Borrowed Camera

4th of July wiener (& tofu) roast.

It's time for #SixOnSaturday, when bloggers feature six things from their gardens.  Be sure to visit Mr Props who has not only his own Six blooming like mad, but #SoS guidelines, should you think about joining us.  Links to his international merry band are found in his comment section.

Several of this week's photos simply defied my miserable camera phone, so my son kindly loaned me his digital camera.  After I miserably failed using the proper camera, he retook the shots.

In gardening, you can often improvise.  In photography, you need the right equipment & the right person to use it.







1.  Mrs Bradshaw & friends.

Countless weeks ago, the geum taunted me with her little yellow buds.  Then followed the occasional disappointing bloom, but this week, we saw the real deal.  Perhaps she had misgivings about strutting her stuff.

Geum & curry plant.

The geum's inherited so I don't know her name but've called her Mrs Bradshaw.  She looked red with her previous neighbours, but next to the curry plants, she looks very orange.  As to the curries, this photo doesn't show how brilliantly yellow they are.  And the aroma . . . all over the garden.


2.  Sea Holly.

This one looks a little fuzzy, but trust me, it's as spiky as any sea holly AND the colour is true.  Just love that stem.

Purple & proud.

We didn't get blooms from it last year & I'd hoped it was because of the drought.  This year, it's knocked itself out sending up half a dozen flower stems.


3.  Canna jungle.

The canna lilies are just now coming into their own.  They're quite beautiful plants, even before they bloom.

Cannas from the front.

Last year, they weren't more than 8" tall with tiny little blooms, despite being watered during the drought.

Cannas from the back.

Next year, these guys'll be planted around the Doodle pool.



4.  Apricot fudge.

In front of the cannas, there's 2 of these fellas which are new to me.

Longiflorum Asiatic lily.

Like their neighbours, they've got a wonderful structure, but one that looks like red beetle candy.  The bloom is supposed to be just as enigmatic looking.


6.  Burn unit.

The relentless sun in my back garden has necessitated a plant burn unit for the potted plants, & the use of shade makers for those in the ground - several of which, next year, will appear in the front garden.  I had no idea this fella below was sensitive to the sun, despite living with me for around 6 years.  But then, I have no idea what this fella is.  The parent plant self-layered 4 gardens ago, so I brought the little guy with me.

Burn patient.

At the moment, he's got leaves in 3 stages - leaves that were already grown when the sun got fierce, so look quite leathery; new growth that happened after the scorching weather started, so not burned but small & smooth; then new growth since I've hidden him behind another shrub, this new-growth-in-the-shade being larger, soft & fuzzy, the way I'm used to him being.

Does anyone know what he is?  His blooms are little catkin type flowers.


6.  Zinnias.

The first zinnias to bloom this year are Queen Lime.  As you can see in this photo, they go through a colour progression

Queen Lime zinnia.

The bud (3rd bit of colour from bottom) starts its flowering life as a deep red button surrounded by green baby petals, then opens to a more limey daisy effect still w/the red centre (very last flower at the back), growing into light burgundy-green petals (fuzzy foreground flower) that turn a dark burgundy (2nd flower on left).  Simply stunning.  I can't wait until one of them has multiple flowers on it in all their stages.

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That's my Six for the week.  Thanks for stopping by.

See you next time!