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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Mild winter brings plenty of March blooms to the garden

In our warm climate we don't wait for April showers.  Signs of spring are all around the yard this week and quite a few blooms are springing up.

Texas Mountain Laurel, a favorite native plant, is blooming out in the front yard
 


I check every year and they always smell like grape soda.

 
Bluebonnets, our state flower, are just beginning to bloom in the back yard


Silver germander sports very tiny, delicate blooms in the circle garden.  I like the silvery foliage in the garden.


Mexican Flame Vine on a trellis by the kitchen window is one of my favorites.  It usually dies to the ground but this year it had a head start on spring due to our mild winter.


Love the  bright yellow-orange color


The blue potato bush is blooming for the first time in over a year.  I cut it back and transplanted it in spring 2012 and it sulked all year.


It's off to a good start this year


The Bougainvillea usually goes dormant in the garage but it continued to bloom all winter and is outside for good now.


Salvia greggii and Color guard yucca by the driveway

 
 
My neighbor's snapdragons make me smile.  Not exactly spring blooms, snapdragons are a winter annual in our area.


It looks like good start to the gardening year.  Now if we could just get some rain.

30 comments:

  1. Your Mountain Laurel looks so pretty loaded with blooms. Ours haven't bloomed that much. They are older trees. Love your Mexican Flame Vine. Do butterflies and bees go to it?

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  2. I was surprised by the number of blooms as the buds had been attacked by bugs. I haven't seen many pollinators on the Mexican Flame Vine, I'll keep an eye out for them now.

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  3. Hi Shirley, that Mexican flame vine is gorgeous - so is the Texan mountain laurel. I suspect I would love that fragrance. I cannot believe you have such exotic plants in spring.

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    1. We are lucky to have so many blooming local native plants. A few from nearby Mexico help round out the mix.

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  4. Wow! You've got a lot of things blooming there that I associate with summer. Your mountain laurel is gorgeous and I've been reading about it on a couple of other blogs as well. It looks like it would be hardy here but I don't see it in gardens so maybe it doesn't like our wet winters. Your garden is looking good. The anticipation of a new garden season is nearly as much fun as summer itself!

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    1. The TML prefers dry climates, especially in the winter and that wouldn't work so well up there. A gardening friend spotted them in a Chicago street planting so I'd say that's quite hardy.

      Early summer is fun, you don't want to be here in August though.

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  5. Nice color for my day. Rain, sorry but we just keep sending you all wind from NM, since we have none of that there rain here. I remember the huge TX Mountain Laurel trees at a motel I stayed at first time in SA.

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    1. All wind, no rain. There is a chance later in the week.

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  6. No rain, but lots of pretty blooms. Texas mountain laurel is my perennial favorite, and I always have to stop for a sniff whenever I see one.

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    1. It draws you in and for some reason I am always surprised at how it is so identifiable and intense.

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  7. Absolutely lovely! One advantage to this crazy year is all the flowers up and going, though some of mine are behind yours. I must have the blue potato vine! So hard to find, so I'm glad your beauty recovered!

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    1. The plant was given to me as a rooted cutting from a gardening friend about two years ago. I didn't know they were hard to find, they are apparently easy to propagate. The deep color is gorgeous.

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  8. You have so much blooming. I'm quite jealous.
    But, we get a bit colder here, I think.

    Love the Mountain Laurel. I've see a lot blooming up in Austin. None here, yet.

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    1. We are quite a bit warmer and it seems ours are past peak now.

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  9. Great bloom shots! Our Mexican Flame Vine is starting to bloom over on the gate as well. It's crazy with all this mixed up weather- 88 yesterday and supposed to be 30 tonight. Nuts!!!! Thanks for the id on the House Finch!!! =0)

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    1. Strange weather, but that's Texas!

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  10. Beautiful blooming things! I especially like that Mexican Flame Vine. I think we're a little too cold here in Austin for that, but I love it south of here.

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    1. I have heard that the Mexican Flame Vine is an annual there. This one is protected against a stone wall on the south side of the house.

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  11. So colorful! I want a Texas mountain laurel so bad, but I doubt they would like my acid soil. :( Love the colorful snapdragons. How fun to be able to see that all winter long!

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    1. We had one in our yard in Houston when I was growing up, but I have heard they don't do well outside their native range.

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  12. I love enjoying your blooms without having to covet them, because most would die a death by drowning here. Lovely!

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    1. The snapdragons might be okay. I am always amazed by PNW blogs which show photo after photo of dripping wet plants all winter.

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  13. You have so many bright cheerful flowers, and foliage! I could do with some of your warmth and sunshine.

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    1. Would be nice to trade since we could do with more rain which you have in abundance.

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  14. I like that orange vine, so cheerful! And a plant that smells like grape soda sounds cool too.

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    1. They are bright and fun, the vine should do very well in your area too.

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  15. Boy does it look different where you are, so colorful. It's nice to get a glimpse of what is to come.

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    1. The differences in regions are especially striking in early spring.

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  16. Texas feels like a different country to me sometimes. You grow plants I've never even heard of! The mountain laurel reminds me of wisteria. :o)

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    1. That's exactly what our travel and tourism folks say. When I lived in New England returning home seemed like visiting a different planet


      http://www.traveltex.com/

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