Sunshine in a Dark Time

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Tina

During this time of year with shorter days, clouds impeding sunshine, and regular rain, the Forsythia Sage, Salvia madrensis, reigns supreme–and yellow–over the garden. This native plant to the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains in Mexico is right at home in my Central Texas Garden.

Many years ago, a generous gardener gifted to me some sprigs-with-roots of the delightful perennial and I’m always grateful for its graceful presence in my garden. Its foliage is a lush blue-green during late spring and throughout summer, the many flower spikes a cheery yellow, blooming from late summer until a hard freeze ends its season. Forsythia sage is one of the last plants in my garden to provide a big, blooming show.

This salvia likes some extra water during the hottest and driest times of summer, so I oblige by dousing the soil in which it thrives in between my once or twice per month irrigation. That being said, I’ve sometimes not given the extra drink, and other than looking a little sad, the plant always rallies with the next rainfall or soaker hosing–whichever comes first. Never has there been even the slightest hint of a brown or dying stem.

This sunny sage hasn’t seeded out, though it spreads by roots and is easily controlled. Mine is planted in a spot that receives brief full summer sun, but is protected from the late afternoon broil. Morning sun with afternoon shade is the ideal Forsythia sage situation.

My honeybees and one native bee, the Horsefly-like Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis, are the two pollinators that I’ve observed at the flowers.

Honeybees are happily busy in the dark time of year.

I’ve seen plenty of squirrels and little birds use the dense foliage for cover and who knows what critters of the overnight wildlife shift also take refuge in the protective cover.

The first freeze of the year in my garden occurred recently, landing right at 32 degrees. I noticed that a bird bath in my front garden was left with a thin layer of ice that morning. The back garden, probably because of the shelter provided by the two big Red Oaks, stayed above 32, with no ice found in any water feature. I was glad for that, as the Forsythia sage is still beautiful, providing shelter and nourishment for garden beasties.

A killing frost is coming at some point in time in the next months. For now, the bees and I will enjoy this hardy and stunning perennial and appreciate its bright beauty in a dark time.

November Blooms

Posted on November 15, 2020 by Tina

Here in Austin, Texas, zone 8b, my late season garden is more about foliage and seed heads than petals and pistils. That’s especially true this year as we’re in a moderate to severe drought–we could use some rain! Even so, I’m fortunate to enjoy a few things in their last (?) blooms of the year.

This Mexican honeysuckle, Justicia spicigera, flowers-up as it feels like it: in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, this is a plant with a mind of its own! As long as we don’t have a hard freeze, this hardy shrub is truly a perennial bloomer.

The flowers appear, bloom for a time, followed by a rest period, and the cycle repeats. When bloom time is nigh–regardless of season–I eagerly await the cheerful orange blooms nestled in lush foliage. Especially now, with limited flowering plants, I’m glad that honeybees have these blooms available.

This particular Mexican honeysuckle bush is large and growing at one part of its base peeks out Purple heart, Tradescantia pallida. The tangled green, orange, and purple medley is nice.

In another spot of my garden, the Purple heart showcases charming three-petaled pink flowers. No bees here, but these dainties are popular with the bee and small butterfly crowd.

Rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, is past its blooming time, though three individual flowers remain in my garden, defying expectations,

…and providing for pollinators, like this Sleepy Orange, Abaeis nicippe, more hungry than sleepy, I think. It enjoyed a yummy nectar breakfast.

The small, year-old patch of Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, growing at my garden’s edge has performed well this year. Without missing a beat in spread and bloom, it ignored heat from the Texas sun, aided by the human-made cement driveway and asphalt street which borders the plant. Blue mistflower is a tough and lovely groundcover.

This nymph Assasin bug, Zelus longipes, patiently waited for its meal. I imagine the hungry nymph moved in for the sip after I was out of the picture.

A consistently late-blooming perennial, Forsythia sage, Salvia madrensis, brings sunshine to a shady garden.

Each August, as the stalks of the lanky plant grow ever upwards, I promise myself that I’ll prune those tall things to half their size, ensuring that the blooms–when they come in late September–don’t weight down the stalks and branches. Some years I’m better about completing this chore, some years, I forget or succumb to August’s heat. Well, this year I didn’t prune by half, indolence as my main excuse, August’s heat as my backup excuse. Forsythia sage blooms beautifully, but the flower load is too much for floppy the stalks and they’re now lying near to the ground, draped dramatically on and over one another and other perennials. Nevertheless, the flowers are available for a nectar buffet, though photography is a bit trickier. Next year, I promise to keep this wayward thing in check.

Right. We’ll see about that!

There’s always something interesting in the garden and that’s something to cheer about. Today, we celebrate blooms with Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Pop on over and enjoy blooms from many lovely places.

From Fog to Sun

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Tina

On this gloppy, drippy, foggy morning, the late-blooming Forsythia sage, Salvia madrensis, appears hesitant in its commitment to yellow. I took several shots, frustrated that the camera lens wasn’t capturing the proper hue of this plant, even if it rocked a yellow vibe in the garden. Was the lens as fogged as the air? Was the photographer as fogged as the lens? Was more coffee needed, or perhaps, another day’s rest from a bout of flu? (Yes, I did get a flu shot in October. Alas!)

I neglected to prune the branches of the sage in mid-to-late summer, so the branches are floppy. Notice the rebar which follows the line of the tree? My lame attempt to keep the sage in some form of upright.

A ramble down the pathway and a halt at the plant delivers the answer: at close up view, the plant loses the veiled dullness that the distant shot suggested. Instead, the foliage is defined and fresh, the masses of late-season, post light-freeze blooms their normal rich butter-yellow. As long as no fog impedes, either in the atmosphere or in the flu-addled brain of the gardener, the S. madrensis retains its happy demeanor, providing a welcome counterpoint to the dark of winter.

The lush salvia flowers, situated in whirls along the terminal ends of long branches, shout look at us! In mid-January, with only a few bare frosts under the garden’s belt, there are scattered blooms in my garden; nothing dramatic, just a few pops of red, yellow, and white, but enough to give the honeybees something to snack on during bee-friendly weather. S. madrensis is bloom royalty this January, granting a sunny focal point in my back garden, and appreciated for its beauty, no matter what the weather conditions.

S. madrensis hits its flowering stride starting in late October, blooming until there is a mid-20s freeze. Who knows when–or if–that will happen this year.

This cluster of blooms flops toward the pathway, almost–but not quite–impeding a walker.

My cluster of this native to the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico is a passalong from a friend and I’ve grown it for about 5 years. Its common name, Forsythia sage, is so applied because the clusters of yellow are reminiscent of spring blooming forsythia, a common plant grown in much of North America (and elsewhere), though as far as I’m aware, it’s only in the northern third of Texas where forsythia thrives. Until I traveled to Oregon to visit my son when he was in college, I’d never seen forsythia in real time–only in photos.

Foliage of S. madrensis is attractive in summer. Where mine is planted, its slightly blue-grey foliage stands unique among its truer green neighbors. I’ve noticed that this sage requires extra water during our hottest time of year (more than most of my plants), but that’s easily remedied because it’s planted along a pathway and situated between several bird baths, so I employ the hose in that area on a weekly basis and extra drinks of water are delivered.

In August, along with some other autumn bloomers, I prune the S. madrensis branches by one-third to one-half, but for whatever reason, this year I didn’t get around to that chore. As a result, once the blooms burst forward, the branches drooped downward. I chastised myself with the garden adage that if you have to stake, it’s too late to stake. But stake I did (which you can see in the first photo) and that’s allowed most, though not all, of the branches to remain at attention (rather than flopping along the ground, annoying other plants) and proudly displaying their sunshine blooms, thus brightening the garden.

The main pollinator of S. madrensis are now dormant for winter: the Horsefly-like Carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis. Interestingly, I don’t recall ever seeing honeybees at these blooms, but I have seen butterflies–just not recently.

Even with our (so far) mild winter, the grey gloom and short days remind me that appreciation of good health and garden beauty are paramount–and the joyful blooms of S. madrensis go along way to make that happen.

In celebration of my Central Texas, zone 8b blooms–and all others–I’m joining in today with Carol of May Dreams Garden and her Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day–I really need to do this more often! As well, Wednesday is always a good day for garden ditties, so I’m also joining with Anna of Flutter and Hum and her Wednesday Vignette. Check out both these beautiful blogs for gardening insights.