I almost forgot that there was another casualty of the the Courtyard project - the Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus L. It belongs to the Malvaceae family. The bush was along the wall that backs the kitchen - between the two windows. It was a tall deciduous shrub between 10 to 12 feet high. As you can see from the picture below untrimmed, it was wild mess of a bush!
The bush was a favorite of the birds, particularly the hummingbirds. Look carefully at the picture below, and you will see a hummingbird resting in the cool shade of the plant.
When the petals fall off, a seed pod forms. It opens up to look like a miniature version of the flower- a five "petals" brown flower.
Currently, the plan is to use the space occupied by the Rose of Sharon for tropical plants which benefits form the warmth and protection of the wall. Maybe the curry leaf plant, some serai, kunyit and mint. The cement will prevent the mint form spreading to areas it is not wanted. The Rose of Sharon will not have died in vain.
hi, congratulations on your new blogsite and most of all your new house and garden. It really is wide and very inspiring to landscape and decorate. I wonder where Temecula is! I am sad that the well-growing hibiscus and rose were killed, they are already growing there very will. Later you might feel guilty for doing so, i hope not! haha. If i were you, i will just make them starting materials as heritage plants.
ReplyDelete[About Queen of the Night, it has 2 Genus of the same name, mine is Epiphyllum oxypetallum, while the other is Cereus ?something which has triangular stems. Yes the flower opens at night and close in the morning, but there are staggered blooms when they are already big plants.]
Andrea- Temecula is near San Diego in California. We got this place so that we would have more land to garden in. I too hope I won't regret removing the roses and hibiscus!! Good idea on the heritage garden :)
DeleteWe are trying to keep to our moto of only edible landscaping as far as possible......It is hard to stick to this ideal as there are so many beautiful, NON EDIBLE plants!