Passionate Lady Margaret and spring's passing
‘Lady Margaret,’ my newest passion flower, rewards close inspection with intricate detail.
She’s the lady in red, slightly tarnished, not a pure red. Raspberry perhaps, with a purple-tinged shawl. ‘Lady Margaret’ is a hybrid, created by crossing Passiflora coccinea and P. incarnata.
Here you see her embracing a shaggy cedar post on the Green Hall shed. Beside her floats a sea-foam cloud of bamboo muhly grass (Muhlenbergia dumosa ) in full bloom. Yellow-spangled zexmenia (Wedelia texana ) peeks out at its feet.
Like a tree-form lantana, the Barbados cherry (Malpighia glabra ) has burst into confetti-ish, lightly fragrant flower.
Behind the stock-tank container pond, majestic sage (Salvia guaranitica ) throws lime green and cobalt together to brighten the shade garden. Beneath it, blue-green heartleaf skullcap (Scutellaria ovata ) spires stand ready to add their lilac flowers to the mix.
These welcome early-summer flowers ease the passing of playful, temperate Spring. OK, Summer. Let’s see if we can make the best of it this year.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
The Lady in Red is gorgeous as is the Cherry blossoms. Those Cherry blossoms are so unusual.
Isn’t spring such a wonderful time of year. Your garden looks so lush at every juncture.
Things get lush in Austin early, as spring begins in February. We’re definitely in summer now. It was 96 degrees today—hot and muggy. Wake me up when it’s over! 😉 —Pam
Summer for you, still quite spring for me. I haven’t even planted my vegetable garden yet, and there are still lilacs and peony buds ready to bloom in my garden.
All the best to you Austin gardeners, and ‘Lady Margaret’, as summer arrives in Texas. I hope your summer is ‘moderate’ for you, and not full of extremes of either heat or dryness.
Ah, lilacs and peonies to look forward to. Lucky you! I’ll be living vicariously through your blog, Carol. Thanks for the good “survival” wishes! —Pam
I love the passion flower – very sumptious
It is, isn’t it? Cheers, Helen. —Pam
‘Lady Margaret’ is my favorite color! I’ll have to keep an eye out for one (once I’ve proven to myself that I can keep a passion flower without killing it).
What else do you grow in your favorite color, Rachel? I don’t have anything else quite this shade of rusty raspberry, but I like it. My track record with passion flower is not so hot either, but I keep trying. —Pam
Lady Margaret looks ripe with promise, like a fresh raspberry. I bought a Barbados cherry @ Bustani. I put it close to the house to see if I can overwinter it. Thanks for the color, as always.~~Dee
I’ll be curious to know if you can keep the Barbados cherry alive so far north, Dee. But if anyone can, you can. Keep us updated. —Pam
Oooh, she is really gorgeous! I like her better on the raspberry side of red! Luscious!
Glad you admire the Lady Margaret, Layanee. —Pam
What a beauty! You’re on the brink of summer and my spring has barely even started.
It’s amazing the range of zones represented via garden blogs, isn’t it? So enlightening for me, who figures everywhere must be like the far south. Just kidding. 😉 —Pam
Dear Pam,
Making the best of summer is daunting! Were you there when James David spoke about organizing his plantings around late summer in Austin? I heard that second hand after the Spring Fling and thought it was a valiant (and smart) way to go. What do you think he meant by that? Did he elaborate?
Thanks,
Julie
Are you not a summer girl either? 🙁
Yes, I did hear James David say that he plans for his garden to be at its best in late summer because that’s what we have so much of. Very admirable, but no, I didn’t find out exactly how he accomplishes this feat, as late summer is traditionally a tough time in any garden, north or south. However, I took it to mean that he picks drought-tolerant, late-blooming plants, forgoing the typical spring displays many gardeners concentrate on. —Pam
I love the stock tank picture. This blog has become the first one I check each morning, hoping for a new post and always great pictures. Thanks for blogging, Pam!
Wow, thanks, Becky! That’s high praise in such a crowded blogosphere. Thanks so much for your visits and comments. —Pam
The passion flower is aptly named and that color is just luscious, Pam! Thanks for sharing her and for the inspiration. And
that pond tank is looking pretty intriguing as well. You surely know how to pick your flowers, girl! 🙂
Thanks, Kathryn! The container pond contains only three plants (that are above water) : a horsetail, a ‘Helvola’ water lily, and a star grass sedge. There isn’t room for much more, and I often wish for a much bigger tank. —Pam
I don’t know which beautiful flower/photograph to comment on first…they are all lovely, no, some are gorgeous! Lady Margarette is a stunning color and she makes a fine companion for the grass.
gail
Thanks so much, Gail. I find very little that doesn’t look beautiful with that bamboo muhly grass, but ‘Lady Margaret’ works particularly well because of the color contrast. —Pam
Wow that passionflower vine is beautiful. I really love seeing other colors besides the normal purple. It seems I have seen other blogs too post up picks of red passion flowers. That bamboo muhly grass looks awesome. It has such a nice texture and effect. I’m in love with your stock tanks, they are so great looking.
Thanks, Priscilla. I saw the pure red passionflower at a nursery today and was sorely tempted by it too, but I resisted. Those reds just wouldn’t look good together, alas. —Pam
I thought I liked Passionflowers because of their bluish purple, but ‘Lady Margaret’ is my kind of red, literally. She’d look great with ‘Black Beauty’ Lily, Astrantia ‘Claret,’ ‘Sunburst Ruby’ Columbine, or Lobelia ‘Sparkle DeVine.’ I’m going to have to investigate how to grow it around here.
‘Lady Margaret’ would look good with dark-foliage plants. I hope you can grow it, MMD. —Pam
How hardy is Lady Margaret? I want a red passion flower but the last one I tried didn’t make it through the winter.
I’ve never grown it before, Ralph, so I don’t know from experience. Online sources say it’s hardy to Zone 8b. —Pam
Great color on the passion flower- she really pops out.
It does pop, even from a distance. I can’t wait until it’s draped along the shed, covered in flowers (I hope, I hope!). —Pam