Smokin’ hot June Bloom Day
Our wretched heat and exceptional drought continue. But plenty of plants love the oven-like temps and flaunt blooms despite dry conditions. Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) is a summer favorite, with red flowers and contrasting blue-green leaves.
Echeveria likes to stay out of the Death Star’s beam, but it happily flowers during our warm days and nights.
Native purple skullcap (Scutellaris wrightii) also flowers with abandon now.
And just in time for Bloom Day, a first flower from my recovering Bauhinia mexicana, or Mexican orchid tree, which I nearly lost during the winter freezes. After dying back to the ground and much sulking this spring, it finally reappeared, and now there’s a flower too. It never bloomed at all last summer. Maybe last winter its life flashed before its eyes and it decided to live for the moment.
To see what’s blooming in other gardens around the world, visit our Bloom Day hostess, May Dreams Gardens.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Love the Globe Mallow and what a cute bloom on the recovering Mexican orchid tree.
Hi Pam, nice to see the flowers that love the heat, especially that fab skullcap!
Great heat-lovers. Most of my plants are ok, but some of them do get sad by late afternoon baking in this oven. Happy GBBD.
Love seeing your blooms Pam. It is like touring another world. That sweet little orchid bloom on the tree looks so delicate. I can see why the tree would sulk when being frozen.
I always liked the xeric plants in that part of the world. The subtle gray tones of the foliage and muted flavored blooms are unique. Should come up with some name for that. A southwest garden? who knows.
Thanks for sharing…so much still flowers in dry heat, but mostly different than which flowers in dry warmth. I need to document that sometime! Great choices, a coupel used here…maybe more w/ potential?
This early intense heat surely tries the patience of us gardeners! Your garden looks lovely though in spite of it. Btw, my pond is more clear than it has ever been. Remember the filmy water of last year? How is yours?
Mine too, Cat. Isn’t that strange? I wonder what’s different compared with last year? —Pam
This drought is so depressing…my friends and I are worried about wells drying up…she puts a bucket in the showers so that water is collected that usually goes down the drain and waters her porch and deck plants with that. I have Geranium, Bougainvillea, Esperanza, Cosmos, Rose of Sharon…all blooming..other plants not so much <:(
Hi Pam, our dry season just ended at least it is not as long as last year when many fruit trees died. Thanks to typhoons which always carry rain in this part of the world. Your Bauhinia mexicana is what i love most in your collection post. We have Bauhinia here but is definitely unlike that one, lovely.
Love the cerise color on the echeveria and globe mallow is so pretty. Is that in full sun or part shade? Happy GBBD.
The globe mallow is in as close to full sun as is possible on my shady lot. It gets sun about 3/4 of the day. I do have a few others that only get late afternoon sun, and they are not as happy. The more sun, the better. Also, good drainage is paramount. —Pam
I immediately fell in lust with the globe mallow and did an immediate search to see whether this is something that could grow in my Willamette Valley Oregon zone 8 zone (looks a little marginal in my area – I’m still in lust with ocotillo). I suppose the closest I could get to that form and color is a cistus)
Yael
Sounds like you have a thing for drought- and heat-lovers, Yael. Octotillo is difficult to grow even in Austin. It really wants to be in the desert. You might have better luck with globe mallow, and certainly it would be cheaper to try it. Good luck! —Pam
Hi Pam, Hope you get some rain soon! Your drought tolerant blooms are very pretty.
The Globe mallow looks luscious, I have been trying for a while to germinate some seeds without success. Love the orchid tree bloom, cool and crisp- mine is also in bloom.
A lot of pretties. I need to find some purple skullcap. How is it with shade…or deer?
Happy Bloomday…
Linda, the purple skullcap, in my experience, requires better drainage than the pink skullcap that’s so commonly used in central Texas. Full sun would be best, I expect, but in my garden it gets by with half-day sun (midday to late afternoon). I don’t know how it does with deer, as mine is planted in the back yard. —Pam
Sorry for the wretched weather…but those blooms are great…love the Skullcap…so charming and great color!
Very impressive blooms in this weather! Globe mallow looks great and has been added to my list.
Lots of sulking and a few losses down here too due to the unusual cold and early arrival of triple digit temps.
So many comments on GBBD about high temps and lack of rain… I guess we are lucky as we’ve had just the right amount of moisture so far and decent temps the majority of the time (though a few very hot days)… your photos are lovely! Larry
Its funny here in the UK Echivera are happy outside during the day but it sometimes gets too cold and wet for them at night
Ah, the vagaries of climate. 😉 —Pam
Must get some globe mallow–such a pretty bloom shape and nice color contrast with its foliage! My three purple skullcaps fried last week. I shouldn’t have waited until May to plant them, I guess. Mexican orchid tree flower is sweet.
So happy to see the return of your orchid tree. Score one against the Death Star! Happy GBBD.
I’m taking notes since Houston’s the new Austin…climate wise.
See you tomorrow on Foliage Follow-up.
David/ 🙂 Tropical (Dust) Texana
Really like the flower on the Echeveria – what nice color. Might have to consider potting up a few of that plant species. Happy GBBD!
hi pam, i’ve got a Bauhinia mexicana too, and was amazed to see that it first bloomed right after we got our first blast of heat. i guess some things like it hot! stay cool over there…
Enjoyed your flower blooms and I love that Globe Mallow. thanks for inviting me into your garden.
Ha! My pond water is all kinds of filmy. Maybe it has to do with the age of the pond? Did either of you (Pam or Cat) drain and clean out your pond this spring? I did not but I’m starting to think I should have.
I never drain mine, Robyn. But I do muck it out in early spring by dragging a net along the bottom and pulling out all the rotten leaves, etc. Last year I definitely had a yucky, almost oily film on the surface of my pond. I asked around, and heard that ESP at East Side Patch had it too, as did some of the ponds at Hill Country Water Gardens. We couldn’t decide if it was something coming out of the trees or what. But this year my water is nice and clear. It’s a mystery. —Pam