Thursday, January 15, 2009

January Bloom Day

Here in south Austin, we got our first real freeze on Tuesday night. But fear not, ye alle, for there's still some color to be found in my garden.

First up, Marilyn's Choice abutilon, which is hands-down the best abutilon I've tried:




















Second up, we have winter-blooming germander, which I am shocked to report I did not kill in the 12 months since I planted it. It doesn't look spectacular like the one along Lady Bird Lake, but it's alive, so I'm proud:























Next up, some surprise bright-red hips on the Rainbow Knockout, the only one of my 5 varieties of Knockout to develop hips. This is one Knockout that definitely looks its best and grows the most in cooler weather. In the summer, it looks like a pox-ridden and jaundiced version of its winter self.























And blooming like crazy on the east-side fence is a whole bunch of white potato vine.



















And here's the last of Narcissus tazetta 'Ziva,' stinking up the late afternoon garden:























No flowers here, but I'm amused by how the leaves on the far right of canna 'Australia' survived the freeze and look fresh and glossy. Actually, everything right along the house looks pretty good, which only proves how incredibly fond of insulation homebuilders were in the 1970's:
























And saving the best for last, I cut a bunch of late-blooming roses to bring in as a GBBD insurance policy. Here's Gruss an Aachen in my extremely classy vase:












Stay warm, everyone!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Lori, you have a nice showing for January. I didn't know! I see from your site, you are on twiter, I haven't seen you yet. I'm GWConfidence. Thanks for visiting my site.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if my white potato vine in the old garden is blooming. Yours looks great. As do all your flowers. And I love those soft roses in that blue bottle.

Lee17 said...

Hey! My Abutilon is blooming like crazy too! I have Abutilon 'Little Red Bells' and it is doing pretty well for me.

I love the white potato vine flowers! Very pretty.

Diana said...

Lori - Lots of nice things in your garden. I really have to get an Abutilon -- I covet yours. What kind of conditions is yours growing in? The Gruss an Aachen roses are so delicate - how do they smell?

Kathy said...

Great looking blooms! Frost damage can be strange here, too, in what it takes and what it leaves unscathed.

Anonymous said...

Lori, Why is your white potato vine looking gorgeous, and mine looks like an anemic, never-blooming weed? And those roses! Oh, I'm so jealous of you guys with your roses. Where's that sun when you need it?

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

I'm amazed that the aubutilon is still alive and kicking after the frost. I have a potato vine in flower too but mine lives in my greenhouse. Happy GBBD!

Lori said...

Helen - Thanks! I'm on twitter as good_n_evil. I was poking around your site earlier-- your job sounds like my dream job. :)

Pam - The white potato vine never seems to quit, and it's much tougher than I expected. The blue bottle amuses me to no end-- it's like a Dalek designed a vase for Pottery Barn. And the "Bawls" appeals to my inner 12-year-old. ;)

Lee - You have the perfect microclimate for abutilon. I've tried 4 kinds and only the Marilyn's Choice seems to be tough enough to weather our temperature extremes and still flower like crazy.

Diana - My abutilon's in shade from crape myrtles in the summer (or it would fry) and in slightly filtered full sun in the winter. I also give it some extra water in the winter when it flowers. It's pretty tough, but I think it'd do better in a warmer spot in the winter. As for the Gruss an Aachen, the fragrance isn't anything spectacular. I'd describe it as generic floral. They're great for the vase, though, and I love how the colors and shape of the bloom changes throughout the year.

Kathy - I agree. I have dwarf ruella planted in a line along the house and some of it got killed back and some of it looks fine, and as far as I can tell, there's no pattern to it.

Getgrounded - Hmm, did you find the crappiest excuse for "soil" in your yard to plant your potato vine in? Because that's definitely what I did. ;)

Yolanda Elizabet - I'm amazed that the abutilon looks so good after the freeze as well! Plants around it were killed to the ground. And as for the potato vine, it's pretty cool to me that we have the same plants thriving in both our yards even though we're on different continents. :)

Carol Michel said...

Lovely blooms, a feast for winter weary eyes. Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

ConsciousGardener said...

My potato vine bit the dust last month! Your garden looks great and your roses to die for!

EAL said...

Lori, there are some better-smelling tazettas that you could try. Erlicheer would work well for you.

Lovely blooms! Of course I have none outside in Buffalo.

Annie in Austin said...

Diana is right! I guess I'll also have to get an abutilon like yours, Lori - you make them look so tempting for the cool months. Nothing in your garden looks like it had even a chill, let alone frostbite! Love the blue bottled roses.

Happy GBBD!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Super Mario said...

I admire those roses in the blue bottle!

encinitas landscape said...

Beautiful. The Narcissus tazetta 'Ziva is perfect for a garden bloom. :)

prayer request said...

A blue bottle is really perfect for the flowers,,this just gave me the idea.

buy viagra without prescription said...

What's up?? the flowers look so sad, I do not like it, I prefer what some beautiful flowers in the garden, thanks for she photos but please put more fresh flowers!!22dd