Winter flowers

January 10, 2007


Purple coneflower
I promised myself to be more observant of my garden, so I went out a little while ago to take a look. Here is a sampling of what’s blooming in the front garden. These pictures may make it seem as if the garden is awash in color, but that’s only because I’m posting the fun stuff. Actually, the garden is mostly green (thank you, agaves, Mexican oregano, shrub roses, salvia greggii, and artemesia), with a few swaths of browned perennials and patches of pink or yellow flowers. Only the purple coneflower, salvia greggii, and hymenoxys are really full of flowers, and even so the blooms are sparser than they’ll be in the spring. Still, I hope these flowers will be a pick-me-up for anyone reading this who is snowbound right now and dreaming of spring.

More ‘Amethyst’ irises

Cluster of hymenoxys

A few peppers still hang on the yellowed chile pequin bush.

‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave leaves

Salvia leucantha , or Mexican bush sage—still blooming here and there

Salvia greggii , or Autumn sage

0 responses to “Winter flowers”

  1. Colleen says:

    These photos were definitely a pick-me-up for this northern gardener! Thanks for posting them!
    You’re welcome, Colleen! Thanks for visiting and commenting. —Pam

  2. My garden looks mostly green right now too. Almost the only color is the red in the nandina berries. A paperwhite narcissus here and there provides spots of white. The oxalis, rosemary, lavender, and the salvias are blooming but not so you’d notice from a distance. And the duranta continues to bloom…reminding me to transplant it. The red oak is still losing leaves and I’m still picking up after it. The cherry tomatoes are still ripening and the snow peas are just getting flowers.

  3. It’s all about what you focus on isn’t it.
    The Coneflower surprised me. I would expect it to have more of a black center.

  4. Jenn says:

    Oh thank you!
    The magic of the camera that lets us select just what we want to see, and ignore the rest of the garden, be it in its quiet stages – or like mine – in a constant state of upheaval and movement. Someday I’ll have mature beds to photograph… Until then I share glimpses of my vision!
    The advantage of blog tours versus “real” tours, right? —Pam

  5. gardenmomma says:

    Oh, Pam, how is that I only live hours from you and the weather is light years away??? I’m near Dallas and we are freezing!!! We had a mild winter and everything was budding and BOOM! here come’s the ice!!! Keep the photos coming! They are so uplifting. As I leave, singing “Spring is Coming!” to the tune of “Just Keep Swimming”!!! Gardenmomma (Chris)
    A lot can happen in a few days. Today we’re iced in here too, and rain is still coming down that is expected to freeze up when it hits the icy streets. I’ll post new photos later today. Thanks for commenting, and stay warm! —Pam