Foliage and Bird

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Tina

It was a sprinkling of snowy Four O’Clock flowers, Mirabilis jalapa, that caught my eye one evening, not too long before sundown. My two Four O’Clock plants (the other one blooms a stunning hot pink) are pass-alongs from a gardener and former blogger. This old-timey, Southern garden addition-by-way-of-Central and South America, is a night bloomer and grows from a fleshy root which can become quite large. The creamy flowers brighten a shady area close near my pond; the flowers open in late afternoon, bloom all night, and close by late morning.

But it was the metal bird, standing in a diversity of foliage, that resonated as a garden story. Even though I planted this crew, I didn’t recognize just how different the various leaf forms are and how well they complement one another as they mature.

Sometimes, it’s challenging to see consciously what will be as a garden evolves.

Clockwise from top left, the blue-tinged Soft-leaf Yucca, Yucca recurvifolia, sits next to the tropical green foliage of the Four O’Clock. To its right, another grey-blue foliage plant, Drummond’s Ruellia, Ruellia drummondiana, serves as backing for three individuals of strappy, stripy Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’ sedge–and that’s where the quirky bird perches. A couple of iris straps and dangles of autumnal seeds of Inland Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium complete the oddball group.

The Drummond’s Ruellia and ‘Sparkler’ sedges will grow and will require management: the ruellia will need pruning and the ‘Sparklers’ transplanting. Maybe the bird will migrate elsewhere.

For now, the group is simpatico and the gardener is pleased.

It was Anna’s own lovely foliage photo which reminded me of my foliage and bird. Check out her Wednesday Vignette for garden happenings.

Drummond’s a Cure for the Dog Days

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Tina

During these August days, these hot days, these dog days of summer, I relish the relative cool of my garden. Here in Texas, morning is best–quiet, fresh, uncooked. It’s been hot, more hot than what once passed for August hot. Fortunately, my garden remains green and lush, with sprinklings of color–some warm, some cool–all welcome.

Drummond’s Ruellia, Ruellia drummondiana, is a star in the garden, especially at this time of year.

This native summer blooming wildflower which came from seeds collected some years ago, were let loose to live: they germinated and have produced many generations. They’re happy wherever they set root, or wherever I transplant the emergent seedlings. Drummond’s bloom sporadically in late spring and early summer, but ramp up in July, reaching the zenith of their beauty just as our “real” heat kicks in and kicks ass. Well, kicks my ass, anyhow. The Drummond’s Ruellia? They’re just fine and dandy: no wilting, no complaining. The hotter it is, the better they bloom.

Visited by several kinds of native bees, honeybees, and some small skippers, the ruellias are hosts for pollination parties. This ruellia is also the host plant for the Common buckeye, Junonia coenia, though that butterfly isn’t particularly common in my garden. I grab my camera when I see one.

The plant produces flowers in pretty purple, each individual flute opening for just one day. At the end of the bloom life, tissue-paper petals form, preparing for seeds and new blooms.

Drummond’s Ruellia is a great shade/part-shade plant and perfect for my shady place.

Linking today with Anna at her lovely Flutter and Hum and Wednesday Vignette; pop on over to enjoy other garden stories.

It’s Purple Time

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Tina

My garden is graced with purple: purple blooms, foliage, and fruits continue with a seasonal tradition of a purple-to-lavender champion performances during the long Central Texas summer. Of course other colors dot the landscape, but plants which rock the purple hue thrive after months of heat, with (typically) little rain, and rule the month of August. It’s purple time!

Foliage recovery is in full swing for this Branched foldwing, Dicliptera brachiata, , which appeared unannounced, but welcomed, in my garden a couple of years ago.

Munched stems are recovering their green.

This restrained and unobtrusive little native perennial hosts the Texan Crescent butterfly.

Texan Crescent nectaring in spring on Golden groundsel.

My garden enjoys a nearly year-round population of these pollinators because I grow several of its host plants in the Acanthus family, including the Branched foldwing. The caterpillars do a nibbling number on the foldwing’s leaves, but the plant rebounds with aplomb, leafing out again and again, and setting blooms in late summer.

Dainty and unpretentious, the lavender–not really purple–flowers provide for tiny pollinators.

Drummond’s ruellia, Ruellia drummondiana, is another native Texan that loves the heat and demonstrates that affection with daily doses of purple goodness.

Opening early in the morning and closed by late afternoon, the blooms are loved by many-a-buzzing pollinator. I’m rather fond of them myself!

I like the foliage, too. An attractive green-gray, it’s full and lush from spring until the first hard freeze–whenever that happens. I like to mix it with some evergreen plants, so that there’s some winter action while the ruellia plants rest up for summer.

Cast Iron Plant, Iris, and Sparkler Sedge provide some winter green structure alongside the ruellia.

The cultivar, Katie’s Dwarf ruellia, also called Mexican petunia by Texas AgriLife, produces similar blooms as the native ruellias, though larger and more purpley colored. The lance-like foliage structure and ground-cover growth habit allows this plant to front large plants beautifully. Katie’s Dwarfs also fits well into a narrow garden.

A water-wise wonder, I’ve had a couple of these tough Katie’s grow out of rocks; that’s a plant I can get behind!

With a bouquet-like demeanor, the Katie’s Dwarf bloom spectacularly in shade, in full sun, and everything in between.

Purple-luscious fruits of the American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, are nearly ready for the appetites of hungry Mockingbirds and Blue Jays.

Gone are the petite pink blooms which decorate this deciduous shrub in early summer. Instead, the fruits are morphing from green to garish metallic purple, preparing for the birds’ meals.

Beautyberry also has a graceful growing habit, lovely in any garden.

Beautyberry is a win for gardeners and for wildlife–and adds some purple vibe to my August garden.

The refreshing pond isn’t without its purple contribution in the form of a cleansing bog plant, Pickerel rush, Pontederia cordata.

With the ever-increasing shade thrown on my garden, these pretty blooms are less active with each passing summer. I appreciate the foliage, but I miss the massive blooming show that was common 8-10 years ago when we first built the pond. These blooms benefit from plenty of shining summer sun.

Another pond plant, this Ruby Red runner, an Alternanthera hybrid, adds a bit of purple-ish foliage fellowship to the waterfall.

I’m probably stretching the purple with this plant; I suppose it’s really more of a burgundy red, but I’ll lump Ruby Red into the purple camp.

Purple Heart, Setcreasea pallida, is native to Mexico, but naturalized in many parts of Texas. I grew up with this common groundcover; my mother planted it along with her banana plants. No banana plants in my garden, but Purple Heart works in shade or sun as a border groundcover.

As well, I like it cascading over containers. It brings a spot of color to a dark corner of the garden.

Reds, pinks, whites and yellows are biding their time for now, hunkering down against the blast of August heat. Once the days are shorter and the rains more regular, the garden wheel of color will burst forward with a vivid spin. But for the rest of August, I’ll treasure the purples for their late summer donations to garden color.