Purple coneflower

Last night a “cold” front blew in, bringing the temperature down today to the mid- to upper 80s—still unseasonably warm, but not by much. Some areas received golf-ball-sized hail and torrential rain as the front came through, but at my house we got only a few sprinkles. The garden looks refreshed this morning, and the echinaceas are in full bloom.

This morning the goldfish in the container pond were busy cleaning up the surface, getting all the mosquito larvae, I trust. To the left of the pond grows a pine muhly, with its feet in the dry streambed. Behind the pond and to the right: the strappy leaves of agapanthus, spent columbines, basil, and purple oxalis.

The star jasmine on the trellis is just past peak bloom, but its fragrance is still heavenly.

The zexmenia in the back garden is starting to bloom, catching up to the ones out front in full sun. Its flowers are petite but cheerfully sunny.

The purple smoke tree behind the cedar elm is doing great this year. While it never seems to increase in size, it always has a nice bloom, and the foliage is beautiful. Purple foliage is rare in Austin, which makes me doubly appreciative of this plant.

In garden magazines, the beautiful gardens of temperate Seattle and Oregon are always featured prominently, and invariably they are chock-full of purple-leaved trees and shrubs. Maybe it’s the trendy color there, or maybe plants that color just grow better in cooler climates. Anyone know? Speaking of garden magazines, I always wonder why Texas gardens, and southwestern gardens in general, are so rarely featured. The northeast, the Pacific northwest, and California get the lion’s share of attention, and even the hot and humid southeast gets its share. But rarely the southwest, the mountain states, or the midwest. Seems like a market that needs filling. If anyone knows of a good garden-design magazine that caters to these areas, please let me know.

Here is a close look at the smoke tree’s flowers. The feathery blooms look a bit like smoke from a distance.

Behind the smoke tree, salvia guaranitica (also known as black-and-blue salvia and majestic sage) is sending up its first deep-blue flower spikes. This is my tallest salvia, which grows to about 4 feet.

On the shorter side of the garden, these little sedums grow in a gravel mix in a shallow container. The red-tipped leaves accent the soft-green rosette.

Under a yaupon holly, the inland sea oats, which I love for their brown seedheads in the fall, are filling out lushly. Their seedheads are already appearing, though for now they remain bright green.

I’ve had a poor showing from the Gulf Coast penstemon this spring. Usually these delicate-looking, pinkish lavender flowers are two feet high and thick in the partial shade of the Mexican plum (this is one of the few penstemons that will grow in less than full sun). But this year the plants are only about a foot tall and sparse looking.

Well, that’s part of the mystery and fun of gardening. The garden is never the same from one month to the next, nevermind from one year to the next. And who would want it to be? Happy gardening, wherever you are.