Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 2015

Happy GBBD! It's been a while since I've posted, despite having a banner iris spring and hundreds of volunteer bluebonnets I kept meaning to photograph. All this rain has been pretty amazing for the landscape; strangely, it's the sun that's missing (so unlike a typical May in Austin). Artichokes and the verbena bonariensis are the stars in front right now, as the magnolia perfumes the air. In back, the 2-year-old Passion Flower vine has totally taken over the fence and is creeping up through the pocket lawn (be careful what you wish for!).

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: July 2014

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (hosted by May Dreams Gardens)! Today is overcast with light sprinkles, but the past week has been pretty hard on the landscape. Austin has been lucky this year that full summer started late, but it is finally here. We're moving into the season of flame-colored blooms... 

Blackfoot daisy against bronze fennel and Mexican feathergrass
Chocolate cosmos

Coral bean (this color makes my heart happy)
Coral bean against golden thryallis
Bronze fennel behind globe mallow

Verbena bonariensis and artemisia

Tatume squash vines in bloom (you can spot one squash to the right of the tree base...these go from baseball to softball size in less than a day!)

Trumpet vine monster

Swallowtails, ladybugs and aphids all living in fennel blooms

Cigar plant

Fireworks gomphrena

Loving the way dittany of crete drapes over the pot (bees love it, too)

Soapwort (Bouncing Bet) is getting leggy, but she still looks lovely

First crinum to bloom this year!

Okay, not blooms but these are from this morning's harvest and are something to look forward to in the summer garden.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: June 2014

A thunderstorm this past week plus the beginning of summer combined for some pretty blooms this Bloom Day (for more gardens, check out May Dreams Gardens).

Mutabilis rose

Martha Gonzalez rose
Pale pavonia
Tropical milkweed

Passionvine

Soapwort and Mexican petunia

Trumpetvine

Cosmos and feathergrass

Globe mallow

Gregg's Mist

California poppies

Coneflower (passalong from a neighbor)

Peter's purple monarda

Coral bean

Beach vitex

Chocolate cosmos

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 2014

It's all shades of purple with orange accents up in here for this month's GBBD (hosted by May Dreams Gardens), starting with the star of the front yard: artichoke (and, yes, they do feel like koosh balls).

Curb strip Candystripe cosmos, from seed thrown out last year

Globe mallow just keeps trucking along

Creeping germander hasn't crept very far, but the blooms remind me of lavender

Passionvine

Mexican petunia, filling in with no help from me, per usual

End of the larkspur among the iris foliage

Heartleaf skullcap

Trumpet vine just started blooming yesterday

Not pictured, but just started blooming: magnolia, crepe myrtle and coral bean.

Happy spring, gardeners!