This weekend is the official summer kickoff long weekend. The Indy 500 will provide the big televised drama. It is the busiest travel weekend, so I am glad to say I will be off the highways and avoiding the airports.
It is consistently hot every day now and the nights are warm. The plants are loving it. We could use some rain but that will be the refrain until summer’s end.
I have some hydrangea photos today from Aldridge Gardens nearby. The garden features hydrangeas and a visit there this week was spectacular. I also have a photo from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens show a special agave plant.
I will be joining the Six on Saturday group tomorrow morning. Gardeners from around the world will be posting 6 photos from their garden. Come join us. Post 6 of your own and become a fellow SOS participant. The link is https://gardenruminations.co.uk/.
Here are two of the photos from Aldridge Gardens. The lace cap is a Hydrangea macrophylla with a spectacular blue/violet coloring.
The Snowflake is a patented hydrangea. Notice the double blooms. It was found in a backyard in an adjoining suburb. No other native plant is known to exist. Cuttings were taken for propagation. By accident, the cuttings were discarded by a worker. Fortunately, the error was discovered and the cuttings were retrieved in time. One survived and is the parent.
I volunteer at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens every week. I have something unusual for you today. This is an Agave americana sometimes known as the century plant. The tall stalk you see is the flowering stalk which is almost 25 feet high. The plant flowers every 10 to 30 years and then it dies. It leaves little “pup” plants nearby which can be transplanted and will grow.
The lily on the left is a Lilium regale or Royal lily. I planted the bulbs last year so this is the first blooming and it looks great.
The fruit on the right is a Japanese persimmon (Diaspyros kaki). I obtained it 7 years ago in a gallon sized container. It grew slowly for several years but made a big leap last year. It dropped all the buds last year but it is motoring on this year.
My last photo is a regular visitor, Bandit, the raccoon. I surprised him rooting around under my camellias and he quickly climbed into a nearby Southern magnolia. He was not completely scared away since he sat and stared at me for several minutes while I captured his picture. He is a brute.
I wish you a safe weekend if you are in America and traveling this weekend. To all my fellow horticulture devotees, Happy Gardening!