Revisiting the Angel Trumpet

By Skeeter
Tina, Look at the Angel Trumpet you passed along to my Georgia Garden!
It is full of blooms and I just love it!
I tried to count the blooms but kept loosing track of which flower had been counted and which had not. There were at least 50 flowers at one time if not more! I could not get them all into the picture as there were so many. I cannot Thank You enough for this wonderful gift!

Happy Birthday to In the Garden's Master Gardener, Tina! Have a wonderful day girl...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,In the Garden

What is plaguing my Angel Trumpet?

Posted by: Dawn

I wished I'd thought to take progression photos but I assumed this issue was a one time thing. Nope, it was a three time issue.

Tina gave me an angel trumpet two winters ago and it did fine the first winter. It did not grow too much but took off once I planted it outside in the spring. Since the winter in Maine would kill my precious angel trumpet I dug it up and babied it inside away from the cold weather. Well, I expected it to lose some leaves and it did. The leaves turned yellow and wilted. Soon enough though the plant was looking good with nice green growth on top, big leaves and such. I was proud of myself!

Over time I noticed the leaves wilting and turning a pale green again. Upon closer inspection I could see.....just barely.....a tough but faint webbing with little dots suspended inside of it. Eww. I cleaned the trumpet off and washed the leaves with water and some slight soap.

Like I said this happened three times this winter but each time my trumpet had a nice recovery with good growth and then....behold the pesty problem. I'd like to know what this is and how to get rid of it for good. The pest has not bothered my other plants just my trumpet. I sure wish I could start the summer with a beautiful tree not just a thick green stick....

What is plaguing my trumpet vine? In the Garden

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Bloom Day-November 2009

From In the Garden

November in Tennessee has been a bit above normal this year. Normal would mean we'd have had a very hard freeze by mid November and most flowers would be gone. Not so this year. While we have had freezes my garden is fairly protected by an overhead canopy, additionally the freezes did not last more than a few hours so the plants were able to come thru unscathed. The above cosmos is growing in a plant pot on the south side of the house. It is most happy but most of the cosmos have gone by.

From In the Garden

Pineapple sage I wintered over as cuttings last year is in its full glory. It grows on the north side of the house in the Northside Shrub border. The red is most welcomed here. These will not winter over for me but I've got new cuttings growing in the garage under lights.

From In the Garden

The angel trumpets still shine. This particular one is huge! Probably about 8 feet tall which amazes me. I think it is so big because it has been in the ground for two years. I do not do anything special for it as in adding fertilizer, but I do add compost. I have purchased bales of hay in preparedness for winterizing these angel trumpets. They need to be cut down once the freeze gets them. I then place either a bag of compost or a hay bale on top of the root ball until spring. It worked well with this orange angel trumpet last year and I hope it will work with it again this year. I have added three additional ones I need to cover this year as well. Two have not bloomed but I am hopeful that if they winter over they'll reward me next year. This orange one is also still putting out a lovely fragrance at night. Both this one and the pink one are still growing new blooms. Unusual but most welcomed. The bananas are still standing tall behind the angel trumpet. They are a bit shredded but still a welcomed bunch of green. I'm not looking forward to cutting them down.

P.S. Jane, I'll save you a cutting for next year if you'd like one. Just email me in the spring sometime so I can hand it off to you.

From In the Garden

Azaleas still bloom. This particular one is an Encore 'Autumn Chiffon' and is most happy. We shall see how it does this winter.

From In the Garden

The butterfly weed is still going strong and bringing in the butterflies though I haven't seen any monarchs within the past few days.

From In the Garden

As pitiful as it may be, the heliotrope has finally bloomed. I've been growing it in my garden for two years now. I wintered it over by taking cuttings but will not do so again this year. It is just not worth the trouble for the very little it adds to my garden. A pretty bloom though.

From In the Garden

The Sunny Perennial Border is still quite a focal point. Here I show you the begonias which are going strong. Cannas are also still blooming here but are not pictured in this angle.

From In the Garden

A hedge of yellow mums blooms. This 'hedge' started life as cuttings last summer. Running out of space for them I wound up sticking the cuttings in this new bed. Little did I know the cuttings would grow into a hedge. I kind of went overboard with taking cuttings. At the time it seemed like a good idea but now I have so many yellow mums I think it may be overload. I'll be thinning the yellow mums soon as they are taking over my gardens.

From In the Garden

The front foundation garden. This garden still makes me smile when I come home. Walking to the front door means walking through a cloud of butterflies. They love the lantana, salvia and zinnias that grow here. The cool shaped tree that has an awesome shadow on the house is 'Lavender Twist' redbud. It used to grow in the backyard but like most gardeners, I decided it needed to move. So one dark night I recruited Mr. Fix-it to help me dig it up and transplant here between the two windows. Even though this tree had been growing in its prior spot a mere two years, the roots extended six feet out from the plant. I fear I may have killed it by digging it up and severing those roots. For that I'll be most regretful because it is such an awesome little tree. Hopefully spring will prove me wrong. Cross your fingers that it comes back to life somehow, someway.

From In the Gard

A teenaged bloom in the form of the Jimster. He is busy here concentrating on his design for his pumpkin during our annual tradition. You can see the concentration on his face and I love this picture of him.

Finally, some other blooms not pictured: alyssum, camellias, dahlias, zinnias, foxgloves, 'Diamond Frost', calibrachoa, montauk daisy, pinks, some phlox, pansies, and impatiens.

in the garden....

Different Colored Flowers on Brugmansias

Can anyone explain why some cultivars of brugmansias come out a certain color but then change? I have six pink flowered brugmansias (cultivar unknown) that bud in yellows and white at night, then turn pink by the morning!

I also have a peach colored brugmansia (cultivar unknown) that buds in peach and blooms in peach-no change in color. It is interesting to note, the pink flowered brugmansias are not fragrant whereas the peach colored brug is most fragrant.
Nighttime picture-note the two white flowers.

The same flowers the next morning. Note the two now pink flowers!

Any information would be appreciated....

in the garden....

The Heady Fragrance of Angel Trumpets

There is no way a picture can do an Angel Trumpet justice when the Angel Trumpet is in full bloom.
No matter how good the photographer, the lighting, the zoom, the angle, it will never compare to the real thing.
Angel Trumpets are magical and must be experienced in person.

Because you see, without the heady aroma of the heavenly scent calling the angels to the garden to play, you cannot possibly understand the allure of an Angel Trumpet. The Jimster understands the magical allure of the Angel Trumpets.

Thank you Gerianne for giving me this beautiful, alluring, sweet, plant.

in the garden....