Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

We picked the perfect weekend to spend in New Orleans - it was our first time back since Katrina and things in the French Quarter look better than ever. This trip, all the balcony gardens struck me as extra-beautiful - so I want to share them with you. How welcoming is this street!

I'm not sure where there is room for people to sit out on this balcony - but if there is, the Queen Palms or Cocus Plumosa, Syagrus romanzoffiana, and banana trees will certainly shield you from prying eyes.

The baskets of ferns were full and healthy - Nothing says "southern" to me like a hanging fern does. Ferns do so well here you'll see them growing out of lots of nooks and crannies in the walls. Check out the photo below. . .

. . . do you see it? In the recessed area in the very middle, ferns are growing!

and while we're on ferns, I believe this is a tree fern. Anyone out there want to share some info on it? I'm at a loss - except that it is pretty darn striking! I apologize to the foot-weary lady in the shot. My group was heading out and I couldn't wait.

Back to the balcony gardens . . . Although the ground floor appears to be boarded up and empty, the balcony is teeming with life and beauty!

Just in case you needed a closer look - now that's a riot of color!

And along Bourbon Street, beads are used at garlands on this balcony. The days were overcast so no need to open up the umbrellas - and all the better for me to enjoy their gardens.

Check out how full these baskets are! I especially like the spikey plants in the back of this one. Each basket on this balcony was a little bit different

I wondered if these flowers would have been more open if the sun was out . . .

I usually like a large sweep of the same plant(s) - but my favorite balcony gardens had more random plantings. This just makes me want to grab a book, a beer, and a chair.

I couldn't resist sharing this pittosporum - Yep, you read that right - this is a pittosporum (and the sign at the base of this "shrub" verified our identification) It's a shrub on steroids!

Agapanthus were in full bloom all over the city! These happen to be at Audobon Park

Palms are used all over New Orleans. These Windmill Palms, Trachycarpus fortunei, are in Cafe Beignet, an outdoor jazz joint on Bourbon Street.

Mediterranean Fan Palms, Chamerops humilis, dot Jackson Square. Each and every clump is as beautiful as these! Some of the most stunning specimens I've ever seen.

And along Cafe Du Monde are planted a line of Chinese Fan Palms, Livingstonia chinesis.

I got home with more pictures of plants than of people. Go figure! Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll!

Shade Garden Updates

Although the bright morning sun has washed out the detail of the these white 'Candidum' Caladiums, in person they are stunning. As a bonus, they were planted last spring and have graced us with a second year of beauty. I think this little vignette has all the layers needed for interest. The trees overhead aren't visible in this shot but their canopy offers a nice "frame" for the scene. The shrubs, Firebush, Hamelia patens, are a serene backdrop for the statuary and annual plantings in the tiny circular bed. Around the time the caladiums melt in our summer heat, the Firebush grab the attention with their red and orange blooms. They love, love, love our heat!


I am excited to see that all the Yaupon Hollies, Ilex vomitoria, have bloomed heavily this spring. Planted in 2005, they are yet to produce one single red berry! Yaupon Hollies are dioecious, which means some bloom with male flowers and some bloom with female flowers. In other words, you need a male and a female in order to get berries. However, these were labeled 'Pride of Houston', which are supposed to be self-pollinating. One nurseryman, Al, suggested that I plant more Yaupons (I already have 5) - of any variety. So just upwind of these, there is now a border of 7 or 9 Dwarf Yaupons.

In the meantime, I am checking the plants for berries- and have found a few very tiny green ones where the flowers were. I'm holding my breath, but I have hope for red berries at Christmas time!

This is my "Lasagna Garden Bed" one year later. Even though it is the middle of the "Shade Garden", there is ample afternoon sun to grow a healthy crop of Cosmos. The bed is bordered with Dusty Miller, Senecio cenerario, which was planted last August. A couple of the plants didnt' survive the winter and their replacements haven't filled back in yet. Plus, I trimmed them all back by about 1/2 in April. Don't you love their silver color? Such a nice contrast to everything else. The everything else (whether you can see it or not) includes Cat's Whiskers, Orthosiphon aristatussome, some fat-fronded Ferns, and Coleus. All the hummingbirds are hanging out on this side of the house this year. I haven't come up with a plan for this area yet - so these free and nearly free items are serving me well.

Same song, second verse

Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant Tree, Flame of the Forest, Peacock Flower - exotic names for a most exotic looking tree! I know that I just posted pictures of this very tree BUT I am mesmerized - plus I've been waiting SEVEN LONG YEARS for her to bloom so humor me.

What a wonderful welcome home!

Nitrogen fixing plants

I have always heard the phrase "nitrogen fixing plant" and could tell you that legumes are indeed "nitrogen fixing plants" - but I 've never given a second thought about how a plant actually sets nitrogen. Hubbie is growing soybeans (a legume) this spring and pulled this plant up to check it for nitrogen producing nodules. Check it out, close up - This little guy has three nodules inside the black circle.

I must admit I didn't think about it again until I read Zanthan Gardens' post on saving bluebonnet seeds. She tells us when we're ready to clear out a patch of spent legumes, do not pull the plants out by the roots; cut them at ground level. This keeps those nodules in the soil where they'll help enrich the soil. Nasturtiums are also legumes - Sure wish I'd read Zanthan Gardens post earlier - this morning I pulled out all the dying and drying nasturtium plants. Live and learn.

The Royal Poinciana Blooms!

In February 2002, we planted this Royal Poinciana, Delonix regia, tree in our Shade Garden. Each spring, when these tropical beauties are sporting vibrant orange-red flowers, ours has let me down - until this year! I think it's already pretty beautiful - but there are LOTS more buds to open. Royal Poinciana, native to Madagascar, is deciduous. It's one of the last trees to leaf-out. A freeze and Christmas Eve snow in 2004 nipped it back some. But this is a fast growing tree - you can expect it to put on about 5 feet a year. Mature height is 30-40 feet. Many trees I notice are wider than they are tall.

The blooms are so high up, it's hard to get a good picture of the flowers - but you can see all the dark round buds on these clusters.

I never realized how large each individual flower is - about 3 inches in length. This tree is grown from seed - and the seed pods are quite impressive too - it's a hard dark seed pod that I would guess measures at least nine inches. If you look close you can see some pods on this picture. Our Royal Poinciana is putting on such a beautiful show that I've forgiven her for making us wait seven long years for our first flower.