Foliage Follow-Up, July 2015

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Tina

Welcome to hot July in Central Texas and to the monthly, leafy meme of Foliage Follow-up. Thanks to Pam at Digging for hosting.

The pond in my Texas garden cools and soothes when the Death Star arrives and is in full force.

Temps are hot and so is this foliage combo.

Pretty in purple Ruby Red Runner, an Alternanthera hybrid, has spread to the bog from its original spot as a waterfall filter plant.

I like its creeping ways though, and it shouldn’t travel too far afield from the pond itself, as it requires water. If you read this blog, you know that this gardener, doesn’t water that garden–not enough anyway for a water-loving plant to take over. All of the surrounding foliage beauties are water wise and appropriate pond companions: Softleaf Yucca, Yucca recurvifolia, Firecracker Fern, Russelia equisetiformis, and Mexican Feathergrass, Nassella tenuissima.

I especially like the leaves of the Pickerel Rush during the summer months. The lush green, heart-shaped form lends a tropical feel in contrast to the blasting from the sun.

As well, the Ruby Red Runner, intertwined with the large Pickerel leaves, adds a bit of spice.

What cool foliage do you have in the garden this July? Show them off and then pop over to Digging to enjoy other hot July foliage.

Bloom Day, July 2015

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Tina

Summer has arrived: sun, perspiration; heat, perspiration; gardening, perspiration–you get the drift. It’s July in Central Texas and that means heat, but it also means blooms, and plenty of them. Today is also Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and I’m thanking Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly tribute to blooms in the garden.

The pond cools my gardens and it’s at its best during the summer months. This native Pickerel Rush, Pontederia cordata, spikes purple flowers, each lasting for days.

A variety of pollinators feed on the blooms and the spikes are favorites of dragonflies and damselflies–during the blooming,

…and afterwards. Pickerel Rush likes shallow water and this one is planted in the bog section of my pond.

This Claude Ikins water-lily graces the pond with cheery yellow flowers. When I’m standing in the water for some sort of pond maintenance, I stick my nose into one of these sunny blooms and I’m rewarded with a fresh and fruity fragrance.

There are usually several flowers blooming at any given time during our long growing season.

Ruby Red Runner, an Alternanthera hybrid, functions as a filter plant for the waterfall. The flower is a small inflorescence situated at the leaf axil,

…and is cute, but it’s not what attracts the eye to this plant. That’s reserved for the beautiful foliage.

What’s blooming in your garden this GBBD? Enjoy, share, and check out May Dreams Gardens to see July lovelies from other gardens!

Tree Following, July 2015: Lush and Leafy

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Tina

Here I am, once more checking up on the Retama, Parkinsonia aculeata, for Tree Following, hosted by Lucy at Loose and Leafy. Truthfully, there’s not much change from last month. I took these photos a few days after June’s Tree Following virtual convocation.

There are sparkles of blooms, but most of the flowers that were on the tree, dropped. With heavy rains in May and early June, the tree flowered. But the flowers had quite enough at that rainfall party, thank you very much, and exited the tree like floral confetti. Most rain-battered blooms ended on the ground. Some,

…decorated the honeybees’ watering hole. Now in July, there are blooms on the tree, but fewer and toward the top. These hard-to-photograph, waving-in-the-breeze flowers are visited by a variety of bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies.

The tree remains a resting spot for birds eyeballing the sunflower seed feeder in the adjacent Shumard Oak, or chastising the cats and the gardener who stroll along the pathway. Sometimes, the birds are just hanging out,