LITTLE POPS OF COLOR

I have often mentioned how red was my least favorite color among garden flowers. But there are beginning to be more and more times when I eat my own words, and that time is now. Sometimes red gives that little pop of color which just brings the whole garden to life.

Whereas spring in the front courtyard is mainly about the blues, whites and yellows, fall is mainly about the the varied greens of the grasses and other textured plants. The salvia, Salvia greggii, dormant all summer, spring into life. One of those straggly plants that every year I think of removing until now. Here, straggly looks better than bushy as their arching branches reach over the rocks.

In another corner of this garden the same is true of the firecracker fern. I have seen magnificent displays of this plant when grown in good soil but mine stays rather short and retiring until rain and cooler temperatures bring out the bloom.

Under the shade of the Lady Banks rose, dormant all summer, the shy and retiring Oxblood lilies, Rhodophiala bifida, respond to a good soaking rain by sending up their naked blooms. And what a show they put on this year.

And in the back garden there are the annual strawberry gomphrena, Gomphrena globosa and spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuifolia, and they are red too. Although they usually reseed each year I still save save seeds just in case we have an unusually hard winter.

Another red flowering plant that will be moved into the garage for winter is the Japanes Lantern hibiscus, Hibiscus schizopetalus. It is certainly worthy of a home in the entry garden, if only for its exotic frilled bloom.

Look how deep the color is on the blanket flower, Gaillardia pulchella. Cooler nights are responsible for the depth of color. All flowers seem to take on more color during the fall.

Yes. Red is good.

OH! THE COLORS OF A SOUTHERN FALL

It has been a wonderful week where night temperatures dipped below 70° and day time highs barely touched the 90s. But summer isn't done with us yet as warmer temperatures are promised next week.

Cooler night time temperatures return color to the garden, with new blooms opening on the Salvia greggii. It isn't called Autumn sage for no reason. Clouds of pink and white gaura are a magnet for the bees.

Lindheimer senna, Senna lindheimeriana brings splashes of yellow to the landscape and the hanging pods assure us of an annual display. This is one plant the deer never touch so it is a great plant to have outside the walls. It has, however, found its way inside the walls adding a splash of late summer color to a mainly green landscape.

Sometimes I think a plant is about to die because the foliage has yellowed but then rain brings a fresh infusion and cooler nights bring back the green color to the leaves. It is almost the opposite of what happens in the spring when leaves are yellow because of the cold. This always happens on the hollies and columbines.

In the sunken garden flowering blackfoot daisies Melampodium leucanthum, have been growing quietly from seeds of the previous winter. They seem comfortable growing among the pink crystal grass, Melinus nerviglumis. Soon it will be their turn to fill the garden with pink seedheads.

This wouldn't be a Texas garden without the yellow blooms on the zexmenia, Wedelia hispida. Yes, it may like to take over the garden but when one grows in the perfect spot it is so worthwhile. Here paired with artichoke agave, Agave parryi 'truncata'
Did you experience a garden surprise this week? I had three. The first was the bloom of Lycoris radiata. 

Then the first flower on my pale pavonia, pale rock rose, Pavonia hastata, a passalong seedling from Diana at Sharing Nature's Garden. Although not a native it will be welcome unless it proves to be invasive. How could Rock Rose not love another member of the mallow family.

And two days ago this monster moth on the mail box. A giant female silk moth, Antheraea polyphemus. What a beauty she is and a first for my garden despite being found in all the states from Canada to Mexico. She has a short life and her only job is to find a mate.

We may never give us the fall color as found in the northern climates but we welcome the explosion of color in our Southern fall.

AH! THE SALVIAS

Where would our gardens be without the genus Salvia; annuals, biennials, perennials, herbaceous and woody shrubs; all the colors of the rainbow. These dependable plants are of immense value in the Texas garden where several mechanisms help them through the tough Texas summers.

Above is one of my salvias not commonly seen in Austin gardens. Salvia clevelandii, is native to California and Baja where it grows as a short lived perennial. It is more difficult to grow here because it prefers a dry summer with less humidity. I grow it for its fragrance. In the early morning it perfumes the air and, at other times, I can barely walk by without brushing it with my hands and bringing its exquisite scent to my nose.

I grow the common culinary sage, Salvia officinalis for cooking. If you haven't tried fried sage leaves then you are missing out on a treat. Fry the leaves in butter until crisp and serve over ravioli with lemon butter or other non-tomato pastas. This sage blooms for long periods in the early summer after which it can be cut back to make new growth. The bees love it.

Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten', has a more rounded leaf and downy grey leaves. It too can be used for cooking but also adds beauty to any garden. Unlike the common sage it does not produce flowers. It has the tendency to travel as stems touch the ground and put down new roots. The older part may eventually become woody and die back.

There are several smaller leaved sages, among them the yellow, Salvia officinalis 'Icterina' and purple leaf Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens', grown more for ornamental purposes.

But the main stays of the Texas garden have to be the blooming sages. The Salvia greggii which come in white, red, pink and purple.

And Salvia microphylla 'hot lips' These are always a favorite of the hummingbirds. I probably have more Salvia greggii in my garden than any other plant. That is because they seed freely. The plant is sometimes called autumn sage but this is really a misnomer as it flowers throughout the summer and autumn. Shearing the plant partway through the long summer will bring on a new flush of flowers.

I shall have to wait a little longer for the Salvia leucantha, to bloom. Outside my vegetable garden it grows in a good base of decomposed gravel. It receives no additional water, makes a delightfully shaped bush and is completely deer proof. Winter frost results in it dying back down to the ground but it is extremely hardy. It will spread by underground stems which make for plenty of plants to share with other gardeners. This one is seen blooming in my garden in September. It has both the purple flower and calyx. Another variety has the white flower and purple calyx.

Another fall bloomer is Salvia madrensis, sometimes called forsythia sage for its long arching stems and yellow flowers.

 It is slow to come back from die back in the winter but over the summer it builds up to reach a height of over 5' by fall. It has unusual square stems with a ridge at each corner of the stem, which make it easy to identify. In my garden it is planted under the Lady Banks' rose which probably helps it survive some of the lowest winter temperatures.

One of my salvias is becoming a little pest and I am rapidly removing it from my garden. Salvia farinacea, mealy cup sage. Best allowed to grow in the wild.

                                                                TO SALVIA

                                               In these times of fashionable rages
                                               Let us honor enduring sages.
                                               Known to cure, to mend, to ease;
                                               Companions to cooks; splendid teas.
                                               Hundreds of species our world adorn,
                                               Richly diverse in flower and form.
                                               Hail to Salvia, that scented salvation,
                                               Worthy of study and our admiration.

                                                                                            - Andy Doty


Do you grow Salvia in your garden? Please share your successes.