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GardenOpus

@gardenopus.bsky.social
1.9K followers 867 following 907 posts

🌱Gardening & Botanical insights from Award-Winning Horticulturist, Hybridist, Author, Designer & Consultant Robert F. Gabella.

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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 9h
🌱💛Some #SundayYellow on an October blue-sky day from the front garden: Tagetes patula (Spreading Marigold, Cempaxúchitl) 'Durango Yellow', Rosa (Rose) 'Rise Up Amberness®' & 'Sunshine Daydream', & Zinnia violacea 'Dreamland Yellow'.😎 Asteraceae & Rosaceae
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Kate @herbygardens.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Pretty beans 🌱 #vegetablegarden #gardening #harvest
My hand holding three fresh scarlet runner beans, three fresh Rosso di Lucca beans, and three dried scarlet runner beans. Below my hand is a basket filled with freshly harvested bean pods. The beans in my hand are various shades of pink and purple.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Dahlia “Show N Tell”, from the front garden. This thing is about 8 inches wide.
A large bright red-orange dahlia flower with yellow tips on its pointed petals.
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Linda @lindacdolan.bsky.social · 21h
🌱 #SundayYellow A short video of a happy #weebee in Wisley’s World Food Garden which is where I am heading this morning. It is the RHS celebration of growing and eating this weekend with cooking demonstrations and talks about growing food so I think we will be busy!
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Joy @joyf.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
🌱 One possible reason to #garden #Hope #BlueSky #Dahlias 🕊️💃🏻🍁
Huge dinner plate dahlias reaching toward an impossibly Bluesky
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Shannon Walsh @flutterbyflora.bsky.social · 17h
🌱good morning🧡
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Vesna @vesnavoice.bsky.social · 17h
Good Sunday morning everyone! Wishing you a calm, peaceful and thankful day☀️🥰🕊️🌱🌸🍁
Sun kissed bloom of a hydrangea, creamy white and blush pink petals
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Mike Rogers @sofaflyer.bsky.social · 16h
Today's Flighty's plot blog post is Early last week... - flightplot.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/e... 🌱 #UKGardening
flightplot.wordpress.com
Early last week…
I finished roughly forking over the two areas where I’ll be growing the onions and potatoes next year. That was good timing as Wednesday was a damp and dull day.  I’ve since done about …
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Mike in Oly @mikeinoly.bsky.social · 12h
'Uranium Belle', from 1959, is such a beautiful #iris. Child of the illustrious 'Snow Flurry' X 'Tobacco Road', it is a great grower and bloomer. And might be the only variety from this hybridizer left to us. A long time favorite of mine. 🌱 #bloomscrolling
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Rick M @rickmartin.bsky.social · 10h
Slightly unusual (to me anyway) pink variation on a blackberry flower 🌱 #WildflowerHour #Bloomscrolling
Pink blackberry flowers
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
🌱🥒 Cucurbitaceous Sunday, & a small harvest from August sowings of Cucurbita pepo (Summer Squash) 'Zephyr', Cucumis sativus (Cucumber) 'Muncher' pic 2, & 'Taurus' pic 3, are especially welcome. Eruca sativa (Arugula) & half a 'Muncher' informed a smoothie.😋 Cucurbitaceae & Brassicaceae
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Colton the fish sp💀💀ker 🐟🪴📚🏕️🐝 @fishsqueezer.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
If you've never experienced the existential fear of walking across the surface of a sphagnum moss swamp and wondering if you would fall through to your death and become a bog mummy, I would recommend it. #SpookyNature #nativeplants #hydrology 🌱🌿
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Rick M @rickmartin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Having a greenhouse, even a small plastic one, really opens up your options for late and early season gardening. I keep my cacti in one spring to autumn then put my potted dahlias in there when I bring my succulents in for the winter 🌱🌵🪴 #GardensHour #Succulents #Bloomscrolling #MagentaMonday
Mammillaria polythele with a crown of magenta flowers
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🌱Good Evening All at #GardensHour, advice to myself is to not get a false sense of security about our mild October.🌞 Average killing frost in DuPage county, W. Chicagoland burbs, is October 15th. Must plan for houseplants in & harvest under control, to avoid a November panic.😱
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#GardensHour @gardenshour.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hello! Welcome to #GardensHour and welcome to October! What does this month mean to you? What are your top tasks this month? If it’s autumn/fall where you are, what tips do you have to extend your gardening season, maximise harvests and reduce the impact of winter?
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Shannon Walsh @flutterbyflora.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🌱 good morning🩷💚
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🌱🌹Thank you and yes, the colors on this Rose are special indeed, they shift with the seasons and bloom stage. But alas, the fragrance is very slight, and it's possible not all noses may detect it. Here's a more recent photo than that in the original post.😎
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
🌱Good Evening All at #GardensHour - September has been the month where I seem to have brought a bit of the garden's accumulated chaos under control. Would be too unlike me to have it fully reined in - people would think they're looking at someone else's garden.😅
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#GardensHour @gardenshour.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Hello and welcome to #GardensHour! Let’s take a look back at the last few weeks - what has been your biggest September high and the any low points in your gardening journey this month?
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Mike in Oly @mikeinoly.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
'Rosalba', from 1919, is an example of the early tetraploids that were just getting going in England and changed everything for iris hybridizing in the 20th century. A good grower and great bloomer. #iris 🌱 #bloomscrolling
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🌱🤎Great question and yes, can enjoy in shade as well - the original default for Caladiums. The ramp-up in breeding & selection for sun tolerance beyond the reliable few, has done a great service to expand their use in the garden.🙂
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🌱🤎It's a husky grower, sun tolerant, sneers at heat, sun & wind - you will love it. Only had that group of 10 this year will add more for '27.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🌱🤎🔥Though sun has gradually returned with cooler temperatures, after days of torrential rains, glad I caught Caladium 'Burning Heart' (Dr. Robert Hartman - Classic Caladiums, 2015) in the thick of it, with glistening droplets in momentary suspense!😎 Planted tubers late, still a great show! Araceae
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Mike in Oly @mikeinoly.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
'Pewee', from 1933, is the variety that set the standard for the Miniature Tall Bearded (MTB) class. Dainty blooms on slender stalks, it is perfect for the front of the flower border. A good grower and bloomer here. #iris 🌱 #bloomscrolling
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🌱❤️Aristolochia gigantea 'Brasiliensis' (Brazilian Pipevine) assures me she's nowhere near finished! ☠️CAUTION: if in range of native Battus philenor the Pipevine Swallowtail of North America (occasional in Chicagoland) this species is toxic. Aristolochic Acid levels MUCH higher than native Pipevines.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🌱💛💚 When the midsummer replanting goes well! Cucurbita pepo (Summer Squash) 'Zephyr' - sown 1st week of August - shows its beautiful coloration even when the pistillate (female) flowers are still in bud. My third year with this variety - productive and delicious! Cucurbitaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
🌱Not sure if you mean the south of Canada or of US, but 'Autumn Jester' was hybridized in Guelph, Ontario, where Chapman Iris is based.😎
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Ilena Gilbert-Mays @ilenagm.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
#SixOnSaturday was the start of #MetorlogicalFall and a busy week. I sowed lots of seeds two weeks ago that now needed transplanting. I have Snapdragons, pansies, violas, wallflowers, Stock and two varieties of lettuce. Now to keep my babies🌱one step ahead of 🐌🐛🪲🦗😂 #Flowers #Gardening #Autumn #GYO
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
🌱 A beautiful classic - Reblooming SDB (Standard Dwarf Bearded) Iris 'Autumn Jester' (Chuck Chapman, 2000), on its 4th rebloom cycle here in suburban Chicagoland, paired with Catharanthus (Vinca or Madagascar Periwinkle) 'Valiant™ Punch'. Iridaceae & Apocynaceae.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🌱🌹Rosa 'Belinda's Dream' (Dr. Robert E. Basye, 1992) is an impeccably clean 🥶 Winter hardy & 🔥 heat tolerant Hybrid Shrub Rose, in continuous bloom since May. Dr. Basye was a Texas A&M Mathematics Professor & amateur Rose Breeder, his legacy lives on in this beauty! Rosaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
🌱Good evening All at #GardensHour! As we close out August, here are various approaches to pink for #SixWeeksOfColour. Please make it an amazing day wherever you may garden!😎
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#GardensHour @gardenshour.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Hello! Welcome to #GardensHour! Who’s here? Say hi 👋 We come to the end of #SixWeeksOfColour this week and celebrate all those beautiful pinks you see in your garden. Remember, it doesn’t just need to be flowers (but we do love them!) GO!
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
🌱 No sweet edible fruit on this one - all parts of the plant are toxic, in some cases dangerously so. Is it possible you may be confusing Aristolochia gigantea 'Brasiliensis' with something else?
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
🌱 Good question. Has not set fruits in all the years I've had it but will be a good exercise to dissect during senescence, to see if any creatures were trapped crawling down the tube for nectar. Here's a side view of a bud so you can see the general construction.
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Shannon Walsh @flutterbyflora.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🌱 the canna that reseeded itself bloomed this week💛
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Rick M @rickmartin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Red tassel flower 🌱 #Bloomscrolling #Flowers #Gardening #RedWed #ColorADay #ECK
Fluffy red button like flowers of Emilia coccinea or Darwin's Paintbrush
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Colton the fish sp💀💀ker 🐟🪴📚🏕️🐝 @fishsqueezer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The variegation on my Monstera became a little too blotchy ("sectoral") so I have been gradually beheading it to see if I can get a lateral sprout with more even variegation. This is the latest leaf that grew. I think it's working out. 🌱🪴
A Monstera leaf next to my hand in various shades of white and green. It's roughly the size of a large pizza. No fenestrations yet, but it has deep edge dissections.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🌱She always looks a bit rough after Winter in a cold Chicagoland basement - while trying to strangle her other overwintering neighbors with her meandering vines, which I keep clipping off. But with time & warmth outdoors all back to new again - flowering begins mid to late Summer.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🌱❤️AND SHE'S BACK - better than ever after weeks of heat & torrential downpours. Though strong storms knocked off her first bud before bloom, lemon scented, 12"/30 cm Aristolochia gigantea 'Brasiliensis' (Giant Pipevine) now faces the world resplendent, with more buds to come. Aristolochiaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
🌱Nice Tropical Hibiscus. With Hardy Hibiscus there is no natural genetic for yellow pigment, so the color breaks we've been seeing for the past few decades are subtle.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
🌱💛A subtle #SundayYellow where the buds carry the show! Hardy Hibiscus Summerific® 'French Vanilla' (Hans Hansen/Walters Gardens, 2021) has incredible presence - buds are a beautiful soft lemon yellow that catch the waning sunrays of evening & shine from a distance. Malvaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
🌱🌻Beautiful, Shannon - is that 'Strawberry Blonde'?
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Shannon Walsh @flutterbyflora.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
🌱 Good morning🌞🌻
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N20gardener @n20gardener.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The pots on the terrace do well because they are pampered but the rest of the garden has to be dealt with selectively n20gardener.com/2026/08/08/s... There will be loses but I'm doing the best I can #sixonsaturday - six photos and a few words about this garden 🌱 #ukgardening
n20gardener.com
Six On Saturday: Watering woes
Fine, warm and dry. It continues. There was one brief shower but the garden barely noticed it. On we go. Here’s my six for this week. One The hibiscus has been putting out flowers for a few w…
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
It is a creeping or prostrate form of Rosemary - but more importantly is a plagiarized image.
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🌱🌸SCENES FROM A DITCH not far from my home. Beloved Chicagoland native Hibiscus (Muenchhusia) laevis, fka Hibiscus militaris - one of the species responsible for modern Hardy Hibiscus. We also have scattered populations of H. (M.) moscheutos (Swamp Rose Mallow). Malvaceae 😎
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
🌱❤️ Some random #FlowersOnFriday - Zinnia 'Dreamland Red' just 36 days from direct sowing, paired with Calamintha nepeta; Hardy Hibiscus 'Watermelon Ruffles' living its name; & Hemerocallis (Daylily) 'Cosmic Struggle' with some action from a rebloom scape.😎 #FlowerHunting
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🌱❤️🌞Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower), Chicagoland native, in a Meditation & Bridge Garden I designed at a woodsy executive client site. Paired with Hardy Hibiscus Summerific® 'Perfect Storm' behind & beside - just starting to bloom. Both love the moist to wet soil there. Campanulaceae & Malvaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
🌱💜Reblooming Tetraploid Hemerocallis (Daylily) 'Born In California' (Bill Maryott, 2016). Pics 1 & 2 in the a.m., pic 3 in the p.m. Luxurious color & form. Maryott Daylilies are touchy growers in Chicagoland, this is best of 5 planted in 2020. No rebloom here yet - maybe this year.🤞 Asphodelaceae
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GardenOpus @gardenopus.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
🌱⏱️FAST ONE! Tetraploid Reblooming Hemerocallis (Daylily) 'Cosmic Struggle' (Karol Emmerich, 2009) wastes no time as preferential rebloom emerges. Karol hybridizes in Jordan, Minnesota - her flowers are beautiful & plants robust, Winter 🥶 hardy & heat 🔥 tolerant! Asphodelaceae
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