It's still too hot and muggy outside to get to work but I did step out for a few minutes to get some neat photos,

My pinecone ginger has bunches of "pinecones"

another

Angel Trumpets have been blooming since May

...a new batch just opening

Full bloom

This lady set up shop in the ginger next to the fountain. Good, I can keep an eye on her.

Argiope or Zipper Spider

Large Rustic Sphinx Moth

Opimus and Vappa are getting covered in Creeping Fig

This low growing grass or ground cover is spreading out in large dense patches all over the property where there is full sun. It only grows 2-3 inches tall and blooms profusely every day. I love it but haven't a clue as to what it is...any guesses?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zone9alady,

Love the flowers but the bugs, not so much. I've never seen pine cone ginger, it's quite interesting. Up here a nearby nursery has to drag its angel trumpets inside when it's cold. Yours look like they adore your heat.

Quit braggin'
(Only kidding)
So cool...that pinecone ginger almost looks fake!
Vappa looks a bit horrified by the creeping fig climbing on her face....

I don't know what the groundcover is, but it looks similar to widow's tears/spiderwort, which is a lot taller.

I LOVE that pinecone Ginger...never saw that before. Your pics are great. Thanks for sharing.

gorgeous, I am coming to visit and sit a spell in your garden. Hope to see you when I get there!!lol

Very Cool Pics!!!! I thought the ginger was candy! Looks good enough to eat! Love what your doing there Lady! Blue Ribbon! TFS

Wow! TFS! Love the pinecone ginger - gorgeous. Creeping Fig is awesome - wish it would grow here.
The Angel Trumpets are so romantic. Won't grow here either.

Spider - totally gross.........

Wow what beautiful flowers. I've never seen the ginger either. Does it grow out side all yr? Could it be grown as a house plant? Probably wouldn't have enough humidity inside?
I love the creeping fig vine too but it won't grow here either .
There is some kind of Trumpet vine here but don't think it's what you have? Pretty.
Thanks for the pics.

I'm going to try again...my last post just disappeared into thin air.

Great pics. If that moth turns into horn worm, please keep it down there.
Love that ginger too!
My golden angel trumpet is also blooming. I need a pink one!
I agree w/jvelo about your ground cover, some kind of spider wort....OR could it be a wild wandering jew? Both came to mind when I saw the pic.

You know, lady, somewhere in my pea brain is a tiny thought that we had a picture and ID of this grass a while back. Whoever posted it had a name for it, and I think its the same unknown grass that is trying to take over my yard. Most of its in the shade here, though, so I haven't noticed the blossoms. Course, I've been gone all summer too! I'll do some sleuthing and see if I can find that post -- wherever it was.

I thought those angel trumpets would grow anywhere. Not necessarily as a perennial but why not try it as an annual?

I have datura. I just cut it all down. I had so many in a single pot, it was terribly root bound, so I figured I'll just do it again next year.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone! I got the Ginger from the annual County Extension yard sale. If you squeeze the cone after it turns red, you'll get a wonderful lanolin/ginger scented juice that some people wash their hair with....no I haven't tried it yet. hehe It's also called Shampoo Ginger.
You can read more about it here:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser....Jun/24/il/il10a.html

That moth did come from a hornworm karen...I found a few munching on the privet out back.

The trumpets and ginger grow like crazy until the first freeze hits, then they die back to the ground and hibernate until it gets warm again.
AT cuttings root easily just by pushing a branch in the soil and the ginger spreads by rhizomes like wildfire down here. I started with one little pot and now I've divided and moved it 5 times. One thing though, they don't like direct sun so it just may grow indoors.

I bought the creeping fig through mail order. It didn't loose it's leaves the last two winters, but I've seen photos with no leaves for winter and then it resprouts in spring. Dave's says it's hardy to zone7a. It's going to get trimmed back when I start my fall yard work.

As far as the strange groundcover...I've been here almost 10 years and this is the first time I've noticed it in such large patches. It's even crowding out the Bermuda over the drain field.

Thanks FFG hope you can find some info on it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zone9alady,

quote:

Originally posted by ga.karen:
I'm going to try again...my last post just disappeared into thin air.

Great pics. If that moth turns into horn worm, please keep it down there.
.

Karen and her hornworm phobia.... Rest easy GaKaren....all those moths are no threat to your 'maters....their wormy stage precedes their more beautiful wings.... . In other words they already ate their fill....

Zone9 thanks from me too...I so enjoyed all of your photos...it's raining here currently and I can't play outdoors...things are rather beginning to loose their glory anyhow and your pictures provided some green infusion!

Looks like an arigope but the zipper thing on thread? LOL I looked up the lady hanging her home outside my MB window and best I could find was a Garden spider....which I admire from indoors but don't even think of venturing inside... Toooooooooooooo big....

z9 - what gorgeous photos. Love the pinecone ginger. So unusual....and I loved your spider picture too. I don't mind those kind of spiders...out where you can see them. How awesome would it be to catch the web covered with dew and some sunlight shining through it.

I used to have the trumpets.......they died out and I never replaced. Mine were yellow. Yours are gorgeous.........and I love walls covered with creeping things. Yours looks like a magazine cover.

Thanks for sharing these. I really enjoyed the view.

ve

Green Alice, I googled the Argiope to find out why they add a "zipper" to their web...not even the experts are sure...

[Quote from Wikipedia]
..... with a dense zigzag of silk, known as a stabilimentum, in the center. The purpose of the stabilimentum is disputed. It is possible that it acts as camouflage for the spider lurking in the web's center, but it may also attract insect prey, or even warn birds of the presence of the otherwise difficult-to-see web. Only those spiders that are active during the day construct stabilimenta in their webs.


Thanks Vera, if she stays there a few more weeks maybe I can get a good pick with the sun...she's in total shade right now.
DH was sort of worried about the vines clinging to the stucco, but now that it's growing fast he loves the look too. It's starting to grow into the soffit and windows so it's going to be trimmed back in a few weeks.

Is the groundcover Asiatic dayflower?

It's funny you posted that sandybeach...I have that too...the tiny flowers are deep blue. This is a little different.