May Bloom Day

I'm a late to the party, but I am happy to post Bloom Day pics anyway. Weather has been strange this year, and over the past week we've had 3-4 inches of rain (yahoo!!!), a cold snap cold enough to require light jackets all day (very weird, though refreshing, for this area in May), and temperatures rebounding into the pleasant upper 60s - mid 80s.

My favorite native flower, the Rain Lily (Zephyranthes species), is putting on a spectacular show in the neighborhood park right now. 3-4 weeks of dry weather followed by a big honkin' thunderstorm is just what these beauties live for.

My pictures don't do justice to the loveliness of a rugged green field with a thousand of these dainty white blossoms afloat at sunset. But I had to try.

Here's a smattering of things blooming in my yard:

Annual Torenia 'Kauai Deep Blue' is still going strong in this shady corner.

Crookneck Squash is a monsterous spreader, with lots of cute little squashes and giant flowers. These tiny ants seem to like it.

The Meyer Lemon is blooming for a second time, after my kids picked off most of the baby lemons (except the ones too high for their reach.)

Cardinal Climber blooms during the sunny part of its day.

At last, all of my 'Red Lanterns' Columbine plants are blooming. I think "lanterns" is a fitting description for the way those flowers dangle, don't you?

Heartleaf Skullcap is blooming its heart out.

Blurry close-up of HS blooms. A real camera is on my Christmas list for this year...

Tropical Sage--most of the growth lately has been the leafy, bushing-out variety, but it still sports a few lively red flags.

The Yellow Shrimp plants give the one-finger salute. They look like candlesticks to me. I wonder if they'll drape over like the more typical (and aptly named) pinkish Shrimp Plant.

Close-up of the Yellow Shrimp (or candlestick) Plant. It's a jolly canary yellow.

Also in the yellow-orange section of this bed, the Lantana has come into bloom over the past few weeks.

Twin Sunflower blooms are hanging in there, despite ant damage. I'm thrilled that the flower seeds I planted with my 4-year-old daughter early this Spring have bloomed, even after the seedlings sat under my makeshift grow light in the garage for too long.

The last of this round of Knockout Rose blooms.

Geraniums in hanging baskets still look pretty, especially on their sunny sides.

My girls picked out a Gerbera Daisy from the grocery store for Mother's Day. So sweet. I love that they know I would rather have a plant I can put in the ground than cut flowers.

More yellow--this seems to be the color of the month in my garden. This is a volunteer False Dandelion. My neighbor probably cringes when he sees it, weedy looking as it is with the flowers closed up for the day, but I like it too much to discard it. I might try to transplant it to the backyard.

Also up front, Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) is coming back so nice and bushy, and is giving me a sneak peek of its cherry red blooms.


What else is blooming? I saw the very first Turk's Cap bloom peeking out today, but didn't manage to snap a photo. Pavonia (Rock Rose) isn't blooming yet, but it will be any minute now. Blackfoot Daisy, Caradonna Meadow Sage, Lavender and Martha Gonzales Rose have all petered out from their first bloom cycles of the year, but they'll be back.

I've seen so many pretty yuccas in bloom around town, and I have zero yuccas in my yard. Someday this will be remedied. The tallest Crape Myrtles in the sunniest spots around the neighborhood are blooming, which means mine are about a month or so away from catching up.

Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, and a big thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting!

P.S. How could I forgot? This was the bouquet my oldest daughter and I put together for my mom for Mother's Day. Happy belated Mother's Day to all you gardening mamas out there!

Knockout Rose, Sunflower, Salvia 'Mystic Spires' and Texas Lantana

Transition time

As Austin bloggers, and heck, most US bloggers know all too well, we had an unusually long and cold winter this year. Spring was slow to take hold, and we had to keep the plant wraps ready as a series of late freezes hit us. I'm not complaining. Mostly, we have been savoring the cool mornings and warm days, all the while knowing that any day we could get back up into the upper 90's here in Austin.

That day came yesterday, though I hear we will have a pleasant little dip back into upper 70s/lower 80s temps this week. Beyond that, getting into May, we're almost certainly headed into late Spring in Austin, which means 90-something degree highs. Maybe 100's, if we're particularly unlucky.

Summer has long been the season I tolerate while waiting for the much more enjoyable other 7-8 months of the year here. (Summer here is 4-5 months long, at least in my mind. May/June - September/October.)

So yesterday we found ourselves suddenly hot, and unaccustomed to dealing with it. I took the kids to a park playdate from roughly 10am - 1pm. My husband went mountain biking with a friend from 11am - 2pm. That's not what smart people do when it's really, really hot out. Outdoor activities have to take place in the 7:30 - 10:30 timeframe (am or pm, take your pick). He came home red and drenched with sweat, and when I told him he could go ahead and shower (don't worry about the kids, in other words), he said something I haven't heard in a long time: "I'm too sweaty, I have to cool off first." Otherwise, the shower would be pointless. He'd emerge almost as sweaty as he was before showering.

We brought out the kiddie pool for the girls, and realized we are woefully unprepared for the onslaught of mosquitos. It hasn't been raining much lately, but I guess it doesn't take much.

On the bright side, all sorts of heat lovers are perking up around the garden. There are tomatoes(!) on both of my tomato plants, which are now gargantuan in stature. The Lantana is blooming again. Lots of pretty colors are coming out to mix and mingle.

The one Crinum 'Summer Nocturne' bulb I had leftover and planted in a pot seems happy enough for now. This spot gets morning sun and afternoon shade.

The Crape Myrtle we transplanted still has its leaves, though it hasn't leafed out as fully as its neighbors in the back strip. I saw a few new sprouts emerging from the sides of the trunks today.

The Meyer Lemon has these cute, plump little baby lemons on it. My daughters already picked off all the ones on the lower branches. It'll be a miracle if these survive.

The volunteer Wild Morning Glories are starting their sprint up the trellis in the Purple Pocket Garden.

Side view of the vegetable garden box. We thought some critters had outsmarted our mesh cage yesterday when I saw two of the panels hanging loose, a missing red strawberry and a severed white strawberry. Then my 4-year-old dutifully fessed up. DH and I were relieved that it was her and not a squirrel.

I harvested those lovely beets from the vegetable garden a few days ago, to make room for eggplant transplants. We had those two beets for dinner, and we've enjoyed a couple of beet green salads, though I think we still have a few greens left in the fridge. 

Here is one of the two eggplants that replaced the beets.

The Crookneck Squash is getting big and bushy. I guess I shouldn't have assumed it would be a climber! There are 3 small squashes under all those leaves.

My kids brought home green beans they grew at school to transplant into the garden. So, of course, we did.

Can you find the tiny jalapeno in this picture? I can't, but I swear it's there!

Our tiny carrot sprouts, planted out of season, are recovering from whatever little critter defoliated them.

The Sweet 100's cherry tomato is a towering 5 feet tall, and well-stocked with small green tomatoes and yellow flowers. Now to see if those fruits will ripen before the mercury hits 100...

The Texas Redbud peeks over the back fence where the vegetable bed is. And of course, the scarecrow.

I've never messed with Geraniums before this year, believe it or not. I have no idea how long they'll last into the heat, but they've been pretty since the freezing days.

Along the back fence, I separated the two trellises and planted a Cardinal Climber vine transplant that I picked up at Countryside Nursery this past Friday. The Wisteria next to it has plenty of leaves, but I don't know if we'll see blooms this year. In between are slowly recovering Tropical Butterflyweed (orange/yellow blooms) and the first recovering leaves of Echinacea/Purple Coneflower. If it ever all blooms together, it'll be a colorful combination: blue-orange-purple-red.

Close-up of the Cardinal Climber. Natalie and tried growing this from seed earlier this year. We managed to transplant some small seedlings that are now struggling to compete with the now-massive Blanc Du Bois Grape in the Western backyard bed. When I saw this transplant, I couldn't resist. The blooms are eye-catching red trumpets that I bet the hummingbirds will love, but equally fetching to me are the cute spiky-fingered leaves. (I'm sure there's a more appropriate botanical term.)

The Western backyard bed is turning out to be the Rainbow Bed. I like that name much better. Knockout is living up to its name.

Lantana flowers are back! Bad photo, but you get the idea.

Yellow Shrimp Plant is blooming in front of another Knockout.

Sunflowers are bringing up the rear--my daughter and I started these seeds at the same time as our Cardinal Climbers.

Gotta keep everything moist for now, though these plants should all be drought-tolerant once established. Fingers crossed.

Finally! A Red Lanterns Columbine is blooming.

Its neighbor is about to show off, too.

Heartleaf Skullcap. I saw thick beds of this recently in another garden, so I'm eagerly anticipating what this might look like next year.

Another side view of the emerging Rainbow Bed. The wilting one is a new addition--Fall Aster.

Here's a peek around the corner that leads to the Purple Pocket Garden, and eventually the vegetable bed. It's fun to see this all green again.

Stay cool, my friends!