The BIC Plant and Gardening Thread

[sister13]

Hello BIC friends and fellow gardeners! Whether you have a container on your balcony, some indoor plants, a whole garden, or even if you just happen to visit a botanical garden or see a lovely space or plant in your neighborhood you want to share, this is the place! Please share pics, tips, plans and tricks about all things gardening!  

For many years I had a container balcony garden with mostly flowers and herbs (when travel allowed), and I am now embarking on my first backyard landscaping and gardening journey. 

I am often taking inspiration from the natural world around me and have recently had some spring inspiration for the Makeup Challenge of the Week and have loved chatting about gardening in our sun threads, so I thought a new thread would be nice. 

It’s always so interesting to me to see plants and gardens from different regions and countries, so I hope you’ll join the conversation!  

PS: if you create a makeup look based on some plant or garden inspiration, please feel free to post your look or flat-lay here, too! 

Here are a few pics of my spring bulbs to start and I’ll share more soon (kindly ignore the weeds)! 

 

 

My old balcony (from the outside) - I’ll try to find an internal pic too:

[Saradestin]

Wow! They look so beautiful @JoSometimes! I am sure they had a blast!! 

[JoSometimes]

They certainly did @Saradestin! They loved dropping their flowers into their new homes. We spent the morning making sure they got enough water. 

[Saradestin]

I know, I know, this is cheating because it is not my garden, but is is way too beautiful not to share. These are some of my mom’s peonies. My dad purchased a root of the one on the left for my mom a few years ago and it has gotten so huge and spectacular, that I needed to share! 

 

Peonies must not grow here because I haven’t seen any and I am sure that, if they grew here, someone would have them. They are way too beautiful not to. 
I have just seen that they sell the roots at Walmart

If they grew here, they would already be on their way! 

[sister13]

Also, I love the textures of the brick and stones! @Saradestin 

[Saradestin]

Thank you @sister13 !!

[sister13]

Wow! Those are Stunning and other peoples gardens perfectly welcome in this thread. I just bought a Scarlet O’Hara peony I couldn’t resist at the nursery. Online search says it’s red but they were bright pink at the nursery! @Saradestin 

[Saradestin]

Photo photo photo @sister13 ! 😃😃😃 it has to look gorgeous!

[sister13]

Well, this has been escalating quickly, lol! Meet Ms. Scarlet O’Hara, from morning (a bud) to afternoon and blooming, though I hope she ends up pink like the other ones at the nursery! @Saradestin She’s. MOre of a single bloom, not a big fluffy one,  but she really spoke to me! 

[Saradestin]

It looks so beautiful and it is so big and healthy @sister13 ! It is quite “scarlet” at this point but it may change color later on. It has happened to me with different plants. I purchased a kalanchoe when we lived in California and it was bubble gum pink. After a year, when it was time to bloom again, it surprised me with a gorgeous deep coral. It was like a completely different plant. And I didn’t do anything! As so many, I lost it during the freeze. I will have to get another one 😁

And I have a petunia that has been changing color as well. It is interesting and fun! 

[sister13]

Interesting! I will keep an eye on it, haha! Trying to decide where she will go! @Saradestin 

[sister13]

 Mine’s not blooming yet, but even the buds are so pretty and round, so I’ll get a pic later! I actually thought I got a pic of the blooming ones at the nursery, but I guess not. To be continued! @Saradestin 

[JoSometimes]

You could always grow a herbaceous peony indoors inside a big pot with good drainage @Saradestin 😉

[Saradestin]

That could be a possibility but I am not too fortunate with indoor plants @JoSometimes , they end up getting diseases and I need to take them outside, where the diseases tend to disappear or the plant simply doesn’t make it. ☹️

I had an indoor palm tree and it ended up getting spider mites or similar. I took it outside and the pest disappeared. The palm tree has even survived the freeze!! 😵

[JoSometimes]

Aww that’s too bad @Saradestin. Nature always seems to find a way. And your palm tree is impressive! I love seeing plants make a comeback.

[Saradestin]

Yes @JoSometimes ! so resilient!! 

This was last summer 

This was after the freeze, with two leaves still resisting strong!

And this was yesterday

[JoSometimes]

@Saradestin Yes! You go palm tree! 🌴

[Titian06]

Sure they count, @Saradestin !  I love peonies!  We had them at the house we lived in before we moved.  I had a secretary who always brought in peonies from her garden to sit on her desk.  They grow in zones 3-8.

[Saradestin]

Thank you for the confirmation @Titian06 , that way I don’t fall into the temptation of buying them to try to grow them here. They are nowhere for a reason ☹️

[blackkitty2014]

Oh wow @Saradestin 🤩 Post away post away. These are too beautiful to miss 🌹

[Saradestin]

I am amazed at the size and beauty of the flowers @blackkitty2014 ! 🩷🩷🩷

[Saradestin]

You have heard me talking about the terrible and unusual freeze we had last December. These pictures are from the garden of a property we have very close by that is a vacation rental so we don’t live there but I take care of the garden weekly. 
Everything was looking so spectacular because of the mild winters we had for the previous 6 years. But a huge freeze killed it all (or almost)

My ferns and ti plants 

Before

After 

Before (my bananas)

After

Before (banana tree and giant flower of paradise)

After 

Before (my gorgeous ferns and ti plants)

After

Before (grapefruit on the right and tangerines on the back left)

After

Before (my bromeliads)

After (a different angle but you get it…)

This is right after we left for our Christmas holidays

And this right after them 😭.

And there was much more, but you can understand how devastated I felt. The citrus trees are totally dead so I will have to take them out (including roots) and plant new ones. 
The bromeliads died as well. The rest is slowly coming back to life. It will take long for everything to look as beautiful as it was but it will get there eventually.