Garden Bloggers Bloom Day for February 2011

Four years ago on February 15, 2007, May Dreams Carol invited us to post for the first-ever Garden Bloggers Bloom Day . The only flowers I could find were a few blossoms on the Carolina Jessamine and Coral Honeysuckle, a few yellow daffodil buds and 'Grand Primo' narcissus, some pansies, barely developed buds of Texas Mountain Laurel and a salmon geranium on the windowsill. Wouldn't you think there would now be more, rather than less?

The Carolina Jessamine/Gelsemium sempervirens began to flower 2 weeks ago -then was badly hit by the recent cold spell. Most of the plant looks like this A few of the interior vines were more protected and look like this - my guess is that the buds that are browned will fall off but the yellow ones will open.
I planted hyacinths near the yellow daffodils and very warm 80º F weather in early February spurred them to show buds. The temperature dropped rapidly from the 70's to the 20's -not that unusual here - but then it stayed below freezing for several days and dipped to 14º F, which is not usual. The stems of the daffodils had broken but a few heads seemed OK -so as our GBBD Inspiration Elizabeth Lawrence might have done, I cut the stems and took them inside, hoping they'll open in a vase of water.

For the first time since 2005 the flowers on these Narcissus 'Grand Primo' won't open.
The containers of pansies look much same as they did 10 days ago, but the Coral Honeysuckle lost not only flower buds but most of its leaves. And that 'Fantasia Salmon' geranium in flower for the first GBBD? I bought that plant on sale back in February 2006! I was quite pleased when it lived through the first winter, never expecting to someday look in the window and see a 5-year old plant still in bloom. That's it, May Dreams Carol! Maybe you'll get a better GBBD next month. The bloggers with the inside bulbs have the flowers this time.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Carol at May Dreams Gardens has requested that the Garden Bloggers post lists of what’s in bloom on the 15th of each month. Here in Austin we may see more today than on the 16th. The low was 29º overnight, with 25º predicted for tonight. That's not going to impress any Northern gardeners who are buried under snow! But it’s cold for us because rather than being dormant, our gardens are only half-asleep, and quite vulnerable.

The Carolina Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, has thousands of yellow buds, massed and ready to open.







Three daffodils are open or in bud. We found a few bulbs here in the yard when the shed was contructed and moved them into this border. I'm pretty sure these are 'February Gold'.




The Narcissus tazetta ‘Grand Primo’, planted in a front bed near the drive, and another near the garden shed, has a total of 6 heads blooming with small, lovely florets.








A few miniscule white blossoms are open on one of the Tea Olives, Osmanthus fragrans, and as in the garden of Pam at Digging, we have Rosemary and Pansies in bloom, as well as these small Violas.
The Texas Mountain Laurel, Sophora secundiflora was shown in the “Green Screen” post. Can you see the buds, looking almost like caterpillars? Since it will be so cold tonight, I hope they can still survive and bloom next month.





The native Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, has started to make buds and blooms, probably a little too early.









Indoors in the breakfast room, a Salmon geranium [really a Pelargonium] has been a source of color for months, and the Meyer’s Lemon pops a flower once in awhile. There is a single bud on the tree, and half-a-dozen tiny lemons developing. When this tree was outside, the blossoms were pollinated by insects, but this winter the Bee was Me. I used a new paintbrush to lightly touch the blossoms as they opened, and it worked!