Hello, spring! The garden is happy to see you
Out of town for a few days last week, I came home to find my garden in bloom, eagerly welcoming spring—and a string of 85-degree days—with open arms. Here’s our native spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis), a shade-lover that some consider weedy but I love for its early spring color.
The gopher plants (Euphorbia rigida) are in full bloom, with chartreuse flower clusters held atop blue-green leaves.
A smattering of ‘Ice Follies’ daffodils are coming up in the front garden amid the yellow yuccas and more gopher plants.
River fern (Thelypteris kunthii), another shade-loving native, is unfurling its tall fronds.
Ah, a nice stretch after a winter’s nap
A passalong white iris from Annie in Austin is fresh and lovely against green leaves.
Red dragon knotweed (Persicaria microcephala), another passalong from RBell at The Lazy Shady Gardener mingles happily with the fuzzy, blue-green leaves of our native heartleaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovata) in the dappled shade of live oaks.
‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), draped across the back fence, is blowing its orange trumpets to announce spring’s arrival.
Spiderwort and ‘Coral Nymph’ salvia (Salvia coccinea) provide the opening act. But I planted the pink salvia to harmonize with the ‘Pam Puryear’ Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus drummondii) that is just starting to awaken.
Since I missed Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens I’m going to consider this a belated posting. Happy spring to you!
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Nice, but your death star soon cometh… Such springy scenes there and up here in the Hill Country, too.
It does, it does. But we’ll have more days of mild weather up until May. Hope you’re having a good time here in Austin and in the Hill Country! —Pam
I am jealous! Our SPRING has been blown off course this Muddy March. Surprisingly, last night’s incredible wind gusts didn’t topple any more shallow rooted, over-grown olive trees.(yet) Our ground is so mooshy even the Mourning Doves are wearing rubber boots. Soon this will change. Soon. soon soon……
I hope you get some drier and milder weather soon, Weeder. —Pam
Pam, is that a new Coral Nymph, or has yours already come up from seed that much? I don’t even see anything poking out of the ground over here. Like you, I planted it with my pink Turk’s Cap. The Turk’s Cap is coming up, but not much else. Love the spiderwort pics!
I bought 4-inch pots of the ‘Coral Nymph’ salvia, Robin, and it burst into bloom the day after I planted it. —Pam
Pam, your springtime is treating your garden well. I did not know Tradescantia is native there in Texas and just planted some in my garden last year. It does get weedy and I am going to see if it made it through the winter. I had to move it last Fall because of how aggressive it had grown. But I do like the pretty blue flowers and that is what got it in the garden in the first place.
That Tradescantia has a huge native range, Donna. Clearly it’s a survivor! —Pam
I love the pictures of the fern unfurling.
Thanks, Cathy. It’s been a delight to see them unwinding from their winter nap. —Pam
Beautiful pictures! Is the ‘Coral Nymph’ salvia a shade-lover as well?
It sure is, LJ. It’s a cultivar of the red Salvia coccinea, also a shade-lover. —Pam
Your spring blooms are gorgeous Pam. They are showing what I have to look forward to. I love seeing those sweet unfurling fronds of ferns too. Happy Spring.
And to you, Lisa! —Pam
How nice to return home and find all that loveliness happening Pam! Love the scrumptious color of that crossvine, and your photo of the tradescantia almost convinces me to like it – the spiderworts end up looking pretty awful in my garden most of the season. Happy Spring 🙂
I wonder if spiderwort is more invasive in cooler-climate gardens, because it just isn’t a problem here in Austin. It does spread but never to the detriment of other plants around it. They end up dying back when it gets hot, and then reappear in late winter. —Pam
So pretty. Love the coral nymph against the tradescantia — that’s a beautiful combination. My tradescantia just started blooming, too, and my crossvine is 20 feet up into the oak tree. It’s kind of cool, but I don’t really get to see it that way – wish it would spread on the fence like it’s supposed to!
My crossvine is climbing a nearby tree too. I’ll get a picture of it. BTW, I watched a squirrel eating the blossoms today. Did you know they did that? —Pam
The garden can change rapidly over the course of just a couple of days of spring’s warm weather. Way warmer than spring here I might add. We have a snow forecast for the day. Love your cheery photos and the fern unfurling is magic.
Snow, eh? Well, I hope you get a reprieve, and I wish an early spring for you, Layanee. —Pam
Your Amethyst Flame iris is blooming here, Pam!
Uh, oh – may have to copy that combination of Coral Nymph salvia with Pam Puryear Turkscap/Wax Mallow. A few leaves have appeared at the bottom of the mallow and a few seedlings of Coral Nymph have sprouted on the side of the house… they must be introduced!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Copy away, Annie! I have Gulf Coast penstemon, purple oxalis, and ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia in front of that combo and am expecting a riot of shade-loving blossoms soon. —Pam
Hi,Pam I came to see the book Ian H. at plant Smart is talking about. Garden Up. I took a look at amazon.com and sure enough it’s available. Thank’s Ian h. Morison & Sweet too.JIMT. Mobile Al.
Hi, Jim. My review of Garden Up! is here. —Pam
I’ve always loved gopher plants (Euphorbia rigida), and recently read that they are a weed. I would love to have them, but fear they would be invasive. What do you think? Just love the bright green flowers! Come to think of it, if it is a weed, I’m not even sure one could buy it in a nursery. How did you acquire yours?
Justine, gopher plant is certainly not weedy in central Texas. I’ve only had one volunteer in all the years that I’ve grown it. But maybe your region is more to its liking? Better to ask a local source. Anyway, it’s available for sale in local nurseries. I haven’t looked into mail order sources. —Pam