Mom's Water Feature

My Mother wanted a water feature in the front of the house and she found a beautiful pot without a hole in the bottom. So we went to our local mom and pop garden center Tropic Plants (I prefer to support a local business owner when I can) She picked out all the plants she wanted. Then, I set it up for her using rainwater we collect and bricks. She then arranged the plants and has been maintaining it, with a little help of course. After a couple of weeks we added some mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) it has really flourished over the last month. This morning I walked the garden and discovered that the Iris (Iris sp.) had bloomed and what a beauty it is! Here are some photos for you to enjoy. Have a nice weekend.

 Mom's Water Feature by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com

Neomarica caerulea fall 2008

Family: Iridaceae •
Genus: Neomarica •
Species: caerulea (Bull.)(1928)•
Country of Origin: Brazil •
Common Names: Apostle Plant, Twelve Apostles, Walking Iris •

These are pictures from today! I was stoked when I saw they were open. I did a post on this plant Neomarica caerulea earlier in the year with pictures taken last year. Can I say, I love this plant!!!!!! It's fragrant like the irises my mother grew in Michigan. But, this iris is tropical, it's endemic to Brazil and adapts to our climate (zone 10b) easily. It blooms in fall which is nice because like in northern climates there aren't too many things blooming in fall. I hope to have this all over my yard in mass plantings in the next few years. I'll accomplish this by division, it's already in progress. I can't wait to see a massive bloom all at once. Once rare in these parts N. caerulea is starting to get more popular, you can see why. Please click on the photos to see these beauties in all their glory!

Enjoy,
Eric



Neomarica caerulea fall 2008 by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com

Neomarica caerulea

Neomarica caerulea
Family: Iridaceae •
Genus: Neomarica •
Species: caerulea (Bull.)(1928)•
Country of Origin: Brazil •
Common Names: Apostle Plant, Twelve Apostles, Walking Iris •

This is an amazing tropical iris. It has blue-violet flowers which are highly fragrant. Growing to about three feet tall ultimately. It prefers moist soil but not wet. Mine gets strong filtered sunlight most of the day. I've been dividing it to increase my plant stock. I plan to have this all over my yard eventually! This was one of Fairchild's plants of the year. Of course I got mine from their spring plant sale a few years back.



Neomarica caerulea by Eric Bronson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.flickr.com