Increasing the Light

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Tina

In the darkest time of the year, these,

…are a gift of flowering light from the garden. All of my roses withheld their blooming (rather selfishly I thought) during October and early November, which is typically a showy time for roses here in Central Texas, USDA gardening zone 8b. Along came Thanksgiving with some damp and chilly weather and the roses burst forth in glory, of both the bloom and foliage type.

This Knockout Rose, (Rosa ‘Radrazz’) opened its petals and let not only the sunshine in, but busy bees as well.

There’s more to come from this tough-as-nails rose,

…which also displays luscious burgundy-infused foliage. The decorative coloration at the toothy leaf margins and along the stems, petioles, and veins of the compound rose leaves,

…augment the blooms and set the stage for cheer in the December Texas garden. A nod to fall foliage color change (it’s not winter yet!), many rose shrubs present dual-colored foliage, especially when newly flushed-out.

Competing with the Knockout, but strutting their own style of rosy gorgeousness, are my Martha Gonzales roses.

Their diminutive leaves,

…sport a similar color scheme as the Knockout foliage, with perhaps a smidge more bronzy blush. With their maroon-tinged leaves, the Martha Gonzales suggest a purple-haze in the garden, even as other plants fade with winter approaching.

And those flowers!

Bright red and ready for a kiss from whatever pollinators happen by,

…these blooms are joy in flower form.

A similar plant, the Old Gay Hill Red China rose, produces slightly larger, fuchsia-red flowers and more robust leaves. The mature green leaves are outlined in carmine,

…but new leaves blush with burgundy wine.

Old Gay Hill China rose pairs elegantly with the Martha Gonzales roses all year round.

Not to be outdone one bit by their flaming cousins, these pretty pink Jackson and Perkins, ‘Simplicity’ roses, are not slowing down, even if the gardening season is.

A classic rose bud,

…’Simplicity’ opens to this,

…and finally, this.

Lush evergreen foliage with few blemishes, there is a touch-of-the-red to spice things up a bit.

Nine ‘Simplicity’ rose shrubs were in my garden when I took up residence in 1985. Two original shrubs remain and I must say, they’re the most steadfast and hardy bloomers of any rose type I’ve ever grown. While roses tend to wimpiness during our dry, toasty summers and our come-n-go droughts, these ‘Simplicity’ bloom.

Continuously.

Take that, Texas climate!

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting her celebration of blooms for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and also to Pam at Digging for profiling the beauty of foliage with Foliage Follow-up. Please visit each lovely blog to see blooms-n-foliage in gardens from many places.

Foliage Day, March 2015

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Tina

The Wearing of the Green

An apt phrase for March in Texas if there ever was one, with apologies to revolutionaries everywhere. No doubt this ditty was sung in the past week somewhere in Austin, Texas, but my focus is on verdant foliage in my spring (officially!) garden. With thanks to Christina of Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for hosting Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day, spring has most definitely sprung in my home town. Let’s take a quick stroll through this Texas spring garden, shall we?

The columbines are flowering, but their leaves are lush during fall, through winter and into spring bloom time. This little one is paired with a passalong daylily leaf, emerged from winter dormancy, which won’t bloom until early summer.

And this group of columbines leads in a nice foliage vignette which includes a potted American Century Plant, Agave americana and Cast Iron Plant, Aspidistra elatior.

I grow only the native Texas columbines, the Aquilegia chrysantha and the Aquilegia canadensis because others will fry to a crisp in the Texas summer heat.

Engelmann Daisy or Cutleaf Daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, sports deeply lobed fuzzy, gray-green foliage.

The bright yellow blooms will accompany the foliage later in the season.

Lyreleaf Sage, Salvia lyrata, is attractive year round,

…and the foliage makes an excellent ground cover. I planted Lyreleaf as a groundcover in the area where my honeybee hives are located. The plants withstand moderate foot traffic and we can place our beekeeping equipment on the rosettes with little negative impact, as long as the Lyreleaf are not blooming or setting seed.

And once the blooms open, the bees don’t need to travel far for gathering nectar and pollen.

Glorious in burgundy rimmed foliage are the leaves of the Martha Gonzales Rose.

There are currently only a couple of roses open, but I love the color of the tender, new leaves.

Golden Groundsel, Packera obovata, is in full blooming mode, but its foliage demonstrates a bit of a split-personality. Most of the year, the plant acts as a low ground cover with ovate, serrated leaves hugging the ground. As the bloom stalks shoot upward to their flowering ends, the leaves along the stalk form lance-shaped and fern-like.

It’s a foliage twofer.

One of my favorite plants for shade/part-shade is the White Yarrow, Achillea millefolium. It’s always lush, elegant and beautifully spring-green.

I know many people suffer oak allergies and I am sympathetic to their sniffling and stuffed-headed misery, but the pollen tassels on the Shumard Oak, Quercus shumardii, are golden and gorgeous.

I look forward to seeing them every year.

This Shumard branch shows off its new chartreuse leaves,

…accessorized with a tassel skirt, amidst a background full of the stunning native small tree, Mountain Laurel, Sophora secundiflora. The dark green leaves of the Laurel are punctuated by clusters of the signature fragrant, deep purple blooms. Nothing speaks early spring in Austin like that pairing!

What foliage do you sing about this bonny March? Have a look at foliage from gardens everywhere by visiting Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day and happy spring to Northern Hemisphere gardeners and a good autumn to gardeners in the Southern Hemisphere .

Bloom Day, March 2015

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Tina

March is here, blooms are here and Northern Hemisphere gardeners are grateful that winter is (for the most part) taking a hike. Done and done with winter 2014-15! Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting this monthly musing on blooms.

There’s not a lot of flower power wowing my Austin, Texas gardens for this bloom day, but what is blooming is very, very welcome and the yellows currently rule.

Carolina Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is a new vine for me and it’s making its presence known.

For now, it’s hiding behind a White Mistflower, Ageratina havanensis, because the vine is small and not yet grown to its height and width.

By this time next year it will crown the Mistflower shrub, full of early spring sunshine-bright blooms as it clings to its trellis.

Golden Groundsel, Packera obovata, is another ray of cheer gracing my March garden.

This Columbine,

…is a hybrid of the natives Aquilegia chrysantha and Aquilegia canadensis, both of which grow in my gardens. This lovely displays the blush of pink in the sepals and spurs common to hybrids, rather than the purity of yellow seen in A. chrysantha (Hinckley) or the brick-red and yellow combination of A. canadensis.

For me, the blooming columbines, no matter what their color, herald spring’s arrival.

Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, is a tough Texas plant with eye-popping blooms.

This vine blossoms for much of the growing season, but March through June it drips with coral-red clusters.

Rosa ‘Martha Gonzales’ Rose, unfolded its first brilliant red-pink bloom this week–there will be plenty more of the same throughout the year.

And the Rosa, ‘Mutabilis’ issued an invitation for pollinators to visit.

I find this rose blooms beautifully throughout spring, sometimes in fall and in mild winters, but not so during our long, hot summer. Year-round though it offers cover and refuge for the various finches and wrens, as well as the Cardinals, so I’m happy to keep it in the back of the garden.