Flower Power: GBBD June 2013

 Sponsored by May Dream Gardens

Established Plants

Chinese Indigo (Indigofera kirilowii)

 Pink Rain Lily (Zephyranthes rosea)

 Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala)

 American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

 Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora)

 Texas Betony (Stachys coccinea)

 Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus)

 Coral Nymph Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph')

 Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis fruticosa)

 Texas Bindweed (Convolvulus equitans)

New Plants in the Garden

Pam's Pink Turk's Cap (Malvaviscus drummondii 'Pam Puryear')

Annuals

Begonias (Begonia semperflorens)

Potted Plants

Haworthia attenuata 'variegata'

Indoor Plants

Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis sp.)

Tardies

Grannie's Crinum Lily (species unknown)

Potting Plants

Last year's hanging basket of Aloe brevifolia & Sedum spurium 'Tricolor' didn't fair that well.  The sedum completely died out, and the aloe diminished.  So I decided to move the aloe to a pot and replace it with another plant.

I settled on an Agave lophantha 'Quadricolor'.  I may eventually need to add some type of border or cascading plants, though this species is known to pup quite a bit.  For now, I'll just wait and see how it settles in.

As I finished emptying out my pop-up greenhouse, I used the opportunity to finally get some specimens into pots.

Spekboom (Portulacaria afra)

Variegated Soap Aloe (Aloe maculata 'Variegata')

Haworthia coarctata

(replacing Senecio scaposus which struggled)

I also got my last Turk's Cap 'Big Momma' (Malvaviscus drummondii x arboreus 'Big Momma') into one of the garden beds.  The rest of the time was spent watering recent plantings and continuing the excavations.

Flower Power: GBBD August 2012

Sponsored by May Dream Gardens

Established Plants

Coral Nymph Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph')

 Blue Anise Sage (Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue')

 Liriope (Liriope spicata)

 Aztec Arrowhead (Sagittaria montevidensis)

 Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera)

Annuals

Begonias (Begonia semperflorens)

Potted Plants

Aloe 'Doran Black'

 'White Beauty' Aloe

Haworthia coarctata

Indoor Plants

Odontocidium Wild Willie 'Pacific Bingo'

Flower Wannabes

Chile Petin's (Capsicum annuum var. aviculare)

 American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)

Flower Power: GBBD June 2011

Every month, on the fifteenth, May Dream Gardens invites us to share our gardens flowers.  As the drought continues, shady blooms are far and few between.  Its not unusual for there to be few flowers for my garden at this time of the year, but the growing number of 100+ degree days has certainly had an even more drastic dampening effect.

Established Plants

Always a consistent heat-loving bloomer, the Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) is still putting out bright pink blooms.

An aquatic plant that rises out of the pond, the Aztec Arrowhead (Sagittaria montevidensis) isn't bothered by our ongoing drought and heat.  Flower stalks rise up, sprout, then fall away - only to be replaced by another.

Another pond plant, the Water Poppy (Hydrocleys nymphoides) covers the entire pond surface, sporadically producing its three-petaled yellow flowers.

Quite surprising with our drought, but I discovered a single bloom on my scattered Zephyr Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes 'Labuffarosea').  There has certainly been no sudden change in temperature or moisture - nor even a a thickening of cloud cover.  So not sure what inspired the bloom, but enjoyed it nonetheless (though would really like to see it after a rain shower!).

 

Also have one very late 'San Antonio Rose' Amaryllis (Hippeastrum 'San Antonio Rose') producing its two-flowered bloom stalk.  Don't believe I've ever had one flower this far into summer.

New Plants in the Garden

This is the first summer for the two Pale Pavonia (Pavonia hastata) in my garden.  Winter knocked one back to roots from which it is slowly recovering; while the other was damaged but has been able to produce a few of its white blooms.

Potted Plants

It must be happy as the Haworthia attenuata 'variegata' is producing its first bloom stalks.   All three are long and sprawling with several white blossoms alternating down their length.

Indoor Plants

Four of the Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis sp.) are still going strong.  The blooms have now lasted into their third month.

Be sure to visit May Dream Gardens and see what is blooming in other gardens.

Three's Company

While shopping at the Austin Cactus & Succulent Show, I found the last candidate for my third & final mosquito candle pot.  It is the Haworthia attenuata 'variegata' - an extremely pale, almost white version of the regular Haworthia attenuata that is in mosquito candle pot #2.

In a photograph, its hard to capture how pale the leaves actually are.  The light green leaves coupled with the white striations really combine to make the plant glow when the dapple sunshine penetrates down to it.

 So I now have a collection of three mosquito candles that have been converted into mosquito candle pots.

 There is Dyckia choristaminea 'Frazzle Dazzle' whose name still makes me chuckle.

  There is the normal dark green form of Haworthia attenuata which is the smallest of the three plants.

 And finally, the third mosquito pot containing the newly acquired Haworthia attenuata 'variegata'.