It’s Saturday again, I am joining the SOS crowd at http://www.thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com. I have some new blooms in my garden this week.
This is a Zinderella Peach Zinnia – these seeds are open pollinated, the flowers are fully double, semi double and single. None of them look like the photo on the seed package.
First ever buds on the Rangpur Lime tree. My neighbor planted the seed five years ago – it is seemingly well known it takes five years from seed to fruit. I have a Cuban Avocado tree the same age, they flower until April. I am watching the Avocado daily, leaf buds so far. I am excited about limes from the garden. The holes in the leaves are from Giant Swallowtail butterflies, citrus are the larval host plant.
The Jurassic Begonia is flowering..it is really a Lotusleaf Begonia (Begonia nelumbiifolia). It is easily four feet tall.
A Ylang Ylang tree (Cananga odorata) acclimating to sun, waiting for determination of its final location. This is the flower that supplies the fragrance for Chanel No. 5 perfume. The directions stated it takes one, two or three years to flower. Waiting some more….
A new spring container planting. This has brightened my day everytime I see it. In purple, Mona Lavendar Plectranthus, the chartruese is another Plectranthus (can’t we just call them Coleus!?) Peach Impatiens, a white Begonia and a bit of Graptosedum for the spiller.
My first Nasturtiums, I kept planting them at the wrong time of year..going to try some poor mans capers from the seeds. Should be another first.
The Shrub Queen 
Ylang Ylang trees are wonderful and what scent you will have when it flowers. Lucky you to be able to grow this.
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I can brew some perfume!
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Wow, a four-foot begonia… who knew? Love your new planter, esp. the purple plectranthus.
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Thanks, my first Mona Lavendar, though they are common down here.
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Jurassic Begonia is amazing, I didn’t know it and it’s aptly named.
The Ylang Ylang tree has a great foliage. Enjoy its wonderful scent which must be captivating
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I have only seen that begonia locally – it came from a botanical garden nearby. I hope I don’t have to wait long for the YY flowers.
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First, I am so jealous. I just spent the morning cutting back dead foliage. I will look forward to seeing how your Ylang Ylang tree does and that begonia is gorgeous.
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Ugh, I am sorry about the deads. I hear it is much warmer there from my niece in Katy. I am curious to see what the YY does, I thought I was at their northern limit, but found there are a few about 20 miles up the road. Fingers crossed for flowers.
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Ooh I like the look of Zinderella and my dinosaur crazy son would just love your Jurassic begonias!
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Thank you, Zinderella continues to mystify me..a dinosaur loving boy would love that begonia and some giant ferns.
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The Begonia really is something else! Will you be adding any Nasturtium blooms to your salad or saving any for the seed pods?
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I have seen those Begonias five or six feet wide. I will be trying the flowers and the seed pods. It is funny I have never grown nasturtiums before?!
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What?! I had no idea that Chanel Number 5 is made with ylang ylang! That is my mother’s fragrance!
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Tony, I love it, though I prefer #19. and my mother wore Chanel No. 5, love it that your Mom does. Looking forward to the fragrance- in one to three years!
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Do you know night blooming jasmine? It is a fragrance that those from Southern California crave but can’t find here. Retail nurserymen sell them star jasmine instead, which is nothing like it. I intend to get some for here, and to grow for those who crave it. To me, it is the fragrance of summer in Beverly Hills (in the Los Angeles Region). It does not survive even mild frost, but I can easily grow more.
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yes, night blooming jasmine is common here. My neighbor has a huge Arabian Jasmine (10′) and I have a huge Tropical Gardenia, that is enough scent for me. Gardenias remind me of home, my mother always had one.
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Gardenias here are difficult to grow in situations that they should be pleased with, . . . but the healthiest and most vigorous are in situations that do not seem like they would be comfortable to gardenia.
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I think Miracid is the trick.
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It is not so simple here. The climate is tricky too. Both soil and climate are extremely variable throughout California. There are more climate zones in individual counties here than they are in several of the Midwestern states. What works for gardenias in the Santa Clara Valley is pointless in the Santa Cruz Mountains, just to the south.
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Gorgeous and fun, all rolled into one!
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thank you..
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The delicate color gradation on your zinderella is lovely – pretty as a picture, whether it resembles one or no. The buds on your lime look promising. I hope that your harvest is plentiful. Wonderful to be able to grow ylang ylang in your back (or front) yard. I actually can’t imagine a whole tree’s blossoms worth of that intoxicating scent.
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I am trying to imagine the scent myself, that is the first YY I have seen, though I know there are a few around…
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So that’s what Plectranthus Mona Lavender is supposed to look like. We had one all through last summer, it grew well though the stems snapped off too easily in wind; it was easy to propagate, it had nice dark foliage but not a single flower did we ever see. Fabulous Begonia!
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Interesting, the wind kicked up here overnight and the flowers are blowing away!! I would have not considered the wind in picking annuals. The perpetual experiement.
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I think no zinnia I have ever planted resembles the picture on the seed packet! That is a lovely peachy one though. 😃 It will be interesting to hear what the flowers of the Ylang Ylang smell like one day… I love Chanel no 5. The lavender Plectranthus is gorgeous… I have never seen one flower before!
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LOL, thank you, I am glad to hear that you have the same experience with Zinnia seed. I also love the Chanel. I wonder if Mona Lavendar has made it across the pond?
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I just googled it, and it is available as a houseplant or summer container plant here apparently. Must look out for it! 😉
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Can I ask about your Begonia Nelumbifolia it’s gorgeous! Do you have slugs there we have an extreme problem with them in north wrest Florida. I could never plant a begonia in the ground here. I have a pot of begonias and I pick them off nightly. Have resorted to a ring of salt around the pot. Are slugs targeting your gorgeous plant?????
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I garden on sugar sand, Don’t think I have ever seen a slug here.. occasionally a snail. The problem here is getting enough water on it and keeping it out of the wind.
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