A FIRST EVERY DAY

You walk around the garden and spot the first bloom on the ....... I'm sure you could easily fill in the blank. Surely every gardener shares this experience. And spring is the time when every day seems to bring that 'first flower' experience.
Here are some of my first flower experiences this week and most of them natives.

First I saw the bud then overnight a flower on the Ladyfinger cactus, Echinocereus pentalophus. These flowers last for at least 3 days and usually arrive in succession.

The blue gilia,  Giliastrum rigidulum. More commonly found in west Texas but I found one small patch growing on my lot and was successful in moving it to a place where I can see it and enjoy its beauty. It is almost at eye level so cannot be missed. It usually opens in the afternoon. Do you see the weevil? Not the dreaded agave weevil though.

Blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium, seeds among the gravel and between the pavers. As does the Engelmanns daisy which has seeded alongside.

the pink evening primrose, Oenothera speciosa. Oh! Yes, it will run wild but that' fine. A quick pull here and there will keep it under control.

Baby blue-eyes, Nemophila phacelioides. I only have a little patch of shade and that's where they grow.

Everyone else may be able to grow the spiderwort, Tradescantia sp with ease. For me it is a rare event.

What's that I see through the shower window? It's the first blooms of the Anacacho orchid tree, Bauhinea lunarioides.

And the cross vine, Bignonia capreolata. has found tis way 20' from the mother plant.

And I have a mental block on what this plant is called. Help me out will you, please? Update. Thanks to Lyn for the id of Pavonia lasiopetala if I remember the species name correctly.

And wood sorrel, Oxalis.sp. For some it is a weed, for me I am happy to have just a few flowers in this shady corner.

Oh! How I love that morning, spring-time stroll around the garden. There will be more tomorrow, I'm sure.

THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE

This is the view from the bottom of the steps outside the vegetable garden. What's a gardener to do when she has extra plants she can't give away? Why, find a new home outside.

Salvia leucantha has a companion this year, the pink primrose, Oenothera speciosa. Where did she come from I wonder. Well, we all know that little plant. Then there is the spineless prickly pear putting on additional pads this year but no flower buds, as yet. In between there is a galvanized tub with fresh water for the deer. The pink poppies in the foreground were untouched by foraging deer. There's a Mexican mint marigold, Tagetes lucida, just peeking and Mexican feather grass, Nassella tenuissima. They are surrounded by a thick bed of ¼-½" granite gravel. If I was doing a garden again I would create large spaces with this granite with just a few individual plants like this.

LOOKING BACK AT OLD PHOTOS OF THE GARDEN

Someone asked me this week if I would give them some photos of my garden. It wasn't a garden club but a bridge club. From time to time they use one of the notice boards to post about club members. This time they were doing a feature on our bridge players who also garden. Everyone likes to show their garden at its best so naturally I was on the hunt for some of my favorites.

This was my number one pick. It was taken in October on a day when Gardeners' Supply came out to film their catalogue. They were looking for a non regional look and all my narrow leaf zinnias created the perfect setting for their bench. No they didn't leave it behind!

You can tell it is spring in this photo because of the ever present pink primroses, Oenothera, and all the poppies. Look at that clear blue sky, reflected in the pool and a far cry from the current miserable 38° The photo was taken in April..... just around the corner.

This is an August photo of the front courtyard. Bluebonnets and other spring flowers are long gone and grasses and cactus are on show. I'll bet the temperature was in the 90s on this day. We almost had that temperature here this past week.
As I look at all this color and greenery it is hard to imagine that it might be like that again this year. Now I must go out into the garden and cover a few tender plants because we are predicted a low of 24° and there is a lot of tender new growth out there.  I do hope it doesn't get that cold.

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, JUNE 2012

The middle of June already!  What is more amazing than that is that flowers are still blooming in my garden as we join Carol of Maydreams for a late spring bloom day. After all, we have been having summer in Texas for weeks on end with very little in the way of rain.

The pink evening primrose, Oenothera missouriensis, is blooming along the pool edge, for the second time this year. I cut it back severely several weeks ago and here it is again. Angel's fishing rod may not grow in this climate but the arching flowers of the gaura are a great substitute.

One favorite from last year is the Gomphrena 'fireworks' In the fall the root had gone so deep that I couldn't pull it out. I just cut it to the ground thinking the root would rot over the winter. Happily the mild winter didn't kill it and here it is back again. Gomphrenas of all varieties are a summer favorite because they just keep on blooming.

Here's the flower, hence the name.

On the other side of the pool more favorites, like the narrow leaf zinnias Zinnia linearis,  line the edge. They come from seeds saved from last year.

By and large this is a self seeding garden and at the far end a beautiful cone flower has seeded in among the stones, its growth curtailed by lack of irrigation.

They would normally grow much taller as the ones above next to the yellow knockout rose.

The chocolate daisy never seems to stop blooming. It is there in the morning but flowers have faded by late afternoon.

Among the flowers that the hummingbirds adore are Dicliptera suberecta, above, and flame acanthus, Anisacanthus quadrifidus, below.

I think it's about time to cut back the lantana, in the sunken garden, once again before it takes over..

Another plant ready for a clipping is the wall germander, Teuchrium chamaedrys. I am gradually re-establishing the plant as a low hedge in the English garden.

Last week we planted a new tree close to where the 5 Spanish oak trees once grew. It will never take the place of those trees but it may eventually offer some shade in the lower garden. It is the native, desert willow, Chilopsis linearis 'bubba' Although they say this is a small tree I have seen some pretty large ones around here. I have put it on a drip system to make sure it makes it through the summer. On the subject of the lost shade in the once Spanish oak garden I planted a new seed today. I talked at dinner about the possibility of doing an overhead arbor in this garden! We really miss the shade we once had and I see the plants in this garden are none too happy.

And who would not fall in love with its pretty orchid-like blooms?

There are lots more blooms but I think I will end here with my 50c pot of plants. They came from the rescue table at Lowes. Each 4" pot was marked down to 10c. All they needed was some TLC.

Have a great bloom day and a great summer!

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