Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day—January 2008
‘Little John’ bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis )
Bloom Day January finds my garden short on flowers. I looked high and low for this handful of posies. Aside from several dozen frost-browned roses, this is it. While flowers are few, the garden is still pretty green (or, here and there, copper and silver), and the days have been fine: cool, sunny, and perfect for gardening. I’ve been busy out there.
‘Valentine’ rose—the only blossom that survived the last frost.
Rosemary
Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris scaposa )
Trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis ) is spangled with these little flowers. Its leaves turned burgundy as the weather turned colder, complementing the lavender flowers.
Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens ) typically starts revving its engine in January.
On your mark, get set, bud!
Protected by big ‘Belinda’s Dream,’ this little pink rose, ”The Fairy,’ makes a brave showing.
‘Belinda’s Dream,’ nodding and frost-bitten, dreams of spring.
If you’d like to see what’s blooming in gardens around the world on the 15th, check out May Dreams Gardens for links to other Bloom Day posts.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What gorgeous photos, as always. The carolina jessamine here is loaded with more buds that ever, but we have a week of freezing weather ahead so it will be interesting to see how they hold up to that harsh treatment. The bottle brush photo is stunning, the detail is amazing. Good job!
Carolina jessamine always jumps the gun, doesn’t it? I usually lose some flowers to the freezes, but it’s so nice to have those sweet-scented flowers in the middle of winter that I don’t really mind. —Pam
Pam, you certainly started out with a showstopper, that bottlebrush flower. It almost looks like it is tipped with gold fairy dust. And though the rose looks a bit nipped, the foliage is so green! These must be wonderful days to work in your garden.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
The bottlebrush is really something right now. I have two small bushes, only about 1 1/2 feet tall, but they’ve both been blooming beautifully since December. Must be because they’re Australian—they must think it’s summer. (Just kidding.) And yes, these are great days to work in the garden if you’re like me and you don’t like to sweat. But my neighbor saw me gardening yesterday and thought I was crazy ; she likes it hot. —Pam
Although we garden ten thousands of miles apart, we both have roses and rosemary in flower. The bottle brushes always bring a smile to my face, their such fun flowers!
The carolina jessamine is lovely, I wonder if it would do well over here too.
Happy GBBD!
That’s a good question, YE. It’s such a Southern favorite that it’s utterly familiar to me. I hope you can get one for your garden. I’d love to see it growing at Bliss. —Pam
Absolutely lovely, Pam. I can always count on you to show something we just don’t get to see here in Pennsylvania, no matter what the season. But, where are your purple coneflowers? I was beginning to think they bloomed all year ’round for you!
Ah, the purple coneflowers. Nan, I actually did have a photo of a sad looking echinacea but ended up not including it. It was so pitiful a bloom. I wondered if anyone would notice their absence. Thanks for being so observant! —Pam
The bottlebrush looks like a pretty Christmas decoration rather than a real flower. I’m glad you took time from the redesign to show us what’s in bloom, Pam. The jessamine buds aren’t visible here, but my Rosemary plants are in bloom – no photos because our camera can’t focus on such tiny flowers.
I read in your earlier post that the pomegranate is now growing in the back garden? It was pretty big – was it hard to move? It will be so much fun to see what you’ve been doing in the front garden!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hi, Annie. The pomegranate wasn’t very hard to move, as it had been in the ground only a year. I just hauled it to the back in a wheelbarrow and plunked it in. The soil back there is much heavier (more clay) than in front, and I hope it will do OK. Pomegranates like more-arid conditions, so I don’t know. Time will tell. —Pam
The bottlebrush plant looks like you caught it in mid-explosion!
Its bloom is rather like a firework going off. Thanks for commenting, Jim. —Pam
Hey – your bottlebrush is amazing! So vibrant for this time of year. Hey – hope you don’t mind, I paraphrased you and posted Spring Fling on my page — thanks for doing all the work on this – it’s coming together wonderfully.
I don’t mind at all, Diana. Thanks for the publicity. —Pam
Wow, Pam the red in that bottlebrush and Valentine rose is stunning. I was just looking at my little bottlebrush this morning and wondering when it might bloom. The other pics are so very pretty, too.
That’s my red bed in the back garden. There’s a bat-faced cuphea in there too, but it’s dormant now. I hope your bottlebrush blooms for you soon, Nicole. —Pam
I have never seen Bottlebrush flower. It is so unique, it looks like a candidate for alien flora on “Star Trek.” While the frost damaged rose looks sad, the other roses are beautiful.
Bottlebrush is native to Australia, MMD. It’s been popping up more frequently in Austin lately, along with Aussie acacias, so it seems that plants from Down Under are getting some well-deserved attention for hot, dry climates in the U.S. —Pam
You have tons of flowers, as usual.
You think? That’s just the power of close-ups. Overall, the garden looks green and brown, but nice for January. Thanks for dropping by, Chuck. —Pam
Lucky you Pam!
Here in Sweden is it boring weather.
I read in the newspaper today that we in sweden only had 20 minits of suny ours in December, its unbelievale I cant stand it any more.
I must have some light soon.
Regards Ken
Twenty minutes of sun for a whole month??? Man, no wonder Swedes decorate with those beautiful, light, white-washed interiors. Wishing for some sunshine for you . . . —Pam
That bottlebrush is stunning! I’ve never seen one of those before. Is it a warm-climate-only plant?
Yes, it’s cold hardy only to Zone 8 or 9. I’ve planted mine along a south-facing wall for winter protection. —Pam
The hard freeze just about two weeks ago stopped all of my roses in their tracks – it was nice to come here and see a few in bloom!
Not many here, but a few have survived the freezes. I wish I had a few camellias to see me through, as you do, Pam. —Pam
Well, Pam you can take comfort that the only outdoor blooms *I* have are frostflowers and snowdrops–of the snow kind! These are great, especially the bottlebrush. I THINK I saw one of those last year at the Royal Botanical Garden in Burlington/Hamilton, Ontario but I’m not entirely sure. Looks like it belongs in the Doctor Seuss garden.
It does look kind of Dr. Seussian, doesn’t it? You had me going there for a second, Jodi. I was envisioning some early-blooming frostflowers and snowdrops of the floral kind. 🙂 —Pam
Pam: I am so glad you have some outside blooms! Beautiful photos as usual! Thanks for sharing them! Is there ever a month without outside blooms in Austin?
Not if you make an effort. By adding just a rose or two, rosemary, and trailing lantana, you can have at least a few blooms most of the winter, at least in central Austin. It gets considerably colder on the edges of town, as much as 10 degrees colder at night out at the airport, where Austin’s weather records are kept. —Pam
Hi Pam: I can’t believe I’ve never been to your site before but I am so glad I found it now. Your photos are stunning. The bottlebrush is my favorite I think, no maybe the Valentine Rose… definitely my favorite color red. I love the way the foliage changes to deep hues on the trailing Lantana and those sweet purple blossoms filling up whatever spot they are growing!
Red is my favorite color too, but I only indulge it in the back garden. The front is more pinks, silvers, purples, and yellows. Thanks for visiting, Meems. —Pam
One day in the middle of February I was In Kerrville, this was about three years ago. We went to a restaurant and in their parking lot they had about 3 Carolina Jessamine’s in full bloom. It was cold, rainy and overcast and there they were in bloom. I bought one that spring and built an arbor and just love it. It grew so much this year I had to cut some of it back. One of my best purchases!
Isn’t it great? That’s a nice anecdote about how one falls in love with a certain plant. Carolina jessamine is a winter antidote for us Southerners. —Pam
It does my heart good to see your bottlebrush…takes me right back to Australia! I didn’t appreciate it nearly as much in my growing up years, when I saw it everywhere, as I do now 🙂 It certainly looks unique when I see it over here! They have Acacias in Austin too? I hope to see some pics of those some day on your blog!! Wattle (common name) ushers in spring in Oz. It’s gorgeous covered in fuzzy yellow blooms.
The red rose is very beautiful.
I love the Carolina Jessamine too! Well, I love all your blooms!
It’s wonderful to see anything blooming for us snowbirds here in the frozen north!!
Kerri, I’d forgotten you hail from Australia. I’m glad you enjoyed my photo of your native bottlebrush. Yes, Texas has native acacias too, 12 species according to the Wasowskis’ Native Texas Plants. I don’t have one, but I’ll photograph an acacia for you at the Wildflower Center the next time I’m there. —Pam
“short on flowers” – my foot! Over here in starved-for-(bright)color winter I beg to differ! I’m with everyone else, in lust for the bottlebrush and I love the shot of the rosemary – you can certainly get poke in the nose close with your camera!
Well, I’m glad it seems floriferous to you, Kris. I was feeling anxious to provide some color for snowbound northern gardeners and worried that the blooms would be too few. 🙂 —Pam
I love the colour of the Valentine rose – your photograph of the Lantana is beautiful. The Hymenoxys is like a bright ray of sunshine for me. I will be checking back often to see if the Carolina Jessamine is in bloom. I imagine its scent is lovely!
Thank you, Kate! Yes, the jessamine does smell wonderful. At this time of year you have to get your nose up to the blossoms to smell it, but when it bursts into full flower it’ll scent the air. —Pam
I’m still playing catch-up on the GBBD posts and don’t know how missed yours. You still have many wonderful blooms. Like the others, the bottlebrush stands out to me, it’s spectacular. I can’t believe you still have roses too. Enjoy your gardening.
Thanks for dropping by, Robin. I understand about catching up on GBBD posts. There are so many now, it’s hard to see a majority of them, much less all of them. Carol was very successful in getting that community-builder going. —Pam
My favorite is the frostbit rose, I’d love a dress that looks like that.
Wouldn’t that be a romantic frock? Thanks for your comment, Libby. —Pam
Hi again, Pam 🙂
Yep, its the bottlebrush as a favourite for me too – its amazing that a plant looking like that can grow outside. Now for it to be flowering at this time of year too – that is just fantastic 😀
Great colour from your January garden 😀
Hi, Shirl. The bottlebrush seems to be the hands-down favorite from my garden this month. Mine too, in fact. And I am surprised that it’s blooming so determinedly right now. —Pam