Indian Blanket Flowers

Indian Blanket Flowers

These Indian Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) are wild all over Florida. You can see them growing alongside sidewalks and all along the highways. These were growing in a side garden amongst the rocks in Rockport, MA. I love the colors.

They grow about 3" in diameter and they produce many color variations and combinations in the red/pink/yellow range. Another common name for them is Showy Gaillardia.

Salvia

Row of Salvia

While driving around in South Windsor, my son and I spotted this row of Salvia on the side of a farm house. I love the color and that splash of pink in the tree in the background.

Goose Gourd

Goose Gourd Bouquet

During our road trip through Bolton, CT, my son and I spotted an off road farmer's stand on the other side of the street. It had several vases of floral arraignments visible from the road with a sign that said $6.00. We stopped and thought it would be nice to bring flowers home to Donna. My son, Joe, got out of the car and walked over to the stand to see what they had. He had bought flowers from this farmer before and knew they were honest and reasonable. Way in the back of the shelf, he spotted this bouquet.

He came back to the car empty handed and told me he saw a beautiful arraignment for $20.00 and he had to get more money. I gave him $10.00 and he had $10.00 in his pocket. He came back to the car with this heavy gourd in both hands. It was comical to watch when he tried to open the car door all the water poured out on his shirt. Of course, once I stopped laughing, I got out to help him.

I never expected anything like this! There was a little note attached to this bouquet saying that when the flowers go bad, the gourd is edible. It is called a Goose Gourd; the photo shows why. Needless to say, his wife, Donna, loved this little surprise.

Amaryllis

My Amaryllis, Belladonna cultivar from my backyard.

I started these plants a couple years ago with 21 bulbs. At the time, the directions said to plant them 12" apart. To me, they looked too sparse like that because I know zip about gardening. So, I planted them a bit closer. Now I have probably 40 plants all crowded in together. I've read that they can be propagated through division, but I have no idea what that means, let alone how to do it.

I love these flowers. They're the only flowers in my yard that my roommate doesn't destroy because he likes them, too. All the others are whacked to the ground every time he mows. It breaks my heart every time he does that. It's his house and I'm a renter, so I have no choice in the matter. I just won't buy any more plants.

These flower twice a year and they're just about done now. I think there's only 2 or 3 clusters left. The flowering period lasts about a month and they're just so beautiful. According to my plant books, there's supposed to be only about 4-6 flowers per stalk. These have 6-9!

I'm sad to see them go and can't wait for the next flowering period. I'll miss them.