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Forget-me-Not (Myosotis sylvatica)

It’s a flower we like and it did well in our yard. It seems it sprouts very well from self-seeding. This is a pretty, pretty flower which doesn’t require much special care.

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Delphinium (Delphinium x cultorum)

We wondered if it would grow well in Kyushu because it is a colder weather plant, but we bought some anyway. The photograph was taken in 2001; we also bought some in purple and white with double petals (although I prefer the single petal varieties), but didn’t take pictures of them. If we have a chance to get them again, can we do better with them or not?

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Poppy (Papaver)

This is the typical poppy you often see around and about; but ours doesn’t seem to get good sun, so it becomes very thin and long and has small cute flowers.

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Tulip (Tulipa)

These are probably Angelica and Queen of Night. I bought them for my own birthday present. I bought two of each but unfortunately the blooming rate was only fifty percent.

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Miniature Rose (Rosa)

This is a small rose in a tiny pot, which I bought in 2001. I transferred it into a slightly bigger pot but it is still small. It produces a flower a year.

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Spring Starflower (Rhodohypoxis baurii)

We don’t know why my brother in law gave us this unusual, matt-textured pink flower in a pot. We thought it dried out once, but it bloomed with pretty flowers in 2003. (We didn’t know at the time that this is a bulb.) It became bigger compared to last year, and the number of weeds in the pot increased, so we are thinking to transfer it to a bigger pot next year.

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Muscari (Muscari armeniacum)
& Hyacinth (Hyacinthus)

The muscari is in its second year and the hyacinth in its third. Probably their position doesn’t get enough sun but we didn’t have any other space in our yard, so we planted some bulbs around the kitchen garden. Because we’ve been pushing the same bulbs for some years, the bulbs are becoming smaller. This means their flowers are also smaller, but they were rather pretty next to second year pink tulips and ipheions.

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Freesia

It’s also in its second year. Even though it became long and thin, the flowers seem bigger than they were in the pot last year. The sun was not so great in this position, and the soil is not so great either, but it could produce these lovely flowers. We don’t need to care so much about watering with the plant in the ground, so I really feel the soil is great!

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Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)

Every time I see the big clump of snowflakes bursting though the concrete in the parking next door, and the nice blooms in the yard across from our house, I envy them. I wonder why ours has such a small number of flowers, and try to change its location every year; however, the results are not so different. I’ll keep trying to plant them in a different place to look for nicer sun.

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Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

This (2003) is the second year of our perennial lobelia. It has survived in a small, half-moon shaped hanging basket. Probably, we should transfer it to a slightly bigger place. Ms. Lobelia, we’re sorry we didn’t take care of you much.

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Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)

In the first and second years of our garden, we planted two white snapdragons in the south flower bed. Now, the same kind of snapdragon is in a half-moon shaped hanging basket. Comparing them both, it seems the ones planted in the earth were in better condition, even though they had some trouble for sun.

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Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

In the first year of our garden, we wanted to grow vegetables and herbs, and failed with most of them. Now, we focus on shade plants, but still we want to have some fruit. We bought two strawberries in 2002; one of them is already dead, but the other gave us three edible fruits. They were tasty!

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Naniwa Rose [Cherokee Rose] (Rosa laevigata)

We heard this was originally a kind of wild rose. It has grown very well and bloomed very well in our yard – it’s unusual! Its location is the best exposure in our yard. It grows fast! We have a mind to take care of it, but it is hard to find out how to do it properly, so we don’t know how we should trim it. The flowers are bigger than we thought, and it would look like a camellia if it weren’t for the thorns.

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Jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum)

We bought a jasmine plant in bloom in a pot and put it beside the main entrance of our house. It survived the winter, but never flowered again in that position, so we transferred it to the east side of the house. Compared to its first year, it has grown very well, like a dream. It also bloomed well! We expect more flowers the next year: we are so greedy…

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Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)

According to our plant book, this is supposed to be long-blooming; but ours goes to sleep after blooming and dries up, so I want to put it in the spring category. I hear there are many kinds of wood sorrel; the type we have is common around our house. But the wild pink variety is more powerful than ours. Blue clover may be a little different from this plant: we planted one near the wood sorrel, and it went away after making one blue flower.

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Paper Daisy [Paper Cascade] (Helipterum anthemoides)

This is also one of my favourite flowers, so we bought one; the last thin survivor of the original plant had some flowers in 2003. How do we get it to grow nicely? Does is also want better sun?

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Miyakowasure [Japanese Aster]
(Gymnaster savatieri var. hortorum)

We bought this and planted it beside the front door because our book said it was all right without much sun. The shop tag said it would have blue flowers, but I think this is pale purple. The same flower, in the garden of the house across the street, is brighter purple. Even though it became thin and leggy, it’s still blooming: should we still think of it as a good plant for our yard?

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Rhododendron (Rhododendron hymenanthes)

Our landlord’s father, who used to live in this house, seemed to like rhododendrons. We are not people who like pink, but we don’t mind this pale soft pink colour. We are trying not to kill this bush, but we don’t know why it has been producing fewer flowers every year. What should we do?

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Azalea (Rhododendron pulchrum)

This was also carried over from the former owner of this house, and it is small. Every year it produces a moderate number of flowers. It’s next to and under the big rhododendron (above left).

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Persian Buttercup (Ranunculus asiaticus)

I buy some kind of ranunculus almost every time when I see it at the shop. The latest ones were white, but in 2003 I bought this big, orange one. This ranunculus was grown by plant professionals, and had many big flowers.

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Blue Marguerite [Blue Daisy] (Felicia amelloides)

I bought several seedlings of this plant in the past, and wintered them in the house, but I can't get them to bloom well. This one, in a hanging basket facing west, may be the most successful in our garden. I’ve bought some felicia varieties with mixed light coloured leaves, but I always kill them.

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Penny Black Nemophila (Nemophila menziesii)

We bought these dark purple and white seedlings in 2002, and unexpectedly a few of their seeds sprouted the next year. Plants become thin and leggy almost everywhere in our garden, so we often trim them after their first flowers; but this one never grows back again. This flower is very weak for rain.

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Meadow Nemophila (Nemophila pedunculata)

Maybe many people have tried to produce a field of blue with this flower. We were among them: although we have neither a big field nor good sun, we tried to grow them from seeds. We could get many flowers even though the stems became long and thin in pots in 2002. We tried to grow them seriously, but we were far away from a blue carpet. In 2003, we missed the time to sow the seeds, so we got only one sprout from last year’s dropped seeds. We still have a mind to grow them again.

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Japanese Spindle Tree (Euonymus japonicus)

We didn’t notice them at first, because they are so small and not outstanding, but these flowers were produced by the hedge that faces the road on the west side of our lot. The trees were there when we moved in; we only pay attention to them to avoid mildew and caterpillars in the spring. We have heard the sound of tons of caterpillars munching on this tree in the cherry blossom season: it was one of our most scary experiences.

Date posted: 2004-08-09