Gazania aka Treasure Flower

In July I posted my frustration with Gazania.
Last Spring I sowed their little seeds directly in the garden. When they began to germinate I was so excited. The pep talks, watering and fertilizing began...more pep talks, more watering. (I know I am not the only gardener that transforms into a garden sideline cheerleader) After a couple of months some of the plants started dying others looking like they were about to. The frustration was setting in big time, I really wanted the beautifully striped blooms in my garden. What's a smart gardener to do? Use the tough love method. Ignore them. They will either make it or not on their own, after all, I had done all I knew to (over) do. The watering stopped, the fertilization stopped and the pep talks were more like, Oh, I see you are still hanging around.
The first three photos are how the two Gazania plants look now 4 months after my tough love method started. I say it's been a successful method with them. Why the frustration Darla? We all love low maintenance plants. Lesson learned: Get to know your plant's personality and the care they need. The tough love method was hardest on me...I wanted to hover and that's not what they needed.

Asteraceae Family
Zones 8-10
Full Sun
Size 8"-10" x 10" - 12" (First three photos taken Nov. 28. 2010)
Bloom Time - Early Summer through Fall
Neutral to Alkaline Soil-Well drained

Growth Rate - Fast

Drought tolerant once established

I love the silvery-green foliage.

Below is one of only 4 blooms from July. We are expecting some severe weather this evening through the night and then temps in the upper 20's and low 30's in the over night periods through the weekend. Curious to see how they respond to those temperatures. Wonder if the buds will burn or bloom?

Do you grow Gazania? If so, share your experience please.

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Today I am Thankful for the lessons I learn from gardening. I find I apply them to other areas of my life. (hovering is not always a good thing)

Fertilizer Friday

Can you believe we had Monarchs in the garden on Thanksgiving?

It's time to join the FF party over at http://tootsietime.blogspot.com/ ... A few weeks ago or more I (DH) tucked a couple of plants under the shelter of the front porch to keep the frost from landing on them. Needless to say we have had very mild weather since then. The containers are too heavy for me to keep asking my husband to take them on and off the porch, so this is where they will live until Spring.

Painted Lady Hibiscus--she continues to bloom although I have noticed the blooms are a lighter color without some full sun exposure.

Here's the Diamond Frost Euphorbia that I am trying to overwinter as well. It will be brought inside or taken to the basement when freeze warnings are issued. I have always grown this in full sun. It's adjusted well in the shade.

Now let's look at some plants that are still thriving or beginning to thrive in my gardens.

I was very surprised to literally stumble on this Clematis bloom Wednesday.

Some of the Coneflowers are in various stage of bloom, there are even a few buds here and there.

The Dianthus has certainly enjoyed the 'not so hot' weather.

I purchased my first Lavender plant this past Spring. It bloomed very little in the Summer, now it's full of buds. Any growing tips for this are welcome.

Gerbera Daisy--Margarita

I normally buy yellow, purple and white Pansies, for some reason I fell for this reddish/maroon color.

Snapdragons are starting to bloom a little.

I have both white and pink blooms on one of my Guaras.

Rarely do I post my Double Knockout Roses.

My Sweet Violas will soon have this area filled in.

Right around the corner from the Violas the Alyssum is still blooming wonderfully and has the sweetest scent when you walk down the path.

I do hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

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Today I am Thankful for the fellowship we had with family on Thanksgiving .....and the chance of rain for today!

FF--Phlox subulata aka Creeping Phlox

It's time to flaunt your flowers over at http://tootsietime.blogspot.com/ .. I had several gardener's inquire about my Phlox subulata, here's what I know. (Gail at http://clayandlimestone.blogspot.com/ )

Creeping Phlox is a great natural edging around beds, borders, path edges, between stepping stones and rock garden ledges. It grows about 4 inches tall and has a 12 - 24 inch spread creating a nice ground cover that does not get out of control.

Profuse flowers appear for two or three weeks in early Spring. It is mostly sold by color, like "Creeping Pink Phlox" or "Creeping White Phlox", colors also include purple, blue and rose.

The above photos were taken in March of 2010. Why I do not have a photo of the Phlox in full bloom I haven't a clue. When these three were in full bloom you could not see the foliage at all.

You can see I have two on either side of the path here.

I planted this one in mid March of 2010, purchased in a 4 inch container.

Here it is today, 8 months later, with a spread of nearly a foot and a half. Need to move the Ragin' Cajun Ruellia to the right of it.

The foliage is fine cut, needlelike on wiry stems that hug the ground. Weeds have a harder time penetrating through the dense foliage of the Creeping Phlox. It is a semi-evergreen, the foliage keeps color through the fall and winter in zones 3-9.

It has no pest or disease problems and Deer do not like it. It likes full sun/part shade, (all of these are in full sun here in North Florida) in a well draining location.

It looks like it would be sharp to the touch like pine needles, but it's actually soft to the touch. The reviews on propagating Creeping Phox are mixed. My personal experience has been to scoop up a section with some roots and just transplant it. I have only purchased three plants and now have them in six areas, so it's worked okay for me. I plan on spreading it around some more.

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Today I am Thankful to be able to share one of my latest garden crushes with you.....

Foliage Follow Up

On the heels of GBBD hosted by Carol over at http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/ Pam over at http://www.penick.net/digging/ host Foliage Follow Up where you post just the foliage. Today is my first time participating.

Blueberry Bush is giving us some nice Fall color.
Oak Leaf Hydrangea

Variegated Hydrangea

Stonecrop should soon be all yellow...

Chocolate Ball Sedum is getting a hint of red to it. Must find out the difference between a Sedum and a Stonecrop....is there any?

I am falling hard for this Creeping Phlox!

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Today I am Thankful for the rain that woke me early this morning!

GBBD...

It's GBBD over at http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/ ...Thanks Carol for hosting this monthly meme and for all of your informative and entertaining posts.

DH bought me a new tree on Saturday. One that I have been admiring for awhile on blogs and in yards in our downtown area.
I am very excitied about this new addition to my gardens and hope to collect seed from it.

I am going to try and overwinter one of my containerized Diamond Frost Euphorbias

and the Painted Lady Hibiscus.

She is quite content on the front porch for now.

Firespike is still blooming well. I have taken several cuttings of this as I do every year.

Dianthus 'True Love' is beginning to put on a show, she loves the cooler weather.

This is one plant that has surprised me. It was new to me at the beginning of Spring. It has been blooming non stop since I planted it. Now, if I could just remember it's name or where I

put it's name tag...? Please feel free to jolt my memory. **I was just visiting over at www.commonweeder.com and this Abutilon is posted there, Thanks !!**

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Today I am Thankful for the 80% chance of rain in the forecast for tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday

Goodbye Hello

Goodbye

Hello

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Today I am Thankful for new things to come!

Bloomin' Tuesday...

Drop by http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com to see what blooms are holding on this second Tuesday of November....

We are at 36 degrees right now at 5:51 a.m. As we all know the temperature continues to drop until the sun comes up, so we will probably dip to 34 or 33 this morning. All in all with four mornings right at or below freezing the flowers/plants don't look too bad. Of course the Coleus and some of the Impatiens got burned, it's just that time of the year.

Gerbera Daisy
Late Rudbeckia

This Snapdragon was planted here in Nov. of 2009. It was a little experiment to see how long I could keep one alive.

Not too bad huh?

Have a few Monarchs still flitting around, don't think they will make their journey...sigh

Looks like we are headed into a dry spell, again. 40's and 70's in the forecast...any watering tips for the winter?

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Today I am Thankful that our cold snap is over for awhile.