Nearly Perfect Gingers
Posted: October 13, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, gingers, Gulf Coast gardening, Hedychium coronarium, Hedychium hybred "Pink V", Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 8 Comments
This year many of the Gingers decided to bloom again in the Fall. Maybe they liked all the rain. This Hedychium hybred “Pink V” has nearly perfect flowers.
The Hedychium coronarium “White Butterfly Ginger” have also been putting on a spectacular showing and sending their scents throughout the garden.
Hurricane Lily Missed the Main Event
Posted: September 25, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Lily, Schoolhouse Lily, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 11 Comments
Hurricane Harvey is long gone, but the Hurricane Lily has decided to appear.
Hurricane season lasts from June until the end of November. Hopefully, this lily is not a harbinger of bad news.
Fall Color
Posted: September 22, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Black and Blue Salvia, butterfly weed, Evening Primrose, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, hibiscus, Oenothera grandiflora, Pink Flamingo Feather Celosia, salvias, shampoo ginger, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening, wild ageratum, Year-round gardening, Yellow Bells 13 Comments
Happy Fall! Many are posting photos of colorful leaves.
The leaves here will not change for a long time.
Instead, our Fall color comes from blooming plants that have woke up from their summer “sleep”, when it was just too hot to make a flower.
We don’t have flaming foliage, so these flaming tropicals will have to do.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Seven Buds
Posted: September 9, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Epiphylium strictum, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Hurricane Harvey, Night Blooming Cactus, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 16 Comments_______________
After the six days of rain from Hurricane Harvey stopped, I took a survey of my plants and found my Night Blooming Cactus, Epiphylium strictum, had seven buds on it. It has never made more than two flowers a year and only blooms in early summer.
Apparently, it enjoyed the 33 inches of rain we had on our side of town and opened 6 flowers, one for each day of rain. Others parts of the city had 51 inches and it is estimated that 25 trillion gallons of water fell on the state.
Harvey bopped around, being caught between two high pressure weather systems. It hit Texas twice as a hurricane, refueling with water from the Gulf of Mexico. Then Harvey meandered along the Texas/Louisiana border as a Tropical Storm. The Hurricane spawned 152 tornado warnings with some actually touching down.
Disaster areas were declared in 58 counties. There were 3,400 water rescues, including many in my community. Over 200,000 homes were damaged. It will take a long time to bring the area back.
And on the seventh day, we finally saw sunshine and the rain stopped for us.
Now we need to turn our attentions to the Islands and Florida. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Building High for the Flood
Posted: September 7, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: ants, Automatic Gardening, Backyard Critters, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, nature photography, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 19 Comments
Did the ants know that a flooding storm was coming?
I noticed as I was surveying my plants, that there were more than usual ant hills built up on the rocks that surround the beds. My property is also the highest in the area.
This ant hill is on the rocks and cradled in the stems of a salvia. Unfortunately, these ants bite and are making it hard to clean up the beds.
Some Like the Rain
Posted: September 4, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Hurricane Harvey, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, White Rain Lily, Year-round gardening 21 Comments
Most of us did not enjoy the 33 inches of rain that fell in our community. Other parts of Texas/Louisiana received over 50 inches. After the clouds cleared, these white Rain Lilies showed their appreciation of the rain. It is nice to see beauty after such a disaster.
Recovered and Covered
Posted: August 25, 2017 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, My Kitchen Window, Southern Gardening, Split Leaf Philodendron, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 9 Comments
This is the aftermath of an unexpected freeze last winter. The split leaf philodendron looked very hopeless. Its main function was to cover up utilities.
Happily, the plant was able to come back and serve its intended purpose.
