Drought tolerant gardening with planting list

Great inspiration for drought tolerant gardening.
Newly discovered website is dedicated mainly to the house for rent in Mykonos/Greece, but if you take closer look you may find a real garden designing treasure: a set of pictures showing garden development with full planting list.

I think choice of plants was made great and the mass planting has stunning effect. Just have a look by yourself at this example of beautiful drought tolerant gardening.

25 beautiful pictures of botanical garden in Wroclaw/Poland

Today let me take you for virtual garden tour in Wroclaw Botanical Garden - one of the oldest botanical gardens in Poland. It was founded almost 200 years ago in 1811 as scientific institution of Wroclaw University. Garden area to admire is 7 ha, including 3300 m2 under glass, 11 500 number of species and varieties.

Its history says that in 1945 almost 50% of all trees were destroyed in one of the last WW2 battles. I can't imagine how much more beautiful it would be with double number of trees.

It is located almost in the center of the city, in the area of the city’s fortifications and its oldest district, Ostrow Tumski, very easy to get there with public transportation. If you come to Wroclaw, don't miss this place.

I took tones of pictures while visited the garden last week, but to make it easier to digest I decided to make a selection of 25 most beautiful pictures showing sweetest places. Possibly I missed many of them, because after 4 hours walking, I looked, but I didn't see.

This collection of 25 beautiful pictures provides great inspiration for every gardener, so give me your hand and let’s go...

Brugmansia Angels Fantasy vs. Alien

Maybe you don’t get this association. For me it is the first one coming to my mind. The flowers look magnificent, but don’t you think they look like Alien - creature from the movie with Sigourney Weaver movie?

Yesterday during the conversation about the movie “District 9” I made a joke “I think aliens are already living among us” - yesterday everyone laughed, but today while looking at these pictures of spectacular brugmansia Angels Fantasy, somebody said “yes, aliens are already living among us – just look at this! Look at the beauty and diversity around…”

So I am not the only one to connect it with that movie.




I bumped at it in botanic garden in Wroclaw 2 days ago, when I have visited charming team of gardening magazine “My Beautiful Garden” as a result of being a finalist of blog competition. Soon I will show you more pictures from truly beautiful botanic garden in Wroclaw.

PS. Flowers of brugmansia Angels Fantasy look magnificent, but I didn’t get too much scent.

Do you still think you have no space for brugmansia?

I think this is the most unusual place to grow brugmansia.

Or you can beat it?

Hot Chilli Peppers

Hot chilli peppers are doing well in container gardening. As maybe you already know from my blog *Pepper Hot* I avidly grow hot peppers in containers and also experiment on overwintering them. This year I grow 4 kinds: Scotch Bonnet, Cayenne, Cyklon and Zvonek.

On the picture you see hot capsicum Zvonek, which has amazing shaped fruits. It’s doing great in containers – I am really surprised and happy. It grows best of all the hot peppers we grow this year at Ewa in the Garden. They are the tallest and with largest number of fruits.

This year I will have its seeds for swapping. Interested? Then let me know in November, at the time when the seeds will be ready to hit the road.

Last year it was the first year I have tried to overwinter peppers. I grew 2 of them, 1 overwintered well, but the second one faded late spring, when time for going outdoor was already coming very close. Probably only one single time I gave too much water. This is the only reason that came to my mind. This year I will be also overwintering my hot babes – and will let you know the results.

I am fascinated by hot peppers and when I have decided to grow it, I found difficult to understand the difference between them. Because we learn best in systematic way, step by step, first I started to systemize every new piece of knowledge. This way I got humble folder/blog *Pepper Hot* for myself of all hot chilli peppers kinds that 1) I grow every year 2) I bump on.

Balcony garden - you think you have no space for brugmansia?

There is no limit for Brugmansia fan. Even a small balcony is great for hosting this fascinating plant.

Looking for showstopper? I wonder how many people stop and gaze or take photograph.
I spot this view second year in a row, which means owner is overwintering the plant successfully and this is not just one season whim.

I always adore people having such kind of ideas, because it shows that they think outside the box – in this case literally, outside the box which is the balcony itself.

Nothing can stop Brugmansia fan.

Environment poster / Greenpeace Design Award

We can’t always rely on someone else to save the world. Or do we? The first sentence is the title of the winner poster of the Greenpeace Design Awards, organized in Australia. All 30 finalists you may see online, below there is my favorite 5 posters.

The idea behind the contest of these environmental posters is to deliver message Be a Part of the Action in a visually striking, attention grabbing way.

Sam Dickson

Jemma Cheer


Alexander Shakhovskoy

Talena Jones

Anika Marya

Denis Popenkov

Spencer Harrison

Jump to the website of Greenpeace Design Awards, see all finalists and spread the word. Which posters are your favorites?

Brugmansia and her smallish container

Brugmansia on the picture is currently about 180 cm tall and is growing in 35 cm diameter container. I admit it looks surprising and I have noticed that the proportions between brugmansia and the container is getting a lot of attention, so today just short comment about it.

Maybe today the container looks small compare to the plant, but when I was choosing it in February, the height of the plant was about 80 cm. You can see on the picture red arrows which show the place where this brugmansia was pruned last autumn, right before going to ‘plant hotel’ in the cellar, as winters in zone 6 are too cold for it. Brugmansia can winter outdoor up to zone 10b.

Recommended reading: The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications

Concerning the size of this brugmansia in February, I thought the container will be sufficient. If you ask me today – I didn’t expect so fast growth.

Metal container or wooden old barrel? If you ask me, for aesthetic reasons I would vote for barrel, but then how to overwinter the huge plant? Take it out of the barrel? How? Barrel is 70 cm high, plant is close to 2 meters. Such barrel full of dirt is very heavy… This metal container is a choice of convenience. See the handles? It is very easy to change its place. Do you have any tips on how to handle big brugmansia in big wooden barrel for overwintering?

After studying 'brugmansia flowering' subject closer, I suspect that late flowering might be caused also by too low pruning. Only flowering top should be removed – you can tell which part is the flowerin top by looking at the plant. At certain point brugmansia body starts to divide – this is the place where flowering top starts.

Yesterday I discovered that one of the cuttings I took last autumn is going to bloom. That is real surprise. Pictures are coming soon.

Recommended further reading The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications

September flowers - GBBD'09

September flowers is the subject of this month Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Thank you for visiting. Let me show you some of September flowers flowering this morning in my garden.

Rose of Sharon.

Rose The Fairy.

Both Pelargoniums were overwintered already 4 years and they are still fine, blooming great. The lower one had an accident one month ago. Unfortunate pot was blew away by the wind and majority of poor Pelargonium got broken. The plant you see on the lower picture is only the remaining bottom which was saved. It seems to be happy to survive - look how many flowers appeared - I have a feeling it says "thank you, for not throwing me to compost heap".

Sedum spectabile Autumn Joy.

This is New England Aster known before as Aster novae-angliae, but today its taxonomy has changed to Symphyotrichum novae-angliae.

White petunia bought recently to fill the empty pot looks especially nice at the twilight - when white flowers glow like stars on the sky.

Perovskia articipfolia selfseeded - look where she is growing - in October I will move her to a better place.

Mophead hydrangea.

Lavender is still blooming. Maybe it is not so prolific, but still charming.

Hydrangea paniculata Limelight.

Colchicum.

Brugmansia flowers - for more brugmansia photo click here or 'Brugmansia' label on the left.

GGBD is kindly hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden. Jump over to see September flowers from all over the world.