Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
‘Valentine’ is dependably in bloom one day after Valentine’s Day
In the spirit of sharing, Carol at May Dreams has designated the 15th of each month as Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Today, on her inaugural post, she bravely shared a photo of her snowy Indiana garden, not a bloom in sight. No matter—she has plenty of houseplants blooming inside, which she listed but did not photograph. That’s all there is to it: a simple list of what’s blooming in your garden or in your toasty-warm house, with or without photographs.
Today in Austin it’s cold. Well, cold by our standards. We’re experiencing what our weather forecasters like to call an Arctic blast : 39 degrees right now and expected to drop to 26 degrees overnight. Brrr!
A few plants in my garden are flowering despite the sudden cold. Topping my bloom list is the ‘Valentine’ rose, which benefits from its location against a sunny, south-facing wall. It’s covered in buds, and I photographed an open flower, above.
An ‘Amethyst Flame’ iris has sent up one flower. I worried that the cold snap would get it before I could photograph it for Bloom Day, but it’s still looking good so far.
Good old pansies, which are grown as winter annuals here in Austin
OK, this isn’t a flower, but it’s so pretty I had to include it. This rose hip is one of many on my ‘Carefree Beauty’ rosebush, which otherwise looks pretty puny right now.
The prostrate rosemary is blooming. Its tiny, papery, lilac flowers are hard to photograph—they tend to disappear against the dark-green rosemary leaves—but they look lovely en masse all over the twisting branches.
The amaryllis from Christmas has sent up another bloom stalk and is close to opening. It’s a houseplant right now, but I will stick it in the garden this spring.
That’s it for this Bloom Day. Not a lot, but better than nothing. It seems that purple and red rule the day in my February garden. I’ll leave you with this bit of spring that my kids are growing on the windowsill: funny, Chia-pet-like heads with grass “hair.”
I can’t believe you have a rose blooming!! There was one iris bud in my garden, but it croaked before opening. Good luck tonight!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks. You too! —Pam
Wow! Absolutely gorgeous photos! The colors are so vibrant I can see shades of blue on the edges of the rose petals.
Thanks — you made me forget all about winter!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed the preview of spring. —Pam
Roses and irises! I think I actually could smell them when I read your post. Or am I suffering from cabin fever? Regardless, wonderful pictures, wonderful blooms for February. Thanks for participating, and stay warm.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Thanks, Carol. I enjoyed participating because our unseasonably cold weather would otherwise have kept me from noticing what was in bloom.
It’s funny you mentioned smelling the rose because ‘Valentine,’ which is long on color, is deficient in scent. No rose smell whatsoever on that baby. Sigh. I love it anyway for that stop-sign red. —Pam
Can you grow amaryllis outside here? I have one in a pot that is healthy, but not blooming. Can I plant it?
So I heard from the owner of Barton Springs Nursery. She told me back in December to plant it in a sunny spot after it bloomed and I’d probably see another flower in the spring. Well, I didn’t get around to it, and now it’s reflowering in its pot. I’ll be eager to see if it comes up again next fall. —Pam
Pam, what wonderful pictures… especially of the rosemary! I never really noticed how beautiful and orchid-like those rosemary flowers are. (Or maybe more like torenia/wishbone flower?) Hope the garden survives your “arctic blast” okay this week.
Thanks for visiting, Kim. Yep, everything came through the “Arctic” weather just fine. I’m not sure it went below 28 in my garden—not too bad after all. —Pam
I am amazed with the beauty of your pictures, congratulations.
I would love to make one of those Chia-pet-like heads for my 4 year old boy.
How do you do those?
What are they made of?
I would appreciate some guidance.
Thanks in advance and God bless you.
Thanks for your comments, Oscar. The grass-heads were kits, given to us as a gift. Unfortunately, I don’t know where they were purchased. They certainly were fun though. —Pam