MAY IN THE SUNKEN GARDEN.

I am often surprised by the continuation of flowering in the sunken garden into May and June. As I remove the spent blooms from early flowering annuals such as Nigella, bluebonnets, poppies and last years blanket flowers there is a whole new cast of characters waiting in the wings, some perennial some annual.

The red in the foreground is the native Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius, which I cut back early this spring. It's another red flower I have come to love and a favorite of there humming bird. It absolutely demands dry calcarious soils which is just what it gets in the sunken garden. No amendments necessary. 

Another pretty red annual is the scarlet flax, Linum grandiflorum, seen here with coreopsis and gulf coast penstemon. 

Last year there was a lamb's ear plant about 6 feet away from here which withered during the summer. This one seeded here and grew over the winter and I hope some of its seeds will find a happy place to grow.

There are sprinklings of this coreopsis in just about every garden I have. The original was from a packet of seeds planted nearly 20 years ago. It does get a little tall and floppy so I had to stake it up. 

Keeping the trailing winecup, Callirhoe involucrata, under control is not easy. It will run across the paving as well as climb as much as 4' among taller plants.

Square-bud primrose, Calylophus berlandieri, with a few seed heads of Nigella and one of two stragglers.

There are several dwarf day lilies including these two which do well along the edges of the rocks. 

And scabiosa, which blooms all through summer and even during a mild winter.

And the common mullein, Verbascum thapsus, of which there are 5 in the sunken garden, is just beginning to flower. It is an invasive species having been introduced from Europe.

It gives me great pleasure to walk out there in the morning and see the new blooms of the day. Any yes it is constant work and will they all be there next year-probably because I just love them too much not to allow them to seed.
And who will be up next? The gauras, coneflowers, small flowering coreopsis and the prickly pear cactus. 

THE JUNE GARDEN

One thing that always surprises me, and more so this year because we had such an early spring, is how much is still blooming in the June garden. Our recents rains have probably helped extend the life of some plants, like the California poppies, which make a great companion for the Bee Balm, Peter's purple.

And when I thought the white one on the edge of the pool looked ready to pack it in for the year it decided to bloom again. Admittedly not quite as perfect and the flowers are smaller, but it still has a few days of bloom left before I cut it back.

This nameless day lily, a plant rescue, is the last of the day lilies to bloom. A parsley plant, going to seed, adds a fine backdrop.

The sunken garden is due for a big tidy, which involves cutting back the skullcaps, chocolate daisies, and blanket flowers to keep them blooming.

The same applies to the gaura which seems want to take over.

I have struggled to grow cleome in the past but this year seems to be the year for it to do well. I wish I had bought more than just the one.

I am thrilled with the hanging basket that I purchased this year. It was in a smaller basket and when the wind knocked to the ground breaking one of the plastic hangers, I was forced to repot it in a larger basket, in which I used baby diapers line the bottom! I pruned it back and it has now made up for lost time.

It hangs outside the kitchen window where I can admire it.

 In the front garden now that the spring bloomers have faded, there is just the odd pop of color from a flowering cactus.

Or the peach brugmansia which opened up a whole new display of flowers today.

What a show!

For a little respite from all this color I just have to take a walk outside the gate. There everything is green and serene.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, MAY 2017

It has been a while since I posted on bloom day. Suddenly it was upon me and I had no time to gather the photos.

Surely the opening photograph for this month's Bloom day post has to be the Monarda 'Peter's Purple' He's certainly King of the garden at the moment.

And Queen of the May garden is the blanket flower, Gaillardia pulchella. Not so easy negotiating the pathways at the moment.

And we have a princess too,  Clematis texensis 'Princess Diana'. What a beauty she is. Just a few weeks ago there was no sign of growth and I was sure I had lost the plant over the winter. In less than a month she has grown to almost cover the trellis.

So many bloomers. The spineless prickly pear, with two different blooms on the same plant.

I wonder why that is?

And all the day lilies.

All but the tiny orange one without names.
Echinacea purpurea, just coming into bloom.

The larkspurs, love-in-a-mist and poppies have finished already but blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum,  still keep going.

Among the other natives, the purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii.

Which pairs well in a rock garden setting with the square bud primrose, Calylophus berlandieri, and pink skullcaps.

Square bud primrose with ruby crystal grasses

Pink skull cap seeded in the dry creek

Scabiosa back for the third year. A rescue plant.

And Texas betony, Stachys coccinea, not a showy plant but the hummingbirds love it.

Another native, horsemint, Monarda citriodora.

The native chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, with its delicious chocolate fragrance.

And for the first time in a while success with Cleome.

These are just a few of the flowers that are blooming in my rocky Texas garden in mid May.

Thank you Carol at Maydreams gardens for hosting Bloom day. Find out what is growing in other gardens this May Bloom Day.

IT'S BEEN A MOST UNUSUAL SUMMER

I think it has been a most unusual year-weather-wise.  First we had unseasonably warm temperatures with no rain in February. That was enough to kill some plants in my garden, because I was gone for 5 weeks and the watering system was off. Then we had a spell of temperatures over 100º- 16 in all. The rest were in the 90s which feels cool! Then came the rain and lots of it. Somewhere in the region of 16" in less than a week. Are we done yet, I wonder?
But that rain has been a blessing for some plants and the death knell for others.

Cactus and succulents like dry conditions. Correct? But when the rain comes they burst into flower. First you might notice a slight protuberance on the stem. Sometimes smooth and sometimes fuzzy. It's a signal that within days a glorious flower will arrive.

Is there anything more beautiful? Each day a new cactus opened.

Echinopsis oxygona

Gymnocalcyium baldianum

The flowers on the stapelia, Stapelia gigantia are jostling for position. I kept my eyes open for maggots but this time it would seem no flies visited. A blessing.

Day lilies have burst into bloom again. I always worry about out of season blooming thinking that maybe there will be no spring bloom. Sometimes this happens in the fall with my Philadelphus but it has always bloomed again in the spring again. I certainly hope this will be the case with these day lilies which have been putting out blooms every day for over 3 weeks.

Ditch lilies are blooming on the ground because their foliage is now hidden by the ever increasing size of the Philippine violet. The flower stems just grew out along the ground until they found the light.

But among all the good surprises there have been some bad ones. A few cactus have rotted inside and the gopher plant, despite being planted in very free draining soil is rotting. I have noticed a lot of splits on the stems which may result from them taking up to much water. Rather like tomatoes which split after too much rain.

I have actually pulled a couple out because I can see they are a lost cause with many of their leaves brown and stems rotting. I am so sad because come spring this is one of my favorite plants lighting up the garden with its chartreuse blooms.
But our lakes are full and the landscapes are green again so the loss of a few plants is a small price to pay. Although I have heard recently that a lot of post oak tress are dying and they are blaming inconsistent weather patterns. I hope the same doesn't happen to the live oaks too or we are going to see vast changes in our landscapes.