Amethyst Flame irises & crossvine in bloom
Spring called to me yesterday, and I spent a good deal of time in the garden just puttering around. I shot some photos, I pulled one or two weeds, I watered some moonflower vine seedlings I’m growing. But mostly I just looked and touched and smelled and listened. Though the sky was heavily overcast, it remained dry and warm—82 F (27.7 C) in my part of town—until last night. Today it’s rainy, blustery, and cool, but I still have these photos to remind me of yesterday.
‘Amethyst Flame’ irises and bird bath with green-glass “water”
The purple irises look great with the newly-painted yellow bench behind them.
‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine (Bignonia capreolata ) is opening its first chalky trumpets.
The buds are like oblong balloons.
Another flower
I hope you enjoyed this Monday morning pick-me-up. I’m listening to the rain and feeling happy for the garden, which needed this drink.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Thanks for the pick-me-up! Today is dreary, even though we really need the rain. You and I are both doing the same thing — a perfect morning for blogging and doing what I call “noodling-around” the web! Have a good day.
The rain has already stopped over here, and I hope we get more. It’s been so dry all winter. Have fun “noodling around” the web. —Pam
Spring called me yesterday, too. Sunny skies, mid-60’s. Ahhhh, it was sure nice while it lasted.
(Carol, May Dreams Gardens)
That’s your warmest yet, isn’t it, Carol? Spring is surely on its way. —Pam
Oh my, I actually started drooling when looking at those photos. We have the tiniest breath of spring in the air today but the ground doesn’t know it yet.
Thanks for giving us hope 🙂
Uh oh, you’ll get your keyboard all messy that way. 😉 Thanks for saying hello, Melanie. I just clicked your link to visit your blog and discovered your URL is actually .com, not .net. I fixed it for you so others can find you too. Cheers. —Pam
Your irises are wonderful. How often do you divide them? I like the glass ‘water’ too, did you get it locally? I have looked online at the colored glass bits, would love to use them some way in the garden but they are pricey. We have the crossvine, it blooms later here and is still on the pole it used to share with Killer the rose. The new arbor is almost finished and the crossvine will be helped along the top of it. The new rose, Madame Alfred, needs to be ordered soon. Glad you had a wonderful puttering day.
Frances at Faire Garden
I divide the irises every two or three years. The tumbled, frosted glass in the bird bath is from two cheapo bags at Garden Ridge. I got it a number of years ago, but maybe they still carry it. They had several colors at the time. I’ve also seen inexpensive glass and marbles for sale at Hobby Lobby.
I look forward to seeing your crossvine in bloom on your new arbor. —Pam
Pam,
Great photos…it always seems that the iris bloom beautifully and then are dashed by rain. The crossvine is a wonderful color.
gail
The rain has moved out. The irises are looking a little battered but are still standing. Hopefully they’ll perk up tomorrow. —Pam
Same weather here. Cool and dreary and raining. I wish I had luck with moonflower. What’s your secret?
Brenda
Used to, I nicked them with a knife and then planted the seeds 1/2 inch deep in good potting soil, kept them in a protected spot, and made sure the soil stayed moist. I got about a 25% return on the seeds I treated this way. This year I decided to soak them in a bowl of water for 24 hours. The next day, I drained the water and let them dry. About half of the seeds had already begun to sprout, so I potted them up right away. I’m waiting to see if I get better results with this method. After danger of frost, I just plant the seedlings in a sunny spot and let ’em rip. —Pam
The jewels in your garden are just gorgeous. I really like the amethyst iris in front of the yellow chair.
That yellow chair is going to go well with lots of colors in your garden. The rain has arrived here today
too. I set out all my house plants to get a drink before the temps began to drop. They are so happy with
the first taste of spring.
I’m liking that yellow bench too, Lisa. I don’t know why it took me so long to think of it! And I’m glad to hear you got a bit of rain too. —Pam
I love purple iris. They blend beautifully with every color.
Don’t they, though? Thanks for dropping by, Catherine. —Pam
Wow! I’m living with white, black, gray and brown! Just today there was a small flash of green. Hope springs eternal and tonight I will dream of lavender iris! All your photos are inspiring! Thanks for them all!
Winter gardens here usually remain green along with brown and gray. But color is returning quickly. I hope your “small flash of green” soon expands as well, Layanee. —Pam
Fantastic, Pam! What an exuberant burst of spring colour; just what the gardening doctor ordered. I want to put my face into that bignonia flower, glorious colour that it is. The irises are mighty fine too, but the crossvine really got to me.
Take two bignonias, and call me in the morning, Jodi. Glad you enjoyed them. —Pam
Wow, my crossvines are no where near blooming. The iris are abso gorgeous!!! Annie says she has a brugmansia in the ground, so I’m hopeful my mad scheme will work. Crazy weather, huh.
Crazy but typical, I think. I have two crossvines in the back garden that aren’t blooming yet either, though they’ve set buds. This crossvine in the side yard, which, ironically, seems shadier, always goes first. —Pam
Lots of iris buds!
Thank goodness, because the rain kind of tattered the ones in these photos. —Pam
I think our weather is coming from your way this week. We had a sunny, springlike day with mild temps before the rain, sleet and snow descend on us again on Tuesday.
Thanks so much for this taste of spring! The iris are glorious, and yes, they look beautiful against the yellow bench backdrop. I’m glad your garden got a much-needed drink 🙂
South winds, eh? I’m glad to hear it. It sounds like you’re having the weather ups and downs that we’ve been experiencing—a sign of spring, right? —Pam
I enjoyed the pick-me-up even though I didn’t see it until Tuesday morning.
Better late than never, if you need a pick-me-up. 🙂 —Pam
No springtime temps for us today. We had rain,then snow yesterday. I love the blue against the gray, but the crossvine blossom’s hairiness.~~Dee
It is a hairy flower, isn’t it? So many of Austin’s best-performing plants are hirsute, for drought tolerance. —Pam
Great photos. The iris are really beautiful.
Thanks, Phillip. —Pam
So beautiful… and much-needed here. I keep calling to spring, but it keeps pretending not to answer me! (And yet you know that when it calls me back, finally, I’ll cancel all of my other plans to be at its beck and call.) 🙂
Yes, I know how love is. I hope Spring answers you soon, Kim. —Pam
What beautiful irises! The purple is perfect. Where can I get some?
I picked these up a few years ago at Barton Springs Nursery in Austin. Maybe they can be found in a catalog? —Pam