Oh, so pretty, Jim............are those crossvines as "pink" as they look??? Beautiful brug........name is Rosatraum. I still have that one inground. And that is as PURPLE a datura as I have ever seen........all are just gorgeous.

Your photos are so wonderful! I love all your blooms!

Dang, Jim. Those plants look good!

Omar

Lovely!

I had that red passion vine at a former house. It grew onto the roof and wet over the other side. My husband used to say her was afraid to go to sleep, as the vine would strangle him in his sleep.

Jim, I know the feeling, but we never get tired of seeing your spectacular plants even if you did show them last year. As you say they just get better and better.

I'll be glad when my little cross vine gets as thick as yours.

Love the 'Yesterday ...' plant. I've tried a couple of times, but could never get it going so I appreciate seeing yours.

Keep taking and showing photos, okay?

Thanks, Yall!

Carrie-I knew the name of the brug wasn't right, but wasn't sure how, thanks for the correct name. It got so huge in ground that it shaded way too much space, but it was beautiful! I dug it up and will confine it to a pot.

The crossvine is supposed to be a red variety, but the closest it comes to red is in the bud. The one in the last crossvine picture is 'Tangerine beauty'.

Kathy-thanks for the heads up, I'll keep one eye on the red passi at all times!

This is Rosatraum at first flush in '09. Later that year it got over 8 feet tall!

{{gwi:622220}}

Jim

Now, that is a beautiful, healthy brug, Jim.......you do good work !!!!

Wow! I love the vines! I keep saying that I'm getting a crossvine but haven't yet. I bet they need more sun than I have. Yours is gorgeous!

I am not a rose person, but the color on that Dublin Bay is lovely!

The blooms on your plants are always present in such huge profusion! What is your secret? What do you fertilize with? Elephant doo or something else exotic that you're not telling us? ;-)

Those crossvines are beautiful !! Thanks Jim for sharing, loved the Yesterday,...The brug is very nice too. As a matter of fact just everything your garden is beautiful.

lol Roselee, I bet he does use some kind of zoo poo :-)

Thanks, Ladies.

Roselee- No, no magical poo, just Miracle grow, LOTS of Miracle Grow, and a couple of bags of Schultz 13-13-13 usually in the spring.

Jim

Thanks Jim. What form of Miracle Gro do you use, the time release pellets or a liquid from a hose end sprayer, or ...? I do believe in fertilizing a lot and have been using more organic fertilizers recently, but not entirely.

Lookin' good Jim!

Thanks Richard.

Roselee- I use both. I start with the Schultz, then after that disappears, I go with the M.G. pellets. Additionally I use the hose end feeder on a couple of beds every week. If I can catch a plant as it goes into bud, I'll give it a couple of gallons of Greenlight Superbloom, but that doesn't always happen. The brugs, in pots, get M.G. liquid once a week until they start forming buds, then three times a week. They are very hungry!
I think elephant poo might be less work!Ha!Ha!
Jim

Thanks Jim. As one who also fertilizes a lot I agree that spreading elephant poo would probably be easier. Fertilizing is my least favorite garden job, but it does make a big difference.

For instance roses just explode with bloom when alfalfa tea (with added fish emulsion) is applied, but carrying those buckets of stinky stuff around to each rose is WORK! And about that time Bob starts slamming down the windows because of the smell ... LOL. I try to explain that the smell just lasts for an hour or so, but that's too long for his sensitive nose. Oh well ... there's not much we wouldn't do for our plants :-)

Roselee, because of your comments on alfalfa tea, I started brewing it last year. I refer to it as "alfalfahol" once it starts to ferment - it's almost alive during the process, isn't it? The dogs are VERY attracted to it - there's no accounting for taste!

I have been an organic gardener since I've moved to Texas in '95, and I have come to realize I may never see blooms like this on my Brugs. I'd be content with a few dozen over the season, but still remain awed by the hundreds of blossoms on your plants, Jim!!! This is truly breathtaking!

Lin

Just amazingly beautiful Jim. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but even better than the last few years that I've seen your photos.

Thanks, Lin. I've been using alfalfa tea on my roses for three years, hoping for more basal breaks without much success. That stuff is so nasty, I can't even imagine mixing fish emulsion with it. I'm giving it up this year and sticking with what works for me.

Thank you Shirley. I think as the garden matures, some plantings evolve into focal points, which not only change the garden, they change the gardener too.

Jim

Fish emulsion makes it smell better Jim! Hahaha!