Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has become an international hit on the fifteenth of each month; created and hosted by Carol; May Dreams Gardens.
Double Delight, a fragrant passalong from Lori, Gardener of Good and Evil, gave me double the fun for bloom day.
The Bicolor Iris is getting going, and should last through June.
The Butterfly Iris have had a few more blooms than this, but nothing spectacular really. I may end up taking them out.
So far, 2 of my new daylily purchases have bloomed. After agonizing for weeks over what to purchase so that I would have a variety of colors, so far everything looks just alike. Pretty, but not much difference really.
Here’s Byzantine Beauty:
and the slightly pinker, Princess Ellen. Both are very large blooms, which is nice.
The Pink Sunburst Canna is starting to bloom in the bed. I hope it continues all summer, I love it.
I’m beginning to love geraniums. They are one of the few dramatic flowers that really like the dappled shade of my yard.
A new purchase, Clerodendron Ugandense, also known as Butterfly Bush, has a spectacular bloom in mostly shade here. It’s a tender perennial, and supposedly I can cut it back in the fall and mulch over it for winter protection.
Citrus Splash, a passalong from Pam/Digging has given me several blooms in this first year. They start with yellow streaks in orangish-pink, then fade to an all-rosy color. Quite fun!
Moss Verbena is hardy and happy in several places in the garden.
And I have several colors of yarrow, another plant I’m loving. I’ve heard it’s very aggressive, but so far it isn’t in my garden. Once it blooms, I can cut off the stalks and it leaves a hardy, yet fern-like, groundcover that attracts beneficial insects.
And here’s the red yarrow. I didn’t picture the white.
A neighbor gave me a passalong 5-gallon Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plant. Hers have been in her yard for years, and are spectacular every spring. This one looked a better a couple of weeks ago, but here’s the last blooms.
Stella D’Oro Daylily, with Molly Ivans Salvia Coccinea in the background.
Why is Copper Canyon Daisy blooming now? It’s normally a fall bloomer.
I like how this shade container is turning out. Annual impatiens give bright color in the shade, and this is the first time I’ve used Spotted Dead Nettle as a trailing plant. I don’t know how it will fare through the summer heat, but I’ll let you know.
I like the bright red of this Salvia Greggii against the white rattan.
Persian Shield isn’t a bloom, but I love the purple color in the deep shade. If it were in brighter shade, the purple is almost neon bright and gorgeous.
Other blooms, not pictured, are Verbena in various colors, Purple Heart, Lantana in various colors, Bulbine, dwarf Pomegranite, Bottlebrush, Pink Salvia, Oxalis, Pink Turks Cap, Petunias, Nemesia, Begonias and Society Garlic.
Robin,
You have LOTS of dramatic blooms! That Pink Sunburst Canna is fantastic. I have a nice old chair serving as a potted plant stand, too, so I really like your intense red salvia against white wicker. Happy rainy Saturday!
Iris, the fact that it IS a rainy Saturday makes us rejoice, doesn’t it? And yes, that Pink Sunburst is one of my new favorites, too. I want to see a pic sometime of your plant stand/chair, too.
You sure had a lot of pretties for Bloom Day.
Your fall blooming daisy is blooming now because it is day length sensitive. The days now
are just about as long as they’ll be when the daisy blooms again, in fall.
Persian Shield blooms, too, on really short days, so you’ll not see blooms except in a greenhouse and rarely, just as they return in the spring. Not to worry, they’re blue and not very pretty.
Thanks for visiting, Nell. You have many lovely blooms yourself!
My Copper Canyon Daisies still have blooms, too. They’re sparse compared to the fall blooms but they’re there. Nell’s day length explanation is interesting.
I need to get going on my Bloom Day post. I’ve been so busy outside the last few days, other activities have fallen by the wayside.
Her explanation is interesting, Cindy, but not logical. as far as I know, this Spring the days aren’t any shorter than any other Spring, but Copper Canyon doesn’t typically bloom then. I was going to blame the drought, but you have had plenty of water, so now I don’t know what it is. Yes, you have many busy activities going on right now, don’t you?
I didn’t make myself very clear, did I? Sometimes, in spring before the days get longer, (and no, the days are no longer or shorter than usual this year), plants that usually bloom in short days of late/summer are triggered to put on a few blooms. Salvia leucantha is one. I think variance in temperature plays a part in this phenomenon.
Google for photoperiodism for much clearer explanations.
I’m glad the ‘Citrus Splash’ is doing so well in your garden. You have a number of plants I haven’t tried. I just saw that Yesterday…Tomorrow plant on someone else’s blog, but I had not heard of it before. I’ll have to find out more about that one.
Pam, it’s an old “grandmother” type of plant, at least in North Central Texas where I grew up. The name comes from the fact that as the blooms fade, they go from purple to lavender to off-white, so at any time there are 3 colors of blooms on the plant. I failed to get a photo of mine when that was happening, because it’s quite spectacular. Usually, it is done blooming by the first of May, but this was didn’t get into the ground until about that time.
Robin, you’ve sure got lots to ooh and aahh about on your bloom day post. Your new irises may be similar in color, but they all harmonize beautifully with your pink canna. And you’re not alone in liking yarrow. I’ve found that the white variety is the most aggressive, but usually only during rainy years, and it’s fairly easy to pull out when it gets carried away.
P.S.: Loved your bottle tree post! Gorgeous photos and clever writing.
Renee, I’m glad to hear that about yarrow, because I have planted lots of it! A new daylily bloomed today, yet another variety, and yes it is very similar! Oh well, the best laid plans, right?
My Pink Sunburst has buds on it now, and I’m so excited to see how they’ll look. I’m curious about the differences in foliage between our cannas. I don’t have any of those pink leaves on mine. Were they always like that, or did the variegation develop as the plant filled out?
And the daylilies are lovely, even if they do look a lot alike.
Lori, I think those leaves are always pink. But all the leaves have the wonderful variegated stripes, just some more than others. I bought this one already pretty large, so I don’t know about as it grows. However, as I sit and look at it right now, the leaves on the bottom are not pink, only the ones on the top, so perhaps age or amount of light does have something to do with it. How much sun does yours get? Mine only gets morning sun.
I grew that ‘Double Delight’ rose 20 years ago when I lived in a condo on Oltorf. I loved the bitone. The scent always seemed syrupy sweet to me, more like Coca Cola than a rose. But I did like it.
I know Double Delight is supposed to scent the entire garden with its fragrance, but I have to bend quite close to this one to smell anything at all. Perhaps an older plant has more scent? This one does smell sweet, from what I can tell, but I agree it’s nice.
Lots of pretty flowers and tropical color in your garden, Robin! How amazing that your cannas are blooming already… that South of the river thing is working for you.
When Rock Rose Jenny said her Copper Canyon Daisies were blooming I thought it was their customary response to daylength combined with no freezeback, too – but she’d cut hers back severely and they still bloomed. Weird indeed.
Up here the blue clerodendron was heavily mulched but still died all the way to the ground. It’s still struggling up to 10″. I love that flower!
The Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow is Brunfelsia pauciflora – saw it in San Antonio years ago and admired it but heard it was zone 9B so never tried it. Then this year I saw it for sale in a nursery a couple of miles from my house. Guess the zone-creep thing thing is making us all adventurous! Happy GBBD!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks for visiting, Annie, as well as for the good information. Not all my Cannas are blooming; the ones that are blooming are a fairly recent acquisition (March). My neighbor has had the Yest,Today,Tom plant for five years now on the north side of her house with no apparent problems. Hers are evergreen as well. I don’t know if it is global warming or urban heat island factor that is causing it, but yes, Austin is much warmer than it used to be (like we need THAT, right?).
Hello from across the country,
Last year I lost my two ’shaded’ or ‘bi-color’ hibiscus.
I just hated it. I haven’t seen anything similar either before purchasing the two small plants at a local Home Depot some 7-8 years ago. While searching the Net for a source, I found pictures of one that is somewhat similar. I noticed that you purchased three of them from a nursery in Austin, Tx, I presume. I glanced at the linked site; but it didn’t provide any information.
Have you found similar – shaded or bi-color hibiscus in your local?
Thanks!
And, the the garden is beautiful.
L.
Laura, I have to admit my ignorance – I don’t know what a bicolor Hibiscus is! I bought 3 Hibiscus from a local nursery last year, but they aren’t called bicolor. There is a native Texas perennial hibiscus, but none of those are called bicolor that I know of. I hope you find what you’re looking for. Have fun gardening.
Thanks, Nell, I’ll check that out. I believe that our currently dire situation of extreme 20 month drought is also a factor. Thanks for visiting!