Bloomfest in my garden for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!
May 15th, 2012 Posted in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, Late spring flowers, daylilies, native plantsAfter more rain in recent weeks than in the first four months of 2011, my east Austin, Texas garden joyously celebrates Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day! Daylilies keep coming, day after day.
‘Patrick’ abutilon’s little lanterns light up part shady spots near the house on this graceful evergreen shrub.
Mexican blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) is one of my favorite annual native wildflowers.
Perennial Coreopsis lanceolata is another love that favors me with foliage all year.
Oh, but I can’t be picking favorites yet, because there’s rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala), a shrubby perennial that blooms for months!
And groundcover winecup (Callirhoe involucrata) that sprawls underneath them and everywhere!
Shrubby plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) sprawls a little too, but much taller, cooling us off all summer.
Native plumbago (Plumbago scandens) is less aggressive but just as eager to perform, even in spots that get shade a lot of the day.
Lemon yellow rosemallow (Hibiscus calyphyllus) is a dreamy plant in shade. It barely wants a speck of sun.
Nearby, shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeana) hasn’t stopped blooming since we had such a mild winter. I did cut them back to shape, but they jumped right back in!
White oxalis is still out to join heat lover Turk’s cap that’s already feeding butterflies and hummingbirds again this year. The bees go for the oxalis.
Towering over us are bird-seeded sunflowers, some 8′ tall! In a few weeks, the birds will have picked them clean.
Closer to the ground is sweet little rain lily Habranthus robustus.
Although my coneflowers are going absolutely nuts, they don’t compare to this scene at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
And all around town, check out these Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).
That’s only a sampling of what’s going on in my east Austin garden. Now it’s time to thank dear Carol at May Dreams Garden for showcasing gardeners from around the world on Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day! Linda
26 Responses to “Bloomfest in my garden for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!”
By Kelcey Schmidt on May 15, 2012
Ya those Indian Blankets have such vibrant color. I planted a few patches of them at the appt. building last Fall. Now just waiting for them to go to seed for next year!
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:57 pm:
I sure hope mine do! I bet your patches were lovely!
Reply
By Bob Harper on May 15, 2012
Please excuse what is a dumb question – but do I need to sign in with that “blog” thing at the start of this CTG preview? Don’t wanat to sign up for something I’m already getting. Thanks for your help, Bob H.
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:56 pm:
No, Bob, you don’t have to do that at all. It just helps people know when the blog is up. I certainly understanding about not signing in for any more stuff!!
Reply
By Judy on May 15, 2012
Great pictures today! Thanks.
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:55 pm:
Thank you, Judy!
Reply
By Tina on May 15, 2012
So many blooms this year and yours are beautiful!
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:55 pm:
It has been QUITE a year. With today’s rain, watch out!!
Reply
By Dee/reddirtramblings on May 15, 2012
Hey Linda, happy bloom day! I have Mexican fire bush too. Here it’s an annual, but we plant it in full sun. Hmm . . . maybe we should use a little shade? I wonder. I love all of your other bloomers. So many are a part of my summer garden too.~~Dee
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:54 pm:
Really, an annual for you? It’s so interesting that you’re not THAT far away but weather is so different. Actually, mine really needs more sun. They do much better in sun, which it had when I first planted it! Linda
Reply
By Hella on May 15, 2012
Hi Linda,
Thank you for sharing your beauties!
I have a success story this year: My Crinum Lily has not bloomed in 4 years – this year it has 8 (eight) flower spikes and they are awesome.
My birdseeded sunflowers are now starting to hang their heads – is that when they are setting seeds? I have seen the birds on them, checking them out.
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:53 pm:
Wow on crinum! Yes, it takes a long time. I hadn’t noticed about headings drooping when seeds are ready. Maybe so. Mine do droop in the heat of day.
Reply
By Nicole Brait on May 15, 2012
Great photos. I love the Habranthus
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:52 pm:
Thanks, Nicole!
Reply
By Linda/patchowrk on May 15, 2012
Beautiful blooms.
I don’t think I’ve seen the native plumbago. I love the blue one. I need to look for this one. Very pretty.
Happy Bloomday!
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 12:51 pm:
Thank you, Linda! Same to you too!
Reply
By Wilhemena Mitchell on May 15, 2012
Thanks for the beautiful flowers!!!
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 2:29 pm:
Thank you for checking in, Wilhemena!
Reply
By jenny on May 15, 2012
You always have such pretty blooms to share with us Linda. I love the pink rain lily. Why don’t I have that? Happy Bloom day to you and the little ones.
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 7:06 pm:
Well, dear Jenny, I’ll collect seeds for you!!
Reply
By Amy on May 15, 2012
Stunning color on the coneflowers! Now I’m going to have to make a little trip over to Ladybird to see what’s going on there. And that lemon yellow rose mallow is gorgeous; didn’t know they were full shade. Happy bloom day!
Reply
Linda reply on May 15th, 2012 7:05 pm:
I know, Amy! Those coneflowers were a song. And at first I had the lemon rose mallow in a shady spot, but it got a hard shaft of sun in late afternoon. It didn’t like that at all. I moved her to the shadier spot that gets only brief morning sun, and bingo!
Reply
By Robin on May 15, 2012
Linda, don’t you just love daylily season? It’s one of my favorite times of year and with blessed rain this year, mine are also covered with buds and blooms like yours. I saw that a commenter mentioned that her crinums finally bloomed; I’m still waiting on my 3 year old plants to do something other than annoy me. More rain today, woohoo, we deserve this don’t you think! Your garden looks stunning.
Reply
Linda reply on May 16th, 2012 12:14 pm:
Hi, Robin! One of these days I need to diversify my daylilies. And maybe I’ve told you already, but it took 7 years for one of my crinums to bloom. But give yours some fertilizer and see if that pushes them a little.
Reply
By Bernieh on May 16, 2012
So many beautiful blooms! I particularly liked the Winecups, the Habranthus and that gorgeous Plumbago. Great GBBD post.
Reply
Linda reply on May 16th, 2012 12:13 pm:
Thank you, Bernieh!
Reply