Seeds

The above picture is David's carrot seeds. They sprouted a week after planting! We'll have lots of carrots soon.

This is my new aloe plant. Dave and I were at Louisiana Nursery last weekend and we picked it up 20% off. I was able to divide it into 5 plants!

My Purple Coneflower will bloom again soon. This picture is of unopened flower buds. Butterflies love this plant!

My mums are finally about to open--they will be dark red. You can see a little bit of the red color now.

Here is my dog Max. He is relaxing in the shade of a live oak tree. He looks half asleep, doesn't he? He's really enjoying the cool weather we had this morning.

Butterflies

This morning a Monarch Butterfly was enjoying my Indigo Spires Salvia. This one salvia has brought so many new visitors to my garden. Bees, hummingbirds and butterflies love this plant. Everyone should have an Indigo Spires Salvia in their garden. All you need is one because they get big!

I love salvias! They bloom for months on end and attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. Mine are able to survive with very little supplemental water. I love drought tolerant plants! The best characteristic is that salvias are perennials!

Now, there are a few types of salvias sold as annuals, but they usually set seed and come back through reseeding. There are many varieties of perennial salvias-that's what I grow in my garden.

My Bat Face Cupheas are doing so well! The bright red and purple flowers attract hummingbirds and make a statement in the garden....they are hard to miss! The Bat Face Cuphea is a drought tolerant plant, meaning that it needs very little water to survive. This is one of the top characteristics that I look for when choosing new plants. I hate dragging the hose around the garden to water plants. Now I choose only drought tolerant plants.

Coleus

A few days ago I was watering my container plants and I noticed this volunteer coleus. I was so excited to see it growing! If I remember correctly, this variety is 'Chocolate Chip' coleus. I bought it last spring from Cleggs and it grew nicely on my back patio. Winter came along and it died back and I thought I'd never see it again. Apparently, it had set seed and decided to sprout. Since I noticed it, I've been watering it and its growing well.

Bat faced Cuphea

Bat faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) has such an interesting flower! When you look at it up close, it does look like a bat's face.

I bought this plant about a month ago. Before planting, I cut it back so it could concentrate on developing a good root system. Today is the first day that it bloomed! It's a small plant now, but it will grow to 3 feet next spring.

Does anyone know the name of this catepillar? When I was taking pictures of the Cuphea, I noticed it walking past my foot. He moved fast! Hopefully it will turn into a pretty butterfly or moth.

Horticulture Hints

The Fall 2010 edition of Horticulture Hints is available on the LSU Ag Center website. To save time, I've included a link:
Horticulture Hints

Three for Thursday: New Additions

This is a picture of my new plants Cat Whiskers (Orthosiphon stamineus). I bought these over the Labor Day weekend and they are doing great. They are shade loving plants, so I've got them planted under my live oak. Cat Whiskers are available in white or lavender, although white is the more popular color. My favorite is the white variety because they closely resemble real cat whiskers.

I can't say enough good things about Salvia Indigo Spires! Even though it has been in the high 90's Indigo Spires is in constant bloom. The heat doesn't seem to bother it. I'm not sure what kind of moth or butterfly this is, but I was able to snap the picture when he was looking right at me!

This is another plant is bought during Labor Day. Its called Agastache 'Heatwave'. I got this at Lowe's for $5 for a one gallon pot, which is a good price. Had it been at a private nursery, the price would be doubled. So far this Agastache is living up to its name. It has taken the heat very well. Since planting, it has only been watered once.

Trip to the Nursery

This morning Dave and I headed to our local nursery (Louisiana Nursery) to browse the clearance plant section. Since it's the end of summer, the nursery had all annuals and perennials on sale. I picked up two Cat's Whiskers, two burgundy Gaillardia, and one red mum. We also bought carrot seeds. The Gaillardia was a steal at fifty cents!

I wanted to get catnip, but they didn't have any. My cats love it! I also wanted to find Pentas, but I only found the dwarf and I wanted the full size. I'll look for them again in the spring.

Yesterday I found Agastache 'Heatwave' at Lowe's. They had a huge selection of them and surprisingly they were all in good shape. They must have just gotten a shipment in. In Louisiana, Agastache can be hard to find in garden centers, so when I saw them at Lowe's I had to get one.