Foliage Follow-Up, June 2015

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Tina

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in showing off foliage after bragging about blooms, but today I’m glad to join in with Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up. Additionally, June 15-21 is Pollinator Week and along with fab foliage, we’ll take a look at a few of the many pollinators that happily and diligently work for free in the garden.

Many of my native Texas perennials shoot forth in foliage growth during wet years and this year is no exception to that general rule. The leaves of Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, are wide and lush and a bit holey, due to munching insects abundant this spring and summer.

I don’t really mind the chunks taken out because those eating machines do little damage to the plant as a whole. The Turk’s Cap flowers are good for pollinators like this hummingbird who happily nectared last fall in preparation for migration.

Turk’s Cap foliage complements other interesting foliage, like the slender, bright leaves of Flame Acanthus, Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii,

…and the gray, aromatic leaves of Heartleaf Skullcap, Scutellaria ovata.

Both Flame Acanthus and Heartleaf Skullcap are excellent pollinator plants.

Oops! That damselfly visiting the Flame Acanthus is a beneficial insect in the garden, but not a pollinator.

On the other hand, Ms. Honeybee, nectaring on the Skullcap, is certainly a pollinator worth cheering on.

The sandpaper-rough, dark foliage of the perennial Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, pairs nicely with the soft, ruffly foliage of Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua.

Goldeneye flowers,

…and Globemallow flowers,

…attract all kinds of pollinators and both are favored by native bees.

Mountain Laurel, Sophora secundiflora, is a beautiful tree year-round. Waxy, softly rounded, evergreen foliage perfectly augments the lusciously drooping clusters of spring flowers, which are visited by many kinds of pollinators.

After the blooms have ended, the foliage is attractive–really attractive.

Mountain Laurel blooms are stunning, but the abundant and verdant foliage, as well as the graceful form of this tree is its selling point for me.

Mountain Laurel is a winner–in the urban garden or viewing on a hike in the Texas Hill Country.

Finally, this ‘Sparkler’, Carex phyllocephala, has no value to pollinators that I’m aware of.

But I’ve welcomed it and two more to my gardens. It’s cheery–downright sparkly–evergreen and white, as well as drought tolerant. What more could you ask from a foliage-driven plant?

What are your leafy greens (or maybe purples? reds?) doing this June? Show them off and then pop over to Digging for a look at foliage shared by other gardeners.

Bloom Day, April 2015

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Tina

Welcome to the April edition of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens. There are so many blooms in my April garden and so little time to profile all of the flowers, so I’ll focus on a few, mostly native Texas lovelies.

The purples have taken control of my gardens–holding the garden hostage with their beauty. Included in the violet-hued blooming coup are several varieties of non-native Iris and native Texas perennial wildflowers.

I have scads of Spiderwort, Tradescantia, ssp. clumps which have spread willy-nilly throughout my beds. They vary in size, color, and petal form, but all are pretty in purple and pollinator-attracting.

A relative of the Spiderwort, this dainty False Dayflower, Tinantia anomala, displays a delicate spring lilac.

It’s a nice companion to the Spiderwort and like its taller kin, was a surprise gift in my garden.

Cedar Sage, Salvia roemeriana, is a blast of red-hot gorgeousness in spring and is flowering a bit earlier than typical for this shade-loving perennial.

It’s certainly no shrinking salvia in the garden.

This darling Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium chilense, popped up in a crack in my patio and is blooming along just fine in its mortar mulch.

I’m only guessing at this identification–I didn’t buy it in either seed or container plant form. It’s definitely a blue-eyed beauty, though.

Native Texas Columbines are spring favorites. The Yellow Columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana,

…and the smaller, less flamboyant Wild Red Columbine, A. canadensis,

…and the natural hybrids of the two that occur when both are planted together over the course of a few seasons.

I love ’em all!

Lyreleaf Sage, Salvia lyrata, is at the peak of its beautiful spring blue flower spikes. Or is the color purple? Or maybe more of a lavender? Whatever it is, it’s welcome in my garden.

Lyreleaf Sage is a good choice for a shade-tolerant ground cover and is attractive year-round.

Coral Honeysuckle vine, Lonicera sempervirens, is a blooming monstrosity!

But no one can doubt the beauty and pollinator zing it adds to a garden

Hill Country Penstemon, Penstemon triflorus, stands as s a fuchsia sentinel in my early and mid-spring garden.

This one is perhaps a hybrid between the P. triflorus and P. cobaea. The tag at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was labeled P. triflorus, but it’s never quite looked like my others. It sports larger blooms and foliage in an overall taller plant, plus the coloring is variegated.

Nonetheless, like my other Hill Country Penstemon plants, I appreciate its good looks, long flowering time, and purpose as an excellent pollinator plant.

Not native to Central Texas but instead, to West Texas and New Mexico is the Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua.

Hot, dry, and sunny makes this mallow happy and I’m glad I have ONE spot that it’s happy in. Doesn’t it look happy to you?

Happy April GBBD–check out other gorgeous April bloom happenings at May Dreams Gardens.

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.