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!

Before and After: October 9, 2012

Shortly after beginning to write this blog last year I posted my yard for the first time on October 9th, 2011.  I resolved to check on progress consistently and I chose the date primarily because I had a good photo from the previous year on the same day.

This year's October 9th photo looks so much better because it's been a good year for rain and (relatively) cooler summer temperatures.  Even though I now document progress throughout the year in this blog, I still plan to do this annual assessment.

Hot Lantana for Summer Color

Throughout the summer New Gold lantanas and autumn sages (salvia greggii) brighten yards and commercial landscapes around the city of San Antonio.  It's no different here in my front yard.

Most of these lantanas were planted when the house was built about 18 years ago.  Even though they didn't come with tags I'm pretty sure they are New Gold Lantana as they bloom profusely and do not produce berries.  They take all the heat the south facing driveway throws at them and then some.

These lantana are also huge. The largest two at opposite ends of the island bed are 68" and 72" diameter which is about twice the mature size listed on the label.

Over in the hellstrip by the mailbox, red autumn sages (Salvia greggii) were planted here back in 1996.  About three years ago I added this red lantana.  It's a color match for both the red salvia greggii and the gold lantana.  The ladder you see is for my husband who was on the roof installing sun shades on the clerestory windows.  I always stay outside when he's on a ladder or the roof.  I spent the time enjoying all this color.

Existing Salvia greggii was divided and planted in the new bed along the street. The gold here is Four-nerve daisy because it blooms through the winter while lantana dies back. We still need to mulch here and that will be completed soon.

It's all tied together with Color Guard yucca and Golden Barrel cactus (Echinocactus grunsonii) like these by the power pole and street sign on the opposite side of the yard. Extra credit if you notice the similarities in my neighbor's landscape.   Love it when that happens!

We're ready for summer here as these hot colors will hold their own throughout the hot summer.