Sunday, July 17, 2011

It's all that carbon dioxide

The vegetation has been pretty lush this year at the Paco Command Center, as record heat and humidity have settled over Northern Virginia.

My favorite flowers are snapdragons, and the ones I've planted over the last couple of years have either come back or reseeded, with numerous hybridizations.



That photo really doesn't do justice, however, to the diversity of colors. They're not all pink and red, by any means. Some of the nicest hybrids, in fact, feature orange and russet/yellow combinations, such as these little fellows.





I'm not sure what these are, but they're stand-outs.



And as I was backing down the driveway, this combination of crape-myrtle blossoms and black-eyed Susans caught my eye.



Kinda makes me hate to go to work.
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11 comments:

  1. JeffSJuly 18, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    You hate to go back to work as well? My two weeks of blessed absence from work ends today....and I don't have flowers in my driveway!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RebeccaHJuly 18, 2011 at 10:46 AM

    The flowers that look like ballerinas' tutus? Those are purple coneflowers. I've got a ton of those, and they look spectacular next to my big white shasta daisies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 18, 2011 at 1:05 PM

    Do the snapdragons have to be deadheaded to encourage new flowers?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 18, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    Hating is too strong a word for me, but there are days when it really applies. You have a multitude of reasons for not wanting to go to work, Mrs. Paco, Mabel, beautiful house/flowers, and idiot co-workers. Your fortitude to get out of the driveway is amazing. But we all know that you're "keeping the eye on the prize" as the old saying goes.

    My Grannie loved snapdragons, and pansies. Aunt E still has them around the house. Lovely colors you've got there. You, like my Gran, have a great green thumb. Thanks for sharing! Remember, we who are not blessed with land are living through you.

    Deborah Leigh

    ReplyDelete
  5. rinardmanJuly 18, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    Paco, I notice some oak leaves in some of your pics. Are the oak trees there being attacked by gall wasps, like they are here in Illinois?

    I blame AlGore and AGW for killing my oak trees.

    *

    ReplyDelete
  6. PacoJuly 18, 2011 at 6:29 PM

    Thanks, Rebecca; I was curious about what those are.

    Anon: plucking the dead blossoms definitely encourages new flowers.

    Deb: It's not really a whole hell of a lotta land (the magic of camera angle!)

    Rinardman: I haven't noticed that problem in our area with the oak trees (although I think they were getting to be an issue when I lived in Richmond).

    ReplyDelete
  7. richard mcenroeJuly 18, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    It's not fair you have all those pretty flowers when the poor have none! We must practice redistributive gardening!

    ReplyDelete
  8. MerilynJuly 18, 2011 at 11:51 PM

    That is a beautiful garden Paco. Do you put plenty of mulch around the flowers?

    Snapdragons love being pruned as each flower dies, and will give you months of blooms if you do so Anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
  9. MinicaptJuly 19, 2011 at 12:37 AM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJHpG-CIlcE

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  10. Col. MilquetoastJuly 20, 2011 at 11:22 PM

    Personally, I can identify a rose, daisy, tulip, sunflower, and maybe an iris.

    Anything else I shove into the category of "some flower." It's easier that way. Especially, since I really don't care what they are called.

    ReplyDelete
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