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.
Missed Me
Posted: March 23, 2023 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: purple Oxalis, Year-round gardening 30 Comments
I had been working in my wooded area transplanting some purple oxalis that had grown outside the bed. As you can see I left my watering can. I returned inside, glanced out of the window, and noticed a big branch had come down right where I was sitting.
A couple of yards away I found the rest of the branch driven about 7 inches into the ground. I guess it was my lucky day that the limbs missed me.
Critters and Plants
Posted: October 17, 2022 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, Green Anole, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Fritillary Butterfly, hummingbird moth, My Kitchen Window, nature photography, purple Oxalis, Swamp Sunflower 20 Comments
I had a week of notable critter encounters and stand-out plants. This green anole took a trip across the yard in a shaky wagon as I moved this plant from its summer spot in the woods. The little lizard is staying in its plant home and greets me every morning when I head outside.
I got a few somewhat good shots of the hummingbird moth. Usually, it is busy during the night, but I caught it out in the daytime. Click to get a better look at its wings.
I thought it was interesting that the purple oxalis found a way to grow out of the bottom of the pot.
A Gulf Fritillary butterfly has been hanging out on the hummingbird feeders. I was finally able to get close enough for a photo.
I have a love/hate relationship with Swamp Sunflowers. They are very invasive, and grow ten feet tall, but are so happy and sunny in the fall.
Back to odd anole habits. This lizard is my regular porch anole that clings to the window screens most of the day. As it turns out the lizzie likes to sleep on my weather stick at night. When I check on it in the early morning hours it will have actually changed positions. I feel fortunate to have such a variety of plants and wildlife in my backyard.
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.
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 