Riot of color on Bloom Day
Winecup with Texas bluebonnets
A riot of color threads through my new-baby garden this Bloom Day…if you crouch down and look closely. Many of my new plants and transplants are still small, but with recent rain (nearly half an inch last week), warm (but not hot) temperatures, and all that good soil I added, growth is strong and more flowers appear every day. Without further ado, here’s what’s blooming in my garden this mid-April. Due to time constraints, I’m just providing common names this time; sorry, purists.
My daughter, who went on a photo spree after I finished, snapped a better picture of this purple coneflower than I did.
I recently found this trailing ‘Candy Corn’ abutilon at The Great Outdoors, thanks to a heads-up email from a reader named Sarah, who’d remembered reading that I wanted one. Thanks, Sarah!
Purple prickly pear (Opuntia macrocentra)
The ubiquitous but lovely ‘Radrazz’ Knock Out rose
And a wider view of the ‘Radrazz’ roses with bluebonnets and the bottle tree.
Purple oxalis
‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome, one of the Proven Winners plants I’m trialing. This is my favorite of all the plants they sent me so far. My daughter took this one also. Maybe she can be my official photographer from now on.
Here’s a wider look at the whole plant. It’s covered in flowers, and the plant should get much taller—about two feet, I think.
I can’t resist one more look.
Bulbine blooming in the shade of live oaks. I know bulbine as a sun plant, so this still surprises me.
‘Wonderful’ pomegranate, blooming and sporting lots of buds
Gulf Coast penstemon, a hitchhiker in a transplant of something else from my old garden, but a welcome one.
‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia, another PW trial plant. I already had one that I inherited with the new garden, and it survived our mild winter and is growing alongside the trial ones.
You didn’t think I’d forget the ‘Macho Mocha’ mangave simply because the flower spike hasn’t opened yet, did you? It’s about four feet tall now.
‘Bath’s Pink’ dianthus, which always looks a bit ratty but spices up the garden with its wonderful fragrance.
Mystery echeveria’s flower spike
It’s about to send up another one.
‘Totally Tempted’ cuphea, another PW trial plant
Lyre-leaf sage, a recent transplant from the old garden at the Unsold House.
I couldn’t resist it when I saw it about to bloom, and the foliage is interesting too.
Ageratum Artist Blue Violet, another PW trial plant.
Torenia Catalina Pink, a PW trial plant for shade or part-shade. I’m trying it under the live oaks. Again, it’s my daughter’s photo.
Potato vine
Strawflower, or Chrysocephalum apiculatum ‘Flame Orange’, a PW trial plant for sun that’s supposed to be drought-tolerant. A plethora of oaks means this Australian native must make do with part-sun. My daughter snapped this shot too.
Engelmann’s, or cutleaf, daisy
Red Autumn sage
‘Dortmund’ roses
And a parting look at the winecup. Here’s to a happy Bloom Day in your garden!
Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what’s blooming on this day in gardens around the world.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
mmm. lots of wonderful ‘blooms’ I esp like the diamond frost Euphorbia.. it has been heavily advertised, and I can see why. pretty .
A riot of color indeed this month! I love the Candy Corn Abutilon, it’s very interesting. All the proven winners plants that you are trialing seem to be blooming nicely. Tell your daughter she did a great job with her photos. 🙂
Yummy! I can’t tell you how much I love that Cleome. I grew it last year. It does get to two feet, and is absolutely covered in blooms until frost. I found a bat-face cuphea the other day, and I bought it for a container on the deck. I hope I can overwinter it inside. Your daughter takes wonderful photos just like her Mama. Love seeing what’s growing at your house. Happy Bloom Day!~~Dee
4 Feet! Any predictions for you tall it will top out at? Fabulous pictures as always Pam!
Beautiful pictures! I want the try the diamond frost this year in a mixed container.
You have so many pretties blooming in your new garden! Yes, your daughter could follow you around snapping photos like the ones celebrities have. Bet that wouldn’t last long. Kids attention spans, you know. I just saw that my big aloe has started its bloom. It will get really tall also.
Brenda
All are gorgeous..I love the cleome, mine are getting on up there in size. I just bought the Diamond Frost a couple of weeks ago I have it in a container with some trailing bright pink phlox and dailhberg daisy, ( I know I did not spell that correct). The torenia or wishbone I have grown for years in full sun and it gets quite tall for what the tag says….reseeds heavily.
Hey Pam, where can we buy the Proven Winner plants?? They’re doing well, and I really need something that will thrive in part sun/mostly shade. I’m surprised to find a bloomer that likes shade, so I’m intrigued. Thanks, kat
Hi, Kat. The Proven Winners site has a search feature for finding a retailer near you. Looks like it’s mostly a certain big box store that carries them, but there are a few independents listed too. —Pam
Plenty of colorful blooms down your way! Such a delight!
Cameron
Wow! What a show! I love the shot of the coneflower- really pretty. I don’t think I can pick a favorite, they are all just stunning photos! I do like the pink dianthus. Happy GBBD.
I’ve been looking high and low for a white potato vine. Did it come with the new garden, or did you find it somewhere locally?
Erin, I probably got it at Barton Springs Nursery. I’d expect it to be readily available around town at the good independent nurseries like BSN, Natural Gardener, and the Great Outdoors, but call first to check. —Pam
Oh my, your blooms are wonderful! The ‘Candy Corn’ is certainly aptly named. Everything is so far ahead of us, sigh. 🙂
Hi Pam, your daughter’s eye just gets better and better, lucky for both of you. When does she get her own blog? It all looks wonderful, and those proven winner plants are adding a lot to the color palette too. That cleome is very nice indeed. I’ll look for it around here. Happy bloom day!
Frances
If I’d let her, Frances, she’d already be blogging. But she’s only nine, which seems a bit young to be out there on the Internet. So for now everything goes down on paper. —Pam
Wow Pam that is amazing!! Love the Winecup and the Bluebonnet behind..they look electrified! Thought of you this morning while listening to RFD tv. They had a commercial for a program (some ag program) that they were profiling Senorita Rosalita Cleome!! Great photos!
You weren’t exaggerating with that title. Your daughter has the photographer’s eye (and he wants it back!); she really captured the Fibonacci sequence of the quills of the Coneflower. I finally got me a purple-leaved Oxalis. During last year’s Spring Fling, I fell in love with it.
I had to look up Fibonacci. Learning something new every day, MMD. Congrats on the purple oxalis acquisition. It’s a pretty little thing, isn’t it? —Pam
Pam…A gorgeous riot of color in your Baby garden! The red Autumn Sage looks spectacular with the blue container as a backdrop! Your winecups inspired me to add them to the GOBN…I hope they thrive…yours are delicious! Happy GBBD! gail
Whoooo hoooo, look at all that color in your garden. It won’t be long and you can sit back in your garden chair with your mint julip and point so your daughter can shoot. Wow…good job.
Wow, great photos, both from you and your daughter. I hope you like the Diamond Frost euphorbia. It is now one of my favorite plants for containers.
I had the potato vine a long time ago and I wanted one again this year. They are very hard to find! I finally bought one on E-bay and it should be arriving any day now.
I love the ‘Diamond Frost’, which is frothing in front of the silver stock tank that holds the mangave. The potato vine is easy to find in Austin. How strange that it’s scarce in other regions of the country. —Pam
Wow, can I borrow your daughter?! Now I want that euphorbia too. And bulbine does very well in partial shade for me. Fabulous flowers for such a new garden! You are good! Linda
I don’t blame you taking a second and third look at the cleome. I LOVE IT. I have started some cleome but it is just the pink kind. I wonder if seed will ever be available.
Does the Cleome have a fragrance? I hear some have a not-so-fresh scent. It sure looks pretty.
I’ve heard that cleome has an unpleasant odor, but this variety is nearly scentless. Thornless also. —Pam
Luscious colors in your garden right now. It sounds as though you have had reasonable and pleasant weather. Please send it along. I hope the winecups I planted to remind me of TX have survived the winter. We shall see.
Wow! That cleome could win me over. Congrats to your daughter; she has a good eye for composition.
Quite a show! And congratulations on the rain ;->
Wow, Pam! So many pretty things there. I love that Cleome! I’m guessing if you’re trialing it, it may not be available to the public yet? How fun to get to trial PLANTS!
No, Kylee, I think all these Proven Winners plants are already available, although their website says not every plant is offered in every region of the country. I’ll do a follow-up post about the trialing in my home garden soon. —Pam
I have a purple-leaved lyre-leaf sage that is blooming in sync with your red-veined version–small world! Cleomes have been among my favorite flowering plants ever since I ran across a farm on the Navajo Reservation that had them all over the areas at the edges of their fields. Dozens of six-foot mounds of pink and rose. I just planted one of our native cleome relatives, a yellow-flowered species which unfortunately does have a bit of a chemical odor if you touch the leaves. But it’s a great plant from afar. Happy Bloom Day to you. You’ve got great things going on in your garden.
I find it hard to believe that your daughter got a better shot…that’s gorgeous! Love your bottle tree:)
Great post…as we’ve come to expect:) Happy GBBD!
I am always suprised at how lovely cactus flowers are, and ‘Santa Rita’ is beautiful. The pomegranate is very nice too, ours are only just now emerging from their winter sleep.
Pam, dontcha just love pomegranate blooms. Such a vivid color… I guessing you decided you like the Dortmund where it is? It seems to be performing well.
Yes, ‘Dortmund’ is a keeper, Randy. And a good thing too, as it would be a devil of a thorny plant to move (or remove). By the way, your seeds will be in the mail next week, I promise! —Pam
I just saw your post of the Senorita Rosalita cleome. I purchased several of these this year and love them also. I did not know that you trialed PW plants. I will be checking back often to see your favorites. Their plants always always perform for me so well! Vikki
Hi, Vikki. A Proven Winners rep just contacted me about trialing some plants this spring, and I thought I’d give it a try. I wasn’t familiar with the brand, although it turned out I already had a couple of their plants in my garden, inherited with the new house. I’ll do a follow-up post on them soon. —Pam
It seems your daughter is following in her mother’s footsteps, photographically speaking … I like how she captured the light on that torenia.
Looks like the baby garden is becoming a toddler!
Your colors are truly a glorious riot! Maybe you need to call in the National Guard! 😉
I saw that ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia on the Austin pond tour last year and have been craving one ever since. So I’ll be looking to see how it does…or did you already write a post on it that I missed? I almost bought one yesterday but got an iris for the pond instead.
The white mistflower you gave me is blooming. Before it’s only bloomed in the fall. And so is the zexmenia you gave me. It’s one of the few yellow flowers I have and it brightens up all my blues, violets, and purples.
You’re lucky that you got 1/2″ of rain last week. We hardly got any downtown. The driveway wasn’t even wet under the cars. Let’s hope that today’s forecast rain pans out. I’m worried it might sail past us and fall east of IH35.
I’d expect the zexmenia to be blooming, but the mistflower? That’s a surprise. It must be confused.
I’d say go ahead and get the ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia except that I haven’t seen how it goes through the summer yet. Mine is in part-sun, but it does get some afternoon sun. One that I inherited with the new garden looked great in October, when we moved in, but I don’t know how much they watered. I haven’t done a follow-up post on the trial plants yet, but I will soon. —Pam
Thanks to you and Jenny’s GBBD posts, I’ve decided that I need some lyre leaf sage of my own. And until I saw your picture, I completely forgot that my pomegranate started blooming on Bloom Day!
Wow, what great photos and beautiful flowers! I especially like the first shot.
Our yuccas get bloom stalks similar to your Macho’s, but they must send out pheromone signals to the deer, because they get munched off immediately. By the way, thank you so much for the tip about enabling comments. I figured out how to fix it all by myself!
I bet the deer would like a mangave bloom too, but they aren’t getting this one! It’s in the fenced back yard. I haven’t ruled out the possibility that it may yet fall victim to a spring hailstorm or a stray soccer ball though. It’d better bloom soon! —Pam
Lots of flowers in Austin already. I can’t figure why everything is slower in NoRCal. We still have 40 degree nights and I suspect that is the reason. Did you grow the purple cleome from seed. All I ever find is mixed colors.
No, the cleome was sent in a 4-in. pot from Proven Winners as a trial plant for my garden. More on the trial plants coming soon! —Pam
Wow, I know about the Fibonacci sequence, but I sure didn’t know that the coneflower used it. I didn’t care for the flower before, but that tidbit makes me feel more interested in getting one. And your daughter’s photo of it, of course, is perfection. But I am in love with the Cleome, and the new Cuphea! I might have to visit that certain big box unless I can find them locally. How much shade is the Cleome in?
By the way, I had my Bulbine in quite a bit of shade – just got morning sun – and it bloomed for me. However, this spring I transplanted all of it to full sun, and it immediately doubled and tripled in blooms. It’s a survivor, but obviously has some preferences.
Great post, Pam, as always you give me ideas for my own garden. Thanks.
Thanks, Robin. The cleome gets morning to a little midday sun and bright shade in the afternoon. —Pam
How cool to see your signature blue bottle tree again and what a colorful blooming day post!
I’d have wanted to try Senorita Rosalita just for the name, but that color on a non-stinky cleome makes it even more desirable, Pam. I grew tall white and pink cleome from seed in IL and liked them, but they had to be placed so no one would brush against them on a hot summer evening. The flowers didn’t smell, but any damage to the foliage could convince you that a skunk was in the yard.
Happy Blooming Day,
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Pam, you must be very proud of your daughter. What a good eye for one so young. And what a good show from your new baby garden. I may have to try that cleome.
Glad to see you found the “Candy Corn” Pam. I’ve off to the Great Outdoors this morning for a Cuban con Leche and some plant shopping in the rain!
Thanks again for the tip, Sarah! —Pam
Wow! I am hoping to create a bottle tree this year, too. Yours provides such a lovely backdrop for your plants.
Hi Pam. That cleome is turning out really nice, isn’t it? I used to have bulbine and it only got about 3-4 hours of sun a day (western sun) but would continue to bloom. Lyre-leaf sage grows as a “weed” around here (or a wildflower when it’s on the side of the road). When we first moved into our house I was enchanted by the lyre-leaf around my yard. Then I realized it wasn’t supposed to be growing in a lawn. 😉
Wow – Pam – you sure have a lot blooming in your new garden. And so many things that I don’t have — isn’t it amazing the sheer number of plants we have from which to choose? Love your daughter’s photo of the Coneflower — it’s just beautiful — she’s quite talented…wonder where she gets that from?! That Cuphea you are testing is really interesting — it looks frilly in the photo, is it? And I love the delicate makeup of that Cleome — I might have some plant envy for that one, along with your new Candy Corn Abutilon – boy – that’s really something to see.
Yes, the ‘Totally Tempted’ cuphea flower is frilly. I keep trying to get a wider image of the whole plant, but the intense red blurs out, and I end up with only macros that I can use. —Pam
Love all the color in your garden. I wish I could see it in person… someday!
Now see there? You’ve done it again, Carol. When you put a wish like that in writing, it’s bound to come true. So when are you returning to Austin for a visit? —Pam
Best of luck with the Chrysocephalum; the Botanical Gardens people here say it likes midday sun at the very least and an open situation. I love it but haven’t tried it in my heavy soil. Pomegranates grow quite well here but that flower colour is a bit awkward. It really is a unique shade! “Orange” is inadequate to describe it. How do you fit it into your scheme?
Thanks for the additional info on the Chrysocephalum, Chookie. And yes, pomegranates are hard to place in a garden. I’ve got this one planted in combination with some of your Australian acacias, which have a blue-green cast to their leaves, and with orange-red gaillardia. —Pam