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

THE BLESSINGS OF HIGH WALLS

First of all I want to thank everyone who sent their commiserations either by writing on my blog, face time or by email.
There is good news from the garden today. As many of you have visited here know, our garden is surrounded by walls. Some of the walls of the houses are very high. The hail storm blew in from the west and those plants in the lee of the walls were miraculously unscathed.

At the front door, protected by a porch overhang and a 20' wall to one side the yellow star jasmine, Trachelospermum asiaticum was untouched. It is a little different from the Confederate jasmine, although closely related and said to be a little hardier. The center of the flower is tinged with yellow.

On the pool wall the Confederate jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, was similarly spared. Both are now blooming with their heady fragrance.

You can see that the flowers on this one do not have the yellow center.

2 out of 3 isn't so bad. The third one on the potting shed wall wasn't so lucky but knowing how vigorous these plants are I know it will be back again.

I wasn't planning on staining the hail-blasted trellis this year.

The Mock orange, Philadelphus virginalis 'Natchez' is planted on the east side of a 20' wall and was similarily protected. But just 8' away on the other side everything was flattened.

Other plants were saved because they were sheltered by larger plants above them. This little cactus, one of a group, beneath an agave at the foot of the steps from the English garden took no damage. This week it when the sun came out it opened a flower.

And the Lady finger cactus, Echinocereus pentalophus, on the steps was not affected as the hail came through the arch.

More cleaning up for me this weekend. Hope you have a bright and sunny one.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, NOVEMBER 2013

Winter arrives in Central Texas. Just when I was enjoying the response of the garden to our recent rainfall, following a droughty summer, old Jack Frost points his icy finger at my garden and zaps my most vulnerable plants. Last night the temperature dropped to 27°

Just two days ago I was planning to show you how the Philadelphus virginalis 'Natchez', was back in flower again.

and how pretty the Gomphrena globosa 'little grapes' looked against the sweet potato vine. Now all these vulnerable plants have wilted and burnt. Only the hardiest are still in flower and those that are in warmer places in the garden.
It is a great time to discover microclimates in the garden. We all have them. I have one big microclimate in my garden. Most of the garden will be colder than the surrounding area as a result of our being low down on a hill. But within the garden I have one or two pockets which are more forgiving. So this morning the plumbago was still blooming.

And the Philippine violet, Barleria cristata, which seeded at the edge of the pathway, close by, was unscathed. Unlike its parent around the corner.

The Copper Canyon daisy, Tagetes lemonnii, is always the last of the natives to flower in my garden. Brush past the foliage and you can smell why the deer avoid this plant.

Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida, Survived the cold night.

And of course alyssum. Present throughout every season.

Surprisingly Gaura sp. also continues to bloom.

And it a few places the gomphrena 'fireworks' he narrow foliage seems to make this more hardy than the other gomphrenas.

Texas enjoys wild swings in temperature. This weekend we will have a high of 85° Now I need to protect the plants int he greenhouse, not from frost, but from sunscald!
I hope you will join Carol of Maydreams gardens, this November Bloom Day, to share your bloom day photographs. I shall be checking them out. Thanks Carol.

FLORAL FRENZY

 With unseasonably warm temperatures day after day the whole garden wants to be a part of a floral frenzy.

Damianita and mealy blue sage.

Claret cup cactus, Echinocereus trilochidiatus.

Pink poppies.

An unknown yellow iris. This one blooms a little later than the others.

Zepherine drouin in the back corner. The amazing thing about this rose is that it grew from a root that grew through the bottom of a potted cutting growing in this very spot. When I removed the pot I noticed this wiry shoot growing between the limestone path. It grew into this lovely arching rose. No extra water or fertilizer and yet it blooms faithfully every year. It is the same pink as the bush knockout in front of the wall but has one difference. It is extremely fragrant. The mother plant grows in the front courtyard.

Mock orange, Philadelphus coronarius Natchez. My only regret is that I didn't seek out the native one which has a fragrance.

WHICH SEASON IS THIS?

This is not the only plant to surprise us with an unusual bloom time. The mock orange, Philadelphus coranarius 'Natchez' is blooming for the second time.

Not just one or two blooms but many, with more buds opening every day. Are these next years flowers come early? I certainly hope not.

POPPY FRENZY

This certainly is the year of the poppy in my garden. Even the normally single petalled poppy are turning up with can can like frills.

Not that the bees like these new frilly ones. They couldn't find their way in to find the pollen even if they tried. It's fun to watch them as they revel in the multiple numbers of pollen loaded stamens. This bee couldn't stuff more into his pollen sacs if he tried.

The corn or Flanders poppies must be thinking they are in Europe this year after the cold winter and all the rain.

What do you think of your cousins, California poppies? They don't need the sun to shine to open up! After all you can't rely on the sun to shine over the pond. We haven't had much sun over the last few days.

So many of my flowers didn't get a chance to join bloom day this April because there were so many. The mealy blue sage for one. Not in a good spot because underneath is growing the blue flax and flax took pride of place on bloom day.

The yellow mound of basket of gold, Alyssum saxatile. I started from seed last year and wish I had done more this year. I hope it likes its new home in the English garden.
Talking of English, this is an English daisy. Not the pom pom pink flowers that were on the seed packet. I am often disappointed by the picture on the packet. Even so it's a nice little flower.
Rose campion, began to flower last week. This area of campion, heart leaf skull cap and gulf coast penstemon got together to form a completely different planting from last year. They pushed out the yellow columbine that was growing there last year.

This year the pyracantha espalier and the philadelphus flowered in unison. Not good planning. I really need to put in a purple clematis to break up the white. Nevertheless, I am starting to train the pyracantha round the corner of the wall. keeping up with the pruning is a big job.
I think the philadelphus could cope with a pretty little Texas clematis twining among its white flowers. I have just the one, purchased at the Wildflower Center plant sale last Friday and still looking for a new home.