Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day—September
Sweet Autumn clematis
Our second spring has arrived in Austin, and the garden is abloom. This Bloom Day, salvias are the stars of the garden, but plenty of other perennials and vines are strutting their stuff too. Bees and butterflies, including a few monarchs early on the migration route to Mexico, flit from flower to flower, enjoying these Indian late-summer days. Birds of all sorts are also frequent guests. Yesterday I spotted cardinals, house finches, wrens, a mockingbird, doves, and a woodpecker at the container pond within a 10-minute period.
Remember to visit May Dreams Gardens tomorrow for links to other people’s gardens on Bloom Day. (I’m posting a day early.) You can also scroll down my sidebar and click on “Bloom Day” under “Categories” to see what was flowering in my garden around the 15th of every month.
Autumn sage (Salvia greggii )
Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha )
‘Carefree Beauty’ rose
Cigar plant (Cuphea ignea )
Mexican snapdragon vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora ). They’re more purple than they appear in this photo.
The vine is new to my garden this year and doing great so far. It smothers the birdhouse post with these beautiful purple flowers.
Kidneywood tree (Eysenhardtia texana ) grows more beautiful and fragrant every day, as more and more blossoms open after the recent rains. The bees love this tree.
Its airy habit stymies me, though, when I try to photograph it. Here’s one attempt.
And here’s another. Oh, forget it.
Bulbine frutescens
‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine (Bignonia capreolata )
‘Valentine’ rose
The large vitex tree anchoring my front garden is still spiked with flowers. Unfortunately, except for this one on a dangling branch that I need to prune, all the blooms are up top, and as viewed from below the tree is a mess of blackened leaves and leafless branches. Unfortunately, that’s the view of it for most of the year, except in spring. Therefore, I’m planning to replace it this fall. Don’t gasp! We must be resolute when a highly visible plant (yes, even a tree) becomes an eyesore rather than an asset. More on this later.
A few purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea ) still hang on.
‘Katie’ dwarf ruellia (Ruellia brittoniana )
Purple trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis )
One of my few annuals, white narrowleaf zinnia, still going strong
I know these aren’t flowers, but I find American beautyberry’s (Callicarpa americana ) wands of purple berries quite as pretty as any flower. So here it is.
And in the sunlight. Notice how the leaf stems echo the color of the purple berries.
Zexmenia (Wedelia texana )
Rosemary has started blooming. These pale blue flowers are hard to photograph but quite pretty in person.
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’)
‘Indigo Spires’ salvia
Its color plays off a glazed pot on the patio nearby.
Yellow bells (Tecoma stans )
Majestic sage (Salvia guaranitica )
A second flush of oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida )
Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus )
And the white variety
Star grass sedge (Dichromena colorata ) stands in the container pond.
‘Helvola’ water lily (Nymphaea ) blooms on the water’s surface.
Another look at sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora )
And I’ll leave you with ‘The Fairy’ rose.
Happy Bloom Day!
First the silvers, now the blues… showing how well you place colored containers and relate them to their surrounding plants. Very nice.
That kidneywood tree is lovely–the foliage looks rather fernlike in a very elegant way. It must be even more breathtaking in person if you’re not happy with the representation from these pictures.
Thanks, Kim. You are right that the kidneywood tree has fernlike leaves, and they smell citrusy when you crush them. It’s a pretty, little tree when in bloom. I was able to capture the flowers in these photos, but not the trunk structure of the tree, which is why I was unsatisfied. Maybe as the tree gets bigger I’ll have better luck. —Pam
Where to start?? The kidneywood tree is great – and fragrant too – how perfect! Probably not hardy for me though… boo! I can only imagine the activity in your garden! I love the sedge (anything green) and the cuphea and salvias and turk’s caps and and and… everything is beautiful!
Thanks, Kris. That’s how I feel at this time of year, especially with the promise of cooler weather on the way. The garden feels it too. —Pam
Beautiful, just beautiful. Thanks for posting for GBBD, I just put up my post so people can leave comments anytime now. Your second spring is beautiful.
In my garden, the days are nice, but it is definitely cooling down and there is probably a month or less until the first frost.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Your first frost is coming up fast. But I know you’ll savor your autumn garden while it lasts. And there’s always that purple bench to give you color through the winter. 😉 —Pam
Pam — I had the same experience with a vitex in my yard. As I recall it looked good for several years — even four or five — and then it started looking shabby, burned leaves and bare branches. I hadn’t decided what to do and then it had to go to make room for the addition so the decision was made for me. I look forward to seeing what you do next.
— Susan
That’s about how long mine was growing before it started to show its ugly side. Before that it was trouble-free. Ah well. Opportunity is knocking. —Pam
Oh, gosh. I am soooo jealous. I think I may have to move south a couple of zones. Your garden is beautiful, and the picture you got of your autumn clematis puts mine to shame.
I’m always ready to move north a few zones in the summer, but as cooler weather approaches I remember why I love living and gardening here. By the way, I just visited your blog, and your clematis is amazing. I wish I could smell it through the blogosphere. —Pam
Pam, I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Wow! You have so many beautiful flowers! My echinacea didn’t last long at all this year, I’m surprised that yours has lasted so long. Were these just late bloomers or do the blooms typically last all summer long in Austin?
The echinaceas in my garden bloom best until about June, and then I trim them back and get sporadic blooms after that. They are persistent, however. I had a couple blooming all through last winter. —Pam
I’ll have plenty to scan for bloom day tomorrow. But it’s interesting that we’re starting to wind down while you’re getting your second wind. BTW: Officially — at least around here — Indian summer is a warm spell following a killing frost. So you don’t really get that until, what, mid-January?
You are quite right, Craig. I’ve heard that term all my life but always thought it meant warm, early-fall days. That’s what comes from growing up in the South, I guess. I don’t have the post-freeze terminology all figured out! Anyway, our first freeze occurs a bit earlier than January, as I’m sure you guessed. In town (at the former Mueller Airport location), the average is December 2. The average last freeze is February 26. Winter is brief around here. —Pam
Your bloom days have always been spectacular Pam, but this is totally gorgeous – even if you can’t capture the essence of the kidneywood in the way you want. Between kidneywood, roses and clematis, I’ll bet it smells awfully good in your garden!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
It does indeed! Do you have fragrance now too? I need to pop over to your blog to check out what you’ve got this Bloom Day. —Pam
Wow, your garden has really outdone itself! Your huge stands of salvia make mine blush in shame. And I know what you mean about trying to get photos of airy plants – I still haven’t succeeded with photographing verbena bonariensis – way too airy! That narrowleaf zinnia is quite pretty too, and the beautyberry is always great to see. Lovely bloom day!
Thanks, Lost Roses. My salvias have done well this year, which is particularly good considering the rainy summer we had ; I’m glad they didn’t rot. I hope you succeed in capturing your verbena one of these days. I’d love to see it as you see it. —Pam
That’s quite a list of blooms you have there Pam. Love the Autumn Clematis. Is it scented?
You bet it is! That’s why it’s called sweet Autumn clematis—it’s not my adjective but its actual name. I wish I could send a whiff of it through the blogosphere to you. —Pam
Lovely photos – your garden must be a riot of colour.
You solved a mystery for me. I was in Morocco last December, and saw a plant which I couldn’t identify. I put a photo on my blog, but no-one seemed to know. It was your Tecoma stans. Thanks!
I’m happy to have helped with the ID, Sue. I believe Tecoma stans is native to Central and South America, but it grows well in Austin as a drought-tolerant perennial that dies to the ground in winter. How interesting that you saw it in Morocco. And how interesting that you went to Morocco! —Pam
Wonderful assortment of colors and textures. Thanks for posting the Kidneywood Tree, we don’t have that around here and I have never seen it.
Thanks, DF. The kidneywood is native to central Texas. I believe it was Carol from May Dreams who looked it up and found that its range is very limited. —Pam
The kidneywood looks fantastic! Now that I have a new sunny border to plant, I’m eyeing your plants with new interest. Usually I look at all your lovely photos and think, well I can’t grow that because I don’t have enough sun. Like the vitex. Or the butterfly iris. Or the salvias. Or the narrowleaf zinnia. But now…(insert maniacal laugh)…it’s a whole new garden. Well, first I have to get rid of the poison ivy.
I’m glad the oxblood lilies decided to show their red faces for you on GBBD. They are such a striking color I wonder if you find it hard to work them into your garden plan. If not, remember there’s more where those came from.
Isn’t it delicious to have some sun to plant in? I highly recommend the kidneywood, partly because it isn’t used very often around here, plus gardeners in other parts of the country won’t have one! Salvias? Yes! But I’d have to urge caution on the vitex, as I’m not happy with its underbelly these days. South of the River Susan has backed me up on this; she had the same issue with one in her garden, before her remodel took care of the problem.
I adore the oxblood lilies, and they work perfectly in my rear garden’s red and purple color scheme. They’re not so hot out front (or, rather, too hot), where it’s mostly pinks and purples. I plan to move those to the back and plump up my existing clumps. I’d love to achieve the effect of the lilies in your garden. —Pam
Everything looks so lush. Really, to be at the end of summer with all of this greenery- I feel like we are so fortunate.
Yes, this has been an amazingly easy summer in Austin, hasn’t it? —Pam
Boy, those blue salvias are just my favorite. The autumn clematis looks beautiful – it’s blooming here too, and it’s something definitely missing from my garden (so I’ll have to put it on the incredibly long mental list of plants that I ‘desperately need’ that I always have in my head). Your garden (and blooms) look beautiful as always.
Thanks, Pam. I’m eager to make the Bloom Day rounds and see what you and everyone else have got going on. Then I’ll be adding to my own incredibly long mental list. —Pam
Hi Pam! I’d like to find out a little more about the history of bloom day! Is it simply the day that all garden bloggers post photos of what is blooming in their gardens? I’m curious:-)
I’d also like to extend an invitation for you to check out my blog. It’s nothing fancy yet but I am looking forward to journaling my gardening adventures.
Have a bloomin’ day!
Rebecca http://www.theholdingpit.blogspot.com
Welcome to the garden-blogging world, Rebecca. Carol at May Dreams started Bloom Day last winter. On the 15th of each month, she invites garden-bloggers around the world to post what’s blooming in their gardens and leave a link on her comments page. It’s a fun way of seeing what’s going on in far-flung gardens.
I checked out your blog and enjoyed hearing about your visit to Weston Gardens, which I’d never heard of. I look forward to reading more about gardening in north Texas. Happy digging! —Pam
That must be the difference with the coneflower since I don’t trim mine back. I leave them for the finches. Maybe Next year I’ll cut a few back and see if I get repeat blooms.
Our growing season is so long; perhaps that also helps with the coneflower rebloom. From this point on, I’ll be leaving my spent coneflowers for the birds too. —Pam
What a lovely lot of blooms for GBBD. My gardens are finishing for this year but I do have a lovely rose in bloom.
Thanks for dropping by, Crafty Gardener. The Austin bloggers will have flowers for at least a couple more months, so come back whenever you need a flower fix. —Pam
Really lovely photos. I have not seen some of the flowers before so it’s quite an education.
Your Poliomintha is actually P. maderensis not P. longiflora. P. longiflora has reddish orange flowers and is a much lower growing shrub than the lavendar flowered P. maderensis.
I hadn’t heard of P. maderensis, Greg, so I did a little research. After comparing the two online, I still think “P. longiflora” describes my plant best. P. maderensis seems to have redder flowers, according to photos I found online. Mexican oregano is sold as P. longiflora throughout Austin and is so named in the plant guides I have. I’d be interested to know more though. —Pam