It's a stunner running the 100' length of our driveway.
During their full bloom, which lasts just a day or two, I spend a lot of time outside enjoying their mild fragrance and cool deep lavender blooms.
The warm pink autumn sage (Salvia greggii) is also blooming which may not be the best combination, but...
I planted white Salvia greggii to compensate.
See, that helps along with pink muhly grass which is not in bloom but adds another color pink to the mix. When all three pinks are in bloom at once it's quite a cacophony of color.
Then again, just about any color looks good with them like this bright orange and yellow Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) below.
Another after the rain bloomer are Hill Country Rain Lilies (Cooperia pendunculata). When I first saw these huge bright white and fresh lily blooms I thought I must have planted summer bulbs but they are native to my area and simply popped up in several places around the front and back yard. The seeds are large and easily transplanted for more and more plants.
Some insist these sage blooms predict rain because they are also commonly called "barometer bush". So do we have rain in the forecast? Yes, there's a tropical storm headed our way eventually. When these blooms first popped out over the weekend we had a 20% chance of rain today (Tuesday). Then the rain was moved to Wednesday with a 40% chance. Now that chance has evaporated. No rain today and little chance of rain Wednesday with possible rain later in the week. I've heard it said the plant does predict rain as long as you don't specify when, exactly, that rain will arrive. Come to think of it, that does sound like our local TV weather forecast.
Ah, everything looks better after a rain.
It's stunning. Yes, the response comes about the same time at our house too. I really do question those people who say it foretells rain. Rain and drop in temperature that goes with it is the trigger. Mine wouldn't have the strength to bloom if it didn't get the rain first because it is not watered. Same with the rain lilies. I noticed in the north part of town where they had rain before ours the luecophyllum bloomed earlier. We had rain a few days later and then ours bloomed.
ReplyDeleteThe gulf muhly gets water but the sages do not and they quite obviously require a good downpour to work up the strength. It's simple logic. Even when I was basically a non-gardener I noticed they always bloomed after a rain.
DeleteThey look great all the time but those blooms are awesome.
Wow, that is a stunner! How wonderful that it's reliable after the rain. I've always liked the purple, pink, and white combination. I also enjoy seeing these colors with chartreuse or lime green foliage, which really makes the colors pop! Your driveway must be the talk of the town right now!
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor's crape myrtles do make a good backdrop. There are also a row of red tip photinia back there with a touch of chartreuse in the leaves.
DeleteI'll repeat Beth - wow! I noticed a few (very few) blooms on my own Leucophyllum today, which I expect is a response to our increased humidity. We rarely get any major flush of bloom but then rain storms here are depressingly infrequent, especially during summer.
ReplyDeleteThey really need a downpour of an hour or so for best bloom. I have noticed that during droughts our low clouds bring enough moisture in autumn to trigger blooms but it's sparse and not nearly as spectacular.
DeleteYou must get a lot of folks who stop to look at a hedge like that! What a show stopper. We have some at the parking garage near my office. They just sheered the majority of them to the point of not having leaves. No blooms there for a while.
ReplyDeleteShearing flowering hedges makes the blooms pop out lopsided. If they want sheared hedges, they should use something else.
DeleteNo rain in sight here...yours has worked wonders.
ReplyDeleteWish we could share. We've had way too much this weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe don't get a burst of flowers from them here because we don't get bursts of rain, only dribbles, but I do love Leucophyllums anyway. Yours are thrilling--what a show for late August.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Harvey gave you just enough rain and not too much.
The rain was good for the garden and much less than the unnamed storm two weeks ago. Just east of here is another story entirely.
DeleteHope Harvey was kind to you and made your garden even more floriferous!
ReplyDeleteThe garden looks great, just a few plants that were in full bloom fell flat when they grew too heavy in the rain and wind. Except for coastal damage and that flood in Houston, it would be nice to have the rain.
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