Garden Bloggers Bloom Day June 2010

This gallery contains 31 photos.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, April 2010

Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites us each month to display what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of every month. Though I missed it by one day, belated still counts in the gardening world.

While my garden is still getting her adolescent legs under her, she has lots of showing off happening right now. With coltish smaller displays, there is room to grow in between plants. As always, just wait till NEXT year, right?

Starting with my favorites, (don’t tell the others), the Yellow Sunny Knockout Rose is knocking me out (below):

It’s her first year in my garden (a birthday present to myself last fall), and she loves her new location. Here’s a closeup of the blooms; they open quite lemon yellow and a day or so later fade to a lovely cream. Combined with her rosy fragrance,  she’s quite the gal!

I like how she combines with Senorita Rosalita Cleome, a proven winner trialed by Pam/Digging and made all of us Austin bloggers clamor for one of our own:

A better look at Senorita Rosalita, one of 5 (yes, I said five) in my yard. A great annual for filling in empty spots that will someday be filled by nearby perennials:

Another top-of-my-list favorite is  Marilyn’s Choice Abutilon. Hardy and showy, she’s very happy in her morning sun location with rich soil:

I hope those same conditions are right for the white-blooming Diamond Frost Euphorbia, because I like the two of them together:

And one of the great joys of Bloom Day is that I always find a surprise waiting for me. Today’s shocker is this newly-planted-last-winter Camellia in bloom now! And to top it off, the plant tag had indicated a white bloom. So she really is quite the off-color jokester:

Verbena in many forms is off-the-charts gorgeous everywhere this year. I have several colors:

I love this combo of native Moss Verbena and Daylillies:

Mock Orange is always a lovely spring show, giving me blooms for about 3 weeks. Here she is, right on time:

Nearby, this is the first time I’ve gotten these two plants to bloom together, and I’m lovin’ it! Coral Honeysuckle with Primrose Jasmine:

The Byzantine Gladiolus returned this year with long-lasting show-stopping neon fuchsia blooms:

My acid-soil, morning sun container is so far working to give me that southern garden charm. I hope I can keep the stock tank container watered enough through the hot summer to keep everything alive. Here’s Autumn Belle Encore Azalea going to town in her Sunday best:

Next to her is the new addition of Clerodendron Bleeding Heart Vine, also known as Glory Bower:

I’ll finish out with photos of the other blooms; it’s quite a colorful show this spring!

Blackfoot Daisy

Chocolate Chip Ajuga, past its prime

Pink Ranunculus, a happy return from last year

A few yellow Columbine, a plant I have difficulties starting

The first few blooms have started on Gulf Coast Penstemon

Salvia Greggii White form

A new pink Abutilon

Salvia Coccinea Coral Nymph

It seems the whole country is in bloom! From gardens to wildflowers, check out the blogroll at May Dreams.

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Feb 2010

On yet another cold and blustery February day in Austin, Texas, I’m participating in the monthy Bloom Day hosted by Carol, May Dreams Gardens.

There were a few surprises as I strolled through the garden looking for any blooms. Mostly I found tips of bulb stalks peeking above the dirt, so the anticipation for the March bloom day is high. But I did find a couple of things for today.

First, this Marilyn’s Choice Abutilon has been in the ground for only a few months, and despite record low temperatures and consistenty lower than average temperatures at night, it has steadfastly held on to its gorgeous blooms. This species of Abutilon was found only a few short years ago at an old church site in Lafayette, Louisiana, and has quickly become a garden staple in Austin because of her hardiness and continual bloom cycle.

I apologize for the blurriness of the next several photos. The wind came in big-time with this current blue norther’, and the plants preferred dancing in the wind rather than holding still for their portraits.

The same Abutilon full size.

This tiny Hellebore in deep shade is only about 3 inches tall with maybe 6 leaves total; not much bigger than when I planted it. But it has 3-4 buds on it, ready to give me a show soon. This is my first ever Hellebore, so I’m excited to see what the bloom will look like. Found locally last year at Natural Gardener, I’m hoping they chose a hardy one for our climate changes.

Yesterday when I was pruning many of the perennials in my yard – we finally had a few hours of sunshine – I was surprised to see one of the many Loropetalums in the yard ready to burst into bloom. One of the buds is already open.

This ice plant was a passalong from a friend who found it abandoned at a rental home he moved into. It hasn’t stopped blooming since he gave it to me, and I love the blooms. Today, of course for Bloom Day, it chose to only have one bloom instead of the 5-6 it has been consistently having. (Sorry for the poor pic)

With all the freezing nights we’ve had this winter, my container Meyer Lemon has spent most of the past 2 months indoors. Despite that, I have buds, blooms, and even a lemon starting! The scent of the flowers is amazing.

Thanks for visiting on this cold winter’s day. Despite the colder temps, Austin is finally recouping some of the moisture we needed so badly after our 24 month exceptional drought. I’m crossing my fingers that spring is going to be lovely this year!

Bloom Day November 2009 (at long last)

Now that Summer of Hell II is behind us, I seem to be able to live in the present and forget the horrible drought and heat. Though we are still in the drought, rains in October made our fair city look like spring again. Now that I have a few blooms in the garden and the weather is humanly cool, the cloudy morning took me outside to once again participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

My new favorite plant, Clarodendrun Ugandense, is also known as Butterfly plant, because of  the butterfly shape of the gorgeous blue flowers. This one is planted in mostly shade, with about 2-3 hours of early morning sun only.

Planted next to it is a sweet little plant called Cat’s Whiskers. You can see where it got it’s name.

In the front sunny corner, the Lantana and Bulbine just won’t stop blooming.

Copper Canyon Daisy was a tiny new planting last spring; I’m thrilled it likes my partial shade location for it. Behind it, a new Lantana called Lucky White was rescued from the clearance table at Home Depot last spring.

And my  long-time favorite, lavender Ivy Geranium bloomed all summer and continues until a freeze.

This cousin to Setcreasia was a passalong from Renee at  Renee’s Roots, and I can’t remember the name. I love how the blooms resemble baby’s breath, and I look forward to creating a lush hanging basket from it next spring. I also like it paired here with Sparkler Sedge as a bright spot in the shade.

Here’s a new Stonecrop that I couldn’t resist at the nursery a few weeks back. I hope it will come back next spring as I like how it works with the limestone rocks.

This is a new purchase for partial shade, called Salvia Honeysuckle. I know it has another name, but I’ve lost the tag. Can someone help with identification for me? I love the gray fuzzy leaves with the red bloom. I’m actually surprised that it bloomed as it was planted just two weeks ago in anticipation of next year’s bloom season.

And it wouldn’t be fall without Nandina berries on my last remaining Nandina shrub.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – March ’09

This newly planted Columbine may not survive in the garden because it isn’t a native, but I added it to encourage my native Columbines to bloom. You know, set an example or something. And I adore looking at it!
(Update: I discovered this species is called Winkie, or Winky, a heat-tolerant variety that has been shown to be hardy here in Central Texas over recent years. There is the possibility that it might be a perennial after all!)

I love the delicate flowers of the Columbine, and I’ve moved them into the new bed that I believe gives them appropriate sunshine and moisture; under a deciduous Cedar Elm so they can get a bit of winter sunshine and lots of summer shade. Perhaps next year’s blooms will be more prolific.

The Amethyst Flame Iris is still quite happy in her new home, with only 4-5 hours of sun during the winter. I’m surprised she has so many blooms, frankly.

I added this trailing lantana in a bright white to be groundcover in the bulb bed. I love the color, it’s such a true white. Difficult to photograph, though.

The Ivy Geranium recently pulled from her makeshift greenhouse winter home is happy in her usual place over the waterfall, where she gets constantly splashed lightly and has plenty of humidity, even in the drought.

In the front yard, the Mountain Laurel blooms are winding down. It was a lovely year for the Mountain Laurels, despite the lack of winter rain.

I didn’t get this leggy trailing Lantana in purple trimmed back in time before it burst into bloom. I’ll let it have a nice bloom time, then trim it as the season heats up near summer to shape it up and help it bloom more. It’s part of my purple and yellow color scheme for the front yard.

This Bulbine was moved into a new spot in the yard to get more sun. I’m creating a new bed around it, with plants that have yellow and orange blooms. Currently there is a Citrus Splash rose and a recently added yellow/orange Lantana. I plan to add a Pride of Barbados this year, and then perhaps an Agave for structure and contrast. I do like the silver blue of the Agave with the hot orange and yellow combination. It’s a slow work in progress.

Thanks to Carol, May Dreams Gardens, for sponsoring GBBD every month.