I have planted lots of flowers this year. Nothing has officially died yet. Where I come from, that is considered an accomplishment.
This isn’t really a flower, but rotting rhubarb is kind of colorful.
Another hopeful development is that my moonflower has started to ascend from the soil. On the downside, I thought for sure there would be more than one moonflower by now.
I know absolutely nothing about flowers, but I really like the red one (the one that has the bug in it). I love that you’ve got two hobbies tied up here in these photos.
Beautiful. Makes me miss playing in my flower beds.
I’ve been struggling to remember what the red flower with the bug in it is. My best guess is dahlia.
But the first few pictures are marigolds. The yellow flower is a rose. The purplish-red flower (sans insect) is a daisy. The pink flower is a dahlia. The purple flowers are phlox.
I don’t really know if I would consider flowers a hobby. You are the first person to ever describe flowers to be a hobby of mine. I actually have to think about whether or not I consider them a hobby.
I guess I do have an interest in flowers, but it is mostly because I want to be knowledgeable about what I’m photographing. I also plant flowers because I want to have stuff to photograph. Plus it is a common interest with my Mom.
I can accept that flowers are a hobby of mine, but until this moment the thought had never crossed my mind.
I should add that another part of the reason that I have taken to planting flowers is that I feel some obligation to try to keep the yard that I inherited “cute” since it was so “cute” when I bought the place.
Dawn,
Why aren’t you playing in your flower beds?
So, maybe they’re an incidental hobby, not an intended one? You can have those, right? That sounds like a good name for a book – “The Incidental Hobby.” I think I have some of those, just based out of necessity in order to achieve other goals or pursue other hobbies…
I know absolutely nothing about flowers. I was convinced that the first few pictures were “mums” – but I don’t really know what a mum is, as that proves. We got a house plant when we first moved into our townhouse – I kept it alive for quite some time, but just barely. It finally just gave up on me. For this reason, I love that you’re able to grow such beautiful flowers without it even being an intended pursuit.
I think you are right about that being a Dahlia. The phlox through the fence are my favorite. I can’t grow phlox in my yard for anything.
I have a great number of annuals in my flower beds. Since I want to work on getting the house ready to sell this summer I have decided not to add anything else. I probably will have to do some light weeding eventually but that doesn’t really qualify as playing. They will just have to grow as nature intends them to this summer with minimal assistance from me.
Angie,
“The Incidental Hobby” does sound like a great name for a book. Like “The Accidental Tourist” or “The Constant Gardener”.
Mums? You truly do know absolutely nothing about flowers. Follow links (you may have to copy & paste, I don’t know what my website will do) below to see pictures of mums:
http://www.photography139.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=97
http://www.photography139.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_notmember.jpg
I actually have planted some purple mums next to my garage, but they aren’t doing the best, so I haven’t photographed them.
I should point out that I am not a master gardener by any stretch. That is why I like perennials. They are tougher and you don’t have to plant them every year. My track record with house plants is very spotty. Most of the houseplants I own reside with my Mom because she doesn’t trust me with them. I only have 1 spider plant. Spider plants are like marigolds, they are kind of tough to kill. You can ignore them for a few weeks and they will start to look bad. Throw some water on them and they perk right back up.
Dawn,
The phlox picture is actually my favorite too, shhhh… don’t tell anybody though.
I’m surprised you have a problem with growing phlox since they are essentially a wildflower. Wildflowers are a mm away from being weeds. But I can’t give you any advice on phlox. They were planted by the previous occupant and I don’t do anything to cultivate them. I just admire them when they grow.
However, along that fence I’m trying to grow some daisies. So hopefully that wildflower will grow as well as my phlox does.
I also want to get a patch of coneflowers growing at some point. I’m a big fan of coneflowers.
I was actually thinking of “The Accidental Tourist” after I wrote it! 🙂 Okay, I really couldn’t have been much further off on the idea of them being mums, could I? I could have called them violets and been just as close.
I’m glad to know I’m not alone on the house plant thing. I wish I even knew the name of the kind that I destroyed – it was one of the ones with the white flowers in it. And green leaves. I want to say “peace lily,” but I probably want to say that just because it’s a name of a plant that I happen to know. I’m going to have to try a spider plant, instead – that sounds much more suited to my capabilities.