A surprisingly Pleasant, Rainy GBBD for July, 2013

This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.  

Rain is a big deal here, and it rained today! I watched through the kitchen window as the rain ran down the chain into the barrel and then stood on the front porch listening to the welcome sound. Instead of dust we had raindrops. Instead of the 104°F of Saturday afternoon, temperatures on Monday afternoon never broke 80°F.
 
The chance to make a Garden Blogger Bloom Day post featuring petals and leaves dampened by raindrops doesn't come along very often! I caught a few photos, mostly of plants near the house, and mostly of flowers with petals that hadn't disintegrated to mush in the rain.

There are two more rain chains directing water into the very important, long back wall border. This very desirable morning-sun, afternoon-shade spot is jammed full with Blue Plumbago, Tropical Milkweed, a Meyer's Lemon, a Satsuma orange, 'Carmen' peppers, a climbing rose, Grandma's phlox, Blue Butterfly Clerodendron, Pink cuphea, Burgundy oxalis, black Ophiopogon, Coreopsis 'Crème Brulee', three passalong daylilies and more, in the rain. 

 
Some years ago a couple of bulbs of Amarcrinum were given positions in this special, long border - the fragrant pink flowers appeared in the last post and even more flower stalks are up now. Here is  x Amarcrinum 'Fred Howard' in the rain. 

Over by the garden gate the Cenizo/Texas Sage had popped into bloom

Across from the Cenizo a daylily that had bloomed a while ago is surprising me. It appears that the developing bloom stalk stalled and shut down when we started seeing temperatures over 100°F. Now the stalk has extended and the buds are swelling, long after the other flowers faded. Here is Hemerocallis 'Devonshire' in the rain.


Behind the daylily are a Firecracker plant and a creamy white Salvia greggii. Let's take a closer look. 

The daylily, Firecracker plant and salvia have all been here for years, but on the other side of the daylily is a more recent addition, Asclepias currasivica 'Silky Gold'. This all-yellow selection of tropical milkweed seems to be settling in well and it sure does look pretty in the rain. 

Closer to the back fence a young 'Catawba' crepe myrtle bows down with the weight of water-logged blossoms. This tree is only shrub-sized right now, but it has the potential to transform this part of the garden as it grows into a tree.



Blasting afternoon sun combined with deep morning shade and a very dry winter is not the recipe for happy Phlox, but some handwatering and compost helped this Fanick's phlox in the pink entrance garden survive to make a few flowers. I was afraid I had lost this plant so am very happy to take a photo of it in the rain. 

There are a couple of beds in the garden that usually bloom with red, white & blue flowers around  Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Those beds did not deliver this year, but a large patio container is displaying patriotic colors today. Here's a white Datura AKA Angel's Trumpet, with blue-violet petunias, white hummingbird sage and red hummingbird sage, in the rain.


So far my rain gauge has measured a little over 2" - there's been much more in some parts of Central Texas and much less in other parts of Austin. You may be tired of reading that little phrase, "In the Rain", but I'm sure not tired of saying it.

Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and keeps the links for all who want to be part of this pleasant tradition. This is her July post.


If I can get a complete list of what's in bloom along with the botanical names, it will appear at Annie's Addendum.  
(That list is now up, with a few more photos)
This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog. 

When the Garden Is In Heat

This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog. 

The plants aren't howling and writhing like cats in heat, but gardeners in Austin would probably like to howl today...

Even though my garden has a lot of shifting, filtered shade, the combination of sun and heat makes the blossoms on some plants change color. Here's 'Vi's Apricot' daylily on May 1st - there is a rosy blush over the petals

The first flush of blooms finished weeks ago, but the daylily sent up more stalks and is now reblooming. The flowers have lost the rosy blush, but the diamond-dusting shows up even more strongly.

 One of the 'Fred Howard' Amarcrinum bulbs bloomed a few days ago. Yesterday it had faded to this

while another bulb - just opened - showed the true color

Today that second bulb is fading fast

I bought a new little crinum from the Travis County Master Gardeners tent at the Zilker Park Garden Festival a couple of months ago. This is Crinum oliganthum, a dwarf Caribbean variety. The beautiful flower lasted one day.

Passalong Crocosmia came from Austin friend Martha in 2008 and were planted in front of one of the 'Acoma' crepe myrtles. They've declined in that spot so I moved a few bulbs nearer the patio arch and watched them thrive. I'm not sure what makes this spot better, but I love the orange Crocosmia with the violet Calibrachoa! 

The sweet name fooled me into planting Angelonia in a sheltered spot when I last bought it. That plant bloomed a wishy-washy pink but this gleaming Angel can take very strong sun & heat. I took a photo with the thermometer at 107°F and the sun still blazing on the container.

The blue plumbago does not like prolonged cold spells - they can knock it down to the ground - but these last days of 100°F, 105°F and 107°F haven't discouraged it one bit. The color hasn't faded, either.

Has the heat changed the color of my newest crepe myrtle? Is it really the 'Muskogee' that the label promised or do I have an imposter? I've wanted that variety for years after seeing it bloom around Austin, especially after Pam/Digging planted one in her front garden and the flowers looked a lot like the lilacs I grew in Illinois. I bought a 'Muskogee' in 2011 but it didn't do much last year. This June it is finally in bloom, but the flowers don't look like lilacs to me - they look almost exactly the color of Mexican Oregano.

Planting at this time of year may not be wise, but I did it anyway... we'll see if I get away with it. One of the hypertufa troughs was planted with snapdragons. They looked good for months but last week did them in so they needed to be replaced. Maybe this portulaca from Barton Springs Nursery will do OK, and if the Dicliptera suberecta lives the hummingbirds will be happy. Jewels of Opar is a new plant for me - it has a reputation as an opportunistic reseeder so I've been hesitant so far, but the variegated kind was irresistible.   

This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog. 

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2012

My neighborhood has been very lucky! 

Over the past 9 days we've had a series of storms with time in between for the rain to sink in - six precious inches of rain as of last night. That's enough to make a real difference after last year's heat and drought. 

We'll probably heat up again soon, but for now, the trees have had a deep, quenching drink. If you are living in one of the places that needs rain now, I wish & hope that it comes to you soon. 

Every day we see hummingbirds sipping from this salvia. Years ago I bought two colors of the reseeding annual Salvia coccinea (the standard red Hummingbird Sage) and the lovely Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph'.
Seedlings sprouted in following springs - some light coral, some red and some white. I love the white version and have let it reseed all along the edge of the patio. 

 Last year this dark coral version appeared in a patio pot & the hummingbirds were crazy for it. Instead of being annual, the plant died back to a stub in winter then quickly regrew to make hummingbirds happy again. 

The Crocosmia is back! There were few flowers in 2010, no flowers and few leaves last year. I wondered whether the small stand had died out but here it is, blooming again with Purple Heart/Setcreasia

We always grow a few vegetables every year but had not tried cucumbers in Texas until this spring. A few seeds of Sweet Marketmore from the Natural Gardener turned into rambling vines with huge leaves, yellow flowers and edible cucumbers. I like to watch them grow but don't eat them - Philo has had 9 or 10 so far and says they're delicious. I have a feeling this is beginners' luck because the squirrels haven't seen them growing before... might be a different story if we try again next year!

One stalk of an Amarcrinum 'Fred Howard' opened flowers about 10 days ago which was appreciated but not unusual. The a few days ago this second stalk came up on the same clump - totally unprecedented.

My friend Ellen gave me a passalong plant of Blue Butterfly Clerodendron a few years ago. In 2010 I bought another and then cloned a few more. Right now there are 4 plants in my garden, one in bloom, one with only leaves and two plants in bud. These buds are near the Amarcrinum, making big promises.

Tropical milkweed has lived over in some places and seeded in others. This seedling near the back door had a caterpillar on it. We see more Queen butterflies than Monarchs here so I'm not sure but there appear to be only two sets of filaments so it may be a Monarch caterpillar.

 

It's dropping blossoms now but on Saturday the Cenizo was gorgeous!

 Early last summer every pepper plant in the garden collapsed and died. In July I found a few new plants for sale, planted them in containers and got a few peppers. I used containers again this spring and we've had a small, steady supply of small peppers for weeks. The 'Cubanelle' and 'Carmen' are sweet but the 'Mariachi' can be pretty hot.

More than 50 years ago my grandmother grew a white garden phlox in Chicago. She divided it and gave pieces to her children, who divided it and gave pieces to their children. I gave some to my son and it's grown well for him. My dear son brought a piece to me last spring and I struggled to keep Grandma's Phlox going through last summer. Here it is, small and way shorter than in Illinois but every bloom is precious to me.

The red Turkscap is having a very good year... twice the height it was last year and covered in red flowers. These blooms were at eye level ... you may also have heard them called Wax Mallow or Malvaviscus.

You can see more of the tropical Milkweed in the background but what's in front is not really a flower. It's a developing Meyer's Improved Lemon, on the tree that froze back to a leafless, stubby framework in February 2011. I don't know if the dozen or so lemons can make it all the way to fall & maturity, but it is certainly a novelty having little lemons hang overhead when you walk down the sidewalk.

The finches were probably relieved to see seedlings of the cosmos sprout up - much later than in other years. We've seen both housefinches and goldfinches hanging on the plants like ornaments, trying to get the seeds.  

My attempts to divide and clone this plant have failed so far but I'll try again. It's a hybrid Skullcap called 'Dorota Blue', supposed to be a useful groundcover in some places but a pampered pet here. I really like the color. 

Watering the rainlilies doesn't work - they are not fooled by a hose! But real rain brought them out of hiding. This pink rainlily came from Plant Delights nursery, but in the front yard I saw buds emerging from native white rainlilies and native yellow Copper lilies - maybe I can catch them in flower, too.

Thanks for visiting the Transplantable Rose ~ I wish you enough rain and enough sun to make your garden happy and many friends to enjoy it with you!

For the complete list of what is in bloom and a few more photos, go to my Annie's Addendum blog.

To see a roundup of gardeners who have joined in for the July 2012 edition of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, the invention of May Dreams Carol, go here to Carol's blog.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, August 2010

It's 100°F every day and there has been only a splash of rain in my neighborhood. The mosquitoes are horrid. The salvias are sulking. Barely a leaf can be found whole, due to outrageous numbers of caterpillars and other leaf-eating insects. My main goal is to run out, cut back, deadhead, mow, water enough to keep the garden alive and run back in until fall. August is a good month for genealogy inside.

But it's still better than August 2009, such a depressing month that I skipped GBBD altogether, and later regretted having that gap in my records. Carol of May Dreams Gardens, founder of GBBD, had a good idea, to keep track of what happens each month, no matter what the weather!

Some plants have died, some are doing fine and one new flower opened. A few stalwart plants keep chugging along through heat with no rain - others are in part shade and are watered regularly. Here is the list with botanical names and a few photos.

Abelia chinensis/Abelia, four white shrubs light bloom

Abelia chinensis two unnamed pink shrubs light bloom

Abelia chinensis 'Edward Goucher' smaller pink shrub in some shade - pretty good bloom

Abutilon hybridum 'Patrick's' - in a container in the Secret Garden. The flowers are small & hang down...they are not showy - but when the sun comes through it's easy to see why so many Austin gardeners are falling for Parlour Maples.

Allium tuberosum, Garlic chives has buds but not flowers

Amarcrinum ‘Fred Howard’ The bulb that flowered for July's bloom day is in a very sunny hot place with reflected sun... that plant looks terrible! The bulb that is blooming today, seen below, is in part shade in the pink garden. Even with some shade the flowers don't last long in this heat.

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, Flame acanthus from Pam/Digging doing really well

Asclepias curassavica, tropical milkweed, couple of plants with lots of flowers. They seeded themselves right next to the sidewalk, blocking traffic but looking colorful.

Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Gold' gold cultivar of tropical milkweed in light bloom

Buddleja lindleyana/ Weeping butterfly bush, some flowers remaining on branch tips

Calibrachoa hybrids, two surviving plants - just a couple of flowers

Canna americanallis 'Bengal Tiger' syn 'Praetoria' two flower stalks

Capsicum annuum – garden peppers - a few flowers and some hot peppers

Catharanthus roseus - annual vinca- one surviving plant.

Castilleja indivisa, Texas paintbrush, grown as annual - one flower hanging on

Clerodendrum ugandense – Blue butterfly flower. Original plant is finally thinking about making buds. The one in a patio container, bought in June from It's About Thyme is enormous & in constant bloom

Clitoria ternatea- the annual Blue Butterfly Pea, flowering on the obelisk

Conoclinium greggii, Gregg’s Mistflower - Just a few flowers, because I haven't watered it enough

Cosmos sulphureus flowers, many buds and seedheads attracting birds

Cuphea ignea, orange Cigar flower, a fair amount of small orange flowers

Cuphea llavea – small pink & lavender form -a few flowers

Cuphea llavea –red & purple ‘Batfaced’- two plants blooming just fine

Datura unkn sp - seeded in patio container - a bud and seedheads

Dicliptera suberecta Uraguayan firecracker plant - new small plant with some flowers

Echinacea purpurea ‘Purple Stars - one remaining flower - many seedheads. Leaves awful.

Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' two plants in flower.

Evolvulus glomeratus, Blue Daze, one survivor in a patio container

Gaura lindheimerii, unknown tall rose-pink variety (‘Pink Cloud’?), just a few flowers but there are none on the white gaura, usually quite tough

Hedychium coronarium/ Hawaiian White Ginger - there were a few flowers last week -that's when I took the photo below. Now there are no flowers but a few buds are swelling

Helianthus, three tall annual sunflowers, looking like some species of bizarre leafless tree since the Bordered Patch caterpillars devoured the leaves. At the ends of the bare branches flowers, buds and seed heads attract so many birds that when I look out the window the 10-foot plants appear to be dipping and waving as the birds land and depart. This photo was taken by my son


Hemerocallis fulva – Ditch daylily from Lori one bud left to open

Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Blue River II’, a few huge white flowers each day

Hibiscus syriacus/Rose of Sharon, a few flowers every day

Impatiens walleriana, bedding impatiens. couple of plants in container are blooming

Indigofera amblyantha? /pink false indigo - has a few wands of pink flowers

Ipomoea alba, Moon flower vine, just starting to make buds

Ipomoea quamoclit, Cypress vine, reseeding annual many flowers

Jasminium sambac, Sambac jasmine non-stop

Justicia spicigera/ Mexican Honeysuckle some flowers

Lagerstroemia indica, hot pink crepe myrtles (5 trees), still some flowers

Lagerstroemia x hybrida ‘Acoma’ white crepe myrtles (2 trees); still some flowers

Lagerstroemia indica 'Catawba', in container, reddish-purple flowers, still some flowers

Lantana, unknown varieties upright lavender and trailing white

Lavandula intermedia 'Provence', fragrant,in clay container - keeps blooming as long as watered and deadheaded

Liriope muscari/Lilyturf, in long lines all over the place, flowering lightly

Lonicera sempervirens, coral honeysuckle (just a few flowers)

Lycopersicon lycopersicum, tomatoes mostly the Sun gold, but a few on Solar fire

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii/Turkscap or Red Wax Mallow (two plants), loaded with blooms.

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii, white form of Turkscap/Wax Mallow (two plants in secret garden), sprawling and covered in flowers.

Melampodium leucanthum / Blackfoot daisy - many plants - floppy and flowering - sweet fragrance in heat

Oxalis regnellii 'Atropurpurea' (dotted around and in containers), blooming some places- crispy in others

Pavonia lasiopetala, pink rock rose, opens flowers but they fry quickly

Pelargonium hybrid, 'Fantasia Salmon', zonal geranium in breakfast room window

Pentas lanceolata - Egyptian stars a few flower heads

Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian Sage (two beds), floppy but holding onto flower heads

Phlox paniculata 'John Fanick' - new plant - very pretty flowers and some buds

Physostegia virginiana, Obedient plant - stressed but has a few flowers that caught my son's eye - he took this photo

Piper auritum/Hoja Santa or Rootbeer Plant - two plants in shade have odd wand-shaped white flowers

Platycodon 'Miss Tilly' (3 plants), a few fading flowers

Plumbago auriculata (two shrubs), going nuts and covered in pale blue flowers- have to keep cutting it back

Plumeria unknown species/Frangipani, creamy yellow one bud stalk not open yet

Poliomintha bustamanta, Mexican oregano (3 plants), all blooming but looking ratty & stressed

Portulaca - reseeded & purchased Moss Roses and Flowering Purslanes - all have flowers

Punica granatum 'Nana'/ dwarf pomegranate - couple of buds

Rosa 'Mutabilis' (two good-sized plants) just a few flowers on front plant

Russelia equisetiformis, Firecracker plant 2 plants in bloom

Salvia farinacea, Mealy Blue sage, wandlike flowers opening but do not last

Salvia greggii, one cherry color, one white, one purple have flowers - dozen others are either resting or dropping branches.

Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips' only a few flowers on back plant... other one spindly and not blooming

Salvia vanhoutii SYN Salvia splendens var 'Van Houttei' does not make a lot of bloom, but a few at a time for hummingbirds

Scutellaria indica 'Dorota Blue' Blue evergreen hybrid skullcap, in container, part-shade & watered. Just started flowering

Scutellaria suffrutescens, pink skullcap, two plants in Pink Entrance Garden - light bloom

Scutellaria unlabeled blue-violet skullcap blooming in hellstrip

Scutellaria unlabled - flower pink but different from suffrutescens, blooming in hellstrip

Tetraneuris scaposa, four nerve daisy Hymenoxys - a couple of flowers

Verbena bonariensis – a few stragglers - most done

Vitex agnus-castus / Chaste tree this year is looking pretty good!

Zephyranthes 'Labuffarosea', Pink rainlily - in this bunch open today today the focus is on the seeds. I scattered them along the edges of a border.

Zinnia linearis/ syn Zinnia angustifolia, several plants, abundant white flowers.

Happy GBBD - thanks again, Carol!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, July 2010

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, like Tax Day, falls on the 15th of the month. Carol of May Dreams Gardens may not haul me off to the pokey if I don't pay up in petals, but a skipped GBBD means no Permanent Record of what-happened-when in the garden.

{Most photos enlarge when clicked.}

Unlike the sweltering summer of 2009, this July hasn't topped 100°F yet and there has been real rain. We love looking out at the garden and birdbath fountain from the breakfast room.

The 'Little Gem' Magnolia has a few flowers, orange cosmos and self-seeded sunflowers add bright colors to the center of the back garden and a blue/purple haze near the yellow chair contrasts with the shockingly green grass.

Those purple, white and blue colors come from a 'Catawba' crepe myrtle, Mealy-blue sage, 'Miss Tilly' balloon flowers, a division of the 'Blue River II' hibiscus and 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia.
Behind the euphorbia is Salvia vanhouttei, of doubtful hardiness, but at $2 for a starter plant that's already shrub-size, worth growing because the hummingbirds love it.

It looks like this now... a little ragged but still intense in color - and you can see that it seems designed for hummingbird bills!

Ten days ago I caught the partially opened buds - part of a Red, White & Blue post that never happened.
In the smaller triangle the starter plants of 'Black Pearl' pepper are settling in, with white, yellow and orange Portulaca around it. This year I added some stubbier Flowering Purslane to the reseeded and more delicate Moss Rose types. White Zinnia linearis also reseeds, adding daisy shapes to the scene.


In the larger triangle bed it was a surprise to see that the Hemercallis fulva (AKA Ditch daylily, a passlaong from Lori) sent up a scape loaded with buds. It bloomed in May - what is going on? At the left on the obelisk you can see leaves of the Blue Butterfly Pea winding upward in preparation for an appearance at the August GBBD.
Perennials are wonderful, but Green Bones that add mass and form along with bloom give solid satisfaction - here is the 'Little Gem' magnolia framed by white semi-dwarf 'Acoma' crepe myrtles, my neighbor's common pink crepe and a froth of evergreen Abelia at mid-level.
Along the bed to the left the Cenizo/Purple Sage is in full bloom - some people say the blooms are a promise of rain, but others say it's a response to rain. Another nickname for this plant is "Barometer Bush".

Near the back door the blue Plumbagos have rebounded from last winter's freezeback, blooming blue with a self-seeded tropical Milkweed and the purple oxalis which has decided to rebloom rather than go dormant.

A few feet away the first blooms have opened on Amarcrinum 'Fred Howard' - pink and fragrant.

On the patio the Blue Butterfly Clerodendron looks a little smug after being the subject of its own post last week.


Around the corner in the Secret Garden green prevails, with color coming from a tall crepe myrtle showering watermelon-pink petals from high overhead, a few coral-pink canna buds at the 3-foot level and this pink false indigo down close to the ground.



There's a new pink flower in the Pink Entrance Garden - John Fanick's phlox. The passalong phlox that came from my Illinois grandmother is barely alive and not blooming but this Texas Superstar was selected to do well here.

Another passalong from Illinois seems to like Texas just fine - it's a small, reblooming daylily bought at Mileager Nurseries of Wisconsin in the mid-1990's as 'Pinocchio'. Every summer it has an initial flush of bloom, rests and regroups, makes a smaller number of scapes, rests a little longer, then pops a few more. Those are more 'Miss Tilly' balloon flowers in the background.
By next week a list of everything in bloom today with botanical names will go up at Annie's Addendum...

but next up will be the TOMATO REPORT, a long overdue post with a new song.


Have fun checking out a world of garden blogs in bloom right here.


JULY 22, 2010
The complete list of blooms with botanical names and a few more photos is now up at Annie's Addendum