Searching for Flowers
Posted: March 1, 2023 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.
Around the Winter Garden
Posted: February 12, 2022 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.
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