Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - April

Ah, April, my favorite month of the year! And it's especially nice this month since we finally got some rain here in Austin, which led to insanely fast growth of everything in the garden and me finally getting a much-needed break from watering everything.  

In other news, I can now say that I garden with one hand tied behind my back.  

Still Life With Wrist Brace:

Yup, I managed to sprain my wrist pretty spectacularly.  Sadly, the bag is pretty much there just to keep the brace clean-- I'm under strict orders to keep that hand immobile, which is especially annoying because it's my dominant hand...and it's April in my garden and I have important things to do, *&&^$^$!!!

So if I can't work in the garden, at least I have something to look at.  Now that it's April, the roses have started blooming! I got around to my pruning pretty much on Valentine's Day and was a little worried that would mean that everything would bloom late and be victims of a heat wave. Right now, the weather is perfect for the show. In a bit of serendipity, I noticed something a little odd when Maggie started blooming last week. Did the flowers spontaneously change color? Nope, that's Belinda's Dream up there at the top of the fence, rather than in front of Maggie where she's supposed to be. Er, oops?

And on to the flower porn...

Marie Pavie:

Thomas Affleck, in a picture that finally accurately captures his color:

Madame Alfred Carriere, climbing up a mesquite tree and absolutely smothered in sweet-smelling blooms:

Gruss an Aachen:

Archduke Charles, showing off its color-changing flowers:

From foreground to background: Duchesse de Brabant, Louis Philippe, and Blushing Knockout:

Double Knockout:

Full list of roses in bloom:

Rainbow Knockout
Pink Knockout
Pink Double Knockout
Double Knockout
Blushing Knockout
Marie Pavie
Martha Gonzales
Belinda's Dream
Maggie
Souvenir de la Malmaison
Duchesse de Brabant
Louis Philippe
Archduke Charles
Madame Alfred Carriere

Gruss an Aachen
Perle d'Or
Thomas Affleck
Mutabilis


Also in bloom is my tough and trusty favorite, ice plant:

And a more unusual addition to the garden, here's the bloom of a native manfreda. The flowers smell like black tea:

Also, for the first time, the hardy aloe is blooming. I'm not sure of the variety-- I got them bareroot at The Natural Gardener. They seem quite happy in part-shade:

And finally, finally, after 2 years, the back border is finally filling in to the point where I don't see mulch and I see much, much less of those ugly landscaping bricks. This makes me very, very happy:

And as a surprise for Bloom Day, the datura opened its first bloom. I thought I'd yanked out all of the datura last fall, but this one came back from some roots I missed and I decided to let it stay for old times' sake.  It's freaking huge:

Also blooming: Canna "Australia" planted against the house, pink Himalayan indigo, caryopteris, catmint, thyme, yaupon hollies, bulbine, verbenas, Mexican feathergrass, salvia greggii, Marilyn's Choice abutilon, narcissus tazetta (planted very late), broccoli, snapdragons, and the last of the pansies. The bluebonnets are winding down and will be done within the next week or so, sadly, but they've had a good run.

Have a great Bloom Day, everyone!  Check out Carol's post at May Dreams Gardens to see everyone's GBBD posts.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - February

I really had to hunt to find some actual blooms for this month's Bloom Day. Luckily, the first flower that popped to mind was the bulbine, both bicolor and yellow, blooming in a fairly sheltered sunny spot. They're flowering more than I've ever seen them flower right now. Once the mesquite tree leafs out, the bulbine/agave bed will be in filtered shade, and the show will pretty much be over until next winter.

Due to the lack of flowers, foliage has been keeping things interesting. Here are a few leaves of the Tropicana canna, which I've been covering during freezes since I planted it so late in the fall. I had green and yellow variagated Pretoria cannas right next to the Tropicana, but alas, the ROUS ate them in the dead of night.

And speaking of foliage, I thought the colors and textures of this cold-burned agave were kinda cool.

Every year, I plant some blue pansies. These are this year's selection.

After last week's rain, the wildflower seeds I sowed in the side yard are finally, finally taking off. Here's the first to bloom, white alyssum.

The only rose in the garden right now with blooms is the Rainbow Knockout, and even those are well past their prime. Instead, the Rainbow Knockouts are really shining right now with their bright red hips.

My absolute favorite thing in the garden right now, Pandora's Box pansies from Barton Springs Nursery. I couldn't help myself-- I got an entire flat and planted them all around the backyard. I only wish I had some luck with pansies reseeding. These are my favorites of all time. Look at those colors!

The first bloom of 2009 on the Homestead Purple verbena. Usually, the Homestead varieties of verbena are the first to really go crazy blooming in the spring, followed by the magenta blooms of an ice plant I picked up at Walmart years ago. The front bed should be covered in these purple blooms in a week or so.

Finally, some daffodils! Here's the first bloom on Narcissus tazetta 'Grand Primo.' The blooms aren't as showy as Ziva, but boy, oh boy, do they smell better.

A promise of things to come...the bluebonnets are starting to take off!  Maybe next month we'll have some more blue in the garden.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for coming up with Bloom Day.  And check here for a list of more February Bloom Day posts!

Moat Shark!

Thanks to last night's thunderstorm, I am now convinced of the effectiveness of the front yard's half-dug swale, which is now a moat:

And when it comes to my own personal moat, I have two words for y'all: MOAT SHARK!

Somehow, I'm not quite hearing the theme from Jaws.