Bloom Day, December 2014

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Tina

Celebrating blooming things with Carol of May Dreams Gardens on this last Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day of 2014, I’d like to share some currently flourishing flowers from my gardens. It’s been mild here in Austin, Texas, though a few light frosts have come our way, none were significantly cold enough to dampen the blossoming spirit.

Wonderful native perennials continue strutting their blooming stuff late this growing season. Two native salvia species are providing nice nectar sources for passing bees and butterflies and a color show for the resident gardener. The Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea,

…brightens the garden with its scarlet blooms, while Henry Duelberg salvia, Salvia farinacea, ‘Henry Duelberg’ provides spikes of blue.

Planted near to those two perennials is a group of Texas Craglily, Echeandia texensis.

There are few blooms left, but many seed pods readying for future golden lily loveliness.

Some of my Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, still bloom.

I don’t really think I need to add anything to that! These individuals face west and receive the warmth of the afternoon autumn sun.

A few Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, flowers grace the gardens as well.

I don’t recall ever seeing this plant bloom so late before–I’m not complaining.

Native to areas west of Texas, but not specifically Austin, is the Globe Mallow , Sphaeralcea ambigua.

In my gardens it’s a reliable cool season bloomer–at least through the beginning of summer. The one mature Globe Mallow in my gardens is beginning a nice bloom production and that’s likely to happen throughout winter.

There are always a few Purple Coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, charming the gardens. This one is planted with an unknown variety of basil-in-bloom,

…which I’d know the name of if I’d bothered to keep the tag. Ahem.

And here, Coneflower is partnered with the equally sweet Four-nerve Daisy or Hymenoxys, Tetraneuris scaposa.

I love native Texas plants.

As for the non-natives, well, they’re pretty cool, too. The Firecracker or Coral Plant, Russelia equisetiformis, requires a hard freeze to knock it back.

Obviously that hasn’t happened yet.

I feel good about this plant–it has such a tropical look, but in reality it’s water-wise and tolerant of the cooler season.

Roses are responding in kind to our temperate December by blossoming again. Whoop!

Glorious in vibrant red are these blooms of the Old Gay Hill rose.

Finally, the Potato Vine, Solanum laxum, has entered its bloom time. This vine twines up one side of my swing beam and blossoms primarily in the cool months here in Austin. It’s a timid vine in my garden, never growing too large. I forget about it during our long, warm growing season–it’s there, but unimpressive. Once the temperatures cool, its lovely clusters of dainty, creamy-bell flowers provide interest for my honeybees, still foraging on warm afternoons.

Enjoy whatever blooms you have–indoors or out. Then check out the many bloom posts by visiting May Dreams Gardens.

Wildflower Wednesday, November 2014

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Tina

As the 2014 growing season slows, it’s harder to showcase blooming things for the garden. Berries? Sure, lush in their ripeness. Beautiful foliage? Yep–in abundance in the trees and on the ground. Interesting seed pods? All over the garden, the remains of spent blooms. But blooming things are scarcer and scarcer, even in temperate Austin, Texas. Today though, I’m joining with Gail at clay and limestone to mark another celebration of wildflowers on this fourth Wednesday of November.

Even after our first light frosts Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea, blooms.

Vibrant scarlet blooms brighten my garden in these shorter days of autumn into winter.

Salvia species of all sorts flowered reluctantly in my gardens this year. I’m not sure why, though I know that many salvia require lots of sun and that’s something my gardens see less and less of. The Tropical Sage is an exception to that full-sun rule. These little herbaceous perennials bloom beautifully, in full sun,

…to mostly shade.

These red Tropical Sage begin flowering mid-to-late summer and have bloomed through the fall. In my gardens, I grow more of the white bloomers than the red. The white Tropical Sage blooms late spring through early fall and during a mild winter, throughout. Generally, they’ll bloom in winter, until a hard freeze nips them, which I should add, is the norm. (My property also is in central Austin, so my garden benefits from a heat-island effect and often doesn’t get as cold as outlying areas.) The red form blooms later for me–late summer into fall and also during winter if conditions allow. Drought hardy, prolific re-seeders, and deer resistant, Tropical Sage are also good nectar sources for pollinators.

Oh and they’re just darn pretty!

Tropical Sage are great to tuck into spots of the garden where there are limited choices, or where you want to fill in space. I like to group several together in close proximity, like this bunch of almost finished white bloomers,

This gives a larger shrub effect, but without overpowering surrounding plants.

Tropical Sage are moderately fast growers. I can plant seedlings like these in late fall or even winter,

…and as long as they’re well-mulched, they come back ready for action in late spring. These are seedlings that I transplanted about a year ago.

Tropical Sage are native perennials to the southern coastal areas of the United States, including Texas and annuals in most other places. A great perennial native wildflower–plant them now (in their native range) or next year. To celebrate wildflowers and native plants in the garden and to see what wildflowers other gardeners grow, take a turn from this busy holiday weekend and travel on over to clay and limestone.

Wildflowers work!

Bloom Day, September 2014

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Tina

September heralds a change from the blisteringly hot to the merely hot in Austin, Texas. This gardener welcomes that subtle, but fundamental change: the shorter days, the approaching autumn cool and if we’re lucky, some rainy days ahead. Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this lovely blogging meme celebrating all that flower.

It’s somewhat about the Ruellia this time of year in my gardens. I grow both a native, Drummond’s Wild Petunia, Ruellia drummondiana, like these cuties peeking out through foliage,

…and these that aren’t quite so shy.

I also grow a well-behaved cultivar, the Katie’s Dwarf Ruellia, Ruellia brittoniana, ‘Katie’s Dwarf’, blossoming beautifully during the late summer and autumn months.

Additionally, a less mannerly variety, the Chi-Chi Ruellia, Ruellia brittoniana ‘Chi-Chi’, makes its home in my gardens. Here is it nicely co-mingling with the blooming and berrying Pigeonberry, Rivina humilis,

…and flowering alone.

I love the first two Ruellia species and have a complicated relationship with the third.

The various Salvia in my gardens, like this red Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii,

…really strut their stuff in the fall. Flowers that appear on and off during our hot summer, the blossoms on these woody, native shrubs will consistently impress both pollinators and gardeners throughout our productive autumn months.

A different salvia, the white Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea, was knocked back this past winter with our late freezes,

…but are lush with snowy, bee-friendly blooms now and will bee that way until there is a killing frost.

Rock Rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, opens its Barbie Doll Pink blooms each morning, remaining open longer as the days get shorter.

Another perennial with pretty-in-pink blossoms, is the Purple Heart , Setcreasea pallida ‘Purple Heart’.

I grew up with Purple Heart rampant in my mother’s garden–I have warm memories of playing near stands of this naturalized ground cover with its dramatic purple foliage and charming blossoms.

Sweet Basil produces tiny flowers for pollinators,

… and the native, wildlife perennial, Lindheimer’s Senna, Senna lindheimeriana, blooms from August into September for the pollinators, then sets seeds for the birds later in fall.

I always forget that I planted these Red Spider Lily bulbs, Lycoris radiata,

…. until they pop up, overnight it seems.

These are such gorgeous flowers! I don’t know why I can’t remember that the bulbs are in the ground, waiting for the first of the September rains, to grace the gardens with their exotic beauty. The strappy foliage (which emerges after blooming) disappears in the late winter/early spring. The memory of those exquisite blossoms should stay with me, but I’m always surprised to welcome them again, each September.

Finally, a Monarch butterfly is now visiting my gardens, sipping on his preferred blooms of the Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

My heart lifted to see this North American beauty after all I’ve read about the very serious decline in the monarch butterfly population.

Go Monarchs!

Here in Austin we enjoy a second, spectacular blooming season, beginning just about now. Fall blooms abound and there’s more to come! For today though, check out blooms from everywhere at May Dreams Gardens.

My Gardener Says…

Yeah, it's work, but it's less work than grass and far more interesting.

Tag Archives: Salvia coccinea

Bloom Day, December 2014

Wildflower Wednesday, November 2014

Bloom Day, September 2014