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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Continuing Bloom: Containers Plus August 9, 2014

The summer doldrums continue, but so do the flowers blooming.  Today I am linking with-

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma Wiseman and Magical Mystical Teacher

Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally

My container garden on my deck is blooming dreamily, this year I felt like growing the plants from seed instead of buying the usual pansies, Calibrachoa, or Petunias.  This is Browallia speciosa and 'Alaska' Nasturtiums-

Petunia exserta, Browallia speciosa, and Ageratum 'Blue Diamond'-

Ageratum 'Blue Diamond and Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra 'Sunburst'-

Nasturtiums 'Alaska', small Salvia lyrata, Browallia not yet blooming-

So vote for one if you like.

From my trip to the fair, another quilt square-

And a really cute little rooster looking strangely startled, blue table covers-

From my trip to the Seattle Aquarium, some giant clams, with wonderful mantles that look almost like flowers, nearly closed in the first photo so you can see the shell, the blue inhalant aperture leads to the gill chamber where food is collected from the water-

Mantle open, inhalant siphon on left, side view of tubular exhalant siphon or aperture to the right in the center lengthwise area-

With some anemones, corals, fish, similar smaller blue clam to bottom right-

One of those old faithful perennials, Phlox paniculata, pink, I added about 4 more, different colors, last year.-


My ground is like concrete, the PNW is in the dry season and I had company and trips so didn't get my watering done.   A couple of my new non-established plants probably didn't make it.   How is the heat and drought of summer affecting you?      Hannah

or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.


68 comments:

  1. Your phlox is a lovely colour, do you have "watering crystals" there? Clear blobs, dig them into the mix before you plant, water well, and they swell and retain the water, then release, Here we have a very white lawn with frost, but hoping for a fine warm day. Cheers,Jean

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    1. Jean- I've heard of them, I've seen them used for some horticultural purpose, I think they even use them in baby diapers now. I do use soaker hoses and mulch with dried grass clippings in my vegetable beds but with 2 acres I have some places not covered with soaker hoses or rather remote from the hose
      bib. I usually do a better job but it was kind of hard with company and trips. And I do try to grow drought tolerant plants, though they are not all that.

      It's so hard for me to visualize New Zealand with frost, I can't get rid of the tropical image in my mind. I looked at the globe and I guess you are close to the same distance from the South Pole that I am from the North Pole. The lows here have been 6ºF / -14ºC in the 20 years I have lived here. What kind of lows have you had?

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  2. great shots from the Aaquarium as well as beautiful flowers.

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    1. Thanks, Margaret, I wanted to be a marine biologist when young so enjoy aquariums. I enjoyed your tour of part of Poland, especially since my husband's grandfather came from there, I don't know which part, but I can't comment on your blog since I don't do Google+, so am commenting here. The flower displays are fantastic, and the different colored houses are charming.

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  3. Wonderful series! I love your pretty blooms! and the chicken is cute.. I have never seen the giant clam, cool photos.. Thank you for linking up to my critter party, enjoy your weekend!

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    1. The giant clams were amazing, with the wavy shells, and colors. Thanks for hosting!

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  4. Such lovely captures of you visit to the aquarium and your garden! Watering can be almost a full time job during the dry season.

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    1. Thanks, Janice. It's manageable when I can be home but to be gone for a few days at the worst point is hard on the plants.

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  5. Beautiful photos! The giant clam is a fascinating critter.

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    1. Thanks, Gunilla, I had trouble seeing it was a clam at first at the Aquarium. The ripples in the shell are impressive to me, and the size, though I've seen man-eating clams in movies that are much bigger, though I think they also had the ripply shells.

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  6. Hannah, I like the Nasturtiums Alaska. They are very pretty. What are you going to do with the quilt square? It's very pretty.

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    1. I like the variegated leaves of 'Alaska'. I had to wait awhile for flowers but now they will probably be blooming a long time and I especially like the red.

      The quilt square is just one of many I photographed at the fair, I think about quilting but haven't taken the time to do any, plus I like the special embroidered stitching of the quilting machines and don't have one, so I know I can't make it look like that anyway. I liked your Hummingbird moth, I enjoy photographing moths if I can find them, I haven't seen a Hummingbird moth here yet.

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  7. Beautiful series of photos Hannah.......love the aquarium shots!

    Enjoy your week,
    Ruby

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    1. Thanks, Ruby, I enjoy looking at marine invertebrates as well as the fishes.

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  8. Good to see the plants cheerily blooming despite the ground like concrete - not a problem for us at the moment here after the wet week we've had, but we're looking forward to Spring it is just around the corner for us.
    Wren x

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    1. It's supposed to hit 102ºF / 39ºC Monday, so I'm trying to be careful to water everything but that is a tall order. How exciting and fun for you to be nearly arriving at spring!

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  9. Such a nice variety here ! Blooms blocks and critters ::)

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    1. Thanks, Deb, you seem well-rounded to be interested in all three, I think about quilting but haven't yet taken the plunge. Maybe in the winter....

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  10. Your container flowers are especially beautiful, lovely colors!! Each year, I do more and more container gardening, I find they are much easier to maintain and enjoy!!

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    1. True, Debbie, and I don't go out to find the moles have heaved them from the ground or made a giant mound next to their planting hole. Moles seem especially attracted to new beds and dig and to the planting holes of my treasured new aquisitions.

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  11. Nice photos, great flowers! I love underwater photos, beautiful colors!

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    1. Thanks, Leovi, I was surprised to see how well the bright colors came through in the cell phone photos.

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  12. Beautiful photo series! Like the Seattle Aquarium!

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    1. Thanks, Birgitta, I enjoy marine aquariums but don't get up to Seattle very often. They have lots of wonderful aquariums and animals on display.

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  13. Beautiful photos. Your container flowers are lovely - such an array of color.
    The giant clam photos are really cool also,

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    1. Thanks, Pat, it was fun growing plants for the containers, I hope to bring them inside and keep some alive over the winter, if I can avoid bringing in aphids and spider mites.

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  14. Wonderful series of shots ~ beautiful variety and love the macro floral shot ~ for I HM2

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

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    1. Thanks, Carol, I enjoy your ocean scenes and haikus.

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  15. Loved to watch the Aquarium photos. :)

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    1. Thanks, I usually have mostly plants, it was fun.

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  16. Hannah love the many colors especially the phlox. It has been a wet July and soon we are getting more rain in August. But not a dry summer at all here.

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    1. Thanks, Donna, the west coast does have wet seasons and dry seasons, no rain all summer as a rule. We did get a little unusual rain in July, soon baked away. The Phlox plant pictured is amazing, 10 years old and gets very little summer watering.

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  17. I'd love to have some of your heat right now--it's winter here in the southern hemisphere. Your photos are really great to see.

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    1. Thanks, Betty, I know how depressing winter was to me last year. You can enjoy my flowers now and I will be cheered by yours in my winter. I'm trying to make myself remember this fall and winter the heat and struggle with the voles and moles for consolation.

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  18. Enjoying your shots, Hannah. Colorful flowers and fish.
    Thanks for stopping by, happy new week :)
    1sthappyfamily.com

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    1. Thanks, Lina, I imagine you get to enjoy some marine life where you live, and have flowers all the time?

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  19. I envy you your phlox :)
    Thanks for sharing.
    Mormor

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    1. Thanks, Mormor, that is my oldest Phlox and most reliable, I was thinking how great it has been and bought a few more last year. It will take them a few years to match it.

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  20. Great shots very nice collection.

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    1. Thanks, Bruce, I really enjoyed your fantastic bug macros, such detail!

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  21. Replies
    1. Thanks, Katarina, I don't quilt, yet, but I enjoy photographing quilts at the fair.

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  22. Thank you for sharing all these lovely photos, and for linking with Today's Flowers. Have a great week :)

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  23. Hi Hannah,

    How beautiful your photos are! Thanks for playing today.

    I'm looking forward to reading your comment on my blue post. Please come back.

    Happy Blue Monday,

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    1. Thanks, Sally, I always comment when I link. Look again. Thanks for hosting.

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    2. Hannah,

      I goofed; you always leave a comment. Please forgive my mistake.

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    3. That's OK, Thanks for taking time to host.

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  24. the photos of the clam are amazing!!
    Nice to see another part of the quilt too!!

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    1. Thanks, Marsha, I was so impressed with the giant clams, as you can tell. I have a lot of the squares of the quilt I can post, the total quilt is not as easy to see since the scale is smaller, but I might post it eventually. Plus I photographed other quilts.

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  25. Very cool collection. I love the quilt block. The fish are really cool. I play around with photos on my Blue post. Have a good week.

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  26. I love your aquarium photos - so beautiful!
    The Nasturium Alaska looks a bit like ice cream, very nice!

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    1. Thanks, Anni, I wish I could visit the Seattle Aquarium more often. I like plants with variegated leaves, so I like to grow 'Alaska' since that is its claim to fame. The flowers are nice colors too, and it doesn't get TOO long.

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  27. It has been the warmest and driest summer ever - and the roses have been better than ever. The lawn has not dried out, even if I never water it. I can see a little dry damage around, but not much. Shadow is the thing!

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    1. Shade gardens do dry out less. We don't have a drought, this is our normal dry season. We get all the rain in the fall, winter and spring. I remember one year when it rained every day during that time.

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  28. Such pretty blooms and this is one magnificent rooster! The quilt square is lovely and your photos of the blue clam is amazing!

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    1. Thanks, Pat, I wish I had written down the rooster's breed at the fair, he is cute. I will be putting more squares from that quilt on with time.

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  29. Such pretty blooms on your balcony! Love the rooster and the aquarium shots are terrific. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a kind comment. I have looked into the silver water treatment for MS, but I have other health issues that contradict the treatment.

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    1. Thanks, Karen, I should have taken note of the breed of chicken for the rooster, he was cute. Silver has a lot of bad press since some people made it incorrectly with non-distilled water, correctly made silver passes out of the body quickly.

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  30. Thanks, Felicia, I like the full mantle. It looks almost like a flower.

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  31. Replies
    1. Thanks, it has been a super performer. I usually forget to cut it back to make it shorter and bushier, so this is what I get.

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  32. wonderful photos! lovely flowers.
    thank you for visiting my blog.

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    1. Thanks, Christine, I wish I could find friendly butterflies that would let me take their pictures.

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  33. You have some beautiful flowers - I especially like the nasturtiums and ageratums. I found nasturtiums easy to grow from seed but didn't have much luck growing ageratums (in Arizona). Now I live in Florida so it will be interesting to find out what grows well here in the middle of Florida.

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  34. I've always considered Nasturtiums about the easiest flower to grow from seed, especially direct-sown, since they have such large seeds, and I love it that I can put the flowers in salads too. I hadn't tried Ageratum before but am excited to see how well they grow and bloom, so now I will grow them more. Happy gardening!

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