Hymenoxys

This little flower is a dependable winter-bloomer . . . and, for that matter, summer-bloomer too. Hymenoxys, or four-nerve daisy, is a tough little plant that is nearly ever-blooming. After a year or so a clump will peter out. Then I just dig up a new clump and move it to the dying plant’s spot, and voila—more blooms.

Purple coneflower opening

All winter the purple coneflowers under the vitex in the front garden have kept up a brave show, thanks to our unseasonably warm winter. Now, in January, they are beginning to bloom.

During our protracted drought this winter, normally our rainiest time, the three Southern wax myrtles along the drive became stressed. After watching them partially defoliate and wilt, even after I babied them a bit, I got fed up and decided that if they can’t take the heat (and drought), they’d better get out of the kitchen. In short, I ripped them all out.

I replaced them with a quartet of Lindheimer muhly grasses. While they may not look like much now, by next fall they should be waving in the breeze and providing texture and height to this long, narrow bed.

Lindheimer muhly grasses

Last fall I bought a new rose at the Antique Rose Emporium, Marie Pavie, a small, fragrant rose with pale pink buds that open white and frilly. This (slightly fuzzy) picture is of the first rosebud.

Marie Pavie rosebud