Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - May 2015

The higher than average rainfalls in Central Texas over the last few weeks have my zone 8b garden bursting with blooms this month for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of every month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

First, my poppies wrapped up their blooms this month, much to the disappointment of the buzzing bees, who could always be found on the blooms.

The larkspur has been putting on quite the show, adding an English cottage garden feel to my hot Texas garden.

The larkspur looks a lot like delphiniums, but does much better with the heat and drought of Texas.

Another English cottage-y garden feel flower blooming right now are my foxgloves.  I haven't had luck with these other years in Texas, since they tend to like a bit cooler and wetter conditions than we normally get.  However, we are having a cooler and wetter season this year, so they are loving it, and so am I.

Wrapping up the English cottage garden blooms are the Graham Thomas antique roses.

A few weeks ago, I added some annuals to the courtyard to give it some color and included impatients, kalanchoes and torenias.

In the courtyard, the pansies that were planted last fall are still going strong, especially with the cooler than average temperatures we've been having.

In the shade garden, the agapanthus is starting to bloom, but hasn't reached its full glory just yet.

The gladiolas are just starting to bloom.  I love these vibrant purple varieties that always bloom first.

Volunteer sunflowers, planted by the birds, are also opening their blooms.

As are other annuals, like the blanket flowers,

cosmos,

and zinnias.

The gardenias are filling the air with their intoxicating fragrance.

And the insects are enjoying the nectar of the black-eyed Susans, 

as well as the asters.

Then there are a handful of other reliable Texas blooms, like the prickly pear cactus,

bi-colored iris,

oleander,

guara,

pink skullcap,

and lantana (which the hummingbirds are absolutely loving).

That wraps up my May blooms.  Be sure to stop by May Dreams Gardens for many more May blooms in other gardens around the world.

September 2014 Blooms

I'm late to the party, but I didn't want to miss out on sharing my September blooms as part of Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens.

Veggie Beds

I have one full veggie bed full of zinnias that reseeded themselves from transplants that I planted earlier this spring.  The new veggie seeds that I planted in this bed before I left for my South Africa trip didn't sprout while I was gone (a little too hot and not enough water), but the zinnias sprouted.  They are so pretty, that I don't really want to tear up the bed to plant veggies.  I'm now planning for this to be my latest fall veggie bed, so I can enjoy the zinnias for a couple more months.

Backyard Beds

There are a lot of plants blooming in the backyard, but I feel like I'm partially cheating, since they are mainly on plants that I just added to my garden in the last week.  Oh well, they still count in my book.

One plant that isn't new that is finally blooming this year is my bougainvillea.  I thought I lost the plant during our hard freeze last winter, but it came back.  It just needed a little extra time to work up the strength to produce its beautiful flowers.

In the shade garden, of the new plants, there are a few that are currently blooming:

Turk's Cap is a reliable late summer/early fall bloomer that adds plenty of color to the garden when not much else will.

The Big Blue Lithrope is also adding a touch of color to the shade garden with its light purple spires.

Along the neighbor fence line, the butterflies are loving the blooms on this Sapphire Showers Duranta.

And I'm loving the glorious smell of the gardenia flowers.

The fall aster is doing its part to attract the bees.

I love the color this purple coneflower brings to the peach tree beds.

The dainty flowers on the Blackfoot Daisy are so sweet.

Front Yard and Courtyard

The blue plumbago has been going strong since the spring and has been one of the fastest growers in my garden this year, with little to no watering.  No wonder why it is considered a Texas Superstar plant!  It has outgrown the space that I put it though, so that means I either need to move it to a new location, or do some heavy pruning.

The Mexican Sage is making its fall showing.

And finally, the Autumn Sage is living up to its name, adding a splash of magenta to the garden as we head into fall here in Texas.