Angel Trumpet is blooming!

This silly plant just produces blooms one after another.....absolutely beautiful to see every day!

Gorgeous!!!

They are very pretty. I remember them being all over the news several years ago as kids would chew them or make tea out of them to get high! Evidently, it produces hallucinations but at toxic levels. They used to be popular around here but people don't plant them as much anymore -- maybe because of those news reports, I don't know.

So make sure none of those elderly people living around you, Beth, are snipping off some of those blossoms!!

Hmmm, maybe THAT is why we have so many growing in the front yards here in our villa neighborhood.......

LOL

Yes, it is suppose to be part of the 'nightshade' family of plants. Seriously bad if fed to people or pets. But it is so pretty. If you're dumb enough to nibble on it, well, I guess you deserve whatever happens. I'm not posting "Please Do NOT Taste" signs in front of it!

My Grandfather's Siberian Irises from his back yard in Brooklyn from the 50's or earlier. Got them from my Mom's house. And some pansies from somewhere. Hope everyone is OK. Been a long time

I wish I had something pretty to show but because of the drought everything is dead, dead, dead. OOPS! I lied. I forgot I have a trumpet vine in bloom and some wretched but beautiful morning glory. I am still trying to get rid of it. I got it out of the front yard but it is still in the back. Got to go out with more Roundup and sandwich bags. That is the only way to kill the plant. Grab a vine, put it in a plastic bag, douse it with Roundup and seal the bag. And wait. Keep repeating till all is dead. It so pretty but so invasive, sort of like kudzu.

Jetfan, your irises are beautiful! They're one of my favorite flowers. They also grow wild in Louisiana and I remember my mom pulling off the highway a couple of times and digging up a clump or two and stashing them in a bucket until we got home. The wild ones are really dark blue, almost purple. Yours are too pretty, and it's so neat that they're some of your grandfather's, too.

Nice to see you here. I hope you and your family are doing well.

Bugster2 wrote:I wish I had something pretty to show but because of the drought everything is dead, dead, dead. OOPS! I lied. I forgot I have a trumpet vine in bloom and some wretched but beautiful morning glory. I am still trying to get rid of it. I got it out of the front yard but it is still in the back. Got to go out with more Roundup and sandwich bags. That is the only way to kill the plant. Grab a vine, put it in a plastic bag, douse it with Roundup and seal the bag. And wait. Keep repeating till all is dead. It so pretty but so invasive, sort of like kudzu.

Had to laugh, as we love them. We have a telephone poll (old historic neighborhood) to the right side of the front of our house and when we moved in, Brian planted morning glories that grow all the way up the pole past our second story balcony. We had to laugh, as lots of people in our neighborhood are now doing the same thing -- around telephone poles, stop signs, and all kinds of things. We grow the light blue and the Grandpa Ott variety, which is dark, dark purple and is my absolute favorite.

We also grow moonflowers on the pole and in the back yard on the fence where we also grow morning glories -- the "glories" bloom in the morning and the moon flowers start blooming in the very late afternoon. We've had more people stop us and ask us what the beautiful white flowers are. If you move close to them, they have a slight citrus scent that is nice, too. If they start spreading too much on the fence in the backyard, we just pull some of them down. The neighbor likes them, too, as they grow over on his side of the fence, too.

I miss iris', as well as the rest of the bulb plants.....wrong growing season down here I guess.

But, we're making do by trying 'new-to-us' plants and trees (like the Angel Trumpet). We brought a seed pod from a Flame Tree back from the Keys. Dane's going to see if he can get the seeds to sprout. Next will be finding someone who has a Mimosa Tree to take a cutting off of. I can remember my aunt having them in her yard in Oklahoma....beautiful 'powder puff' pink blooms.

The morning glory took over our entire back yard. Three years ago it took me 2 weeks and a 20 by 8 by 8 dumpster to get rid of it. It wouldn't be so bad if I could control it, but I can't. It sends out underground roots that pop up all over the place. I like the idea of the telephone pole. A great way to hide an eye-sore if the phone company doesn't mind.

I have lived here going on 13yrs and I have planted morning glory's for years and they never take.

Barbara101 wrote:I have lived here going on 13yrs and I have planted morning glory's for years and they never take.

It could be the variety of flower. The ones that are out here that go crazy are almost a neon purple. Beautiful flower, beautiful plant.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1369&bih=699&q=morning+glory+flower&oq=morning+glory&gs_l=img.1.1.0l10.2982.8589.0.11695.13.7.0.6.6.0.205.911.0j6j1.7.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.13.931.RKNtDNz3V2Y#imgrc=KTEoSZyFB0ybsM%3A

bethk wrote:I miss iris', as well as the rest of the bulb plants.....wrong growing season down here I guess.

But, we're making do by trying 'new-to-us' plants and trees (like the Angel Trumpet).  We brought a seed pod from a Flame Tree back from the Keys.  Dane's going to see if he can get the seeds to sprout.  Next will be finding someone who has a Mimosa Tree to take a cutting off of.  I can remember my aunt having them in her yard in Oklahoma....beautiful 'powder puff' pink blooms.

You can definitely grow irises, Beth.  I'm just thinking I've never seen them grown in pots (I'm going to have to look that up...) but they grow profusely in the ground here and I'm sure there, too.  

I loved mimosa trees as a child but I'm afraid of cockroaches and they tend to love mimosa trees, too, as they do weeping willows.  The only thing about mimosa trees is they're best planted where they can "shed" their old blooms on grass, as they leave a mess on the sidewalk, with the blossom droppings being kind of icky slippery and have to be hosed off the sidewalk (we're all about low maintenance in this household -- ).

It is fun, I'll bet, trying new plants in a new climate, though I'm sure you have your favorites you miss (I'd KILL to be able to grow peonies, my favorite flowers, for instance).    

I thought of you the other day as about a month ago, my dwarf meyer lemon tree was delivered (maybe it's been longer, 6 weeks or so).  I planted it in a huge pot on the back deck so I don't have to repot it (it'll be a *itch to move inside when a storm heads this way, as it's really heavy but it's six of one and a half dozen of another!) and have been babying that thing with spray on flower fertilizer, etc., and practically begging it to do well (we've had tons of rain -- really TOO much rain for lots of plants and trees).  It now has about 6 blossoms on it and one of them has already turned into a teeny tiny lemon so I'm all excited.  Since it's a dwarf, I was told it would pretty much bloom almost year round in this climate but I take everything I'm told about plants with a grain of salt until I have my own experience with them.  

We have a huge swath of daisies in the back yard (Brian loves them and planted them a couple of seasons ago) and I really worked on fertilizing them well this year so they're doing super well.  I've enjoyed having so many available to put in vases inside, too.  I have some sunpatiens in hanging pots and in regular pots, the latter of which I eventually plan to move up to our balcony once someone strong drops over (my nephew is supposed to come by with my brother soon).  They're five different colors, including white, and the blossoms are huge; they look really nice in the yard.  We also planted some clematis (2 blues and 2 whites) along one fence.  They're growing slowly but I think it's because of too much rain.  Brian put up some netting along the fence for them to grab onto but they're just not going to town yet, whereas the morning glory that popped up over there has already run to the top of the netting, in an effort to show up the poor clematis!!

I got two of these weird-looking cactus type plants, too, that I've been moving inside out of the rain (well, Brian has) and they're doing really, really well, all things considered.  We saw them on TV and both of us fell in love with them; they're supposed to last forever so I put them in short wide cactus pots in cactus medium and are watching them closely so they don't suffer from root rot.  They've gotten many new leaves and have about doubled in height since I planted them.  They "live" not far from the meyer lemon tree so those three plants are like the favored grandkids -- we notice every single thing about 'em!  

We'd planned to do a lot more this year (we have herbs, of course, and a tomato plant that's still fruiting) but with Brian hurting his back, we're lucky we got what we did in pots and in the ground.

My yard looks like it belongs to an abandoned house. There is no grass left, just weeds and chiggers. I am not sure what we are going to do with the yard because it is a difficult one. A slope in the back and a slope in the front. And no watering because of the drought. We may sell the house as-is and let it become someone else's problem along with the other differed maintenance that needs to be done.

Bugster2 wrote:My yard looks like it belongs to an abandoned house. There is no grass left, just weeds and chiggers. I am not sure what we are going to do with the yard because it is a difficult one. A slope in the back and a slope in the front. And no watering because of the drought. We may sell the house as-is and let it become someone else's problem along with the other differed maintenance that needs to be done.

Not your fault, though, Bug. I'm sure you're not alone with your drought conditions...

If you go back to the original post (from April, 2016) you'll see how much this silly plant has grown in the last year.....

bethk wrote:If you go back to the original post (from April, 2016) you'll see how much this silly plant has grown in the last year.....

I have to laugh, Beth, as even though it blooms all the time for you and it's growing like crazy, you still call it "that silly plant."  You're not getting into those blossoms, are you?!!

The fragrance in the early morning is SO STRONG! Just across the sidewalk, next to the front door is the night blooming jasmine and between the two, it's one stinky entryway! LOL

BTW, the night blooming jasmine in the back courtyard is blooming now (as well as my snow peas). I walked out about 9:00 last night and there was no breeze so I could really smell it. It's just so sweet!

bethk wrote:BTW, the night blooming jasmine in the back courtyard is blooming now (as well as my snow peas).  I walked out about 9:00 last night and there was no breeze so I could really smell it.  It's just so sweet!

It's a lovely smell, that's for sure. It's especially nice in the morning and the evening. I just love it!

I told Dane to count the open blooms on the Angel Trumpet tree and I'd post a sign to announce a contest for the neighborhood to see who could come closest to the actual number of flowers.

He said 'No'.

LOL

(I took pics from 3 different angles.....)







And even more exciting (for me) is that my Meyer Lemon Tree has lots of fruit this year!

bethk wrote:I told Dane to count the open blooms on the Angel Trumpet tree and I'd post a sign to announce a contest for the neighborhood to see who could come closest to the actual number of flowers.

He said 'No'.

LOL

(I took pics from 3 different angles.....)







And even more exciting (for me) is that my Meyer Lemon Tree has lots of fruit this year!

I didn't get any photos, Beth, just messages from photobucket....

Yeah.....totally bummed Photobucket is holding my pics hostage....says my posting pics here is against the 'rules' for my account. They want $399.99 / year to 'update' my account to show my pics.

I am more than a little disappointed.......

My poor Angel Trumpet plant.....It was full of blooms ready to pop open when this cold and icy air blew in. We won't know for a few weeks if it will recover ~ or how my little Meyer Lemon Tree survives. It actually had some blossoms ready to open, but I'm pretty sure they're 'history'.

Here's another 'close-up' pic of my poor Angel Trumpet plant. Looks like when all is said and done, Dane will have to do some serious pruning to try to get back to parts that didn't freeze.....

I wouldn't worry. We used to get strange freezes when I lived in Phoenix. Leave the frozen stuff on until you're sure there won't be any freezes. Then prune the heck out of it. Your lemon tree will be okay, too, although if you had all your blooms freeze this year, your crop will be pretty little...but next year, back to normal.