Spring has sprung ...
While I was worrying about weeds I almost forgot to notice that spring has sprung ...
Jill is wondering if it's a bee ...
... that's making the columbines dance. Or is it the joy of being ... here ... now ...
How could I not notice the expression of coral honeysuckle? It's all joy ...
What are you noticing in your garden?
Photos welcomed ...
Comments (100)
blackwillow87
3 years ago
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoRelated Discussions
Spring has Sprung!
Comments (10)A few "new" roses Summer Memories Laguna Princess Anne (of course!) And a 'Variegata de Bologna' that is not, Does anyone know what it reverts to? Marie Luise Kreuter The Pot Ghetto A few shots of the overall garden as it gives one a feel for where I am gardening. Northern California near Mt. Shasta. Last year this was all wild with the exception of some bulbs, I've been planting roses and other plants back here since January of 2015....See MoreSpring Has Sprung! (Continued)
Comments (3)hey sara.. he marches to his own drummer ... unfortunately no one else hears the drummer.. and wonders what the heck he is doing in his yard .. lol ... with all that stomping around ... post where you want dude.. i dont care ... ken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0dWo31hwpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLJ8ILIE780...See MoreSpring has Sprung!
Comments (3)It is particularly great for me. As I think I have mentioned, last year my home was flooded, and I moved to an apt. I felt a great loss at first because my outdoor gardens were no longer part of my life. So the indoor garden was started to help me get over my sadness. That some of the plants are flowering and my leaf production is working gives me joy. (And I think all of those who have and are helping with advice)....See MoreMarch 2020, Week 2, Spring Has Sprung!
Comments (98)It rained on and off all day, though mostly drizzle and fog and mist, so I couldn't do anything outdoors. There was nothing I wanted to do indoors. So, we went to Gainesville "adventuring", just to see what was going on. There wasn't really anything much that we needed, though I wanted to get some sour cream and some ice cream if the stores had any. I was just thinking that if the coronavirus becomes too common around us, we'd just stay home but that hasn't happened yet, so I wanted to get out for a little while. Atwood's had a ton of plants outside, and I wanted to stay out and look at them, but it was raining, and it started raining harder, so I quashed that dream and went inside. I bought more vinegar for pickling and a few minor things, but nothing big. The major revelation was that the sell bacon grease (rendered bacon fat) as an official product! I think it was called Bacon Up, and they had small containers and really large ones. We've saved it from cooking our bacon forever and used it forever in cooking certain things, but I've never seen it sold in stores. It was kind of cool to see it there. Except for Atwood's being completely out of toilet paper and mostly out of paper towels, the store seemed normal. No panic shopping there. So then we went right next door to Wal-Mart, which did have several aisles with empty or mostly empty shelves, but once again, it was just the predictable items: beans, rice, pasta (all about 90-95% gone), canned meat and canned fish, soups, (about 90% gone), toilet paper and paper towels (100% gone), and bottled water (95% gone, and most of what was left was just distilled water in gallon jugs). I did buy us some sour cream, ice cream and a few other minor items but, really, most of the store looked fine. We didn't even go to the other side of the store, but I saw no hand sanitizer, liquid soap, rubbing alcohol, OTC painkillers and OTC cold/flu medications in anybody's carts, so I am sure those still remain sold out, as they largely have been for several weeks here. That's largely because it has been an awful flu season and those items have been hard to find since early January. Wal-Mart had a ton of plants out in the rain, so I didn't get to see them either, but I could tell as we walked by that they had a ton of cool season transplants that were getting pretty old and big, and a ton of freshly arrived smaller warm season transplants like tomatoes, peppers and squash. About the time we were leaving there, my son called and asked me to watch for brown rice because he could use it as part of a homemade bird food formula for his tropical birds if he cannot find more when their current supply is exhausted. Since there wasn't any rice in the two stores we'd just visited, we went to Tom Thumb, which showed the least signs of panic buying. They still had everything, though toilet paper was in fairly limited quantity and paper towels in very limited quantity. They still had all the other foods that were sold out at the Wal-mart up the road, and plenty of people shopping but nobody looked like a panic shopper or a doomsday prepper. I actually am surprised more people weren't stocking up, but maybe all those folks had done so on Friday, since that community had one person awaiting COVID-19 test results. I learned this evening the test was negative. Yay! If the weather is nice tomorrow, which is iffy because rain is in the forecast, I'd love to go plant shopping. I just don't want to do it badly enough that I'm willing to shop in the rain. I'm hoping all this rain keeps knocking down the pollen in the air. With family still down in the DFW metro, I follow the news from there closely, and panic buying made everything a big mess, especially at all the big box stores. Desperate metro shoppers were venturing into east Texas from the east side of Dallas, and driving as far as 80 miles without finding what they were looking for. Others drove north up to Sherman, and found a lot there, although I don't think Sherman residents were very pleased to have their stores invaded and raided. : ) Really, adventuring today just reinforced two things: I'm glad we prepared in advance and weren't out frantically searching for a lot of different products. We easily could live without sour cream and Blue Bell Ice Cream if we had to. And, there's lots of plants in the garden centers and the rain is keeping me from seeing them, enjoying them and maybe buying some. Then we came back home to the land of mud and puddles, and I started hating on the rain all over again. Our driveway is a river and more rain is coming. Tim picked up and then dropped a flat of tomato seedlings on the floor. I was not amused but resisted the urge to kill him. I always tell y'all that he is a plant killer---when he comes into the garden, plants die, which is why he stays out of the garden at last 99% of the time. Now he has expanded his killing to innocent seedlings growing under lights indoors. I scooped up everything and saved what I could. There is a reason I always start more than we'll need to plant. Despite the broken and dead seedlings, I should have enough to plant since I wasn't planning on having that many this year anyway. Marleigh, Your husband has my sympathy. I cannot imagine how frustrating all this panic shopping is for people in his industry right now. I saw lots of reports today of many grocery retailers cutting back their hours, even 24-hour stores closing down at night, to allow employees to clean, disinfect and restock and I think that's a great idea. I hope it makes the situation more manageable for the store employees. Here's your book at the website of used book reseller, half price books online: How To Cook A Wolf Larry, Your nutrients do look high, but your soil pH is great. I hate soil tests. Trying to decipher them makes my eyes cross and my brain explode, so I haven't had one done in years. I figure if something is deficient in my soil, I'll be able to see signs in how the plants do or don't perform, and the plants I grow look fine each year and produce well so I just don't worry about it. Your area is like mine---high in minerals. That is the one good thing about clay soil---we are having to scramble and add various nutrients to the soil. Nancy, Are your freezers full of a lot of fish? (grin) That would be my guess. Our freezers are so full after we crammed in the ice cream that we cannot buy another single thing that needs to be in the freezer, but we will eat well without shopping while the coronavirus rolls through the region and makes going out increasingly risky. I did think twice about not going to Gainesville today, but I think this could be our last good weekend to be out rather fearlessly, so wanted to do it. The whole time we were out, I never heard a single cough in any store except in Wal-Mart where one woman was hacking up a lung just outside the lady's room, near the water fountain. Her coughing was so hard and painful it scared me for her. I hope she isn't walking around in public with pneumonia or bronchitis. The cases of coronavirus in the DFW metro are rapidly expanding although I haven't seen reports of any deaths from it yet, as they are similarly expanding in various other major Texas cities, so I think we'll avoid Texas after this weekend and just go north to Ardmore. Tiny is such a garden cat! I used to grow valerian for our cats, but it was such a garden thug that I really didn't want it in the garden and eventually dug it out. Sometimes a volunteer valerian plant still pops up in the yard outside the garden. Valerian has a pheromone that affects some cats the same way that catnip does, and our cats seemed pretty fond of it. They'd walk on it, lie on it, roll on it, etc. just as they did with catnip. Graham crackers with milk was a favorite childhood snack of mine too, and one I still enjoy occasionally as an adult. Rebecca, I am glad you grounded your mom. I'd be doing the same if my mom were still here. I worry about you being around all the sick people that come into the store, so please take good care of yourself too. I've never had anything from High Mowing Seeds that didn't sprout, but I've also not grown zinnias as winter-sown seeds or started them this early since they are true heat lovers. So, I don't know if you've got a germination issue due to the seeds or if maybe it still is too cool for them. Zinnia seeds ought to germinate in about 4 to 8 days if the soil temperature is 75-80 degrees, but will be considerably slower in cooler soil temperatures. I don't "think" the seeds would get cold rot if wintersown, though, because mine reseed every year and I get tons of volunteers in the spring. If cold, wet, clay soil doesn't kill them, then being wintersown shouldn't. Maybe your seeds just need some sunshine and warmth. Jennifer, I always expect late cold weather, but was thinking this might be the Spring that we don't have that. Now it looks like, from your forecast, there's a cold night lurking out there. I don't want to go look at my forecast because I don't want to see the same thing. I don't have any tomato plants planted out either in the ground or in large containers, but my son does, so I'll tell him he needs to watch his extended forecast. While the fruit tree blooms are fading as tiny fruit begin to appear on the trees, the native redbuds are blooming everywhere around us now, and a couple of days ago the first Indian Paintbrush in our wildflower meadow began blooming. While both of these plants will jump the gun and bloom before the end of the freezing weather, they usually don't get too terribly far ahead of the weather either, so seeing the paintbrush blooms made me think that maybe the cold weather is behind us now. Oddly, the redbuds are blooming just about right on time, and not a month early like the fruit trees were. It is interesting that they didn't jump the gun and bloom far too early. Look how much I wrote y'all! I practically wrote a book tonight. (grin) There's no one awake but me. The grandkids aren't here, the pets are asleep and Tim is upstairs, presumably asleep although his phone keeps ringing so I think he is half asleep and getting crisis calls from work. Today, at the airport (and at any US airport with inbound international flights where passengers must clear Customs), US citizens and residents rushing home to beat the travel ban found themselves packed into the Customs area like sardines (by the thousands at DFW) as they lined up to fill out questionnaires designed by the Department of Homeland Security and U. S. Customs. Let's just say that frustrated travelers were posting photos and complaints on Twitter and leave it at that. Maybe it wasn't the best choice for them to fly off on trips overseas with the coronavirus pandemic making travel more risky? The airports did not create this situation, and those two government agencies are trying to catch people who might be traveling inbound with coronavirus so they can keep us all a bit more safe. It just seems like an unfortunate situation for the travelers to find themselves caught up in. Maybe they should have stayed home and planted gardens or gone panic shopping or something.... Kim, I hope you're having a great time in west Texas. Dawn...See Moreblackwillow87
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI tried to start some Freesia laxa seeds for my winter sowing project. I didn't know the betony could root so easily from cuttings.
I found a bloom on one of my Byzantine gladiolus.
Role Model bearded iris
Lyre leaf sage
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked blackwillow87roselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agoBlackwillow, what an array of lovely plants!
Couldn't resist giving a quick update on Echinopsis chamaecereus to show its floriferousness. It's worth coining a new word for! ... lol It has dozens and dozens of buds and more forming every day ...
The 'thorns' are soft. It can be handled with out fear of sticking ...
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoHere are the early blooms on the real Spanish bluebells mentioned earlier:
Were highly recommended for DFW shade by FWBG staff, so the significantly smaller stature and single bloom of the mislabeled Siberian squill had been disappointing.... not so bad now that I know its real identity. Have been trying early bulbs that will work in the shady spaces of deciduous plants like woodfern and beautyberry. Too soon to tell if these will die back enough before the ferns return.... but otherwise are looking good in the perpetual shadows of oaks.roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfwblackwillow87
3 years agobostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
3 years agoI just love that time of spring when the whole world turns yellow due to the grass and the light shining through the new oak leaves. The air turns yellow with new life. you can breathe in the golden light.
This view will turn colorful in a bit with blooms.
.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTexroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agobostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSeems much of our 'yellow light' is being reflected from the pollen coating left on most everything during the incredible rain of catkins from the oaks and pistaches this season. Almost like having to shovel snow from the walks and drive every 4 or 5 days.... well, with a leaf blower :-)
Golden groundsel (Packera obovata) is going to seed, but is still the main yellow in the garden at the moment. After trying many options, it's become my favorite evergreen native ground cover for heavy shade. I usually deadhead before the seeds can disperse, so don't know how aggressively they would volunteer if left to blow away.
Of course, four-nerve daisy is back strong after a short rest in late winter:
'John Clayton' honeysuckle remains sparse but is still healthy and blooming in heavy shade:
Am looking forward to seeing the yellow flowers on Jerusalem sage (Phlomis sp) which has finally set buds for the first time after being protected from our late hard freeze. The prior two years it remained evergreen until the last freezes killed it to the ground. Am guessing it does not flower in the years it dies back, which makes it an unreliable bloomer in unsheltered sites in north Texas.... maybe why it's not seen more here:
Not yellow, but an odd 7-petal flower on the Jackmanii clematis. Flowers on this vine usually have only 4-petals and occasionally 5. This many is a first for us:
Blackwillow, Imagine your Spanish bluebells are just offset babies. Steve Huddleston's book for north central Texas recommends a time-release fertilizer in early spring... using less if you're also applying organics.roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfwblackwillow87
3 years agoBostedo, I need to get some time-release fertilizer. That should definitely help them. The golden groundsel you gave me a couple of years ago is doing great and it's multiplied nicely. I see it's covered in seed heads. I know it's not an outdoor plant but one of my Denbrobium orchids is blooming again.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked blackwillow87blackwillow87
3 years agoSt. Joseph's Lily
A couple of flower clusters on my coral honeysuckle
Cedar Sage
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked blackwillow87wantonamara Z8 CenTex
3 years agoIt seems to be a good morning for oranges. I even caught a hummer on a kniphofia . It has taken years for these to hit their stride. Soil not rich enough site not sunny enough, drought and more. The small tornado took out a cedar and I removed a large evergreen sumac. and now they bloom. The cross vine FINALLY bloomed. Usually it blooms before the oaks leaf out. Some flowers are really out of wack daminitia are still lagging and they are early bloomers.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTexroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI just scrolled through all the beautiful photos above again. Isn't this a wonderful spring?
Some very small solitary wasps have moved into the bee house. As you can see many cells are filled. Anyone know what kind they are? How could I find out?
...
On to the garden; nothing quite surpasses the serenity of morning light ...
...
The 'bonsai bougie' is coming alive with flowers before leaves ...
...
This little red flowered cactus just keeps going and going and going with fresh flowers every couple of days and is not near done yet. The one next in line is showing its second and last big pink flower ...
...
The light was shining through these pieces so prettily I took a photo. They are are on the green house shelf awaiting just the right placement ...
...
Wish I had a before picture. I refinished this old pot to highlight the design and planted it with a card board palm. Looks much better ...
...
Remember those lamps from way back that circulated drops of oil on little fish lines to resemble rain drops? I've had an old rusty one for years before deciding to do something with it. Whatcha' think? ...
...
For some unknown reason the white veined pipevine that seeded itself in the gravel under the table is doing great! Come on Pipevine swallowtails ...
...
If the Fanick's phlox insists on growing only on one side of the pot then the cat rock that Mizan gave me will be happy to curl up in the space ...
...
Cleaned out the green house yesterday and am about done with any more projects, pot painting or otherwise. How about you? I know Mara's working hard on a biggie -- the building of her home. Time for an update Mara.
What projects are you working on?
Dan H z8b SA, TX
3 years agoDallas Red lantana finally started last week.
Filling up a tiny front yard, Year 5. Belinda's Dream rose on right. Bougie behind it. The short dark-leafed flowering plants in center are SunPatiens; they survived two winters by covering with a 50 gallon jumbo Sterilite bin for a day or two during severe weather events.
I ordered some fragrant antique roses including Rose de Recht (shown below at 7:30 & 10 am the same day). Surprising (to me) the stems and buds on Autumn Damask are so small it look more like a vine than a shrub, & makes most of my hybrid tea roses look like gigantic monsters.
Grapes and blackberries.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked Dan H z8b SA, TX
javiwa
3 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDan, thank you for the beautiful photos. Looks like a great crop of grapes and blackberries coming along.
Javiwa yes, the white veined pipevine is beautiful this time of year. I think I harvested some seeds, laid them on the table and some rolled off.
Just noticed this morning that the native guayacan from Eric is blooming. The flowers are small, but a nice color ...
...
They are generously sprinkled all over the bush. Notice how the leaves close for the night and haven't opened yet in this early morning photo ...
...
The whole bush is behind and around the rusty farm implement. I like the irregular shape, bright green leaves, and the white stems. Nickel silver dyckia is blooming in the small 'dish' as is the brake light yucca below it ...
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThese tall bearded irises are the last of ours to bloom each year. The red and white "autumn" sages each have a few discrete flowers, but the purple ones are showing no regard for the season:
Cedar sage, lambs ear, and other volunteers in the neglected corner:
A swap gulf coast/Brazos penstemon blooms among Carrie's wood ferns that are finally taking hold around the shumard oak where nursery bought ones repeatedly failed - Thanks! :)
Damianita started blooming last week. Its sandy dry bed along a south-facing brick wall is the only site where it has been reliably winter hardy on our Dallas lot. Tropical milk weed apparently also survives there:
Gaura is a favorite, but they tend to suffer core rot by 2 or 3 years in our Blackland Prairie clay and have to be rehabbed or replaced. Flowers on this new 'Belleza' show more red when they first appear than any other clutivar we've had, but quickly lighten to this pink:
Blue false indigo ( Baptisia australis) is finally blooming after more than five years:
The other false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa) still hasn't bloomed, but looks much happier with the shade of the Chinese fringe flower finally gone:
Here's an updated shot on the unusual Jerusalem sage flower:
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfwblackwillow87
3 years agoI have a few more new blooms.
Texas Sundrops in full bloom(the seeds were from Mara).
Prairie Phlox
More Spiderworts
Indian Blanket
Wright's Skullcap and Four Nerve Daisies
Brazilian Verbena
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked blackwillow87wantonamara Z8 CenTex
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBlackwillow, glad to see success with the black centered sundrops. They are looking healthy and happy. I can smell the phlox pilosas from here.
My cat claw tree gives me joy from my bridge and from below.
my wild sweet peas are taking over their corner. They volunteered from last year/ They were a surprise
The Knipnophia continues to entertain. I see a second flush making appearances in the throats of the large rosettes
The blanket flowers and some other stuff are fighting through the sea of seeding bluebonnets.
Lets not forget the small hiding Aristolochia fimbriata
My Anacacho orchid tree is a real slow grower but I do love it. It lights up that area of the garden.
Thank you Eric for this beauty
The amyrilla I smuggled from Hawaii. It was once in a garden that I grew there. I gave some to a friend when I left. Her house got taken over by a botanical garden and now it is considered a weeds by the phillipino gaedeners whose job it is to unroot and toss them. They uprooted some and gave them to me to stick in my purse to get past the guards at the cash register.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTexblackwillow87
3 years agoblackwillow87
3 years agoI have a question? Is it normal for it to produce white flowers? I just now noticed the white flowers mixed in with the purple.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI'm loving seeing all the color in the wide variety of plants in everyone's garden! Thank you to all!
The little cactus Echinopsis chamaecereus is still going strong. It's been blooming every day for over a month! Does anyone know of a small cactus that blooms longer?
...
The two Retama trees are laden with flowers. I'm so glad Mara recommended them when my search for 'Desert museum' Palo Verde was unsuccessful. This is the younger one ...
...
And as seen through the graceful green trunk of the older tree. They bloom off and on throughout the summer ...
...
A closeup of the flowers ...
I touched up the cobalt blue on the pigeon loft ...
...
When I went to buy more 'dragon wing' begonias which have been so successful for me they were out, so I got this one called 'baby wing'....
...
This is the 'dragon wing', newly planted. It will get much larger ...
...
I hope you all are getting just the right amount of rain like I am. Happy gardening!
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTexroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agotjayars1
3 years agoA few to add if not too late.
Henry Lauder Walking Stick Red Dragon. Waited a bit too long to add but wanted to wait until it was full. About 5 feet tall now in an amended bed.
Chocolate wee[ing mimosa. I kniow there is not a lot of love for mimosas but I always want something different. Cam't remember the size purchased but I've had it 2-3 years.
All purchased from the iris society. Sorry I bought 10-15 at the time in a grab bag and have no idea of the variety.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked tjayars1roselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
3 years agoThe magical appearance of water drops on newly emerged sago palm fronds drove me inside to get the camera. I wasn't successful capturing what I saw, but here's what I got ..
...
...
It seems the 'Striped beauty' canna and purple heart combo is going to work nicely ...
...
Isn't 'Autumn joy' sedum supposed to bloom in the fall? This one has three huge flower heads. Will it repeat in autumn as its name suggests?
...
Bird cage arrangement ...
...
Here's one way to have color before flowers start blooming ...
...
I love striped cannas like 'Pink sunburst' ...
...
It seemed like it rained all night, but only a half inch shows in the rain gauge. How about you?
If I'd known we were going to have this much rain I would have planted banana trees!
javiwa
3 years agoWe were deluged (11-12") Tuesday night, then again Thursday evening. Local forecasters predicted non-stop rain from Friday straight through to this afternoon, so I battened down the hatches. It hasn't rained since Friday morning, and it's been dry today: they were so far off!
Backyard is absolutely saturated, but I managed to poke out and grab some pics.
White veined pipe vine has taken off - this little guy decided hiding beneath leaves just wasn't going to be his thing. Sitting next to a newly purchased yellow shrimp plant. I don't know that it's the same hummer/flutterer attracter yours is, Roselee, but I couldn't resist:
White and purple buddleia davidii finally happy in my garden -- Year 2:
Duranta has been non-stop blooms for a month, but the butterflies haven't quite discovered it yet (fennel to the right for the Eastern black swallowtails which are slow to appear this year):
^^^ (Oh, yes: and my completely ignored, 25-year-old gardenia going nuts in the background. Smells amazing, but can't get my nose too close or I'll end up with a snoutful of thrips!)
A tiny pink pentas (7" tall) from a cutting I rooted last fall -- blooms are almost taking up more space than its leaves:
The mother plant is one of the taller varieties that butterflies and hummers love, and comes back year after year.
The thryallis is in 'about to burst wide open' mode, with a happy, fall-planted blue porterweed (purchased from Houston Museum Butterfly Center in October) on the right:
My ever faithful esperanza, doing its thing -- yes, another blue porterweed flanking.
And leaving the best for last, a bud in "I'm fixin' to" mode on a P. caerulea rooting Omar (thank you!!!) generously sent me. The vine barely has any leaves, but it's decided to bloom already -- I am NOT complaining! So cute...looks like a little cabbage. You can see #2 just to the right/rear -- cannot wait to see these flowers!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
2 years agojaviwa
2 years agoI can't believe how much my yard has changed in just one year. I'll start by following up on what I pictured last year.
My pipevine (A. fimbriata) has exploded with lush new growth, this being its second year:
I've got more growing in another shady section of the yard, hoping to attract pipevine swallowtails.
The two buddleias: gone and good riddance. :) Replaced with two beautiful Amistad salvia which the bees are just loving.
The duranta continues to be a super star:
I've since rooted multiple cuttings, giving most away and planting one in the front.
My little pink pentas is huge, with its bed buddy darker pink pentas: let's see the butterflies resist THIS mass!
OK, I'm going to start another post in case GWeb/Houzz punts me, and none of the text is saved.roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwajaviwa
2 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
2 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agojaviwa
2 years agoThanks, bostedo. After ragna's comment, I started to wonder where this photo limit is stated. And realizing file size might be an issue, I usually grab screenshots of my larger images. I just don't want to annoy everyone with a notification every time I post a separate pic.
I'll try again: will limit to four pics and see if that works.
Yup, Omar warned me about the P. caerulea. :) Here pictured with a little ol' bat face cuphea I purchased as a 4" plant last year -- I've since taken cuttings and have 8-10 more in the front yard, HOA be darned.
I ended up removing the esperanza, which reliably ended up with very bad rust issues over the past few years. I've planted a wafer ash (started from seeds) in its place, and it's doing very well so far.
I didn't get too much traffic on the blue porterweed, but the hummingbirds and butterflies went to town on my red porterweed:
And my A. elegans (host to pipevine swallowtails) really took off starting last autumn, after spending most of the year as a spindly, 2' long, sparsely-leafed vine.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwajaviwa
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoI've really gone full bore this year, converting the yard into predominantly a host plant garden for Monarchs, Queens, pipevine swallowtails, Eastern Black SWTs, Giant SWTs, sulphurs and Gulf fritillaries -- if they'll have me. :) The Monarchs have been non-stop this past week, as have the frits (finally -- last year was too quiet).
One of the fennel that came back from last year is sulking a bit in the recent heat.
Some of my new additions:Spicy Jatropha
Lemon Sorbet shrimp (cuz I wanna be just like Ragna when I grow up!)
DH kept walking past this bush and wondering why the leaves were all yellowing. :pCowpen daisies started from seed -- a first for me!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwajaviwa
2 years agoAnd, finally:
Turks Caps (all taken from cuttings last year) are bushing out, and I spied a lot of blooms today.
Finally got my hands on some red salvia Greggii:
And I'm trying my hand at larkspur (Consolida ajacis) -- blooms are imminent!
And zinnias and milkweeds everywhere. :) Hope to share more in the coming weeks!roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked javiwaroselee z8b S.W. Texas
2 years agojaviwa
2 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
2 years agoMy wafer ash is not in the best of locations, but here's a photo which will give you a general idea of it's size and shape. It's taller than the roof and leaning away from the neighbors tall ceniza and oak tree.
I haven't seen Giant swallowtails mobbing it, but I seen the result of their visits; their caterpillars as well as freshly eclosed offspring ... :-)
javiwa
2 years agoblackwillow87
2 years agoEveryone's Spring blooms are beautiful! Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. I have a few pictures.
- Hardy Amaryllis
- Byzantine Gladiolus blooms
3 Drummond's Hedgenettle is a hardy native plant. - Pink Champagne Clematis
- 'Vinicolor' Louisiana Iris
- Native Columbine that I started from seeds from wantonamara.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked blackwillow87wantonamara Z8 CenTex
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoOK Every year I try not to show the same plants but I just have to share this repeat my Catclaw tree always makes me stop and admire.
Here are some first time bloomers. My Golden Leadball tree has been a really slow grower. This photo is taken from above so it is a bit incomprehensible in it's perspective
This iris came from a trade to Alabama. I love this color.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTex
Vulture61