June Bloom Day

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day! The weather continues to be Floridian here in Central Texas, which is making a lot of my plants happy, it seems. At 9 months pregnant, I'm spending a bit more time indoors these days, but the mornings are comfortable enough to spend on the covered back porch with the fan running and a glass of iced tea. The girls are highly enthusiastic about backyard swimming, so we're doing a lot of that, too.

I may not be the biggest fan of hot and humid weather, but I'm amazed in looking through these photos just how many blooms are either making their debut for the year or continuing to bloom. I'm also realizing how much red is in my garden. I knew I liked blue, purple, yellow and white blooms, and consciously tried to incorporate those colors, but I must like red and pink more than I thought... or else there are just a ton of red-blooming plants that are available and well-adapted to this area.

The two hanging baskets of geraniums are clearly in too much shade--they're very leggy--but they're still blooming enthusiastically, even if the blooms look like satellites hovering around the mother plant. (And ugh, my gutter is dirty!)

In addition to the ever-blooming yard art along the fence, the Crape Myrtle we transplanted early this spring is blooming now, ahead of its cousins.

Here's a closer look at one of the hot pink Crape Myrtle bloom stalks.

I had to point the iPhone at the sky and squint to capture the snow-white blooms of the tall 'Natchez' Crape Myrtle. Look at that sky... you can almost see the steam rising.

Oh Happy Day! Purple Coneflower DID come back this year.

Cardinal Climber is one of the many mighty Reds.

Tropical Butterflyweed came back very slowly this year, but here it is, just starting to bloom. A little red here, too, mingled with yellow. I haven't spied any Monarchs yet, but I suspect that would be in late September/early October, if these flowers are still blooming by then. I think I did spot a Ladybug larva, though.

In the rookie Wildflower Patch, Clasping Coneflower (I think) is the first to bloom.

The Rainbow Bed sure is blooming.

I feel like this plant shows up in every one of my posts, but it has been such fun to watch Yellow Shrimp Plant start blooming, bush out, and bloom again. Up to 5 candlesticks on the candelabra now. Yay!

It's not quite blooming again yet, but the Mother's Day Gerbera Daisy I transplanted is about to start blooming again. As with all floral department plants, I'm not holding my breath that this one will live long, but it's always fun to try.

Another Knockout Rose bloom, another spot of red/pink in my garden.

Salvia 'Mystic Spires' looks so pretty right now with its purple-blue bloom spikes, against the reds and pinks that surround it.

Massive Pavonia/Rock Rose. You'd never know it died to the ground this past winter. I might have to shear it back before it smothers its neighbors.

The other Knockout in the sunnier end of the bed.

I caught the Wild Morning Glory at just the right time, when the blooms are wide-open. They close soon after this corner gets shady in the early afternoon.

Over in the veggie box, the Eggplants are blooming. The purple flowers with yellow centers aren't much to look at, but I appreciate them as harbingers of fruits to come.

Strawberries are still blooming, to my surprise....

... and still making strawberries. I'm guessing we've harvested about a pint of strawberries off our three plants so far this year, not counting the ones the ants and rolly pollies got to first.

Torenia 'Kauai Deep Blue' still has a few deep purple blooms left, even though it is getting choked out by the other members of the Purple Pocket Garden.

Close-up of the Wild Morning Glory. This is one of the stars of my summer garden, especially considering I never planted it.

In the front yard, a medium-long shot of Plumbago Row.

And a close-up of the periwinkle-blue blooms. I dug a few of these up and gave them to a friend recently... fingers crossed that they'll fare as well in her yard as in mine.

Red in the front yard--Turk's Cap. This photo makes the bloom look oddly orange, but it really is a true red.

A cluster of yellow Esperanza bells. So pretty, and a familiar sign of the Texas Hot Season.

Blackfoot Daisy and Martha Gonzales Rose could hardly be happier.

Jolly little Blackfoot Daisies, up close. These are in possibly the hottest, driest part of the yard, the parking strip, and they love it.

Caradonna Meadow Sage is putting out a second round of dainty purple spikes. I'm glad I cut off the spent stalks about a  month ago.

Autumn Sage isn't covered with blooms, but it blooms steadily.

Peter's Purple Monarda is starting to... peter out. Sorry, couldn't help it. I wonder if it might re-bloom this year. I don't know much about this plant, truth be told.

More plumbago blooms.

I have had more compliments on this ultra-low maintenance bed of plumbagos than any other area of my garden over the years. Neighbors often ask about them. This strip is nothing to look at in the winter, but 9 months out of the year it is crammed with foliage and pretty blue blooms that stick to your clothes if you brush by them.

Happy Bloom Day!

May Foliage Follow-Up

After a belated Bloom Day post, here comes the belated Foliage Follow Up. Thanks, as always, to Pam Penick at Digging for hosting this monthly tribute to all things leafy.

Starting in the backyard, I've shuffled the succulent pots around a bit, since they didn't seem to get enough sunlight in their previous corner. Either the neighbor's towering Cedar Elm is offering deeper shade than it did last year, or the angle of the sun isn't quite right at this time of the season. They are still vulnerable to attacks by my #1 biggest and most beloved pest, my 3-year-old daughter. They'll just have to find a way to survive her. She can't seem to stop herself from plucking off leaves and stems.

Here's the fairly healthy Catmint, along with the Sedum/Kelanchoe combo succulent pot. My 3-year-old really loves those Kelanchoe leaves--she can't stop collecting them.

In the firepit planter, the sedums are coming back nicely. A little sprig of this one migrated to the shady Purple Pocket Garden somehow, and is doing surprisingly well there. Sedums in the shade?

I wish I could remember the name of this one. Some sort of Mangave? It looked great last year, before it got hit with multiple frosts. This is actually the best it has looked so far this year. I'm still hoping for a full recovery.

The "Rainbow Bed" isn't quite as vibrant these days, since the Knockout Roses stopped blooming and Pavonia/Rock Rose hasn't quite started yet. But the contrasting foliage is fun to look at. In the back, Blanc Du Bois grape is making do with the overly-vertical trellis I gave it. There are aphids and tiny ants at the growing tips, and something has munched holes in a lot of the leaves, but it seems to be surviving. I tell myself I'm not doing anything about the aphids and ants, not because I'm lazy, but because I want to see if the local ladybugs will come along and let their larvae loose on the aphids. But I'm probably just lazy.

To my astonishment, grapes have appeared at the base of the Blanc Du Bois! They're tiny. I tried one the other day, knowing they weren't really ready, but fearing I wouldn't otherwise have a chance. It was sour, but satisfying.

Hidden among the Blanc Du Bois leaves are the hand-like leaves of the Cardinal Climber vine. There are a pair of these Cardinal Climbers weaving their way up the trellis, right along with the grape. Poor planning on my part, but those little hands and tendrils are surprisingly tenacious.

Here you can see the mingling of leaves - the wide grape leaves and the dainty, spiky Cardinal Climber leaves. Whatever is munching on the grape doesn't seem at all interested in the Cardinal Climber.

A couple of wide views: Here's the view from the Rainbow Bed looking East toward the neighbors towering Cedar Elm. The two biggest crape myrtles ('Natchez') look pretty good this year, and even have some new buds on them.

Here's one of the "medium-sized" crape myrtles, also looking fairly content this year. Fully leafed out, no buds yet... all the crapes in my yard seem to bloom later than their local brethren, perhaps because they're in part shade. Now that the Chinese Tallow is gone and no longer blocking significant sunlight, I'll be curious to see how this crape reacts.

One of the smallest crape myrtles on utility box screening duty in the NW corner of the backyard, flanked by two ligustrums we planted before we knew better. I gave the ligustrums a hearty chop early this spring.

Pampas Grass fills in behind the Crape Myrtles.

 Not much to see here yet, but there is foliage... Wisteria, Tropical Milkweed (coming back from the dead of winter), Purple Coneflower/Echinacea and Cardinal Climber.

Another wide shot--looking Westward towards our younger, more diminutive Cedar Elm. This would have to be the official tree of the neighborhood--I think the Cedar Elms outnumber the oaks here, and that's saying something.

The Purple Pocket Garden is thriving, and volunteer Wild Morning Glory / Purple Bindweed is beginning its annual climb up the trellis. This is one of the plants that came with the house, and was probably a volunteer in the first place.

There it goes!

Looking back toward the deck, another old friend, Asparagus Fern, has clearly bounced back again after dying back completely this past winter. Catmint and succulents adorn the pots on the steps.

Oh, that's where I put the other succulent pot--on the West side of the deck, where there's now ample afternoon sun, now that the Tallow is gone. Hens-and-Chicks seems to have brought along a non-succulent stowaway from the nursery. I'm waiting to see what it is before I pluck it out. "Dragon's Blood" sedum is thriving. Graptopetalum is barely limping along, thanks to damage by the aforementioned preschooler. If it can survive her, it can stay.

Moving to the front yard, it's almost all foliage right now in the pea gravel bed. The wind was really whipping the Methley Plum around.

Looking Eastward in the front yard--the freshly-trimmed Arizona Ash, the never-trimmed Loquat, and the gradually returning bed of Plumbago.

Another shot of the Plumbago.

Here's the bed I formerly called the Jungle Bed, until everything but the Texas Mountain Laurel died back over the winter. It's all coming back nicely, though not quite back to Jungle status yet. (Ginger, Flax Lily, Liriope and Turk's Cap.)

Lovely, lush loquat. The girls enjoy riding the lower limbs, pretending they're riding horses. So far, the loquat is tolerating the abuse.

 Happy May Gardening!