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.
Hooray for the Automatic Garden
Posted: March 9, 2021 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Bluebonnets, cannas, Drimiopsis maculata, gingers, Gulf Coast gardening, Mealy Blue Sage, Oxalis Triangularis, purple Oxalis, snowflakes, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening 20 Comments—————————
It has been a little more than two weeks since our epic freeze. The Automatic Garden is pulling through and plants are erupting. The first plants up are mostly from bulbs and rhizomes that could take the cold better.
The purple Oxalis were the first to recover.
Bluebonnets made it through the freeze unscathed.
Mealy Blue Sage also seemed unbothered by the cold.
The Drimiopsis maculata had some mushy bulbs, but enough survived.
I believe nothing can kill this passalong canna.
The plants I have been most worried about are my gingers and I have started to see some signs of life.
One Snowflake flower was able to bloom.
I will have a nice list of plants that can survive hurricanes, flooding rains, drought and record breaking freezes on the Gulf Coast.
Oxalis
Posted: June 23, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Armadillo, Automatic Gardening, Backyard Critters, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Oxalis Triangularis, purple Oxalis, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 15 Comments
The Automatic Garden always provides new plants, just not where I necessarily want them. I found these Purple Oxalis Triangularis growing in the lawn that had somehow survived many mowings.
The closest Purple Oxalis is growing in pots on the back porch. It is yet another plant mystery of how they ended up quite far from the pots.
I transplanted the newly found Oxalis to the colony that I started in the wooded area. They don’t look so happy now, but the Purple Oxalis bloomed nicely in the early spring. I have the plants protected by broken pots and bricks, as an armadillo has been plowing them up. When the roots get a good grip or the armadillo moves, I’ll remove the barriers.
Cheery Blooms
Posted: February 8, 2020 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: ageratum, Automatic Gardening, Firespike, Kalanchoe daigremontiana, Kalnachoe, My Kitchen Window, Nasturtium, Odontonema strictum, Oxalis Triangularis, purple Oxalis, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 13 Comments
This time of year it is hard to tell if it is late winter or early spring. The temperatures are going from 80’s to 30’s depending on the day. Thankfully, there are some blooming plants cheering up the season. The Nasturtiums, started from seed, have done really well in the strawberry pot and can be viewed from my kitchen window.
The Purple Oxalis Triangularis prefers to bloom on cool days and takes its rest in the summer.
Kalanchoe’s electric colors joins the other two potted plants on the patio to brighten up the day.
I bought these Ageratums one deary flowerless winter and have been surprised that they keep coming back. They start putting out growth in the fall. I didn’t bother to learn what kind they were, as I thought they were annuals and would die. They are reproducing on their own and maybe I’ll eventually have a bed full of them.
Firespike, Odontonema strictum, is another passalong that grows really well. I did some gardening no-no’s and threw some cuttings around my wooded area and they rooted. Now I have several clumps around the yard. They do attract my winter hummingbirds and add color to the season.
Kalanchoe daigremontiana or Mother of Thousands, probably Mother of Millions, really put on a show this year. Mother can grow in just a bit of soil and reproduces like crazy. I pull up hundreds or thousands every year. It is from another part of the world and likes to bloom in the winter. This year with no freezes, the plant reached its potential. There are 13 flower heads blooming. Its unusual flowers with many subtle shades of color is what makes me keep it around.
Sweet and Petite
Posted: March 11, 2019 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: ageratum, Automatic Gardening, crocosmia, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Oxalis, Oxalis Triangularis, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, violets, Year-round gardening, z 17 Comments
Early Springs brings very sweet and petite flowers that are one time bloomers. The Purple Oxalis has been joined by a white one that is sold here as Shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day.
Violets bring back childhood memories of my siblings and me picking as many of them as we could from the yard before it was time to mow the grass.
This Ageratum doesn’t seem to mind the cold and has been growing new leaves and buds through the winter.
The Crocosmia took a rest last year and did not make any flowers. This year a few are coming.
This darling little white flower is a bit of a mystery. I must have gotten it at a plant exchange and was told it was a ground poppy. I cannot find any information on it and maybe someone will recognize it. The leaves emerge in late winter and the plant has multiplied, but seems to move all over the bed. When the summer heats up, the plant disappears. None the less, it is a welcome sign of Spring.
If anyone wants to try to identify this, here is a photo with the leaves.
Set Them Free?
Posted: February 24, 2019 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Oxalis Triangularis, purple Oxalis, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 13 Comments
The purple Oxalis Triangularis has been spending the winter in a sunny window in the warm garage. It does not look very happy.
Out in the wooded area where I had the pots of Oxalis summering under the sprinkler, some of the plants escaped the pots and are happily growing and multiplying. Maybe it is time to set the potted Oxalis free to live in the wild.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 