A DIFFERENT KIND OF FALL

Finally we are through all that summer heat madness and can look forward to cooler days ahead. It is beginning to feel like fall but, alas, fall in my garden doesn't bear much resemblance to the falls I remember growing up in England or when we lived in Canada. With mainly live oaks and junipers and few deciduous trees there is little in the way of those vibrant oranges and reds.
My fall color comes from the berries on the pyracantha which have turned color almost overnight. Paired here with the mock orange, Philadelphus 'Natchez' The mock orange has become a reliable re-bloomer in recent years.

More red berries on the ornamental pepper, Capsicum annuum 'black pearl' which, with its deep burgundy leaves pairs well with the lighter leaves of sage and columbine.

The fruit is beginning to ripen on the calamondin orange. It will be perfect to bring into the house for the holiday season.

And there are certain flowers which wait until the fall to bloom. Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida.

Gomphrena decumbens 'grapes' This is a perennial variety of gomphrena which dies back during the winter but has returned for 3 years. It is a large, airy sprawling plant which, even though planted in full sun, requires the whole growing season before it flowers.  I grew it from seed gathered from a friend's garden.

Copper Canyon daisy, Tagetes lemmonii

And of course the lovely Philippine violet, Barleria cristata.

All week Keats poem has been going through my head. Just the first passage takes me back to my homeland and those fall days I remember. I love my Texas garden but the atmosphere is quite a different one from that generated by this poem.

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and pump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel;to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er brimm'd their clammy cells.

John Keats

WHITE IS A COLOR TOO

I didn't realize how many white flowers I had int he garden until I went out to photograph them today.

The mock orange, Philadelphus sp Natchez is putting on the biggest white show.

Followed by the Anacacho orchid tree, Bauhinia lunariodes.

There's even a single rain lily, Cooperia drummondii, coaxed into blooming by the recent rains.

In the English garden the white knockout rose puts on her first full flush of blooms.

The native blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum.

Love-in-a-mist, Nigella sativa, with the spiky foliage. A faithful spring returner.

Larkspur,

A single white Shirley poppy.

The multiplying onions, Allium sepa, making a great stand. I think I may mix them in with my other garden flowers next year.

The potatoes are flowering.

And the snow pea flowers mean lots of peas over the next few weeks. I always plant Pisum sativum 'Cascadia' because they are open pollinated and I can save the seeds for next year.

The first pods.

And the tiny star flowered sedum, Sedum potosinum.

GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY APRIL 2014

Welcome to my April garden for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day hosted by Maydreams Gardens. It is a gorgeous day here in Texas after yesterday's lashing rain, wind and hail and the threat of a frost last night. Thankfully it never got down to 32°. There is a mighty clashing of colors going on out there.

Eyes down to the Claret-cup cactus, Echinocereus coccineus.

Eyes up to Zepherine drouhin. Both are putting on a spectacular show.

Of course the Lady Banks rose is also in full bloom right now although somewhat smaller in bloom size this year.

 My yellow Rosa banksia 'lutea' is enormous compared with the white one.

I purchased this white one at the Rose Museum in Tombstone, Arizona, which boasts the largest Lady Banks' rose in the world. It came originally from Kew gardens as a cutting and this is a cutting from the Tombstone rose. I have it planted on the fence behind the pool; not the best place as I have to continuously cut it back.

While on the subject of white roses this white Knockout lights up the English garden.

Along with the lovely fragrant Felicia.

There are lots of native plants. The yellow Missouri primrose, Oenothera macrocarpa.

And the square-bud primrose, Calylophus berlandiera, along with bluebonnets in the sunken garden.

Gulf coast penstemon, Penstemon tenuis.

And my ever blooming chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata.

Rose campion, Lychnis coronaria.

Mock orange, Philadeplhus X 'natchez'

The sweetest smelling stocks, Mathiola incana.

The cross vine, Bignonia capreolata back again on the greenhouse.

Beautiful heads on my multiplying onions, Allium cepa.

Blue flax, Linum lewisii

 An unknown tiny rock daffodil with wiry stems. Planted several years ago this is the first time it has bloomed. It must have liked the extra chilling.

Orange mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua.

There are poppies galore, and columbines and so many more flowers in bloom. Come back again later this week and take the long tour of all the gardens enjoyed by a visiting garden group today. In the meantime visit other garden bloggers sharing their blooms on the mid April day.

WHAT A FRILL!

I was just lamenting the lack of a frilled poppy this year. I suppose it is because I tend to control how many poppies throw their seeds, removing their heads before they ripen.  I had already walked past this area this morning and never noticed.

And then the second time there it was. The flower of my day. Of course the bees don't like this flower. They can't find the pollen among all those petals.

With the threat of wind and thunderstorms tonight I decided it was time to go out and take a few photos of delicately petaled flowers.

Pink evening primrose, Oenothera speciosa. What's not to love about this pretty pink flower? It's rampant invasive behavior?  Still, now I have it and it isn't going away anytime soon. I might as well enjoy it and I do.

Then the mock orange, Philadelphus "natchez' In the space of 24hours all the blooms opened. That's what 3 days in the 80s will do. Every year I say the same thing. "Hold your horses" and save something for next week, please.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, APRIL 2011

Can it be that there are still blooms left in the garden, after our weeks of endless heat with no rain. It's time for those northern gardens and other gardens around the world to take over and show us their blooms. Join Carol, at Maydreams and share your pretty flowers.

I like to see long shots of the garden but there is a time and a place for close ups of flowers and today is the day. Bloom day.

It was hard to believe that the mock orange would flower this spring. After all it flowered twice last year. At its normal time in April and then again in late October. We had such a mild, summer-like fall it was clearly confused. But it did.

I love the pink evening primrose when it spills out from under the Salvia greggii. So what if it's invasive. I just keep pulling it out where I don't want it.

Frilly pink poppies. I'm doing some serious pulling of the single flowered variety. I love this one. But what a disappointment that there were no purple ones this year.

The first of the purple cone flowers.

and Love-in-a-mist, Nigella. Great for dried seed heads.

The first rock rose bloom.

And those nasturtiums. Although I sampled the flowers when we were at Red Butte Gardens last year, they haven't yet appeared in my salad bowl.

And some poor gaillardia, with monstrose form.

Lots of flowers on the chive. More flowers for the salad bowl.

It remains to be seen if these will develop into full sized pomegranates. The tree definitely has a problem. Boo hoo.


Sedums, Sedum potosenum, sparkle with star shaped flowers.

Dahlberg daisy and wine cups in the sunken garden.

A mass of blue eyed grass, Sisyrinchium are still open at 8 o'clock in the evening.

I hope this guy didn't drop in for dinner.

Mealy blue sage, Salvia victoria, can be a bit of a pest. After it has flowered I cut it back and it blooms again and again. The goldfinches love the seeds in the fall.

The first rose campion, Lychnis coronaria, flower. The dry winter means there won't be so many this year.

But there will always be lots of blanket flowers, Gaillardia spec.,

We trimmed back the cedars in the English garden this year and the Texas clematis Clematis pitcheri, really appreciates getting more sun. So much so that David extended the trellis.

This columbine has reproduced itself in the master Spanish oak garden. It makes a welcome change from the Hinckley's yellow.

More flowering sedum.

Hope you are enjoying bloom day in your garden. Thanks Carol, for hosting