WE ARE NOT GOING TO WAIT

With only a modest sign of an end to our long, hot, dry summer, it is a surprise to find some of our fall bloomers still blooming more or less on time. The biggest surprise of all is the first-time blooming of my Lycoris aurea, the golden spider lily.

Five years ago I purchased 3 bulbs at an end of season sale.This is the first year that they have bloomed. The Lycoris family seem to be incredibly fickle when it comes to their willingness to bloom. I did a little research and it appears that a period of dry heat encourages blooms. We have had on 1/2" rain in three months and above normal temperatures through September.  It will be interesting to see if other gardeners share this same success this year.
The Lycoris radiata, red spider lily, while more of a consistent bloomer, had seven blooms this year. I think that is a record.

Of course the Oxblood lilies were not going to be left behind. In fact they were the first to bloom after a scant 1/2" rain. There must some other trigger too because they have had some water from irrigation this summer but there was no sign of life until a few days after the rain. Day length and possibly barometric pressure is my guess. g.
Unfortunately daytime highs were still in the triple digits so the blooms didn't last very long.

The Philippine violet is one plant that every southern garden should have. After winter dormancy, in which it dies back to the ground, it spends the whole summer putting on several feet of beautiful green growth, and begins flowering in October. The original plant has seeded in several places including at the foot of the dry-stone wall in the English garden. I know it is pointless trying to remove it so I will just let it stay. Flowering on this one is a little ahead of the other ones.

I have two that seeded along the edges of the patio in the sunken garden. They have been growing there for many years, disappearing over winter and returning to bloom in the fall.

I have had little success trying to move other seedlings although I have one more new seedling which I will try to move over winter.
This morning I watched an anole on the plant licking something from the leaves. I wonder if it was a small amount of water or even some substance exuded from the leaves.

Talking of which...  the amazingly fast growing candlestick plant, Senna alata, began growing in one of my vegetable beds at the beginning of August. It is about to bloom and the ants are busy helping it along. Ants always mean sweet stuff and the nectary glands on the edges of the petals exude sugar which the ants are busy farming. They do the same thing on peony flowers. No harm done in this case except for the fact that the ants are in this bed.

It's time for the Japanese anemones to bloom with their never-quite-perfect flowers.

Large arching branches of the bush clover, Lespediza will soon be covered with pretty pea blooms.

So the fall season is not all lost just as long as we don't go straight into winter. I know some gardeners in the North did so this week.

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.

THE NAKED LADIES HAVE ARRIVED

They come quietly in the night. You might miss them although I don't know why because they come every year about the same time. Sometimes you get advance warning from a garden friend about their arrival in their garden. This sends you rushing out into your own garden to look for signs of their arrival.

Borne on bare stem the Oxblood lilies, Rhodophiala bifida, began blooming just over a week ago but the wonderful weekend rain hurried them along. Now, multiple groups of the flower are blooming in my garden. The bulbs were first introduced into Texas by German Settlers and have become a favorite of southern gardeners. Mine were a passalong from Melissa, at Zanthan gardens. I remember going over to her house for a clump of the flowering bulbs. At home I enjoyed them in the house, in a bowl of water, until the flowers faded. Then I planted them in the ground.

The second naked lady to bloom was the red spider lily, Lycoris radiata. They don't seem to be quite as large this year but there are more of them. The first bulbs to arrive in the US were brought by Captain William Roberts. He brought 3 bulbs back from Japan planting them in his own garden. Now the bulbs have naturalized in many parts of the US south.
After the flowers fade the leaves begin to appear and continue their growth throughout the winter and into the late spring. If you plan to move the bulbs then the time will be after they have flowered.

DID I SAY I DIDN'T LIKE RED

I should have added that my mind can easily be changed.

This is the second year for the red spider lily, Lycoris radiata, to bloom and once again it took me by surprise. It is one of the few plants to have made it through the summer in the raised bed in the English garden. There were only two last year and the same this year. I must look for more because I think they would look better if they were in a clump. I'm just happy they survived.

I think this cutting came from Bob at Draco Gardens. The tiny tubular flowers of flame acanthus, Anisacanthus wrightii, bring hummingbirds into the garden.

A self sown zinnia.

The cardinal climber, Ipomoea sloteri, growing on the potting shed wall, finally began blooming this morning. The seeds were a pass a long at one of our garden a go gos. Not sure who it was but a big thank you. I think I found the right vine for this wall.

Blanket flower, Gaillardia pulchella,There is no flower in my garden that blooms as consistently though the year as the blanket flower. The birds love the seed heads.

The spider zinnia. Always welcome in my garden.

The pomegranate I grew from seed. This year it has 5 good sized pomegranates. Unusual for it to bloom in the fall. i saw a hummingbird visit this morning.

IT'S THE CAT'S WHISKERS

It was a favorite expression of my father to describe something wonderful. Along with the "bee's knees"

This morning I took a stroll around the garden and exclaimed out aloud on three occasions. First when I saw this plant in flower. It is commonly know as 'cat's whiskers' and in the botanical world as Orthosiphon aristatus. It is a herbaceous perennial but only to zone 9. I will have to take cuttings if I want to keep it over the winter, and I do! Thank you Robin, at Get Grounded, for this passalong. I had completely forgotten about it so my absence from the garden this summer, and any kind of weeding, saved it. I spotted it last week and noticed the development of flower panicles at the end of the stems. I was just waiting to see what the flower looked like as I had no idea what it was. This morning, when I saw the flowers open I knew immediately. I had a grin like a Cheshire cat, even though I'm from Lancashire!

The second surprise came in the cactus pot. I had seen flower buds developing and this morning the first flower opened. This, despite the fact that the cactus itself has gone from an upright form to a prostrate form over the summer. Even after rain it hasn't perked up but it is flowering.

Three years ago I planted several Lycoris radiata bulbs in the English garden. I thought they had disappeared. Nothing until this morning. Only two showed up but I'm thrilled. I must put a marker in the ground so I remember where they are.