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.

THE GREEN MAN

I have always had a fascination with the Green Man, most often depicted in sculpture as a man's head surrounded by foliage, but occasionally depicted as a whole man.  This name only came into popular use after 1939 when Lady Raglan was researching these characters for an article she was writing, The Green Man in Church Architecture.  Until then he was known as a foliate head.
A new Green Man arrived in my garden this week. A Mother's Day gift which now graces the wall in my English garden and is a more modern depiction of a Green Man  He deserves to have his story told.

Original art by Milo Re

His origins will always remain a mystery although much has been written about the meaning of the faces. One interpretation is that he represents our connection with the earth and therefore the renewal of the plant life every spring. As I now have several presiding over my gardens I think I like that interpretation. Multiple depictions of this character date back to medieval times and before. He is found in too many cultures not to have significance, but is very prevalent in medieval churches and cathedrals of Great Britain and France, carved into the stone work. Also in carvings in India and the Middle East.

Sometimes he has a friendly face like this one on the wall in my Spanish Oak garden.

Foliate head

And less friendly faces of these smaller ones which are attached to the metal supports on an awning over a doorway. Where else would you put fringe magnets? I picked them up in England over 10 years ago and had been waiting for just the perfect place. It came last year.

Disgorging head

Foliate head

Disgorging head

Foliate head

These are all depictions of the Foliate head with leaves surrounding the head, and Disgorging head with leaves coming out of the mouth. A Bloodsucker head has leaves coming from all the orifices and probably represents death and burial.

England abounds in pubs called The Green Man, this one in the village of Grantchester.

The sign here may represent Jack-in-the-Green, a character sometimes linked to the Green Man. He danced through the streets in 16th and 17th C Britain on May Day, covered in leaves and garlands of flowers. The practice eventually met with Victorian disapproval and Jack was replaced with the May Queen. Currently there is a revival of Jack's character in many towns celebrating May Day.

I have Kingsley Amis novel, the Green Man which was also turned into a BBC production. It bears no relationship except for the fact the the pub the character ran was called The Green Man and has some supernatural experiences in which a ghostly apparition conjures up the apparition of a nasty green man. My green men are much more friendly.

GOOD MORNING CLOUDY DAY

Who prays for a cloudy day. Someone who is a gardener, has had no measurable rain for weeks and brilliant clear sunshine day after day, and whose plants are down on their knees praying with her. Yes, we have had cool nights but that lack of rain has my ground so dry I can't even pull out the spent plants. My drip- irrigation watering system and burnt out soils cannot support such weather conditions. When promised rain, talked about so much by the weather man, failed to materialize I had to start doing some hand watering. Pots and vegetable beds twice a day just to keep them alive.

This is inside the entrance to the garden where there is a little shade from the overhead beams. An odd mixture of plants, you may think. Barrel cactus, agaves, foxgloves and the brugmansia ( A gifted cutting from my garden friend Lori two years ago). I repotted it this year so extra watering has been the order of the day, but also fighting off spider mites this year. Despite the bloom it really does not look as healthy as it should so I am trying hard to get it back in shape. A little less stress from the sun may help.

And the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. I am so proud to have grown them from seed planted last fall. These ones in pots are further ahead than the ones that are growing in the ground which have not started to bloom yet. They are the flowers of my childhood, found growing in the hedgerows and fields of England, as well as the flowers of my childhood fairy stories. They will always have a place in my heart and my garden.

I could take a few more cloudy days like this one and a little rain.Maybe tomorrow.

I'VE BEEN WORKING ON MY LETTERS

You'll probably spot right away that this has something to do with gardening.

And you would be right. I have been making a stencil to use on a sign for the garden. The idea for the first sign came from a garden visit in England. It was in the garden shop and I decided it would be a good winter project.

Time-wise it didn't quite work out that way, partly because the piece of wood I needed to use was still part of the old compost bins and I needed to wait for David to disassemble it.

 The lower pieces of wood were pretty rotten but there were enough good pieces for me to complete a few planned projects, all involving stencil. I liked the weathered look of the wood.

I printed the letters out and cut them out with an exacto knife. After the board was sanded to remove the dirt I laid on the letters and painted with black craft paint. Then two coats of satin-finish varnish.

I haven't quite decided whether to mount it on the tree or maybe raise it a little off the ground. Either way it will point the way into the garden by the side gate.

Stencil project number two was my own idea. I always felt that the entrance to my sun and moon archway was lacking something. Although it was my plan to put the large colorful sun and and moon  over the entrance I wasn't sure that it was quite right. I'll find a home for them somewhere.

Another sign with another stencil seemed like the perfect answer. And this is what I did. Cutting out those letters was a labor of love but I could never have painted it freehand. In the center is a little sun I bought in Mexico. Surprisingly it was the only one I could find there and it was really too small to join the others on the wall. Just perfect for the center of the plaque.

And the two new sun-sticks in the planters were a perfectly chosen gift from my friend Linda Peterson, who lives in San Antonio. To begin with I thought they were twins!

                               

And as I turned away I couldn't help but notice the moon shining down on the garden. Both the sun and moon were there for the hanging of the new plaque.

You can bet I will be on the lookout for some new suns and moons for my collection. I might even include the wind.

CELEBRATE NATIONAL WILDFLOWER WEEK, May 1-7

Do you have wildflowers growing in your garden? I do. Let's see what is blooming out there this week as we celebrate National Wildflower Week.

I'll begin with Colorado Venus' looking-glass, Triodanis coloradoënsis. (A)What a lovely name.

And where did it come from because I have never seen it before? It came inside a hole in a rock I brought into the garden when I redid the dry creek along the garage wall.

The plant is annual so I shall watch carefully for the seed pods ripening. I would like to have more next year.

A final blooming of the lace cactus, Echinocereus reichenbachii.(P) Even after the blooms die it remains a tidy addition in the rock-scape.

And the blousy Engelmann's daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, (P) opening with new flowers every day from a winter rosette of leaves.

The pathways in the vegetable garden are crowded with blanket flowers, Giallardia pulchella. (A) Goldfinches feast on their seeds but always leave plenty to bloom next year.

And Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha,(P) blooming months ahead of schedule this year. Will it bloom again in the fall as the hummingbirds begin their long winter flight to SouthAmerica?

The trailing wine cup, Callirhoë involucrata, (P) spilling over the dry-stone wall. Always everyone's favorite when they visit the Wildflower Center.

The flowers on the Texas prickly pear may only last for a day but they may leave behind some nice fruits. These fruits, call tuna, ripen to a burgundy red and can be used to make jelly.

Wooly stemodia, Stemodia lanata, (P) makes a good ground cover and is deer resistant.

It has tiny blue flowers.

Our native Lantana, Lantana horrida (P) is also deer resistant and blooms through the hottest months of the year with little water.

Purple skullcap,  Scutellaria wrightii,(P)  can be pruned into a tidy clump and blooms all summer.

Echinacea, Echinacea purpurea, (P) a summer bloomer and another favorite of the birds when it goes to seed.

The Blackfoot daisy, Melapodium leucanthum, (P) another deer proof summer bloomer.

The columbines are among the earliest of spring flowering plants. here the Hinckley's yellow columbine, Aquilegia hinkleyana, (P).

and the more delicate smaller flowered Aquilegia canadensis,(P)

Damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana,(A)is both drought and deer tolerant but does best when given occasional waterings.

All these plants are blooming in my west Austin, rocky landscape, with minimum watering.

If you would like to learn more about wildflowers for you area you can get information on the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center website. There are all kinds of programs going on this week in Celebration of National Wildflower week.