-I-must-have.

And this weekend is the Mt. Dora Foliage Fest...and I'm going. - June

What wonderful pictures! Thank you for sharing!

The only things blooming in my yard at the moment are begonias, pentas, plumbago, lantana and a few flowers on a Mexican flame vine.

Oh, and tomatoes and peppers! I like those blooms 'cause I know fruit will be here soon (but not soon enough!).

Thank you again for the inspiration!

wt

Awesome pictures

The chinese hats remind me of the dancing mushrooms in Fantasia. So cute!

What a beautiful african blue basil... and huge! I just got a little one. Karalynn, do you use it for cooking/eating?

Love that chinese hat plant.

Anna

Very nice pictures The stripe Ph violets and the hat flowers are beautiful,I've never seen them before.
Blackeyed susan vines are beautiful. Nicki,gave me some and are growing beautifully up on a wind mill. I love how this flowers look.
Karalynn,may I have a cutting of your beautiful brass flowers,very pretty.
Felix

I see that desert rose hiding in the corner. Sure would love to raise and prune that baby 'round March. :)

Really great photos

I'm glad you've all enjoyed the pictures! Seeing all your happy posts has brought a smile to my face on a day that just isn't going the greatest. I was so looking forward to taking advantage of this lovely weather this weekend and getting some much needed yard work done. I've been neglecting the back garden far too much this year. Unfortunatly I'm running a fever with a bacterial infection in my throat and the meds the doctor put me on this morning upset my stomach. Why, oh why do I always get sick on the weekends?! lol

Juneroses, when I planted that ABB I had no idea that it was going to get that big but now I'm glad that it did. I love the way it smells every time I brush past it. And even though it is always covered in bees they are much too busy with the flowers to take notice of me. Give the pink porterweed a try! It's a great plant, just remember to give it lots of room to grow as they tend to get pretty big. I personally prefer the pink porterweed to the purple variety. The pink has much bigger leaves and isn't a dense so it doesn't tend to choke out any plants that may be growing nearby.

Coffeemom, I had to go back and look at the flowers again after reading your post. They really do look like the mushrooms from Fantasia don't they!

Anna, I haven't used the basil for cooking but I have brought cuttings into the house just so that I could enjoy the scent.

Felix, I'm not surprised that you haven't seen the chinese hat plant before since it's really a zone 10 plant. My parents bought it at a local seafood and art festival several years ago. It freezes to the ground every winter but never fails to start growing again in the spring. The stripped Ph violets I got at a swap this year but I can't remember who gave it to me. I'm going to have to start some cuttings to make sure I have some next year just in case it doesn't survive the winter.

I love your pictures. I fell in love with a purple Chinese hat plant at USF gardens and finally found one at one of their vendor sales. Mine dies down too and comes back. Theirs is planted in a protected courtyard area and doesn't die back.

I love how your African Blue Basil looks. Mine is growing upright and tall.

Very pretty garden!! I love to take pics of the interesting mushrooms that pop up here and there too. lol

Tina

Very nice! I love the ABB, I'm trying to figure out what I can grow in the back in containers in my veggie garden, and we want to open up some of the front yard by removing few of the plumeria to put some flowers in the ground. Will the ABB grow in a container too? And, is that an old bed headboard you're using as a trellis?

Tom

Tom, I don't know if the ABB will grow well in a container as this is the first year that I've had it. Yes, that's an old cast iron headboard that I'm using as a trellis. I love that headboard!

I love that headboard too, wish I'd found it first ;-)

I'll try the ABB in a container to see how it does.

I also love that Philippine Violet, how can it be propagated? Cuttings? Seeds?

Tom

My neighbor gave me the headboard several years ago after he got tired of moving it around his yard. As you might guess I was more then happy to take it of his hands! lol

Again, this is the first year I've had that philippine violet so I don't know if it will produce seeds or if it does, whether or not the seeds will be true to color. I do know that the regular purple version roots very easily so I imagine this variety will as well.