My rose campion plants -- perennials added to the side border last season --
have come back strong and are expanding nicely so far this year.
I can hardly wait for the bright pink flowers to appear!

In the meantime the thick, fuzzy texture of the leaves has me wondering....

....is this where FELT comes from?

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Beth Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-05-15, 00:49:37

link to this

I have leaf spots on my Christmas Palms. I noticed them last year when I planted the palms, but I thought it was normal. Over the past year, they've gotten worse though, and now I need to do something about it. Here's the photo.

I've scoured the internet for the name of this disease, but can't find it. I've tried an organic fungicide/pesticide, but it didn't work. So, now unfortunately I'm resorting to sevin, the bad stuff. Argh.

reBlogged to trees foliage pests

Posted by ldybug Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, pests, trees on 2008-04-30, 06:17:30

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Apr 13, 2008, 7:20PM

Posted by sandy Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-04-16, 06:06:40

link to this

A few posts ago I showed Shibateranthis pinnatifida flowering; a lovely little Japanese alpine which in nature (and in our garden), blooms near the melting snow. The flowers are exquisite, and the foliage shown here is equally jewel-like; waxy and finely dissected little leaves, rising only a couple of inches off the ground on frail little individual stalks, and colored a unique shade of olive gray. These leaves only last for the cool months of spring, shriveling at the first breath of summer, with this little plant then staying dormant for the next nine months until the first trickle of snowmelt awakens it again.

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-04-08, 07:04:39

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Apr 1, 2008, 3:36AM

Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-04-02, 06:06:30

link to this

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Tyra in Vaxholm Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-03-21, 06:30:37

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Mar 19, 2008, 5:20PM

Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-03-20, 19:07:46

link to this

English Ivy
Hedera helix
(HED-er-uh) (HEE-licks)

It is ABC Wednesday again and today’s entry is ‘I’ for Ivy. I know a lot of people consider this plant to be a weed but we are lucky here in Connecticut because the winter often slows down the growth and spread of this plant. If the winter is bad enough it outright kills it. I have been places, like the US Pacific Northwest, where I could definitely see where it could be considered a weed. . . .

reBlogged to foliage vines on Mar 19, 2008, 8:48AM

Posted by Digital Flower Pictures Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, vines on 2008-03-20, 18:21:51

link to this

ABC Wednesday – G is for Green

If you are here for Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post.

This is a Fan Palm frond I saw at the Orchid Show. Whilst everyone else was snapping pictures of the flowers I liked the way the light and shadows played on this leaf. It was taken with my Sigma 17-70mm lens (38 mm, F/5, 1/100 sec, for those interested), and the Nikon D70s. . . .

reBlogged to foliage on Mar 4, 2008, 10:15PM

Posted by Digital Flower Pictures Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-03-06, 05:53:01

link to this

If you cast your eye over the Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas logo you will notice a flower on the left which resides in my garden - Grevillea 'Austraflora Canterbury Gold'. It's a fabulous shrub that took off in no time and flowers on cue at the end of every winter.

If you look closely at its leaves you will notice that they are an elongated oval shape much like the foliage you would find on an olive tree. And predominantly this is is what you would expect to find throughout the shrub - until now, that is.

It seems, for reasons that are unclear to me, that the leaves have been mutating. Some, like the one pictured in this post, have taken on a three-tongued look while a few others sport double forks. And there appears to be no logical rationale behind where they are located on the plant.

My first investigative step was to understand the origin of this plant. Not surprisingly it's a hybrid, a blend of G. juniperina and G. victoriae var.leptoneura - Juniperina is the name given to plants due to their prickly, or needlelike, foliage . G. juniperina is a prostrate form with fine needles for foliage while G. victoriae var.leptoneura is a shrubby plant sporting similar leaves to my grevillea.

So, it makes sense that the hybrid could be throwing back some mutating leaves because its parent's foliage was vastly different. While the hybridization of this plant has produced an amazing cultivar it certainly hasn't been a perfect match.

Not that I'm at all worried about it though. I think it makes an interesting talking point when you can show off a plant with different leaves. Kind of like a circus with a bearded woman!

reBlogged to foliage on Dec 31, 1969, 6:59PM

Posted by scrobins@westnet.com.au (Stuart) Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-02-29, 06:22:11

link to this

I love the work of Mary Temple. Apart from the genius idea to paint in the light and foliage shadows in rooms with little or no light, I love her recognition that these images stir an emotional response. I woke up early today to see that the increasing morning light was casting some interesting shadows which reminded me of her work. I stacked the geranium a little higher to see what the effect might be and thats what you see in the picture. . . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by The Occasional Gardener Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-02-25, 18:50:48

link to this

den·tate (dĕn’tāt’) Edged with toothlike projections; toothed: dentate leaves.

Hibiscus

ShareThis

reBlogged to foliage on Feb 2, 2008, 7:21PM

Posted by Chris Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-02-04, 05:30:23

link to this

"Leaves like rusty tin for the desolate mind that has seen the end—the barest glimmerings. Leaves aswirl with gullsmade wild by winter."

- George Seferis ( On a Ray of Winter Light )

reBlogged to foliage recipes

Posted by joey Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, recipes on 2008-01-30, 18:11:12

link to this

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by LisaBee Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-01-22, 18:57:48

link to this

Acuminate (ə-kyū’mə-nĭt, -nāt): Tapering to a point; pointed.

reBlogged to foliage on Jan 19, 2008, 1:12PM

Posted by Chris Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-01-21, 00:40:39

link to this

With the recent blast of warm weather here in New Jersey, I've managed to finally finish closing my vegetable garden for the winter. Better late than never, I always say.

Not only do I like to add a heaping of compost to my raised beds every spring, I also like to add shredded leaves in fall. The shredded leaves serve as a mulch so that I don't loose too much of that easily workable, organic matter packed, garden soil. . . .

reBlogged to foliage mulch

Posted by Anthony Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, mulch on 2008-01-16, 05:52:02

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Jan 9, 2008, 8:34PM

Posted by Mr. McGregor's Daughter Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-01-10, 18:26:04

link to this

1) a variegated euphorbia-- it was just green & white until the cold weather, now this!
2) this also seems in the euphorbia family to me-- but they grow like weeds here & there about the yard-- sometimes getting 6 feet tall. We've heard them called 'gopher spurge' (supposedly they discourage the critters?) Just this past year I started noticing them for sale in nurseries.
3) a variegated 'wallflower' (erysimum) gets ready to bloom

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by LisaBee Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2008-01-02, 00:25:36

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Dec 26, 2007, 8:53AM

Posted by Digital Flower Pictures Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-28, 00:39:34

link to this

A

reBlogged to foliage on Dec 16, 2007, 5:38AM

Posted by inadvertentgardener Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-18, 00:27:38

link to this

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and I am cheating. Sure, I have a cute little poinsettia on my dining room table--in spite of the fact that I don't like poinsettias--but frankly I'm not in a very Christmas-y mood right now so I don't particularly want to show it. Bah, humbug!

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Blackswamp_Girl Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-17, 00:36:44

link to this

Funny thing - by reading gardenblogs from other climates I've come to better understand my own climate and how it affects my gardening choices.  I now see that it's only because my beds and borders aren't covered with snow all winter that I care about having evergreen groundcovers.  And unlike other gardeners who write about raking dead leaves into their borders for the winter, I quickly remove fallen leaves because I'd much rather see the evergreen groundcovers. . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Susan Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-17, 00:25:20

link to this

Before ... (well actually half-way done at this point). . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Anthony Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-14, 00:45:56

link to this

Cleaning gutters used to be kinda fun. I'd just get up on the roof (its flat), enjoy the view, spy on the neighbors, and toss the leaf matter to the ground. But then getting off the roof and back onto the ladder became just too scary for this challenge-challenged gal. I haven't been up on the roof for years. Now I force myself to climb the ladder to "dip"into the gutters and sling the leafage ...

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by weeder1 Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-08, 22:50:10

link to this

reBlogged to foliage on Dec 6, 2007, 7:56AM

Posted by Digital Flower Pictures Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-07, 00:56:07

link to this

As the tentacles of winter begin to wrap themselves around our garden, it is fading so fast that I feel like I should start scanning the obituary column for news of its demise. There are, however, little clumps of life here and there; especially with the epimediums. Some are evergreen, some semi-evergreen, and some are deciduous for us; all are nice. Actually, I prefer to call them 'angelwings' rather than their other common name 'barrenworts'; the latter name sounds like a disease of the feet in old people living on the moors of the far northlands. . . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-04, 00:31:15

link to this

It took a while to arrive, and it didn't stick around--not for even an entire week--but I did finally get some good fall color this year. The unexpected star of the late show was this 'Diablo' (aka 'Monlo,' aka "Diabolo') purple ninebark, physocarpus opulifolius.

I don't know for sure that its Latin name means that its leaves are showy... but based on the plant's appearance I could easily buy that definition. . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Blackswamp_Girl Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-12-03, 00:19:51

link to this

It is amazing to me how quickly the colors of autumn change from brilliant and gorgeous reds, oranges and yellows to the dreariest of browns. I took these pictures yesterday and as I look out the window now at the same tree, the colors have changed overnight. Within a day or two the tree will be bare of any leaves at all. . . .

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Robin's Nesting Place Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-11-28, 00:38:18

link to this

People ask how long I've been gardening here; that's kind of a difficult question to answer because there was so much to do here when we first moved in, that the garden began rather tentatively and slowly. However, this maple was a little seedling that I stuck in the ground in the early garden.

reBlogged to foliage trees autumn

Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to autumn, foliage, trees on 2007-11-28, 00:35:00

link to this

P.S. 139, Cortelyou and Rugby Roads, Beverley Square West, Flatbush, Brooklyn This has been a spectacular year for fall foliage. We had ample, sometimes record, rainfall over the summer. We didn't...

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Xris (Flatbush Gardener) Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-11-26, 00:20:11

link to this

i have way too many oak leaves piled up. i know they're acidic and take forever to decompose. any organic way to speed up the decomp?
many just pines and oaks around me. also i assume these are good for the blueberry's and any thing else that likes acid

reBlogged to compost foliage on Nov 24, 2007, 8:57AM

Posted by George Reblogged by Old Roses to compost, foliage on 2007-11-26, 00:11:17

link to this

evidence of a passing season

reBlogged to foliage

Posted by Naturegirl Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-11-25, 00:34:26

link to this

It’s fall in North Georgia, so that means it’s time to rake leaves. On the day after Thanksgiving, that seems like a good chore to me: burn a few calories after Thursday’s eating overkill, make the yard look better …...

reBlogged to foliage on Nov 23, 2007, 9:15AM

Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-11-24, 00:36:02

link to this

Here's an interesting graphic at wikimedia that shows you the shapes of the leaves in your garden. Use this graph and talk to the pro's like you know. ..

reBlogged to foliage on Nov 20, 2007, 10:33PM

Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage on 2007-11-22, 00:58:18

link to this

~ Autumn leaves of red and gold

(Bloomfield Village)

reBlogged to foliage recipes

Posted by joey Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, recipes on 2007-11-16, 06:28:38

link to this

I probably say this every year (I hope I do)....the trees are just spectacular this year! It is such a pleasure to go outside (even on a gray day) and see such color.



This is looking down my street. Every day it changes, getting better and better...until one day I will go out and it will all be gone...(not yet, though). . .

reBlogged to autumn foliage

Posted by Gotta Garden Reblogged by Old Roses to autumn, foliage on 2007-11-16, 06:08:58

link to this

Wisdom according to Gregory: The period of time in autumn when trees become bare should be called “Leaving.”I think he makes an excellent point. Above, my Japanese red maple yesterday, backdraped by a street tree.Street tree on a foggy morning.A quick glance at her journal page will illustrate how much she’s grown.This is the “farside [...]

reBlogged to autumn foliage on Dec 31, 1969, 6:59PM

Posted by Julie Walton Shaver Reblogged by Old Roses to autumn, foliage on 2007-11-15, 18:32:58

link to this

It was a grey day today, but that was ok by me. I worked hard and accomplished much. On a return trip to Boone from Banner Elk I saw a cloud hesitating to cross the ridge from Seven Devils into the Foscoe valle. I pulled off the road and crossed Hwy 105 onto private property. I ran up a hill and then another, looking over both shoulders in case someone was looking to stop me. This photo was taken with a neutral density filter held up against the glass of my kit Nikon lens in order to control the highlights in the sky vs. the shadows of the barns. Warning: By photo purists, this method is highly frowned upon. I did use a vignette program on the photo (you can tell by the edges of the photo) but that was basically the only adjustments in the photo except for some sharpening in Photoshop.
I have a favorite color--it is a mixture of the colors on the ridge in this photo. True that.

reBlogged to autumn foliage on Nov 13, 2007, 10:45PM

Posted by Marie Freeman Reblogged by Old Roses to autumn, foliage on 2007-11-15, 06:09:58

link to this

reBlogged to foliage compost mulch

Posted by Colleen Vanderlinden (nospam@example.com) Reblogged by Old Roses to compost, foliage, mulch on 2007-11-15, 05:55:32

link to this

I got nothing done over the weekend, it was so cold and dreary. Yesterday and today, it's Indian Summer, so leaf pickup resumes, as do other end of the year garden chores. My tool of choice for leaf pickup is a leaf vac, as I prefer to combine the picking up and shredding of leaves in one step. Yes, its noisy and uses electricity, but the alternative is running them over with the mower, which is also noisy, and it uses gasoline. I would rather not shred the leaves at all, but Cottonwood and Norway Maple leaves are thick and mat down if not shredded. . . .

reBlogged to foliage tools

Posted by Mr. McGregor's Daughter Reblogged by Old Roses to foliage, tools on 2007-11-15, 05:55:28

link to this

The leaves have turned here and the color is breathtaking. I took a stroll this afternoon and took some photos in and around my neighborhood.

This is the most colorful tree in my own garden at the moment - the red maple 'Autumn Blaze'