Pretty and Pink

Posted: March 18, 2024 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Azaleas, Chinese Fringe Tree, Formosa Azaleas, Gulf Coast gardening, Loropetalum, nature photography, Pipe-vine Swallowtail, Southern Gardening | 20 Comments

I was amazed that my Azaleas were so full of flowers this year. They have not looked well most of the year and we had water restrictions over the summer. Of course, they are not as nice as my six-foot-tall ones that died.

Every flower bud opened making the shrub lush with pink flowers.

I had been watching this Pipe-Vine Swallowtail butterfly in the backyard looking for a flower(they all froze) to feed on. It took a couple of passes by the sugar feeder, but it did not know how to use it. I was happy to see it feeding on the Azales.

Many years ago I had a Loropetalum struggling in the backyard. It had some life left, so I planted it in the front with a little prayer. It ended up living and growing 10 feet tall. Normally, they are trimmed to 4 feet and kept bushy.

The Loropetalum is very graceful with fluffy pink flowers and is also known as the Chinese Fringe Flower.

Searching for Flowers

Posted: March 1, 2023 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, Billbergia nutans, Cramoisi Superieur 1885, Eomecon Chionantha, Gulf Coast gardening, Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Kalanchoe daigremontiana, leucojums, Oxalis, Oxalis Triangularis, rose, snowflakes, Year-round gardening | 17 Comments

It was a hard winter here on the Gulf Coast and one bad freeze froze most of my plants to the roots. A few are starting to come back and I set out to search the garden beds for some blooms. The Cramoisi Superieur lost all of its leaves but made a big comeback with all new leaves and a few red roses.

The Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit shot up with vigor, many more stems, and has already made some of its green flowers.

The purple and white Oxalis Triangularis is in full flower and so are the invasive pink ones.

I have seen photos of snowdrops from bloggers up north and my Texas-sized snowflakes are now blooming clumps.

Because the weather has been so crazy and not long after the freeze, temperatures reached the 70s and 80s, the azaleas bloomed nearly a month early.

I love this little Snow Poppy or Eomecon Chionantha. While trying to find its proper name, I saw it listed as a weed. It is doing really well and reproducing. They all die back in the summer.

I have a couple of potted plants in bloom. The Kalanchoe was a gift from my kids many years ago. I stick any broken stems back into the pot and it doesn’t take long for them to root.

The Billbergia nutans have such unusual colors. It is from South America and blooms in the winter here.

I don’t have the usual amount of flowers, but I’m seeing many plants finally starting to grow with this recent heat wave.

Weed Bag

Posted: May 9, 2022 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, fertilizing, Gulf Coast gardening, Southern Gardening, Weeds | 22 Comments

As many gardeners do, I always pull up weeds as I walk around my yard. I set up this empty fertilizer bag as an easy drop for the weeds. The weeds dried up and allowed me to continue filling the bag for an entire year. Now, these are only a handful of weeds at a time, when I do my real weeding, I use a bushel container. I just finished the first fertilizing of my 51 azaleas and camellias. I previously did the other 34 shrubs in my landscape in February. I now have a new empty bag to fill up with this year’s weeds and it looks like it will be a very good year for weeds.

Taking Back My Words – Azaleas

Posted: April 11, 2022 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Southern Gardening, Year-round gardening | 22 Comments

I had mentioned in a previous post that I was very disappointed in my new azaleas. They were looking scraggly and not blooming. I now have to take my words back as they suddenly burst out in bloom.

There are a couple that are struggling, but I will work on them and see if they can be coaxed back. I took a look at previous posts of my old azaleas and saw that they usually bloom a month earlier. The post Azaleas has the most views of all my posts.

Looking for Spring

Posted: March 14, 2022 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Amaryllis, Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, Black Eyed Susan, crocosmia, Gulf Coast gardening, hardy begonia, Philippine Lily, snowflakes, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening, violets, Year-round gardening | 17 Comments

We had another colder than usual winter this year although it was not as bad as last year’s. Nonetheless, the majority of my plants froze and they are finally starting to come back for the second or third time. Violets were the first to start popping up.

Other plants are finally pushing their way out of the debris-covered beds. The cold has kept me inside and unmotivated to do much, but the leaves do give some insulation so maybe it wasn’t too bad to put off cleaning the beds. Peeking out of the leaves are a Philippine Lily, Amaryllis, and a Hardy Begonia.

Other early bloomers are a crocosmia, one of the Black-eye Susan’s and just a few Snowflakes.

The replacement Azaleas are not doing well and my usual beautiful display is not happening. The sun is coming out and the freezes are going to stop. It is time to head out and whip the garden and me back into shape.

Around the Winter Garden

Posted: February 12, 2022 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Azaleas, Backyard Critters, bees, Cramoisi Superieur 1885, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography, roses, Year-round gardening | 19 Comments

I forgot I had prepared this post and didn’t get it up before our nights of hard freezes. The new Azaleas I had just put in less than a year ago, decided to bloom early. The flowers did not survive the freeze, but hopefully, the shrubs that did not bloom early will put on a Spring show.

This amazing antique rose, which I believe is Cramoisi Superierur 1885, was not bothered at all by the cold weather. I have just let it grow as it wanted and over the years it made two more bushes.

The bees are busier than ever draining the hummingbird feeders. The hole in the feeder is just big enough to stick a bee’s head inside it.

It is a little tight for two bee heads. A winter hummingbird has shown up and I believe it is a female Rufous and she does not have the patience to pose for a photo. Most of the sugar water is consumed by the bees, especially since all the flowering plants have froze.

The Will to Live

Posted: February 14, 2021 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, Gulf Coast gardening, Southern Gardening | 12 Comments

Every year I post pictures of my beautiful azaleas. They are six feet tall and bloom profusely each spring.

Over the past summer something attacked and killed the center azalea.

One small bit of it rooted and is producing a flower. The azalea will not give up its will to live.

A Mountain of Azaleas

Posted: March 4, 2020 | Author: automatic gardener | Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Azaleas, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening | 27 Comments

My azaleas have been slowly opening and I think they have reached their peak. I have let them grow out over the years and now they are small mountains of pink.