Plants & Flowers Photo by Zoe

Update On My Garden

2011-07-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

I love the delicate Portulaca flowers. The plants' bloom is prettiest at noon time.


My volunteer Sunflower! It just showed up beside my Bitter Melon Plant!

Basils are planted in the flower pots with portulacas, Knockout Rosed, Sweet Potato Vine.

I'm careful not to cut the flower buds (appear as tiny knots next to the pods) when harvesting the beans since these will develop into flowers after the pods are gone.

Yard long bean pods usually comes in pair.

Big leaf Basil

Fine leaf Basil

The flower of a Yard Long Bean.

My Garden 2011

2011-06-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

My Vegetable Garden this year is small and scattered around my yard wherever I could find a place where there is some sunshine. My first harvest of squash this year.

It's an oriental summer squash that I obtained from here. It has a buttery taste and it grows the size of a cantaloupe and remains green and tender. I cook it just like I would cook a zucchini or American summer squash.

A very small vegetable garden area, but this is all I can manage to water everyday. I planted 2 squash, 3 tomatoes, 2 red potatoes, There are bush beans and yard long beans that is not shown in the picture above

Sweet Potato vine planted in the ground, Portolaca and Basil in the flower pot. Did you know that the tender tips of Sweet Potato vine are edible? Pinch off 2-3 inches of the tender tips. Wash thoroughly. Stir fry with your favorite spices until the leaves are just wilted (don't overcook). The tender leaves and stems has semi-sweet taste when cooked.

I can't wait for these Tomatoes to ripen. These Tomato plants are about my height.

Young Bush Beans..

My First Knockout Rose

2011-06-15T02:32:00.000-07:00

I planted my first Knockout Rose today. I hope its beauty lasts for a long, long time. The area where I planted it has a very rich dirt. I used to be able to grow gorgeous flowers. I'm making an effort to do so again.

Wild Flowers blooming in May

2010-05-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

Mountain laurels seem to grow better in the wild especially by a steep or sloping river banks.
I'd like to go back in the Smokies and see them in bloom along the Little Pigeon River. Their bloom time is supposed to be May 15 to June 15.

I love the scent of honeysuckle especially right after it rains. I specially love the white ones before they fade to yellow color.

Bluets

2010-04-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

These are 4-petaled tiny flowers that I found growing on my sister-in-law's backyard. The area where these are growing is sloping and shady with moss also growing on the ground.

Very interesting flower but very tiny and about 1/2 inch accross from tip of petal to the opposite tip of the flower petal.

The 2 1/2 to 3 inch flower stalk sprouts straight up from the ground.

Wild Flowers Last Fall and Winter 2009

2010-04-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

(photo) Moss growing on the surface of a rock.

Photo of Wild Ginger surviving the cold weather and remaining green.

Humble Beginnings

2010-04-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Photo above is of Bitter Melon seedlings.

Photo below is of Yard long Bean seedlings.

These seedlings are planted in a recycled plastic water bottle. I cut the bottle in half and use the bottom as a drip pan and the other half as the seedling pot. The opening of the water bottle becomes the bottom of the seedling pot. I loosen the bottle cap so that excess water will drip onto the "drip pan", which use to be the bottom of the water bottle. I put a 16X11 plastic freezer bag over the seedling pots to keep moisture and humidity over the seeds. I then place several of these pots on my sunny window sills and voila! The seeds really started sprouting early even during the very cold spells in early march! I like to recycle things and this is one way to put those plastic water bottles to good use.

Wild Flowers of Early Spring

2010-04-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Name this flower.

I borrowed the idea of this question from an old tv game show called "name that tune". I don't know the name of this wild flower and I appreciate if anyone can tell me its name. I found it growing on the side of the hill that was disturbed by roadwork and now overgrown with moss and all kinds of wild flowers.