Friday, November 30, 2012

Flower Round-up for Friday

Autumn blooms have been going strong this year and I'm posting a collection of my favorites.  Yesterday I highlighted the wheel garden of grasses and flowers in the back yard and today is a round-up of flowers from other gardens.

Looking across the back yard from the gate we see Salvia madrensis and violet ruellia.  The wheel garden highlighted yesterday is in the background.


Salvia madrensis is a shade plant which produces bright yellow blooms in the fall.


I pair it with the violet blooms of ruellia which were set back by our one cold night early in November.


In the same bed along the house, Brugmansia 'Dr Seuss' had a flush of two dozen blooms at once.

Across the way the flowers of our native Snapdragon vine show how they got their name.


In yesterday's post I highlighted two types of Gomphrena in the wheel garden. There are more around the yard like these tiny native Gomphrena 'Little Grapes'.


Purple Gomphrena in a galvanized planter along the fence is blooming beautifully today.





Over by the garage, the Bat-faced cuphea managed a few blooms before the deer ate them.  They will be relocated behind the fence in the spring.


Salvia "Indigo Spires' loves the cooler weather


Along the creek, Cow's Tongue Opuntia is combining with the monster Lantana camara


Rusellia is a reliable bloomer most of the year


The Meyer Lemon bloomed even with a lemon ripening, these blooms all dropped off.


Out in the front yard our native Gulf muhly bloomed for the first time.  I've moved these three times in the last two years and have finally found a spot that works.


New Gold Lantana in the front yard was covered with blooms for weeks


Agave Ovatifolia isn't exactly a bloom but it's shaped like one so it counts.


That concludes the tour of Autumn blooms in my garden.  Thanks for reading this far!

23 comments:

  1. Shirley, your garden is soooo beautiful! I could literally gush over your plants. The agave ovatifolia looks pristine! and What palm is that in the background there, brahea armata or the coveted bismarkia?!

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  2. Sounds like I need to do a post on some of my other plants. The palm is Bismarckia and I wrote about the two I planted last summer.

    http://rockoakdeer.blogspot.com/2012/08/two-palms-up.html, or you can search on Bismarck.

    We need a few mild winters for them to get established so I'm taking a change even in our climate. We're putting in an electrical outlet nearby so I can keep the marginal plants warm in case of a record cold snap.

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  3. Your garden is still so full of color! Beautiful, sunny and looking much warmer than here! I hope that when Louis literally gushes over your plants, you can wash them off with a hose or something:-}

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    1. The Bismarckia certainly gets some attention, especially from readers in PNW. I do wash them off from time to time. Agave, palms, aloe are all so common here that they have been under appreciated until recently. Funny to remember that until I began reading Danger Garden I was unaware of the effect these plants can have.






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  4. I recognised nearly all the blooms in your post, as I grow many of them myself. My Salvia madrensis is in full sun for most of the day, but still does very well. I love the bright yellow flower spikes, but it can get out of control quickly after a wet season here.

    I love your Salvia 'Indigo Spires', your native Snapdragon vine and the fabulous Gulf Muhly. They certainly don't grow in my garden, but I'd love to have them. Your Meyer Lemon Tree blooms are beautiful. Great post.

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    1. Thank you Bernie, it is so much fun to compare notes across the world as we do. You should be able to find the salvia and the Gulf Muhly. The Snapdragon vine was growing in the field behind the house before I relocated it so finding one in OZ might be a long shot.

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  5. Sheer loveliness! I really need to add some Gomphrena to my garden next year...it's been so long since I planted them...and I adore them! I've super jealous of your Muhly grass...I need to put mine in a spot where the blooms catch the light :-)

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    1. Gomphrena are amazing because they require so little for the awesome blooms they provide.

      If you are jealous of my grasses then they must look good because I nearly drool on the keyboard when I see photos of yours. I was a bit wary of the pink, but in the light they are perfect.

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  6. It all looks beautiful! I'm coveting your Brugmansia 'Dr Seuss'. Is it planted in the ground? Have you ever had problems with it freezing? I'm planning on adding 2 of these plants to my garden in the Spring. I have a part shade area that needs some color.

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    1. The Brugmansia are planted in the ground, but if we get a deep freeze down to the teens or the three-day freeze of Feb. 2011, they will not survive. I either take cuttings or dig them up temporarily if bad weather is predicted. I just toss them into a bucket and bring it inside. They can take a lot of abuse and neglect despite their delicate appearance.

      Part shade is the best spot for them. They do need lots of water and weekly feedings to thrive.

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  7. Just a beautiful post, Shirley ! Outstanding !

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  8. So many beautiful things. Of course you know how I feel about the Agave and Opuntia (made even better by your pairings) but that Rusellia is a fav too. And even a non-grass crazy person like myself has to stare in ah at the Gulf Muhly. Gorgeous!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the post and the grasses.

      Large showy grasses were an easy choice in the open sunny spots I needed to cover.

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  9. Everything looks so happy right now Shirley - just gorgeous!! And great photography too! I especially like your Salvia madrensis, I have not seen that before. Really stunning :)

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    1. S. madrensis is a great fall bloomer for our climate.

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  10. Oh, I just love the gulf muhly, the gomphrena, the the brugmansia. But most impressive to me is the lantana. The gold ones spread all over is just majestic, and the one hugging the cow's tongue is just beautiful together.

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    1. Lantana is a plant which seems to grow better in San Antonio than most other places. I enjoy the late fall blooms.

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  11. A lot of your plants are favorites of mine in the garden here. I love my plants very much. And I've been researching more and more about natives plants that attract birds and butterflies. I hit the jackpot on my side garden and have an incredible variety of birds visiting with several trees that they like to hang out in.....and I'm trying to do more of it in mounding bushes like the Chuparosa, etc. You've got a wonderful variety at your place. Yesterday I went through my before and after pics and I am shocked at how much change has gone on around here from when I first started. I've been a little down on my progress as it has slowed down......but there's still progress. My place is changing from a full sun garden to a shade and I'm having to switch out plants now for the shadelovers.

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    1. That's one of the reasons I did the two posts on my garden. The overall sense of accomplishment in seeing how much has been done in the last two years. The garden is constantly changing here too, with the end of the drought the trees are filling in more and giving more shade.

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  12. Love the S. madrensis. Such a change from the usual purple forms. And the gomphrena grapes. I picked some seeds from a friends garden this spring and they began to bloom a few weeks ago. I brought some in the house today. Gomphrenas are a staple in the summer garden. What a show.

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    1. The S. madrensis was shared by a friend and now I look forward to the blooms, they are so striking.

      Gomphrena grapes grow easily from cuttings so I have stuck them in all over the place for fall blooms next year. Nice tip on bringing them in the house I think they would be great in a large vase.

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  13. Everything looks wonderful, but it is the little bat faces that really get to me.

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