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Thursday, September 15, 2011

GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY,SEPTEMBER 2011

This may be the most difficult bloom day posting I have done. Not because I have nothing blooming in my garden. I do. I am thinking of those people who have lost their gardens and their homes this last month in the Texas fires.
So, I begin with the natives because they will be the survivors through all this. I know from experience about controlled burns at the Wildflower Center that new plants will pop up. It is all part of what nature does, although at terrible cost to some.

And so my first plant is a new one. David asked me last night where it had come from and I told him I didn't know. I noticed it growing by the faucet in the front courtyard. I knew from the leaf and flower that it must be from the mallow family, but I can't get a sure id even after consulting my wildflower book. I'm leaning towards Velvet Leaf, Allowissadula holosericea. ( That's one latin name I am not likely to remember). But six petals instead of the five is confusing.

Blue gilia, Gilia rigidula, is another one of my favorite bloomers. If you get the impression that I like the delicate small bloomers you would be right. Gilia is a member of the phlox family, reseeds easily and is perfect for the chalky soils of my garden.

I undraped the Whale's tongue agave, A. ovata, in order to take a photo for bloom day. She has attendant Blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, surrounding her. They have a delicious early morning scent of honey and almonds.

Rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, after which I named my blog, is a constant bloomer in my garden. it is also a member of the Mallow family.

Another non-stop bloomer is the Chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata. I usually cut it back in early July but never did this year so it has sprawled across the pavers in the Sunken garden.

The very weedy but attractive zexmania, Wedelai texana, but I wouldn't be without it. A cut-and- come back again plant and very tough.

Gregg's Blue Mist flower, Eupatorium greggii, has spread into a large clump and is in full flower. It is a favorite of the butterflies.

How the goldfinch love the Texas sunflower, Helianthus annuus. They are worth having just to watch their antics.

Lindheimer's senna, Senna lindheimeriana, pops up all over the sunken garden.

By September the zinnias are usually flowering in profusion. I have a few and am grateful from their sunny yellow and orange faces.

I would love my garden to look as it did in previous September Bloom Days, but it is not to be in this year of record heat with drought. Thanks Carol, at Maydreams for hosting this monthly Bloom day.

21 comments:

  1. I have 3 Wildflower books and am unable to find an exact match to your mystery plant. Could it perhaps be a sport of something?

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  2. Very nice, especially for this year. I wish our wild and cultivated Blackfoot Daisy looked that good in a *normal* year! My favorite theme in most of your photos is how healthy those wildflowers look against all the rocks and outcroppings.

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  3. What a beautiful posting. We were lucky to have come through the storms and rain with no damage to our garden, and very little damage to The Bridge of Flowers. Some of us got very very lucky.

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  4. Looking lovely as always. You are so lucky to be able to grow those spectacular agaves!

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  5. I love the leaves of the Lindheimer's senna, and the flowers aren't bad either! So what do you mean that you "undraped the Whale's tongue agave?" That the daisies were covering it?

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  6. Lovely. You have so much blooming, even in this heat and drought.

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  7. I saw a very impressive clump of Lindheimer's senna at the San Antonio Botanical Garden the other day, but I didn't see its ID tag. I was wondering what plant could be doing so well in this weather and now I know. Thanks.

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  8. Your sunken garden is lovely. I really like the stone path. All of your blooms are lovely. It is so interesting to see what grows in your part of the U.S. Happy GBBD!

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  9. Your garden looks absolutely amazing right now...love it...and you are so right about thinking of others...and being grateful for what we have

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  10. Your garden looks wonderful, in spite of the drought. Let's pray we have some rain soon.

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  11. Such beautiful flowers to highlight for GBBD. The orange and white Zinnias is a combination I just adore and the Chocolate Daisy is such a sweetie! I have to say though my favourite photo today was the Agave surrounded by those pretty Blackfoot Daisies. What a gorgeous sight.

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  12. Everything is lovely despite the heat and drought...no worries...next year will be even more amazing!!!

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  13. Perfect blooms for a imperfect state of affairs in Texas. It will rain again.

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  14. Love your rock garden and those blooms are amazing despite the drought in TX.

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  15. I'm loving your September garden in spite of the heat and drought. Small, dainty flowers are a personal favorite...they are just so tough and you've got to like that living in Texas!

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  16. You have some lovely weeds there, that rock rose looks almost the same of what we have here,with very tiny flower of less than 2cm diameter. That blue mist flower is similar to a white one here, which just appeared after the Pinatubo eruption. But ours is invasive and difficult to control, even the remaining roots can produce shoots again.

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  17. Sue- The leaf is velvety so I am sticking with that id. I notice a seed pot forming now so I hope to have more of these pretty little natives next year. They are really sweet.
    Desert dweller-The blackfoot daisies are starting to perk up. Cooler nights and a little hand watering.
    Common weeded-SO glad you didn't suffer damage in your garden. Rain can be a blessing but at other times it can do some devastation.
    Ms Wis- I think I will be adding more agaves from now on. This drought may just go on for ever.
    Abbey- It really is a wonderful native plant. Glad you got the id.

    Danger garden- The senna is such a faithful bloomer through thick and thin. I am grateful for every little plant that is blooming this year. I did cover the agave with shade cloth. It was really brutal in the front garden so I gave it a little help. I have even seen them using shade cloth at the Desert BG in Phoenix.
    Linda- Glad you enjoyed my blooms.
    Sage Butterfly- Thanks for visiting on bloom day. We are all excited that fall is finally on the way with cooler temperatures. The plants especially.
    Christine- Thanks for your comment. Glad you dropped by.
    Scott-There is tremendous spirit among those who have been affected by the fires. The land will repair itself.
    Jayne- I hope so too but was just glad for some cloud yesterday.
    bernie-The narrow leaf zinnias are a real favorite of mine and they do well through the summer.
    Julie- We are always looking forward to the next year and never more so than this.
    Greggo- You can say that again.
    Flower garden- Thanks for visiting. Happy GBBD
    Cat- Yes, I do prefer the small flowers. Fortunately we have plenty of natives like this.
    Andrea- I think our mist flower is pretty invasive too. We also have a white one that is called fragrant mist flower. It may be similar to yours. I seem to have quite a few of these pretty invasives.

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  18. That unknown mallow is lovely! And I MUST get some Blue Gilia: should I look for seeds to buy or do some nurseries carry transplants? The sunken garden looks great. One wouldn't know from your pretty photos how hot and dry our weather is.

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  19. As always, your wildflower garden is looking great. Those Zinnias are popping with color. Happy GBBD!

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  20. Your Whale's Tongue has grown a lot and is really looking like A. ovatifolia at last. Guess it takes a while for that distinctive cupped leaf to emerge, but once it does, it's unmistakable.

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