Thursday, February 7, 2013

Welcoming winter blooms in mild February

A mild winter with above-average temperatures means some plants have continued to bloom in the garden this February.

White lantana has not gone dormant this year and is covered with blooms this week.




Copper Canyon daisy is native to the Sonoran desert of northern Mexico and listed as drought tolerant.  It has required more water than I expected and most of the ones I planted died out in our drought two years ago.  This one had tested my patience by not blooming for two years and must have known it was time to bloom or else.  The foliage is stinky so it is deer resistant.



Trailing Indigo (Dalea greggii) is a Texas native plant with delicate silvery foliage and small purple blooms.  It spills nicely over the gravel path in the wheel garden.  Deer avoid this one as well.


The upright flowers grow sideways on the stem ends and look similar to Spanish lavender.


Bees and other pollinators were enjoying the blooms this week.






We are enjoying both the continued blooms and the mild south Texas weather this winter. 

22 comments:

  1. I have got to get some white and purple lantana. It is blooming all over town and looks so pretty. Love your Trailing Indigo.

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    1. It's so nice to see flowers blooming all winter around town this year. I need to add some purple lantana too.

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  2. I love your dalea. :o) It looks like indogofera. I have a different dalea growing in my garden. It has similar flowers but is much more upright. I would love to have something blooming right now. Lantana is a strictly summer annual for me.

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    1. After seeing how well this one does, I'm looking forward to adding more dalea in the future. Lantana typically goes dormant in winter and occasionally a few will be lost in a cold winter.

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  3. Your Dalea does have wonderful flowers. They are so lavender-like. I love the cheery faces of your Tagetes. They must have known they were in trouble and decided to get on your good side with a show of flowers at long last. The white Lantana is lovely, but I cringe every time I see photos of Lantana. As you know it's a very invasive, toxic weed here and we spend an awful lot of time trying to eradicate it entirely. It's great to see that it can grow there without being a problem.

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    1. I've seen the issues with lantana down in OZ and I can understand why you would not plant it. Lantana is a native Texas plant and we get just cold enough to keep it in check.

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  4. Your lantana is so impressive for being February! Very pretty! It's always great to find plants that the deer avoid (and bloom in winter to boot!)

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    1. Yes, I'm always looking for those too!

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  5. Wow! Lantana and Tagetes are annuals for us and I adore the fragrace fo Tagetes leaves! Dalea is new to me & really sweet! Hooray for cheerful winter blooms!

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    1. I know the Tagetes fragrance is one of those you either like or not. I'm okay with it because it keeps the deer away.

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  6. You are lucky to have so many flowers blooming in the winter. I am a fan of Dalea greggi. The stems of my plants rooted where they spilled over into the pathways and I transplanted those plants to the parkway (aka the hellstrip). I think I will transplant some along the alley this year.

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    1. I think I first found dalea on your blog. It is rooting almost everywhere it touches the ground and I should soon have plenty to share or plant elsewhere. It's a great plant for hot dry spots.

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  7. We have almost zero blooming here. But, we've been in the low 20s several times.

    I think I might try the Dalea greggi. Maybe the deer will leave it alone.
    They eat the blooms on my lantana....ugh

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    1. The dalea is right in the deer track through the yard and they leave it alone. The Tagetes lemmonii would be a good choice for you too.

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  8. I can't believe your lantana never went dormant! How fun! I don't know Trailing Indigo, but I'm going to check it out. I love how the flowers go sideways!

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    1. The white lantana seems to be more cold hardy than New Gold, just an observation from the last couple of years.

      The dalea looks even better than the photos.

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  9. How do the plants know when we have just about completely lost patience with them? I have a magnolia like that.

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    1. However it happened I'm glad it decided to bloom in the winter.

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  10. Wow, you have some beautiful winter flowers, I don't think I know any of them! And the Dalea really do look like lavender, beautiful!

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    1. All of them are native to this region though they do grow well in other areas. I think the dalea would do well in your climate if it had good drainage.

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  11. I live in SE Texas so I forget about some of the other plants in other areas of the state that I would like to grow and I definitely need deer resistant plants! The dalea would be great...will have to keep that in mind!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and even though we are in the same state our climates are very different. Dalea needs good drainage, especially with the extra rain you get over there.

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