Early May is giving me end-of-May vibes this year — that is to say, near 100 degrees F and humid. You know…full-on Texas summer. And despite the blanket of Gulf humidity, we’re still not getting any real rain. Well, thankfully the plants don’t seem to mind yet. In fact, everything is blooming its heart out in my garden, including ‘Rooguchi’ clematis. This delicate-looking but very hardy vine with bell-shaped purple flowers twines up a wire I’ve wrapped around a tall pot.

A week ago, when I took this photo, my sole rose — ‘Peggy Martin’ aka the Katrina rose — was in full lipstick-pink bloom on the back fence. It’s faded now, but I enjoyed the spring show.

I’m also loving the lemony flower wands of several hesperaloes growing in the lower garden. Typically our native Hesperaloe parviflora (aka red yucca) has coral-red flowers. But the yellow “red yucca” is one of my favorite varieties. I have three that flower equally well in full sun and part-shade, growing amid cracks in the limestone bedrock.

One more view because it’s so pretty. Behind it, that’s purple heart (Tradescantia pallida) growing between the pool and a low rock wall.

Red yucca ‘Desert Dusk’ (Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Desert Dusk’) has also sent up a bloom stalk. Despite being grown against a south-facing wall in full sun, this cultivar never blooms as well for me as the yellow one. But I’m happy to see the flowers that do appear. Soap aloes (Aloe maculata) and lanceleaf blanketflower (Gaillardia aestivalis) are in full bloom beside it.

A transplanted yucca unexpectedly died in this spot this spring. I replaced it with annuals I picked up at The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham: ‘Angel Wings’ senecio, ‘Fireworks’ gomphrena, and ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome. I don’t grow a lot of annuals, but it’s fun to occasionally experiment with heat lovers with a long flowering season. Will the gorgeous senecio hold up in our summer heat and humidity? There’s only one way to find out. Come on, ‘Angel Wings’. I’m rooting for you!

Another clematis climber, ‘Etoile Violette’, comes back every spring and pumps out these royal-purple flowers. Here they are on an overcast day.

And again on a sunny day.

‘Frazzle Dazzle’ is my favorite dyckia, and I grow it throughout the garden, usually in pots to show off that tribble-like foliage. In spring and usually again in summer and fall, ‘Frazzle Dazzle’ sends up adorable yellow bloom spikes that contrast with the pewter-gray foliage. Deer nip the flowers in the front garden, but in back they’re all mine.

I don’t know what possessed me to buy a 4-inch pot of variegated nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus ‘Alaska Mix’) last winter, but I did. And then had to carry it in and out for a couple of months until I was able to plant it in early March. I wasn’t sure if it would do anything, and as temperatures warmed I thought it might miss the cool-season window. But it started flowering about a month ago, and continues today.

Nasturtium fades away by June in Texas gardens, but I’ve enjoyed the cheery orange flowers and speckled leaves.

A couple of Texas spiny lizards basking on the patio edge caught my eye the other day. Usually they’re skittish, but these two just kept an upturned eye on me as I went about my business. We’re finally coming to an understanding.

Cacti have been trying to outdo every other plant with their extravagant flowers, like this flower-crown-wearing mammillaria cactus.

And this peanut cactus (Echinopsis chamaecereus), a passalong from Ragna in San Antonio. Stunning!

Out front in the island bed, the ‘Old Mexico’ prickly pear that was killed to the roots by the snowpocalypse is sloooowly coming back. From its “dinosaur bone” — the woody root structure visible at soil level where the plant used to stand — new upright pads are emerging.

Finally after 15 months, some real regrowth. The Beast lives!

In the backyard, paleleaf yucca (Y. pallida) is sending up a bloom spike.

Lemon-lime coloring

And purple coneflower is rampant in the circle garden around the potted whale’s tongue agave.

Pretty, but it sure gets thirsty every afternoon, wilting pitifully until morning revives it, even if I give it a drink every couple of days. I didn’t think purple coneflower was such a diva.

I can’t quite find the perfect flowering combo for this circular bed. I’ve tried tall verbena, ‘Fireworks’ gomphrena, and now purple coneflower. Everything gets too big and rank, overpowering the other plants in here like purple skullcap, society garlic, and purple sage. Hmm, maybe gopher plant would be the way to go.

The purple coneflower is a nice nod to the blackland prairie though.

And it sure is cheery.

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Digging Deeper

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