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Showing posts with label Bloom Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bloom Day. Show all posts

November 15, 2011

GBBD: November 2011

Thanksgiving is next week! Wow, where has the time gone? It's already time for the November Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Here's a look at what's flowering in my yard.

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Shrimp plants
The shrimp plants are putting on the best show I've seen in the last three years. There are five plants in this shot, three that I planted a few years ago and two that I added this spring.

Turk's Cap
The turk's cap are finishing their summer bloom season, but there are still a healthy number of blooms on the plants.

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This morning we were blessed with a rain shower that delivered .8". The droplets weighed down this Archduke Charles rose bloom.

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The black and blue salvia did not weather the hot summer well, and as a result, it's fall display has been disappointing but it did offer a few new blooms.

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My camera skills do not do justice to the cat mint blooms. In this picture, they look like they are on the decline, but actually, in person, the blooms look very fresh and soothing, at least my cat Gideon thinks so.

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In August, I added blackfoot daisy (top) and narrow leaf zinnia to the garden. August was probably the worst month on the calendar to plant, but I had a coupon that had to be used at that time. The plants survived two torturous months and they are thriving.

Aster
The fall asters hit their peak last month, and within the last few days, they've decline rapidly. This is all that's left of their purple mass.

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Salvia greggi is another noted fall bloomer. It's peak was also a few weeks ago, but the blooms persist.

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The esperenza - a summer time staple - is still delivering huge clusters of yellow bells, but it won't be too long before the entire plant freezes to the ground.

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I love this purple hyacinth vine. The seed pods are fascinating too. This was the first time I've ever planted it and I think I'll have to make it a tradition.

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Firespike
Finally, a first ever bloom for my yard: firespike. These plants were pass alongs from MomMom in Houston. I'm very excited to see the flower spike develop. If you're reading this MomMom, thanks!

For more November blooms, head to May Dreams Garden.

September 15, 2011

September 2011 Bloom Day

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Ay yi yi, it's dry this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. First, a wide shot to show you a typical San Antonio lawn (it's my neighbor's) and my bright spot this bloom day, my lantana bed. I suppose the lawns don't look too bad... if it were January, but this is September and most turf is already dormant (or maybe dead).

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Last year, my lantana bed was twinkling with butterfly wings. This year, none. But I did see this guy.

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I just happened to catch the Pride of Barbados between blooms. It looks like spent fireworks, doesn't it? There's lingering beauty while it fades away.

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The dwarf plumbego seem fine. In fact, they actually spread a little this year. I planted them as a ground cover, but it will be many, many years before they form a solid mat.

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Two of my part-shade plants, turk's cap and liriope, are doing their part to add a little interest this bloom day.

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The pentas are happy now. This spring, I planted them in the backyard where the scorched zinnia (yikes! - it looks like a zombie, doesn't it?) are trying to make a go of it, but the penta were very unhappy. Since they can handle part-shade, I moved them to a pot in the front yard and they've shown their appreciation by putting on new blooms.

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The esperenza doesn't seem phased at all by the heat, nor the drought. It freezes back each year, but as you can see, it shoots up to full height in a very short time.

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This is the pride of my garden right now, blue pea vine. After keeping an eye out for it for three years, I finally found it in a nursery in June. I am very pleased with its flower and leaf color. The green has a cooling hue that adds a sense of peace to the garden.

To see what is blooming this month in other gardens, visit May Dreams.

A Small Favor
If you've read this far, could do me a small favor and vote for Blaze, the name I submitted for my industry's conference mascot? Anyone can vote; all you need is an email. If Blaze wins, I get a free registration at the meeting in Florida. Oh, wouldn't it be nice to fly over a place where green was the dominant color and "rain-starved" wasn't a phrase the weathermen uttered nightly.

August 15, 2011

GBBD: August 2011 - Not Too Shaby

It's the North's turn to steal the show this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Here in South Texas, blooms are not abundant, but I have a small and steady supply.

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The liriope just started blooming a few days ago.

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About a year after we sowed the seeds, the Pride of Barbados is in bloom. In a normal summer, it would be surrounded by a bed of gold and red lantana, but the lantana has been unusually absent in this drought.

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What I do have blooming beneath the Pride of Barbados are dwarf blue plumbago. They aren't a show stopper, but they've been steady bloomers and the blue is vivid enough to catch a passerby's eye. (Can you see the speckled lantana leaves in the mix? It's lace bug damage, I think.)

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Despite being weakened by mealy bugs and spider mites, the turk's cap still looks good.

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Nothing bothers the esperenza. It's grown about 9 feet since the spring and hasn't had any problems to speak of.

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The roses are putting on a profusion of blooms. The flowers last only a day before the petals dry up, but with 102° days, you take what you can get.

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Garlic chives started blooming just a few weeks ago. They're the closest thing this San Antonio gardener will ever get to the alliums in the other parts of the country.

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I counted five blooms on the blue pea vine. I was surprised to see so many considering that about every fourth day, the bottom-most leaves yellow with thirst.

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Has-been blooms from echinacea.

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Blackfoot daisy

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and her cousin, narrow leaf zinnia, both new additions. (I know, in August! What am I thinking?) They were half price with an August-only coupon so we'll see how they fair. For a better Bloom Day show, be sure to visit May Dreams Gardens.

May 16, 2011

GBBD: May 2011

Is it already May 15! Where has the month gone? Ready or not, it's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. There almost two dozen different species blooming in my yard. Here's a look.

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Impatients

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Shrimp Plant

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First every rain lily (almost bloom) thanks to our recent downpour.

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Lantana and dwarf plumbago

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Nandina

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Larkspur

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Coral honeysuckle

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Eggplant

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Jalapeno pepper

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Tomato bloom

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Basil

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Archduke Charles rose

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:( Thrips have invaded my rose bush

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Crown of thorns

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Porchulaca rainbow (sorry, the blooms close in the evening and I was a few minutes too late taking the picture)

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Diantus

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A few soon to be blooms: agapanthus and purple coneflower

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Aster

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Catmint

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Autumn Joy sedum

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Black and blue salvia

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Dill

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Confederate Jasmine

Be sure to drop by May Dreams to see what else is blooming in gardens around the globe.