Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Wordless Wednesday? Not quite ...



Hydrangea paniculata 'Quick Fire'. Quick Fire is quick. It blooms about a month before Hydrangea paniculata floribunda or H. paniculata 'Lime Light'. I am a bit disappointed that the color isn't redder. The picture on the label was distinctly bright red. The plant has grown and filled out quite a lot, producing many more flowers as a result.







Hydrangea paniculata floribunda under mackerel skies. This is a prolific bloomer and surprisingly the flowers are a deeper dusky pink than the above H. paniculata 'Quick Fire'. Our favorite H. paniculata.







Deciduous Holly, Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold' Winterberry.






Geranium 'Rozanne' still blooming.






Volunteer Ageratum. We planted Ageratum last year, but none this year. This one came up very late and is only blooming now. I wonder why it took so long for the seed to germinate? No other plant has appeared.






Black Cohosh.






Tricyrtis 'Togen'.






Tricyrtis formosana 'Gilt Edge'.

9 Comments:

Blogger Phillip Oliver said...

I like that hydrangea. I've not heard of "Quick Fire" before. I also like the winterberry. Does it get larger than that?

1:16 PM  
Blogger Entangled said...

I didn't know there was an orange winterberry! Imagine a mixed planting of orange and red. Must make a note for next year...

2:21 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Phillip,
Quick Fire is quick or early would be a better term, but I am disappointed with the color. The label showed the panicles as bright red but our plant is dusky pink at best. I guess they can do wonders with Photoshop but you would hope growers would have more integrity and not exaggerate too much - live and learn.

We bought two of the orange winterberries and yes it does grow much larger than the one pictured. The other plant is about 8' tall but surrounded with other plants so it hasn't spread much at all. A very nice fall and early winter interest plant.

----------------------------------

Hi Entangled,
I was surprised too when we first saw the orange winterberries. We planted the two we bought in different places for much neeeded winter color rather than grouping them with the red ones tough now that you've suggested it I think it would make a very nice display.

The orange ones seem to be more robust and definitely grows much faster than the red ones we have. We've severely pruned them but they grow back even more vigorously the following year.

I first bought a red one not knowing what I was buying. It was just a foot tall twig with a handful of leaves and no label, in the sale section but I liked the shape of the plant so I bought it for 50 cents. Money well spent because the plant thrived and grew into a beautiful red winterberry gracing the front yard. I could kick myself for not buying the 2 or 3 others.

6:21 PM  
Blogger Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

That hydrangea is beautiful.

7:59 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Thanks Aunt Debbi/Kurt's Mom. The hydrangea paniculatas produce much needed long lasting color from summer to early winter and even the dark brown panicles are attractive in my mind.

4:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's a nice hydrangea and this is coming from someone who doesn't get what the fuss is about these plants.

10:07 AM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Garden Bloggers,
Then it is high praise indeed, ("this is coming from someone who doesn't get what the fuss is about these plants"). Thanks. I wasn't keen on hydrangeas either. The mop-head ones (H. macrophylla?) you normally see in nurseries wouldn't flower for us. They either produced an enormous amount of greenery or languished so I dug them all out. I don't remember how we obtained the H. paniculata but it bloomed so we kept it and now I really like it and have added different varieties to our collection. I just saw an oak leaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia which had really attractive leaves but I resisted temptation because we have no space for another large shrub even if it is only one of two hydrangeas native to North America. ;D

6:24 PM  
Blogger kate smudges said...

Geranium 'Rozanne' is gorgeous ... what a lovely photograph of it in bloom. Your Toad Lilies are beautiful - I especially like 'Togen'. 'Quickfire' is stunning!

11:36 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Kate,
Thanks. We've had quite a mild autumn so far so many spring bloomers still alive seem to think it's early in the year again and are putting forth flowers, which is a treat. Thank you for visiting. I haven't had the chance to do much blog visiting lately but hope to catch up later in the fall and winter. I will be a great way to spend time indoors.

5:58 AM  

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