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Thursday, January 15, 2009

GARDEN BLOGGER'S BLOOM DAY

When I lived in Canada I was never tempted to try to grow plants that were out of my zone. Here in Texas it is too tempting to grow these plants. After all, it's only once in a while that we get an Alberta Clipper descend as far as the Gulf Coast. It is going to happen tomorrow. For the last 4 days we have had freezing every night but the warm ground has helped protect the plants. Tomorrow I don't think anything will help.
So here is what is blooming in the garden. I had to search hard but I came up with a few stragglers from the summer.


Alyssum usually blooms all winter. Tough little plant in all shades from white to purple. Seeds itself.

Purple lantana growing alongside copper canyon daisy.


Another yellow daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa.


Several salvias are still blooming.



Violas

Osteospermum didn't want to open even though the sun was shining.


Finally, in the greenhouse the lemons continue to bloom.

I'll be working in there tomorrow.

17 comments:

  1. The oranges and lemons in your greenhouse intrigue me. The scent alone must make those worthwhile.
    You do need bees in there for fruit setting, but one at a time would be better ;-)

    I heard the other day that bees are attracted by magnetic fields. That may explain why we have a swarm in our attic every summer. We have a satellite dish up there.

    Salvias are nice and bright. Must give those a go this summer.

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  2. You have a lot blooming! It'll be interesting to see what's left both in Texas and NC after the cold snap.

    I love the viola -- beautiful color. I love pansies and must do something other than be at the mercy of what is at Lowe's.

    I hadn't heard of a Copper Canyon Daisy before -- I like the glowing yellow/orange color.

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  3. Hey I have that copper canyon daisy but we call it a bush marigold (tagetes lemonii) here in California. Don't you just love the aroma when you brush up against it? Oh and mine is blooming like crazy too.

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  4. Texas looks very inviting this time of year. However, I live in Oklahoma, and I know about that heat. :) ~~Dee

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  5. I see general predictions for 28F tonight - but know it might be colder where you live and also where I live, Jenny. I hope some of your blooms are still there tomorrow - and envy you the greenhouse. It's nice to have a Meyer's Lemon in our breakfast room, but a little crowded!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  6. It's so much colder in your part of Austin. I don't think we've gotten colder than 32 once in the last several days. But tonight I expect a freeze and have covered my tender plants. Stay warm in your greenhouse tomorrow!

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  7. Just looking at your garden and plants warms me up!

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  8. You've got us northerners beat by a mile, even if you had to search a bit! All of my alyssums were killed off by an insane two-week frost/snow period we had in Seattle during December. Glad to see you still have some color where you are!

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  9. Lots to see here! and smell too, I'll bet. What do lemon blossoms smell like? Super photos!

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  10. Thanks to everyone who visited my blog on this cold January day.
    Joco( Still have a problem commenting on your blog but have found a way around it. Why do I not get the security word? Apple?) and
    JGH( how do I get to your blog?) Yes the fragrance of the lemon, lime, kumquat blossoms is just what we need in January. I have two in the house and they are natures air freshener.
    Joco, Do you collect the honey? I once saw a wall opened that was just dripping with honey!
    Sweet Bay- I love the violas and johnny jump ups but find pansy flowers too large. Tagetes lemonii is the CCdaisy as Susan mentioned. I will try to use latin names in future so there is no confusion. This tagetes blooms in the late fall and was very late this year.
    Dee- ready for the cold tonight?
    Annie- know what you mean by crowded. I have 4 lemons in the house. Can't get enough of Meyer lemons.
    Pam-I thought you were going to be colder at your new house but the trees there must help out.
    Ms Wis- the snow is keeping the plants warm. We are using blankets.
    Karen- I bet some were excited about the snow in Seattle. You may find the alyssum survived underneath the snow. It seems to be a pretty hardy plant.
    Stay warm everyone.

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  11. I'd love to be working in a nice warm greenhouse full of lemon blossoms!

    Thanks for joining in for bloom day (and apologies if this is a second comment, I couldn't tell if the other worked or not!)

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

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  12. I'm so jealous of all your oranges and lemons! I have a lime tree that has put on tons of fruit, but the blossoms have no scent, at least none that I can detect. I guess I'll just have to settle for the avalanche of limes instead. :)

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  13. I can always count on you to have a garden full of lovely flowers. I'm not a big fan of yellow flowers but I'm taken by that yellow daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa.

    Are you in the process of thinning your larkspur as well as your bluebonnets?

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  14. Hi Carol- How on earth do you keep up with all the posting? Thanks for dropping by.
    Dreamybee- I must check on the lime blossoms to see if they are scented. tetraneuris reseeds itself all over the garden and its strappy leaves seem unaffected by the freezing weather. it can get to be a bit of a pest but one that I can't turn away.
    MSS I used not to care for red flowers but quite honestly whatever works in the heat. Yellows and blues also look splendid together in the spring.

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  15. You have lots more "summer stragglers" looking great than I do! All lovely, as always.

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  16. Actually, I've often been tempted to push the Zone in my garden (Zone 5), (but I'd never try it with a shrub or tree), so I can understand the temptation. But that's part of the fun challenge of gardening, right? You've got a lot of color in your garden, and I really needed to see some. I'm assuming you grouped the photos by color. I enjoyed them very much.

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  17. It's downright chilly here today. Nice to see you have some blooms- my copper canyon blooms are long gone.

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