Thursday, October 8, 2009

Update the Wishing Well

By SkeeterHere you see my small Wishing Well Planter I added to my Georgia Garden last fall. When I started this planter, I knew it would grow larger in time. All I had originally were the cute Well, Cannas and some Sage. You may remember my cat being mesmerized with a Visitor to the Sage before it was placed into the ground last fall. The two Salvia Greggii, "Wild Thing" Sage have thrived in this area and gifted me with lots of blooms such as above.

This year I added some new things to this Planter. I put the last of the 12 Bargain Serena Angelonia's I told you about a while back. I also added some Lilies.

The Spring Rains were nice to us but not so nice where weeds in the Garden are concerned. I had a lot of weeds to pull out of this planter as well as other planters and gardens. Here is a closer peek at that bright Lily that popped out first for me. I don't know her name as she was a bargain Lily with no name for $1.00. I have two of these side by side but this is the only one which bloomed for me.Another Bargain Lily with no name! I think the law should be all plants should have tags with names on them even if bargain finds. I am joking of course, but it would be nice to know what I have here. I found 3 of these for $2.00 each.
Ah, now this one I did not find on the Bargain Shelf.
Meet the lovely Minnie Pearl, the Lily Bloom and not the Hee Haw regular we all knew and loved from the old TV show.
Here is something that Lola passed along to me last fall with some Canna's. I had the Zingiber Zerumbit/Shampoo Ginger in a pot inside during winter and it was growing well. In Spring I put it into the ground in a spot where too much rain was turning it yellow in color. I took it out of the ground and in the process, I broke off every stem of the plant! I was devastated to say the least. I put the rhizomes back into the pots and in time it started to grow for me once again.
This time, I very carefully planted it in the center of the right side of the planter behind the thriving Angelonia. A Banana Tree was planted here once. Tina was so kind to pass the nanner along to me but the poor thing bit the dust from what I assume to be too much rain in the winter months. Sigh, we do not like droughts nor do we like too much rain. I long for a garden with perfect rain fall conditions. Does anyone know where that place is located? The Ginger grew nicely but no blooms this year as it was late going with the earlier mishap.
The main thing Lola was sending me last fall were some Canna from her Florida garden. I was after a certain one and she sent me a huge box full of goodies. I was like a child at Christmas opening that package!
Here is one I recall being known as Tropical. It never bloomed for me this year but I am holding out for blooms next year!
This one I believe to be Durban but not sure. I had so carefully tagged them each and put the tags into the ground only to find faded names when I peeked at them for this post. She did not get as tall as my other canna but taller then the Tropical.
The colors to this canna are just beautiful.
I was only lucky enough to get two different bloom times from this canna with the most recent being October 2. I am hoping for many more blooms next year.
The colors were just awesome to my eyes!













Lola also put some Caladium in the goodie box! They did not do too well and I doubt they will return next year but I can cross my fingers and hope though. A Fromosa Lily did not make it either. It started out with such growth then died once planted in the Beach Themed Planter. However, it did produce a second small plant so I have hope for the lily next year.

Here is one of last years canna showing its bright red colors again this year.
As did the Orange Canna from last year. This canna has given me many babies and this single plant bloomed all summer long with its last bloom being October 2.
Here is a close up of a bloom after a nice rain fall.
This picture was snapped on Aug. 18. All three colors of Canna were blooming along with the Butterfly Bushes, the Periwinkle and Crepe Myrtle. I was so thrilled!Look at how full the planter is getting now! The Ginger really filled in and I can hardly wait to see what happens to this planter next year. Notice that tall banana tree in the planter by the water hose!
When starting this post a few days ago. I was going to end it here by saying more would be added next spring.
From the birds-eye view, you can see where something needs to connect this planter to the swing.
Well, why wait until Spring when you have nice weather in early Fall? I took out some of the baby Banana plants from the Beach Planter while the Saint dug out some grass to extend the Planter for me! A bale of Pine straw will finish off the look for now.
Now the birds-eye view tells me to move the Wishing Well from the center and place it else where while connecting the walkway from this planter to the Butterfly Bush Island Garden! And to also make a pea gravel base under the swing. Ah, the ideas, they are a flowing...
Oh, how exciting it was to UPDATE THE WISHING WELL, In the Garden...

Thank you so much for the gifts from your Florida Garden Lola! I give you full credit for giving me the motivation to make this once small planter into something special!

27 comments:

  1. Just makes me wonder what ideas the birds have when flying over..your gardens are beautiful..It will be so full next year for sure.

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  2. Good Morning Everyone! I am off to my Happy Place and Pizza today so you know I am going for my mammogram!

    Darla, the birds are not the only ones wondering what will happen to this planter as I am always wondering myself... hee hee...

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  3. Skeeter girl ! that was beautiful and I am so jealous of your bargain lilies : ) Everything looks so colourful and relaxing with the swing .. the wishing well .. if I send a Canadian quarter will you toss it in for me so I can make a wish ? LOL
    Joy

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  4. Skeeter, this area is beautiful, you have done a wonderful job.

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  5. Great tropical garden! I love your color scheme.

    Cameron

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  6. That area will just keep on growing! It looks great.

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  7. What a beautt's totally wonderful to see the garden expand. LOVE that hot pink sage!!!

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  8. Such a pretty pink canna. You've done great with all the goodies Lola sent you. So nice of her! And those bananas will fill in nicely. I can see you bananas reaching the window of your house in a year or two:)

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  9. Hi Skeeter,
    Wish I may, Wish I might, grow Cannas are pretty as these! I almost bought a wishing well, now I "wish" I had. So cute! Pretty Blooms!
    Rosey

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  10. If you are anything like me, your little bed will grow larger every year. I never have enough room for all the flowers I want to grow.
    Marnie

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  11. Thank you Skeeter. I was happy to share. Your garden is looking fantastic. I can visualize what you had said even the pea gravel under your swing. It is something how 1 yr. can make a difference.

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  12. Isn't it funny how once you get a project "finished" you think of more to do:) Your bed really looks good, Skeeter, and the cannas really provide a bright accent here. I'm like Marnie--I never have enough room for all the flowers I want to grow!

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  13. I love the colors of the Durban canna too. It seems the rosy pink shades aren't that common with cannas and the pale yellow edging really sets it off.

    Your yard is looking really lovely.

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  14. Those Canna's are absolutely gorgeous. The colors are so very vibrant. Sweet Lola picked great ones and what a great job you did with them. The area is spectacular.

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  15. Looking very beautiful! Your cannas are amazing. I especially love the Durban. The Wishing Well area is filling in nicely.

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  16. Joy, Sure! Send that quarter on down but wouldn’t it be nicer to toss it in the well in person? :-) I got lucky on the bargains this spring but I was really on the look out for them. I hope to add more lilies in time as I find them. The Bargains are the best…

    Dawn, thanks! It does seem to be coming together “well” for me. Pun intended. Hee hee..

    Cameron, I never thought of it as a Tropical Garden but you are so right, I do have a little Tropical Garden happening here…

    Dave, And to think, I started with one little clump of Canna in a rock circle! This planter is growing for sure…

    Lzyjo, That Hot Pink is an awesome color and the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies love it too!

    Tina, you know how badly I wanted Banana’s in the yard. If all these take off like the one in the Beach Planter, well, I may be sorry I asked for Bananas in time! They were a buggar to dig out of the planter to transplant too! Makes me appreciate you all the more for giving me one. I am thinking of adding some of the daffy, tulip, etc bubls I took out of the mailbox planter in here also! I just hope the Vole does not get them but so far, not messing with this planter. Well, that I know of anyway…

    Rosey, It is never too late to get that Wishing Well. Christmas is just around the corner and it would make a wonderful gift to yourself. And may be able to find one on sale with end of summer garden items! I had planned to put flowers in it but so far, I have not and am now thinking I like it better as a wishing well looking instead of planter for flowers…

    Marnie, I have a feeling this planter is a long way from being completed. I have such an idea for the area behind this planter as well. Time will tell if I get those plan into action or not. I am so limited with what I can plant due to the wildlife in the yard. Not to mention the heat of the summer is not fun watering. I so wish I had a sprinkler system in the yard. Hum, maybe that would be a good project some day….

    Lola, you were so sweet to send me that goodie box last fall! I was so worried about the canna in the ground all winter long. We had a mild winter so think that may have helped with their first year. They should be fine from here on out though. The rest of the stuff was in the guest bedroom making the cats upset with me for keeping the door closed on them all winter long. hee hee. Can you envision a little foot bridge behind the planter connecting to that woodlands area behind? That is in my head as well as the other mentioned. I have such ideas for this area to all connect in time…

    Rose, What does that word “Finished” mean? LOL Where the yard is concerned, my fun is never ending. It is like the energizer bunny, it keeps going and going! :-) I have lots of ideas in my head and want to plant so much but with the deer and rabbits, I have to be so selective in my yard. I already fight them off enough as is and don’t want to encourage them more so with yummy treats.

    Sweetbay, That canna is spectacular in color! The camera never captures the true color but it is pretty close in those pictures. Speaking of yellow, I am hoping for a yellow canna at some point. I am on the lookout for one at the garden centers…

    Jean, Yes, Lola is a sweetheart indeed! I was expecting one canna and found a box full of goodies on my front porch! Lola’s kindness makes that garden so special to me! I plan to add more canna as I find them as I enjoyed them so much this year. The year old ones kept blooming and blooming so I know in time, the new ones will continue to bloom all summer long as well…

    Kanak, I am so enjoying this little garden. Although, I don’t believe it will be called little very much longer! I have enjoyed this area so much this year and plan to add more in time. The Durban is a beauty of a bloom! The color was so stunning to the eye…

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  17. Great job! I love seeing how everything is so tropical especially since it's just getting cold here. -Jackie

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  18. I love these types of posts where you can see the before and after. It sure filled in! What pretty Canna's and daylilies!

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  19. I have that red daylily and it's name is "Little Red Hot."

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  20. Whoops! Little Red Hot is a minature. Yours may be "Pardon Me"

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  21. Skeeter, did the "Tropical Sunrise" Canna make the winter? It was the one that had apricot, peach & other color. It grows about 3/4' so it would need to be in front.
    I will check out my yellow one & see if it has any babies. I know I have a "Picasso" in a pot. I think it may need another yr to get a baby.
    Maybe if I wait till Spring to send them maybe it will help them survive.
    I am so glad you are enjoying them.
    Yep, I see that foot bridge. Maybe a dry creek running somewhere. Boy, your good. Maybe a sketch would help. It does me.

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  22. What a nice neat yard you have. Love those huge banana's in the distance. I have that same deep red daylily with the yellow eye, it is one of my favorites.

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  23. May I come and sit on your swing with my leg up and enjoy your flower beds? They are looking good!

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  24. Jackie, We are far from Tropical but warm enough for me in Georgia. I enjoy visiting up northward but so enjoy my long seasons of warmth in the South. I am not sure I could live in the cold again. I was in Colorado for one year but I was young and not into gardening as we lived in an apartment complex and were on the go too much. I did have lots of house plants though. I don’t think I have ever been without a plant in my life…

    Catherine, Progress photos are the best aren’t they? I have not been so much into snapping pictures before and after until Blogging. Now I snap pics all the time and am so glad as I can look back and see how it all started. A journal of sorts…

    Marilyn, I looked on the internet and yes, the “Pardon Me” looks very much like my Lily! Thanks for the info!

    Lola, I was a bit confused. I thought the one everyone was calling Durban Canna was the one with the pretty bloom. I went on the Internet and found out the Durban Canna is the one with the beautiful variegated foliage! I thought that one was called Tropical… Now I wonder what the one is called with the beautiful Salmon/Pink with yellow Bloom? The Durban only got a couple of feet tall. The Internet said it will get really tall and produce quickly so maybe next year it will really take off…. You can see my bridge as it does have a dry creek under it! Well, soggy and wet in the rainy season but mostly dry bed! Your eyes are working for sure! :-)

    Dan, Marilyn was just saying that lily could be “Pardon Me” I looked on the Internet and it could very well be her! The yard is fun but only when it is not so stinking humid and hot during the summer. Then it is not so pretty to me, well, from my air conditioned windows it is. I ended up with many babies from that Banana and gave one of them away today! I have a few more baby’s in pots and one is spoken for. The remainder will go into the sunroom in case one of the two we put in the Well Planter does not make it this winter. Then I will have a new one for next spring…

    Sue, this is the time of year my hiney is in that swing! lol… I enjoy cool days watching the birds at the feeder in the middle of the Butterfly Island. Also, the bees, Hummingbirds and butterflies on the Blooms of the Butterfly bushes. So relaxing and good for the soul…

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  25. What a transformation! Blooms are gorgeous!!!!

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  26. The transformation is incredible. and thanks a lot for taking us through the whole process. The photos are amazing.

    Greetings from London.

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  27. Tatyana, Thanks, the blooms were beauties for sure...

    Cuban, You are so welcome. I am sure this will not be the last you will see of this planter. LOL I have such ideas running through my head and if they play out in the yard, it will be one huge planter in time. I may never be finished with it from my ideas. :-)

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