Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2015

There is so much to share for this month's bloom day - where do I even begin?

I guess I'll start with some of my favorite blooms in the garden.

First, the bearded irises have been providing non-stop color in the garden.  All of my irises were pass along plants from neighbors last year.  I've been very pleasantly surprised with variety and color I received.

The oriental poppies always make me think of the Wizard of Oz.

Their lush greens filled the garden all winter long.  Now, their papery petals flit in the breeze.

Such perfection.

Next on my list of favorites are the roses.  Belinda's Dream, Mrs. B. R. Cant, Heritage and a couple mysterious varieties (the magenta climber that came with the house and the ruby red pass along rose from gardening friend, Melissa) are blooming like crazy right now and I'm loving the show.

I've highlighted them in their own post, but our Texas state flower, the bluebonnet, is still going strong in the garden.  I've notice some of the rosettes are starting to fill out with seed pods. Yay for even more bluebonnets next year!

The ranunculus plants fill the beds with a burst of color.  I've tried these bulb/rhizome plants several times in the past in containers without any luck.  However, they seem to love living in the garden beds and are providing me with great cut flowers.

The Texas Gold columbine is putting on it's first display of flowers for me since being planted late last spring.  You have to love this Texas Superstar plant that puts on such a show while living in deep shade and loving drought conditions.

 Such peculiar looking flowers.

Other blooms in the garden include the coral honeysuckle - one of the hummingbirds' favorite treats!

Then there are the sweet peas...

Blackfoot daisies...

Salvias...

Tulips...

Including Lady Janes, which do especially well here in the South.

Even the edibles are flowering, including the culinary sage...

Chives...

And even blackberries and strawberries!

That rounds out my blooms for April.  For more garden blooms, check out May Dreams Gardens where Carole hosts Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th of every month.

Blackberries and Artichokes

Garden Goals for 2015 #6 has been achieved:  plant at least three more blackberry bushes.  Check.  On this glorious 70 degree day in Central Texas, I even over-achieved my goal by planting FOUR new blackberry bushes!

Two or three years ago I planted six thornless blackberries (and two boysenberries) bushes along our back fence.  All but one died.  I'm not sure exactly what the primary reason was, but I assume it was a mix of not having the right soil prep, not enough watering during drought conditions, and not mulching enough to keep the weeds and grass from stealing nutrients from the plant.  I also planted the blackberries right up against the chain-link fence, where the deer stuck their muzzles through and gnawed down the canes before they could produce any berries.

The one that remains is either an Arapaho or Ouachita.  I can't remember since I wasn't blogging and keeping very good planting records at the time.  I'm gonna bet that it is an Arapaho, since those do well in this region.

Today I planted four bare-root blackberry brambles purchased from the Natural Gardener in Austin, so all varieties do well in the area.  I got one Roseborough, one Brazos, and two Apache.

• Apache (Thornless) Medium-large fruit; Ripens early July; Sweet and firm fruit; Erect plant; 1999 release from University of Arkansas; Resistant to rosette disease and orange rust.
• Brazos (Thorny) Large fruit; Ripens mid- to late May; Soft fruit with tart, acidic flavor; Vigorous grower and heavy producer; Disease resistant; Good for cooking; Very widely adapted to most areas of Texas; Has raspberry and wild dewberry in its parentage; Introduced by Texas A&M in 1959.
• Roseborough (Thorny) Large fruit; Ripens in late May; Juicy fruit with delicious sweet flavor; Erect plant; Heavy producer; Disease resistant; Released by Texas A&M University in 1977.

I planted them along the back fence again, however with amended soil (compost and manure), as well as far enough away from the fence (about two feet) so the deer can't reach them by sticking their tongues through the chain-link.

You can't see the little bare root brambles very well in this picture, but I assure you, they are there in the center of each wire "tomato cage."  From left to right we have Roseborough, three year-old mystery bramble (Apache?), Apache, Brazos, Apache.  Next weekend I plan to heavily mulch the area to limit competition with weeds and grass.

Another view of the tiny little stick that will one day grow up to be a beautiful blackberry bush (at least, that's what I hope and will work towards).

Also on this beautiful winter afternoon, I planted two more artichoke crowns.  I planted one small artichoke plant (Tavor) last spring, which has not produced for me, yet.  Today I planted two two-year-old globe artichoke crowns, again from the Natural Gardener.

The new artichokes got planted near the Tavor artichoke, on the corner of the deck bed, which gets plenty of sunlight year-round.  My original plant is in the back, and the two new ones are in the front.  Again, kind of hard to see, but they are located in the little holes between the pine mulch.  Artichokes should be planted 3-4 feet apart, but I only planted mine two feet apart.  I guess I will see later if I regret my decision.  I just hope I can harvest a few artichokes this year!