Foxglove Hybrid Flower | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Foxglove Hybrid Flower | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet this Foxglove Hybrid Flower! If you are new to my blogs, photographs you may not have seen this Hybrid in the past? We have had these growing now for three years I think (without going back and looking).

As with the past years these Foxglove grow near the Bell Flower, or the Bell Flower grow near the Foxglove? Either way this is what I believe this Foxglove Hybrid came from, these two flowers interbreeding with each other. Of course this is just my theory of observation in my garden.





Since these Hybrids grow as a Foxglove would, I do not know which Foxglove will look like this until blooming time. The Bell Flowers took some time to establish themselves here. Once the Bell Flowers established themselves, and we chose to grow the Foxglove inside our private area, did we get this funky looking flower blooms.

You can see from the shot above, the top flower blooms are the ones who open up in this funky manor that the typical Foxglove Flower Blooms just do not open up as these hybrids do.





I have read some of the hype on the computer about this funky looking Foxglove Hybrid. Some saying there is no way that a species like the Foxglove can possibly breed with another species of flowers. Why not? Why cant a species of flower breed with another type of flower? I personally feel trying to control nature is like holding back the tide from coming in.....

This Hybrid Foxglove Flower Bloom was not something that was planned here in our garden, it just happened one year and has continued year after year. The seeds are the only way I can think of, of how this can happen the past what three years here in our garden? We do contain this hybrid flower within the private part of our garden so far. The typical Foxglove Flower that folks know of is one of those Flowers that we, or I have to contain within our yard.

As some people know the Foxglove is also a plant that if used in the wrong manor, or if it spreads to livestock it may not have the effect people really want. Thus containing the very good seed producing seed pods, or dead heading. As soon as a seed pod is forming, pinch it off before the seed pod matures. Keeping only the color of Foxglove you want.





The Hybrid Flower above has not opened up all the way yet. It takes them some time to fully open up in the funky manor you seen above. We do keep the Foxglove Flowers away from the dogs who have chewed on the leaves they could get to before, as puppies it was more so. Making the dogs sick of course! These Hybrids I do not recall the dogs being able to get to? We grow the flowers in our private area inside the six foot dog fence, inside another fence. We just find this way best for our Flowers and to keep the dogs from chewing on leaves the best we can. The dogs are allowed to chew on the Raspberry leaves and stems all they want to, the raspberries are safe to eat. I can not express enough, Foxglove Flowers are NOT safe for dogs, cats etc., people to eat!!

Thank you for coming by and checking out my Hybrid Foxglove Flowers!

Bumblebee Hard At Work | Mrsroadrunner Photography

Bumblebee Hard At Work | Mrsroadrunner Photography




Meet again this Bumblebee! This Bumblebee is working on a Foxglove Flower, even this big Bumblebee can still fit into the flower blooms!





This Bumblebee acts aggressive but really, never had a bad experience. This species will challenge you by aggressively flying quickly into your face, or check you out by circling you. This is what bumblebee's do with flowers, they go round and round. They work on some flower blooms by circling them as well. This is just from my observations, if the Bumblebee does that in front of me I am sure they show the same behavior in your garden?

I do like the shot above showing the two sets of wings!



Some photographs I use ONLY for id use, some are stand alone photographs. Which is which is something I have to decide as the photographer. I feel I may put a couple of these shots out in the public as stand alone photographs? We will just have to wait and see?





I do not use my tripod all that much. Why? I feel tripods are restrictive when it comes to wildlife. I am not that far away from my subjects. If they would allow me closer I would change lenses and get in closer ha! Fact is I had a visitor here yesterday who did not stick around long and who was just to close! I did not have the time to change lenses..... if you are a photographer you know not everything comes out the way you see it in your head. All we can do is do our best!





This is the last photograph of this series I am showing. I am going to try to limit my photographs on these blogs to six or less. Lets see how I do with that ha!

Thank you for coming by and checking out this Bumblebee working hard on this Foxglove Flower. BTW the Foxglove does have it's bad point however the great thing about growing Foxglove Flowers is? The pollinators LOVE the Foxglove!

Rose Bloom in Orange

Rose Bloom in Orange




Meet our one of our Roses! Like several of our other Roses this to is a climbing Rose, with a nice color and the scent is not to bad either!



Roses are one of those flowers many people have. Guy is the Rose buyer here at our home. He looks at peddle count, and is real fond of the climbers!! This Rose is not a huge climber as our others. It does cover quite a lot of the six foot fence with many blooms! We actually gave away recently a couple of our climbers due to space. We do not have much land so every inch of space is valuable. I will miss those climbing Roses, however they all went to good homes!

This Orange Rose has a hint of yellow inside the peddles and we have had it for several years now! We did not have scare with our Roses. Warmth then we got a freeze! It looks like all our established Roses are coming back! The black death was clipped, and new shoots of growth is being seen! Black death is something I just say for if you grow roses you know of the black death and how much you do not want to see it!

Guy claimed he was not going to buy anymore Roses..... guess what he brought home lately??

The Roses attract Butterflies, Hoverflies,I have even photographed frogs inside the peddles of our Roses!!

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photographs of this Rose!

Coneflower Blooms

Coneflower Blooms




Hope your weekend went well! Meet the Coneflower and visitor from the photographs from July 25 2014 I am working on this morning.



As you can see by the end of July the Coneflower are not at their peek. These Coneflower were placed in a spot facing the southern sun in front of the Iris Patch several years ago. The Iris flowers have outgrown the Coneflower and the Coneflower need to be moved for several reasons, or separated planted in other locations.



The Coneflower have grown, bloomed in this south location. However this location gets pretty hot! As you can see from these photographs the blooms just do not like this heat from the southern sun. I say the Coneflowers are easy to grow! The Coneflowers are forgiving.



Forgiving is the Coneflower, however as you can see from these photographs the Coneflowers are compromised. Such plants are vulnerable to pests, and other attacks that we may or may not see under the ground. What we can not see is where all the good stuff really goes on! The flowers are what we see! This is why we all love flowers! The pretty colors, shapes, sizes and fruit that some plants produce. Truly though, all the real action is where we can not see. The roots!

Why these Coneflowers in our garden need moved, or since they are growing in this location separated if can be and moved elsewhere. I am thinking the Coneflowers need more shade. Protection from the triple digit temperatures of the High Desert? As I have said we have had these for oh, three years now? This in no way makes Guy or I experts at growing Coneflowers.



Here in the High Desert we are supposed to be zone 5. Everyone lives in a zone. You have a zone you live in too! However some people can live in more then one zone, like we do! Guy is very good at this zone stuff! Guy really is, and he is my teacher about growing here in the High Desert. Someone down the road can grow a plant that we can not. Though we have found places on our small piece of land that the people just right down the road have issues with. This of course is a topic of conversation with the neighbors and I. "How did you grow that", or "How come the frost killed mine and not yours"? Now this is the fun us gardeners have, figuring out what grows where!

Zones, it is good that you find out what zone you live in. Plant accordingly. This does not mean you can not grow whatever, just is a starting point. I found a zone chart if you want to check it out , United States Zone chart

Keep in mind the zone charts are just a starting point. I doubt to many people are going to guaranty you that nature does not change. Many things goes into determining the zones, weather patterns for what year... moon phases on and on and on!!



Honey Bee's ( Honeybee ), are one insect you will find on the Coneflower Blooms! One of these photographs I took, lets see if I put it up..... does not look like I had. Spider mites like the Coneflower. Nasty little bugs that drain the plant of liquid. Turning the host plant into a dried up, nasty looking mess!! Spider Mites will encase the host into a web for the younger spider mites to feed on. What if you see five spider mites I read where you have a infestation! There are several insect that will eat the Spider Mites, Lady Bugs or Lady Birds is one insect you want in your garden!! If you have to go buy Ladybugs!! Make sure if you feel the need to buy Ladybugs that you buy them from a company that does not ship you dead insects!! Buy locally if you can and keep in mind when you get the Ladybugs home give them a drink!! Spray the area down with a hose before setting the insect free, or soak a cotton ball in water is one way if you are setting them free in a inclosed area. Keep in mind, insects do not drink water as we do!

I personally have not seen aphids , or their caretakers the ants on the Coneflowers of ours.

I have seen as you can see in the photographs Honeybee's really like the Coneflower! Wasps, Carpenter Bees, Bumble Bees and more like the Coneflowers! I can not seam to recall if butterflies like the Coneflowers. I have seen the Hummingbirds near the Coneflowers however we grow several flowers in groups.... The color could attract a pollinator then the said pollinator may not want to work on said colored flower but go to the neighboring flower. This is our philosophy of growing. Not everyone does this! We just choose to.



You can see the Honey Bee doing its thing......



Here the Honeybee is really getting into the center which is rather spiny when you get right in there!



This Honeybee is done and flying off. I for one do not know if I want to speak about the medicinal uses for the Coneflower for I just do not want the responsibility of someone reading something I wrote and putting it into their body......

Thank you for coming by looking at my photography and reading my rambling of the Coneflower Blooms!

White Verbena Flower

White Verbena Flower




Meet the White Verbena Flower! These and the other colors were blooming in the end of July 2014.



We grow our Verbena in a huge pot and place it directly in the South Eastern light. The Verbena do very well for us in this location so why change?

I checked on the Verbena just yesterday and they look like they are coming back just fine. Come to think of it in 2014 the Verbena did start growing outside the pot where seeds dropped, though never bloomed. We have this white, we have red, and we have a purple / blue colors.



The Verbena appear to be pretty hardy here in the High Desert with watering two times a day. The soil consists of my mix of mushroom,steer, peat moss, and a high end soil we have to drive to Bend Oregon to buy in bulk if we can find it!!

Verbena attracts the common Pollinators who do their thing and walla seeds! We have had these Verbena growing in this same container for gosh four years? Perhaps longer? This is the Verbena container haha! I would have to go back into my photograph archive to find the exact years the Verbena has been flowering in that container, point being they keep coming back year after year! Knock on wood!

Thank you for coming by checking out these photographs of the White Verbena Flowers blooming on this day!

Gloriosa Daisy Blooming in September

Gloriosa Daisy Blooming in September




Meet again the Gloriosa Daisy! These flowers were still blooming in late September 2014!



Unlike the Black Eyeed Susan these Gloriosa Daisies have a ring of color, if not color through out the yellow. Nice looking flowers if you ask me!







Gosh does any two Gloriosa Daisies look alike? That is the question?



The Gloriosa Daisy grew most everywhere we sprinkled some seeds at!

Pretty easy to grow!



Thank you for coming by and checking out our Gloriosa Daisy's and my photographs of them!

Blooming Painted Daisy

Meet the Painted Daisy Bloom!



The Painted Daisy comes in many colors!! These were grown in the ground in 2014 and in 2015 I think I will try some in containers and see how they do here in the High Desert?

All the Painted Daisies for us bloomed on the north side of the property. I found it interesting that this plant is used as a natural insecticide.... repelling what we all consider, "bad insects", as well as tasting nasty to the browsing creatures. I of course just think these are lovely flowers!

As for the creatures who eat the garden up... I have yet to see a squirrel in our whole town! Seeing them outside of town on a farm, however this was a couple miles from town. We do have rabbits! At one time someone released pet rabbits!! Those have pretty much disappeared, after all we do have the birds of prey and the coyotes and the pet rabbits stick out with their colors that do not do well for surviving in such a town as ours! Wild bunnies are a whole different story!! They can be little stinkers!

Since we are early risers the deer have also been seen here in town. Though people have done pretty good about running them out of the town. Nothing like having the Mule Deer eating everything in site!! Dose not mean the Mule Deer do not spend the night and leave before sunrise!

I personally had a terrible time there for a couple years with someones pet ducks and chickens! The roosters would be under my window crowing hahahaha! I laugh for I got so mad! Now I can laugh about it ha! These pets ate up everything, so I was continually chasing them off!

The wild birds do nibble, however they really do not do all that much damage. Dogs, dogs do damage!! Why our dogs have their area! I can not do much about the dogs people do not keep at home.... charging our fence which means they have to go through the flower beds is something we just deal with. Also owners allowing their dog to urinating on our flowers is also something we just deal with.



Some flowers do great in the ground, while others do better in a container. Some flowers prefer one over the other here in our area. What you see is just a small part of a plant. The real goings on is under the soil where we can not see! So in 2015 I think I will play around with the soil and the Painted Daisy, time permitting of course!



I like these, they add some real flashy color to the flower beds!

Thank you for coming by and checking out my photographs of my Painted Daisies!

Moss Roses in Bloom

Moss Roses in Bloom




Meet again the Moss Rose!



These Moses Roses were in full boom and photographed on September 04 2014. We grew these in a container, since the Moss Ross seams to do better for us in a container then they grow in the ground here in the High Desert.



The Moss Rose also seeds pretty well!











Thank you for coming by and checking out my Moss Roses! Color , color color!

Hoverfly On The Cosmos Flower Bloom

Hoverfly On The Cosmos Flower Bloom




Meet the Hoverfly. I have several other posts of the Hoverfly. This Hoverfly is busy on a Cosmos Flower Bloom. Hoverflies are beneficial to our gardens!



I ran across someones post gosh it was lately, however I cant remember whose? As if I would name drop anyways which I try not to do..... The thing that was written sounded as if the writer did not realize the Hoverfly is a beneficial insect. The ultimate insect we like to see in our gardens is of course the Honey Bee, however the Honey Bee is disappearing at alarming rates. This is a sad fact. Thus many gardeners are seeing other beneficial insects helping out like this species of Hoverfly.

I also grow plants inside the house. Bare with me here as I get this thought out. I noticed as one of my Spider plants was continuously flowering and giving me seeds what on earth is pollinating this house plant? So I watched..... results? House flies were in fact pollinating this Spider Plant of mine! Of course we are not real fond of these house flies, we also have blow flies here in our area do to the cattle, other lifestock in our area. Same results. These nasty , dirty insects are in fact pollinating our flowers and my house plants! I much rather have the Hoverfly then these kinds of flies! However we do not invite anything inside the house, they just show up just like everyone elses homes. Point being is pollinating. I get seeds off not only my Spider Plant......



You can see by the shadow of these shots I do use natural sunlight. The sun just happened to be positioned in the sky to cast the shadows you see.



I am not sure why we have a healthy population of such things as the Hoverfly? I have a theory that is all it is though. This theory of mine is , we had a neighboring property that was uncared for. Being uncared for , for the years it was resulted in natives plants flowering. Weeds really. These native weeds brought the Hoverfly in. A nice population of them! Now the home and property is cared for, we will just have to see what happens in 2015......



I may allow these native plants, basically weeds do there thing in one spot of the property, however the town does spray chemicals to kill such things. We do not use such things here, however we do understand why the town sprays the sides of the roads. Some of our roads are dirt, then covered with rocks. Native weeds will take over the world! Causing fires when the life cycle is over and the plants / flowers dry up. Driving over these dried up flowering, "weeds", the undercarriage of your vehicle will start fires. Wildfires are something everyone should be mindful of in the High Desert where we can get very dry. How many folks think of just driving over dry vegetation will cause a wildfire? When I first moved over here I never thought of such a thing! A second, (maybe third?), generation rancher / farmer here made this very clear to me!



There are many species of Hoverfly! This is the common species we have. The face I have noticed seams familiar with the Hoverflies I have seen here. Big eyes! Like a fly will have, and of course the different kinds of Hoverfly, hover! They beat their wings very quick allowing them to hover over the flowers in which they help pollinate! Dont kill them, just watch what happens with your fruit, flowers etc. !

Thank you for coming by my post! Happy growing in 2015!

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly On The Lilac Flowers

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly On The Lilac Flowers




Meet the Yellow Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly we get here every year in our garden!



This is probably the biggest butterfly we have here in our garden? This series of photographs of this butterfly was taken in May 12 of 2014 as the Lilacs were in bloom.



I believe these Swallowtails emerge as butterflies in or near our garden. I believe it is these butterfly cocoons I have noticed way up in the tall tree's that grow near us? As you can see this one Swallowtail is in perfect shape. No birds, or cats have gotten to this one!



The butterflies of all kinds like the Lilacs when they go to bloom, and even when the Lilacs are not in bloom! The Lilacs attract many things to them, when the Lilacs bloom, even more so!

Early in the Morning my routine everyday to water. I also spray down the Lilacs which do attract such things as the butterflies to get drinks as well as when the Lilacs bloom supplying the creatures with food, a place to hide, nesting material for the birds. We have had peoples cats hide in our Lilacs and even had someones chicken hide in our Lilacs haha! Actually the chicken fell asleep and I could not figure out what in the world was in my Lilacs haha!



We do grow many Lilacs and use them as the privacy, "fence". When the Lilacs bloom oh wow the scent even comes inside the house! We had one lady tell us she could smell the Lilac blooms at her home!



I am fond of the all the visitors here to the garden. These Swallowtail are one of the flashier visitors! Some years we have dozens of these Swallowtails here! It kind of gets crazy for they are flying here and there and stopping here and there!

Oh boy do these Tiger Swallowtail also like the Sweet William flowers!! Actually gosh, the swallowtails like most things we choose to grow and come back year after year! Since we do not spray any chemicals, I typically do not allow cutting my flowers so such things as the Butterflies have plenty here to choose from!



Other then the spray that other folks use to kill insects, (butterflies are insects), the birds are one of the predators and peoples cats do a lot of damage to such things as the Swallowtail Butterflies.

Attracting such things as the Swallowtail Butterflies to your flower beds is not real hard! Just plant the flowers they like! Lilacs, lupine, foxglove, Lilies,Sweet williams,roses, mmmmmm gosh the Swallowtails come to almost everything we grow here, the list of plants we grow here goes on and on!

Remember to give the Butterflies of all kinds a safe place to drink!! We have many birds here, can not express to you how many birds we get here!! The bird area is the same place we have made for such things as the Butterflies to get drinks. So far everyone has lived in harmony. If you have cats..... cats will harm and even kill such things as butterflies without a second thought!! Keep this in mind if you are going to plant flowers to attract the butterflies. It is not really fair to attract such a thing as Butterflies to the garden if they are just going to get killed by your cat. We have a cat, and he has to follow the rules just like the dogs do, or the cat just like the dogs - gets in trouble.



Just like most of the other visitors here to the garden, they get used to my routine. Everyday I try and do the same things for the critters get to know my routine. The visitors are more at ease when they learn your routine, photographs then are nothing out of the normal.



Thank you for coming by and checking out this series of photographs I got of this Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly feeding on the Lilac flowers! Lilacs are super easy to grow! Most everyone sales them, if you do not know someone you could dig up a baby from! We just have the purple Lilacs at this time, though there are more colors of Lilacs and I really can not say how the other colors attract visitors?