Finally Flowers!
Posted: April 1, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: African Hosta, Automatic Gardening, cannas, Drimiopsis maculata, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Little White Soldiers, purple Oxalis, Year-round gardening 27 Comments
I’ve been slightly jealous of my northern gardener friends’ pictures of daffodils, forsythia, hellebore, and other early bloomers. My plants are finally coming back from the freeze and there are a few in bloom. Above is my “mulch pile” Iris. The Iris arrived in a mulch delivery over 30 years ago and proved to be very hardy. It has managed to reproduce too.
White Soldiers or Drimiopsis maculata is a great plant for this area. It is reliable and spreads. The flowers are not that exciting and after the bloom, they will make bulblets and new plants. They are also called African Hosta and are the closest to a Hosta we can grow here.
One of Cannas has bloomed already. Another plant that reproduces easily.
The Gulf Coast Penstemon is really putting on a show. The only thing is that I did not plant them in this bed.
Black-eyed Susans have also started to flower and make a nice spring mix with the Gulf Coast Penstemon.
The Purple Oxalis is having a very happy spring. These are in two pots I have next to each other and they make a great display. I also have the Oxalis in two beds and they always come back every year.
At Last
Posted: April 3, 2023 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, iris, Mealy Blue Sage, Salvia coccinea, Southern Gardening 14 Comments
At last, my spring flowers have started to bloom. The fabulously reliable Salvia coccinea that had been frozen to the ground (as all the plants were) came up from its roots loaded with flowers. Its seedlings are growing and will provide even more flowers.
This good old mulch pile Iris has bloomed this year. This is probably its third home and the Iris has lived with me for close to 30 years.
Gulf Coast Penstemon is another tough plant and I have been transplanting all its seedlings into tighter groups for a better display.
I planted Mealy Blue Sage from a pack of seeds and was able to start new plants from the original.
Needless to say, I am relieved my perennials made it back from two brutal winters (brutal for here). The bees are happy and a hummingbird made a fly-by but hasn’t stayed.
Spring Has Finally Sprung
Posted: April 18, 2022 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Black Eyed Susan Vine, Drimiopsis maculata, Dutchman's Pipe, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Justicia brandegeeana, Monarch caterpillar, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, shrimp plant, Thungergia alata 22 Comments
It is finally starting to feel like spring and the flowers have begun to bloom. I remember the first time I ever saw Shrimp Plant and thought it was the most fantastical plant ever. I vowed I would grow it one day when I finally had a yard. This one is a passalong from my mother-in-law. I think of her every time I look at it. Hummingbirds love it too.
In our wet hot weather, we cannot grow those glorious big hostas that are featured in plant catalogs but we can grow African False Hostas (Drimiopsis maculata) also called Little White Soldiers, Leopard Plant, Injoba, or as I like to call it, Spotted Dick for the cute spots on the leaves. Why Spotted Dick? Mostly because I couldn’t remember Drimiopsis maculata and I find the name Spotted Dick, an English pudding in a can, really funny. Here is a youtube video on Spotted Dick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE3jSGGsVbk.
The Black-Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata) is blooming nicely although it completely missed the fence it was to climb on.
I have Gulf Coast Penstemon growing in three different places and all are doing well. The hummingbirds finally have natural food. The Rufous hummer is still hanging out and two Ruby-Throated hummingbirds have arrived from their winter homes.
The Dutchman’s Pipe has been growing lots of new leaves. I moved the vine a bit and to my surprise I found a flower blooming. It seems that we went from cold wintery weather (wintery for here) with sad freeze damage to a sudden burst of spring in just a few days.
And just to top off our sudden spring, I found these two fat Monarch caterpillars munching on the Butterfly Weed.
Some Spring Blooms
Posted: April 25, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Canna, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Hinckley's Columbine, Passion Flower, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate 16 Comments
Although this is not our usual spring due to a freezing February, a few Texas tough plants manged to bloom. The Gulf Coast Penstemon has put out its delicate flowers in three locations in the garden.
Cannas seem to be able to survive anything. This one had no problem coming back quickly and blooming.
Happily, the Hinckley’s Columbine had absolutely no issue with the freeze and just continued on its way.
The Passion Flowers are grown in pots so they rode out the cold in the garage. This has been an unusual spring with very few flowers, but everyday with the temperatures rising, humidity up and a few light showers more flowers will be coming along.
Revealed
Posted: May 29, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Cardinal Flower, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Weeds, Year-round gardening 17 Comments
Two plants popped up in my small patio bed. I wasn’t totally sure what they were so I let them grow out to reveal themselves. I thought they might be weeds, Gulf Coast Penstemon or Cardinal Flower. Once the plants grew to around 4 inches, it became clear they were Cardinal Flowers, which was my last guess. I promptly dug them up and transplanted the pair to a better location.
More than once, I have mistook weeds for a wanted plant and let them grow. And yes, there is a mix of weeds and seedlings in that bed. I am waiting for them tell me what they are.
Old Faithfuls
Posted: April 15, 2019 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Black and Blue Salvia, Black Eyed Susan, Butterflly Weed, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Passalong Plant, Salvia coccinea, Salvia guaranitica, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 16 Comments
Black and Blue Salvia guaranitica.
Salvia coccinea
Black Eyed Susan
Butterfly Weed
Gulf Coast Penstemon
These plants are the backbone of my garden. I can count on them every year. Many have been transplanted from my former house nearly 20 years ago and others are passalongs. They have faithfully grown and multiplied for years and should continue to do so.
Stealth Planting
Posted: June 17, 2018 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Backyard Critters, Bartram's Oenothera grandiflora, deer, Evening Primrose, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, rabbits, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 22 Comments
The Oenothera grandiflora Evening Primrose collected by William Bartram is one of my favorite plants to grow. It is also a favorite of rabbits.
So I came up with a plan to do stealth planting, strategically putting the Primrose among plants rabbits don’t eat. In the middle of the photo is one planted with Shrimp Plants.
In this photo a Primrose is planted with Salvia. I bet you can’t even find it.
Rabbits never touch the Gulf Coast Penstemon and neither do I as they smell bad, but make up for that fact by being pretty.
The Primrose in the front yard are the tall plants that were surrounded by the Penstemon when they were small. They look darn good.
Yup, I was feeling pretty clever thwarting those rabbits. As it turns out, deer like the Primrose too and they start eating at the top. The tall plants in the front yard were just about finished off by the deer (not the rabbits).
I guess I will have to count on the Evening Primrose I planted in pots, in a high planter, in the fenced in backyard.
Currently Blooming
Posted: March 29, 2018 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Amaryllis, Automatic Gardening, Black Eyed Susan, Brunfeisia, Canna, Clematis, Coreopsis, Drimiopsis maculata, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Salvia coccinea, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Today and Tomorrow, white soldiers, Year-round gardening, Yesterday 18 Comments*************************
I have been a bit worried about whether or not my perennials and reseeders would come back this year after all the harsh weather. Butterflies and Hummingbirds are starting to arrive and there was not much for them to feed on as the freeze took most of the flowers. I have been relieved the past week or so to see my plants returning. The following photos are of plants that have faithfully grown in the Automatic Garden for years.
I have a large collection of Amaryllis, but they have not bloomed over the last few years. I was thrilled to find this one blooming.
This little Coreopsis has started to put out a few flowers.
Clematis do not enjoy our climate, but this one is in a pot on the shaded patio. It really liked the cold spell and has put out several blooms.
The White Soldiers (Drimiopsis maculata) have been a prolific and are planted throughout the gardens. This patch sat in water for days.
Old faithful, my red Saliva (Coccinea), was completely mowed down from the freeze and is just starting to come back.
This small shrub was started by seed. The original Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Brunfeisia) was accidentally cut down recently.
The red Canna was a passalong and I don’t think any amount of bad weather could kill it.
For nearly 20 years the Back Eyed Susan has been reseeding itself.
Bees and hummers are happy to see the Gulf Coast Penstemon flowers. This plant is also a passalong and does so well that it needs to be thinned every year.
The Columbine aquilegia has not done well lately, so it was good to see several plants blooming this year.
Speaking of faithful, the rabbits are back and appear when I am out in the yard to remind me to put some seed down for them.
Of course no good deed goes unpunished and the rabbits ate my new Coneflower down to the ground.
Gulf Coast Penstemon
Posted: April 19, 2016 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Penstemon tenuis, Year-round gardening 8 Comments
The Gulf Coast Penstemon (Penstemon tenuis) was especially prolific this year. The photo does not reflect how good the plant actually looks.
A closer view shows all the tiny bell shaped flowers. They bloom in early spring and reseed easily. Then the spikes can be cut back and a rosette of leaves stay green all winter.
The white insides are striped with purple lines.
Best of all, the bees are enjoying the Penstemon’s nectar.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 