Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Easter Edition

I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely Easter weekend.  It also happens to be the 15th of the month, so I'm linking my post up with Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

I'm enjoying a long weekend, so I've been spending quite a bit of time puttering around in the garden. And of course I had the camera with me.

I think this first photo is my favorite.  It includes the Cleome that re-seeded in the island bed, along with the pineapple sage and I think some Salvia Greggi is visible in this one too.  I also see a Cosmos in there.  If you look closely, you can also see some garden porn -- a pair of love bugs, ubiquitous at this time of year, managed to photo bomb the photo.  Can you see them? (Click to see a larger version)

The penstemons have settled in very well. I'd like to get some more colors of this - perhaps a white, if it comes in white, to round out my collection.

OK - I have two mysteries in this photo.  First, I always seem to have a hard time identifying butterflies.  I'd appreciate it anyone could let me know which this is.

Also, I'm not sure if the plant he's visiting is Salvia sylvestris May Night, or if it's Angelonia. 

I know I had several purple Angelonias growing last year, as a complement to all the orange Profusion Zinnias I had everywhere.  But I did also plant some May Night Salvia for the same reason, but it didn't do very well (I actually planted it first, but ended up supplementing with the Angelonias as the May Knight didn't do well).  However, this lovely plant came up  in two places this spring and I'm really not sure which it is.  

That's it for my Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post.  Now I'm off to see what's growing in other people's gardens.  You can visit them too, by clicking on the link.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2017

It's the 15th of the month, and to garden bloggers, that means one thing -- it's time to put together a post celebrating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

I usually forget about it until it's too late.  I think I can count on my toes how many times I have posted a "GBBD" post!

But I'm pleasantly surprised that the garden is perking up, in spite of being largely ignored last year while I was recuperating from my surgeries and the few hard freezes we had over the winter.

I already showed you some of the signs of spring in the garden, now it's time to show you some blooms :-)

Our freezes didn't faze these dianthus one little bit.  They stayed lovely and green all winter and now are covered in blooms.  I've got several in various colors (although I don't actually remember planting them all!)

With it's delicate foliage, you would have thought that the Achillea would have succumbed to the freezes too, but they stayed a beautiful bright, feathery green all winter and are now starting to put out blooms.

it's sharing that section of the border, under the Vitex tree, with the purple Homestead verbena.

More dianthus in the island bed, along with either the Pineapple sage or Salvia Greggi.  I planted them together in the same area and neglected to make a good note of which was which.  So I'm not sure which is blooming here.  There's also a lot of Cosmos coming up so this area will be lovely and colorful soon.

Here's a closer look.

And finally, the Star Jasmine is absolutely covered in blooms.  Unfortunately, it's short on scent. We have always called it our "Scent-less Star Jasmine".  There are actually two of them planted side by side and one has no scent at all, which the other has a mild aroma.  I did catch a whiff of it a couple of times when I was out taking photos in the rain on Saturday but I certainly wouldn't call it highly aromatic, which is a bit of a disappointment.  But I like it anyway, the blossoms are lovely and the birds appreciate the shelter afforded by the thick vines and trellis.

So that's about all I have to show for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  I hope we have nicer weather this weekend than we did last weekend.  I need to do some more weeding and add compost and mulch to the island beds and back border before the temps start heating up too much.

Seem more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Garden in May

I was talking to my dad in England on the phone yesterday and he commented "I was looking at your blog yesterday and you haven't updated it in a month!!"

Consider me chastised!  You would think, since I'm currently not working full time, that I would have all the time in the world for things like blogging.  But to tell the truth, since we've been having (so far) a very mild, pleasant spring, I've been more inclined to be outside walking or puttering in the garden than to be inside writing about it.

But in the last couple of days it has felt like summer has arrived in the Houston area.  The temperature has crept up and so has the humidity.  So today I went out early for my walk, and now I can sit in the cool and write about the garden!

The daylilies in the island bad are coming into their glory.  We have a number of different varieties, none of which I can remember the names of now.  I'll call this one "Peaches & Cream" - I'm sure it won't mind.

This is another variety I don't know the name of. Earlier in spring I divided this one and put some of it in the other island bed.  The newly planted cutting hasn't started flowering yet, but the original is bursting into bloom.

The other day I was sitting having breakfast when I caught sight of a hummingbird flitting from bloom to bloom on the Major Wheeler honeysuckle.  Naturally, my camera was not handy!  But at least I know there are hummers around now and am in the process of making some nectar to fill my feeders to put out today.

Here's a close up of the native honeysuckle.  I'm glad it's finally doing something.  I planted it three years ago and it was very puny for a while.

I was reading somewhere that this particular vine is not the sort that will vigorously cover a trellis so it's not great if you want it to hide an eyesore.  As it happens, I have creeping fig growing on the sound wall behind it and the combination of the two vines looks rather attractive and hides the ugly sound wall.

The Rose of Sharon is also bursting in to full bloom.  This has grown from a cutting I bought with me from my previous house, when we moved here eight years ago.  It's a favorite of bees and hummingbirds.

Here's another hummingbird favorite, Turk's Cap. I have a bit of a dilemma with this.  It's in a container, but managed to pop a root through the bottom of the pot and is now rooted to the ground.  It probably needs to be either repotted or planted in the ground somewhere (if I had anywhere for it) but I would probably kill it in the process.  So I'll leave it where it is for as long as it lasts and then replace it when necessary.

Well today is Friday the 13th, which means that Sunday is the 15th - Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

I'm going to link this post up with her May Garden Blogger's Bloom Day when she puts it up.

This post is also linked with the following memes:

Flower Friday, hosted by Aquariann

Floral Friday Fotos hosted by Nick V.

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise at An English Girl Rambles.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - July 2015

I'm notorious for forgetting to participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Here we are in July and I have participated a total of ZERO times this year!  Until today, that is.

I was reminded of GBBD, as it is affectionately know, when another Houston area garden blogger, Dorothy of The Nature of Things, posted a link to her GBBD post on Facebook this morning.

So, before I forget again, here are some blooms from our garden.

 
The Profusion zinnia threatened to take over the entire garden this year.  I had to do some major thinning and there are still more of them than anything else in the garden.  I'm not complaining though, they shrug off the heat and humidity and the butterflies and bees love them.

To offset all the orange, I interspersed some Angelonia.  I should have added some salvia as well, for the bees and hummingbirds, but I've not had much success with it in the past and just didn't get around to planting any this year.

I like this white Angelonia too.

In the back border, this Gomphrena adds another splash of purple amid all the orange.

This Philippine lily caught me by surprise.  It was a passalong from a gardening friend a few years ago and it's tucked in behind the shrubs in the front border.  I had forgotten about it until the beautiful blooms caught my eye as I was heading out the front door yesterday.  I took this photo today, so I didn't cheat! LOL.

Some of the daylilies are still hanging on, such as this little gold one -- Stella D'Oro, perhaps?

And finally, more zinnias, as well as a very exuberant Turk's Cap.  I even saw a hummingbird on this just the other day.

That's it from me today.  Once again, thank you Carol for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

 

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2014

 On the 15th of each month, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day where garden bloggers around the country (and around the world) share what's blooming in their garden on that day.

OK - I'll admit it, I usually miss it completely - either that or I have nothing in bloom to show off!

But today I remember, and today also, I have a pleasant number of blooms in the garden, in spite of the slow start we got this year, with our unusually cold winter for this area.

So, without further ado, let's take a tour of the back garden.

As you enter the back garden along the path at the side of the house, a lovely light pink fuschia hangs in a container, tucked in to the Star Jasmine. I just picked this up last weekend at Wally World. My mum (who lives in England) always has such lovely fuschias in the garden that when I saw this one, I couldn't resist it!

Here's a view of the aforementioned Star Jasmine (taken before I hung up the fuschia) and an invitation to garden visitors to make themselves at home (and useful!)

The Star Jasmine itself is covered in buds, but if you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember that this is the amazing scentless Star Jasmine.  We have another right next to it which is only a 10th of the size of this one (and only a year younger) but it's scented enough for the two of them, so our garden will soon be filled with the delicious aroma :-)

In the back corner by the birdbath, this dianthus is blooming well. I thought it might not make it through winter, but it shrugged off the cold like it was nothing.

I've been threatening to rip the Lonicera sempevirens, Native honeysuckle "Major Wheeler" out of the ground because it just wasn't doing anything.  It's still very scrawny. but it does have a few blooms on it, much to the delight of our visiting hummingbird(s).  I still don't know if I will let it stay, but I'll see how it does this season.

On the other side of the garden, by the utility boxes, the Homestead verbena is growing and spreading like wildfire.  This is good, I can't get anything else to grow in this spot, so I'll be happy if this takes over this little area for the summer.
 

Next to the Homestead verbena, tucked in under the Vitex tree, this patch of Achillea millefolium was unfazed by the freezing winter.  Amazing really, when you look at how delicate and feathery this is.  

Five years ago when I moved in here, I planted one Achillea plant here - now look at it :-)

In the island bed,  this blanket flower has been blooming for a while.  I forget the name of this particular variety.

 It's got a lot more flowers on the way too.

The pansies I planted in the island bed at Thanksgiving are still blooming.  They probably will be finished in a month or so, but I certainly got my money's worth! I have purple, yellow and white ones and they have filled the garden with virtual sunshine, through even the most bitter cold days.

And finally, in the new island bed, around the new waterfall we installed, I planted some bluebonnets I found at H.E.B grocery store.  They are doing nicely too. I'm looking forward to collecting some seeds. I'd like to have bluebonnets in the front garden somewhere.

So that's about it for this Garden Blogger's Bloom day. All the action is in the back garden at the moment.

Overgrown shrubs in the front border don't leave much room for flowers there - something I will have to tackle.  But there *are* some tropical milkweeds coming up, and one is even blooming!

Don't forget to head over to visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens and see what else is going on for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - December 2013

 As usual, I had completely forgotten today, being the 15th of the month, was Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, or GBBD is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens and I only remembered about it when I saw a GBBD post on a blog I follow by Dorothy at Gardening with Nature.

Before I even read Dorothy's post, I had "rescued" a newly emerged Monarch butterfly that was lying on the ground near the bird baths I was filling.  It didn't look so good and when I put my hand down to it, it climbed on board.  So with this butterfly sitting on my hand, I looked frantically around the garden looking for a flower with some nectar for him.

Luckily I discovered that although most of the Dallas Red Lantana has succumbed to the freeze we had at Thanksgiving, there were still a few blooms in the sheltered area underneath the Southern Wax Myrtle.  I put the butterfly there and hoped he would be okay.
 

 Then I read Dorothy's post and saw that, among many other plants she has blooming, she happened to have some hanging baskets of pansies.  It occurred to me that pansies would be a simple addition, they would offer some color in the garden that would probably last until spring and they would also offer nectar to any other butterflies that happen to pass through.  

So I hit the road to Lowe's and was pleasantly surprised to find that they hadn't completely cleared out the garden center and filled it with Christmas trees, as many places do.  I purchased some 12 packs of different colored pansies and headed home.

Incidentally, as I drove back into my subdivision, I saw a Monarch butterfly floating around the pansies planted in the bed at the entrance.  I like to think it was the one I had "rescued" earlier in the day.

I planted them in containers, among the frostbitten Lantana I'm hoping will come back in the spring, and I planted them in the island bed.

Not much, I'm afraid, but more than I had in the garden 12 hours ago -- and the nice thing is, they will last well into the spring.

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Here we are in July, and here I am posting on my SECOND contribution to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Since the last time I managed to post on time was in January, I'll just call this my semi-annual contribution :-)

We have some beautiful rich colors in the summer garden, but they are mostly concentrated in just a couple of areas.  With other areas already past their best, or not blooming yet.

Even while I battle the nutsedge and insidious bermuda grass in the island bed, the blooms, such as the marigold above, are glorious.  They seem to look at the blazing sun with a sort of "back atcha" defiance, and bloom on regardless of the heat and drought.  I've been deadheading them to encourage them to keep blooming and I've also been spreading the seeds in colorless areas of the garden.

 

Also in the island bed, the Profusion zinnias are blooming.. profusely!  I think I mentioned before that these self seeded and are living up to their name.  I really like them and will have to look out for some other colors in the future.

 

This is a "Little Lucky" Lantana I planted in a container a couple of weeks ago.  I believe it's "Lemon Cream" although I have another (out of focus) photo which shows a similar plant with more lemon yellow on it.  I like how compact these are.

This Purple Trailing Lantana shares the half barrel with a sweet potato vine and a Persian Shield (which isn't doing too well in the heat, it may need less sun).  I may need to trim it up a bit, to encourage bushiness instead of just a couple of long trailing bits.  I understand the butterflies love it, so I hope it does well.  I haven't had it in my garden before.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, the tropical Milkweed was looking rather puny, but it seems like, all of a sudden, it's all bursting into bloom.  We have a LOT of it, all along the back of the border at the front of the house, as well as around the borders in the back garden.  I've been reading about the low numbers of Monarch butterflies this year, but if they ever get here, we're ready for them.

The final photo is of a Turk's Cap I have in a container next to the Southern Wax Myrtle. I got it last year and it made it through the winter and seems to be doing quite well.  By the way, I played around with this photo a bit, blending in a photographic texture  to disguise the ugly cinder block wall.  I rather like how it came out :-)

That's it from me today.  It's 10 o'clock Central time, so technically it IS still Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  Please stop by May Dream Gardens to see what's blooming on this date around the country.
  


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - January 2013

I wouldn't go so far as to say this is my New Year's Resolution, but I do plan to try and post a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post on the 15th of each month this year.

If I manage it, it will be a first for me!  Past experience shows that I have a bad habit of forgetting about it until days later.

So, even though it's fairly late in the evening now - at least it's the right day!  A good start, wouldn't you say?

As for blooms, well if I hadn't have gone out to Lowe's before Christmas to pick up some pansies I wouldn't have any color in the garden at all now.

But as it happens, I have three varieties of rather pretty trailing violas...

Nothing special about them, but they do add a touch of color to the "birdbath corner."

I do love them - such cheerful little blooms.

  
Wonder if I'll have anything to show you next month?


If you'd like to participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or visit other participating sites, pay a visit to Carol at May Dream Gardens to see what it's all about.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, April 2012

Each month I promise myself I'm going to put a post up for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

And most months I remember -- on or about the 17th of the month!

But this month I remembered in time!

While the front border is somewhat over-stuffed with some huge indian hawthorn and african lily (courtesy of the builder 4 years ago), the White Gold Lantana and New Gold Lantana I planted are making a good showing along the front of the border, as are the milkweed along the back. (Notice the Monarch Waystation sign in the center of the photo)

There are daylilies in there somewhere too, but just leaves so far - no blooms yet.  Perhaps I'll be able to show them off next month (if I remember in time).

 Lantana is making a good showing in the back garden too -- this one, in front of the wax myrtle is Dallas Red.  The butterflies and hummingbirds love it!


Here's a closer look.

In the "bird feeder" corner, where I gave up trying to plant things in the ground because of the thick tangle of pine roots just under the surface, I have a collection of containers.  

Below is the newest - I love the "half barrel" look, which reminds me of the real half barrels my dad has in his garden. In it, I have some Superbells Grape Punch (calibrachoa hybrid), Supertunia Vista Bubblegum (petunia hybrid), Verbena Babylon White  and a Persian Shield (the tall plant in the middle with beautiful purple leaves).

If you click on the photo to see the larger version, you can see two things.  First, a very sturdy pine root that's come up to the surface (there's a pine tree right on the other side of the wall) and second, a couple of adventurous milkweed seedlings that have sprouted there.  In fact, the yellow milkweed on the right self-seeded there last year.  How it competes with the pine roots I'll never know, but it's doing beautifully, so I'll leave things as they are.

And finally, for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, something else that reminds me of my dad's garden in England -- fuschias.  These are in a hanging basket (with home made macrame hanger, a la 1970's even) just outside the back door. 

I do love them, they remind me of dancing ballerinas.

 That's it for today.  Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day everyone.  I hope your gardens are blooming.


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.