Welcome to the April edition of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. There are so many blooms in my April garden and so little time to profile all of the flowers, so I’ll focus on a few, mostly native Texas lovelies.
The purples have taken control of my gardens–holding the garden hostage with their beauty. Included in the violet-hued blooming coup are several varieties of non-native Iris and native Texas perennial wildflowers.
I have scads of Spiderwort, Tradescantia, ssp. clumps which have spread willy-nilly throughout my beds. They vary in size, color, and petal form, but all are pretty in purple and pollinator-attracting.
A relative of the Spiderwort, this dainty False Dayflower, Tinantia anomala, displays a delicate spring lilac.
It’s a nice companion to the Spiderwort and like its taller kin, was a surprise gift in my garden.
Cedar Sage, Salvia roemeriana, is a blast of red-hot gorgeousness in spring and is flowering a bit earlier than typical for this shade-loving perennial.
It’s certainly no shrinking salvia in the garden.
This darling Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium chilense, popped up in a crack in my patio and is blooming along just fine in its mortar mulch.
I’m only guessing at this identification–I didn’t buy it in either seed or container plant form. It’s definitely a blue-eyed beauty, though.
Native Texas Columbines are spring favorites. The Yellow Columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana,
…and the smaller, less flamboyant Wild Red Columbine, A. canadensis,
…and the natural hybrids of the two that occur when both are planted together over the course of a few seasons.
I love ’em all!
Lyreleaf Sage, Salvia lyrata, is at the peak of its beautiful spring blue flower spikes. Or is the color purple? Or maybe more of a lavender? Whatever it is, it’s welcome in my garden.
Lyreleaf Sage is a good choice for a shade-tolerant ground cover and is attractive year-round.
Coral Honeysuckle vine, Lonicera sempervirens, is a blooming monstrosity!
But no one can doubt the beauty and pollinator zing it adds to a garden
Hill Country Penstemon, Penstemon triflorus, stands as s a fuchsia sentinel in my early and mid-spring garden.
This one is perhaps a hybrid between the P. triflorus and P. cobaea. The tag at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was labeled P. triflorus, but it’s never quite looked like my others. It sports larger blooms and foliage in an overall taller plant, plus the coloring is variegated.
Nonetheless, like my other Hill Country Penstemon plants, I appreciate its good looks, long flowering time, and purpose as an excellent pollinator plant.
Not native to Central Texas but instead, to West Texas and New Mexico is the Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua.
Hot, dry, and sunny makes this mallow happy and I’m glad I have ONE spot that it’s happy in. Doesn’t it look happy to you?
Happy April GBBD–check out other gorgeous April bloom happenings at May Dreams Gardens.
My Gardener Says... 
EVERYthing looks happy in these shots. I have Gulf Coast Penstemon (I think) and though the deer nibble it occasionally, escapees are sporting more purple than the pinker blossoms of the Hill Country cousin you show. I love them both – such troopers in our conditions. I bought/planted some Columbine but no flowers yet. They are in pretty deep shade and I won’t give up and move them until they’ve had a season to get established. Here’s to Columbine blooms in 2016! And, Happy Bloom Day – this is proving a spectacular year for Texas gardens!
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Everything is happy and so is the gardener! You know, the Gulf Penstemon is a great companion plant with the Lyreleaf Sage….
Happy spring blooms to you as well–enjoy the bounty!
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Beautiful Bloom Day selections! We let Spiderwort seed around. When it gets leggy and sad as the weather warms, I cut it to the ground. It will sprout again. It’s a lot of pretty color ahead of many other things, come spring.
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Thanks! It’s been an easy spring–just the right amount of rain, at the right times, with mild temperatures. I do exactly what you do–cut them to the ground when the bulk of blooming has stopped. There are never any worries that there won’t be plenty more next year.
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Your selections are both pretty and tough, the best combination for plants in our gardens. Recently saw the Lyre leaf sage in bloom as a groundcover in large spaces at the wildflower center. I was so striking. I have a small patch of it and might grow it on to replace some of my non-native groundcovers over time.
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Indeed-pretty and tough-the Texas way. Lyreleaf is a great ground cover and I’m planning to do the exact same thing and add it to a couple of other spots where I currently have non natives. My only beef with Lyreleaf is that it just doesn’t bloom as along as I’d like it to.
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What a delightful post to help get my adrenalin going! As far as flowering, we are a ways behind you in Zone 6. Our Iris haven’t even started budding yet…
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Yes, you’d be a bit colder, but your blooms will start soon. Enjoy your spring.
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Beautiful! I envy your spiderwort and false dayflower- I think my children trampled mine down and they haven’t come back. I need to borrow some lyre-leaf sage from my parent’s house where it flourishes in their shady “grass” (mostly weeds!) spot with minimal care. Your globe mallow is gorgeous, too!
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Those darn kids! 🙂 Yup, been there, done that. Maybe the spiderwort will return, it’s hardy, as is the lyreleaf sage.
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Your garden is in my favorite bloom time. Columbines, iris, Spiderwort and honeysuckle. I adore these plants. I wish we had native yellow columbine and penstemon here….
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Spring is a no-brainer on beauty–there’s just always so much going on. You must have some columbine and penstemon species?
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I love your columbines! I really know nothing about these flowers, but I’m assuming that, if they’re Texas natives, they’re drought tolerant. I had never seen them here in Spain before, but just this week I saw some at the garden center. After seeing how well yours do with the heat, I think I’ll give them a try!
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I love my columbines too! They are tough perennials and yes, drought tolerant. They do look a bit peaky in the summer and sometimes, will die back to the ground, reappearing with the first of the fall rains. They’re beautiful once the the temps cool and the days shorten in late October through to June. July, August and usually September are their “dormant” months. Good luck!
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Lovely blooms, particularly your gorgeous irises and aquilegias. So many beautiful flowers.
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It’s been a great spring here in Texas–just about perfect, I’d say. I wish I could take credit for the flowers, but….
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Such fabulous blooms. I’m so glad I stopped by! The Blue Eyed Grass and Wild Red Columbine caught my eye.
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Well, I’m glad you stopped by too! The Blue Eyed Grass and Columbines are pretty, aren’t they? That Blue Eyed was just such a nice garden surprise–I hope it’s seeding out and shows up somewhere else next spring.
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Great irises, and your coral honeysuckle is quite impressive! I love the red columbine. I only have a few of the Texas Gold variety that were planted last year and are blooming for the first time this year. I’d love to get my hands on a red variety, as well as a globe mallow. My favorite bloom in your garden now is the penstemon – it is like the foxglove for Texas. I’m definitely adding that one to the plant wishlist as well. Happy GBBD!
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Thanks, Rebecca. I don’t remember where I got the red columbine–I’ve had mine for quit a while. BSN or the WC fall/spring plant sales are good bets to find it though. The yellow variety is much easier to locate.. The globe mallow is tricky to find, but I’ve also bought mine at BSN. Both BSN and the WC carry the penstemon as well. Good luck in finding those and happy blooms to you too.
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The hummingbirds, bees and butterflies will love your place. ❤
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Gosh tc, I sure hope so!
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Gorgeous! When I first got interested in wildflowers as a college student in Alberta one of the first plants I discovered was the blue-eyed grass. I was astonished to see it growing here when I moved to Texas. It reminded me immediately of home but also pressed upon me just how vast that prairie ecosystem really was. It remains one of my favourite flowers of all time.
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Thank you, Debra. I love Blue eyed grass–I love that color and they’re such dainty, cute things. It’s fascinating how some “natives” are so specific to an area while others have enormous range.
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