Carefree days
‘Carefree Beauty’ rose
April feels carefree in the Austin garden. Lush growth continues apace, thanks to spring rains and warm but not yet blisteringly hot weather. More flowers open every day. The garden seems to rush headlong into spring. You can almost watch it growing.
Of course, there’s much to be done: trimming of over-exuberant growth, potting up of volunteers that are springing up in the paths, last-minute planting before summer. But it feels carefree because it all looks so good with very little effort on the gardener’s part. Sweet April.
‘Carefree Beauty’ rosebush—hot pink!
‘Marie Pavie’ roses—so fragrant
‘Belinda’s Dream’, a classic looking rose with a steely constitution
Anacacho orchid tree (Bauhinia congesta ) in full bloom. The bees love it, and the larger ones were rather protective of it when I tried to get close for photos. Hey, don’t be camera shy.
A closeup of the orchid tree’s flowers and its cloven-hoof, evergreen leaves
Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana ) and Shoshana’s iris
A closeup of damianita’s sunny yellow flowers
Here come the salvias. Salvia greggii underplanted with lamb’s ear (thanks, Annie), and with ‘Carefree Beauty’ and artemesia behind.
Mom’s purple iris
A cozy bird nest in one of my birdhouses—another spring image.
Breathtaking photos, as always 🙂 You actually make me want to try to grow roses!
Oh, you really should. I’m sold on the old-fashioned ones that can fend for themselves. —Pam
Pam — I have seen so few bees in my garden this spring that it’s kind of freaking me out. There were none on the wisteria, which is usually covered, and none on my orchid tree. I’ll have to check with my beekeeper friend (although his hives are mostly west of town, I think) to see if he’s noticed the lack of bees here that I’ve heard about elsewhere. But at least you have some in your garden.
I not only have some, I have a lot of bees. I keep hearing about the bee losses, and it concerns me, but I’m not noticing a lack of bees in my garden. I wonder why. I do have a lot of native plants, if that helps. But so do you, so I don’t know. —Pam
Roses in flower already? I can only dream about that for now. Such lovely pictures too bad I can’t smell your roses. Love that orchid tree, very special. And then there’s your mum’s purple Iris, very pretty. Don’t let Annie see that one. 😉
Hi, Yolanda Elizabet. Roses have to get going early here before the heat wave we call summer. Regarding the purple iris, ha!, Annie will be swimming in them soon. I gave her divisions of my ‘Amethyst’ iris last fall, and they multiply like crazy and bloom their little heads off. —Pam
Hi, Pam. I stopped by because I knew you would have pictures of beautiful blooms right now, and you did not disappoint. I can just imagine the spring warmth when I look at your pictures.
Please stop by anytime, Carol. And hang in there until spring returns to your town. —Pam
I love the Anacacho orchid tree. It’s on my list of things to add to the garden. However, I don’t know if I agree with you about roses. I’ve lost half the ones I’ve planted and every one of them was an “old” rose. Could just be my black thumb, though. I do agree with you that people shouldn’t be afraid to try them. They are worth it in any case.
Have you seen the forecast for Saturday night? 34 degrees!
I’m skeptical that it will get that low in my in-town garden. But wow, that’s really low for this time of year. —Pam
Beautiful photos. You are fortunate to be able to grow Bauhinia. I wouldn’t have thought you could grow it in Austin. I thought it was a tropical tree only. Maybe global warming is happening faster than we thought? The one I remember seeing had pinkish purple flowers but I guess there are many varieties. All beautiful with graceful flowers.
Hi, Ki. Actually, Bauhinia congesta is native to Austin, in particular the Edwards Plateau on the west side of Austin. I’ll have to look up the tropical varieties to see how they compare. —Pam
Beautiful flowers and sensational photos. I had never heard of the orchid tree. I’m going to go read up on it right now.
Thanks, Anna Maria. Orchid tree is quite a beauty at this time of year especially. —Pam
Good luck tonight – it’s already 34º at 11 PM.
I don’t know about you, Pam, but I’m getting tired of setting and breaking weather records.
We’ll have to compare notes on Monday… then get ready for the nineties to slam us!
Annie
Hello,
I’m looking for Carefree Roses to buy in the Austin area. So far I’ve only found places that sell online only. I’m not sure if it’s already too late to plant them, but any advise would be helpful. Your pictures are gorgeous btw!
Thank you,
Gemma
I’ve bought all my roses at Antique Rose Emporium, either at the Brenham nursery or via online order. You can’t go wrong with them, and their site is amazing, with hundreds of choices and people who will recommend which roses will do best with your soil and heat conditions.
You might also find ‘Carefree’ roses at Barton Springs Nursery on Bee Caves Road. They sell quite a few old roses from Antique Rose Emporium. Why don’t you give them a call to see what they have in stock?
Thanks for visiting. —Pam