Gardener's Bloom Day, January 2024

Dried Hydrangea blossoms with snow

 

It's Gardener's Bloom Day once again, sponsored by Carol Michel's Blog "May Dreams Garden." What a lovely surprise to wake up to see about an inch of snow on the ground this morning! It's been two years since we had any significant snow here in my USDA Zone 6b garden. I believe we're supposed to get another 1-3 inches tomorrow, let's hope. I love having a bit of snow cover at this time of the year, it seems fitting and proper.

 

Princess holly, lavender and barberry shrubs.

It was about 23 degrees outside when I took these shots with my phone--why won't these phones work when you are using gloves? My hand was an icicle by the time I got back inside!

 

My cut-leaf Japanese maple 'Viridium'

Muhly grass with dried perennials.

The Little Indians bed.

The west bed with sedge and grasses.

I love the way some plants look when they're dusted with a bit of snow, but there are definitely no blooms here to be seen, unless you consider these "snow blossoms." Indoors, however, I always have a few flowers to console myself with. My collection of indoor plants is a weird mix of exotics and very eclectic, so here we are.

My Gardenia Tree (Tabernaemontana divaricata 'Flore Pleno') likes to bloom at this time of the year--I suspect this may be its blooming season in its native habitat in southeast Asia. The flowers have the most marvelous perfume for the first 6-8 hours after opening--after that the perfume fades.

 

Gardenia tree (Tabernaemontana divaricata)

 

My home-grown orchids continue to bloom: the oddly colored hybrid I bought at a roadside stand in Florida is probably a hybrid of Oncidium and another species. I brought it into the master bath after the flowers opened to enjoy its blossoms. The other orchids have been blooming for a couple of months now. The plant stand in the family room below is where most of my orchids live--as you can see I have collected quite a few over the years, mostly as presents, and a few from my botanical art classes. My students love to paint orchids, even though they're really difficult flowers to render.

 

Mystery orchid in the master bath.

Miltassia orchid flower spike.

Phalaenopsis on plant stand in family room.

Here are a few other blossoms: an Anthurium one of my sisters gave me, and a Brazilian begonia. I bought the latter because it was touted to have perfume, and I'm a sucker for perfumed flowers, but it has disappointed. This specimen, at least, has no scent that I can detect, but likes to bloom during the winter, which few begonias do.

Pink Anthurium

Brazilian begonia.

 

Someone gave me a waxed Amaryllis for Christmas but the downstairs of my house is so chilly it's taking its time to open. I thought it would be interesting to document the process of the buds opening in a painting, so that's what this last photo is about.

 

Waxed Amaryllis and painting.

I'm saving the center of the painting for the fully open flower, which will probably happen later this week. I'd love to save the bulb to grow, but have no idea if these bulbs will survive if potted once the blooms have faded. I have about four pots full of red Amaryllis bulbs that re-bloom every spring, but I don't know if these waxed ones will grow if freed from their wax covering. Have any other gardeners reading this tried it? If so, I'd appreciate any advice!

October Bloom Day A Bit Late

Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue'

The first flower scape of Agapanthus 'Galaxy Blue' was devoured by deer in early summer, and with it being so dry, it is only now that the plant has decided to re-bloom. Its deep blue flowers complement the red bush Salvia next to it. I kept thinking this Salvia was 'Windwalker Royal Red' and referred to it as such, but today I ran across the plant label (I save them so I can later identify the variety, but I sometimes lose track of them) and found out it is actually a red bush Salvia 'Maraschino.'

 

Red bush salvia

I was away the week before, attending the ASBA Annual Conference in Mobile, AL and missed posting at Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden's "Bloom Day" on the 15th. When I tried to post, I had trouble loading the images onto my blog. It took a while to figure out how to change the settings to fix the problem, so it's only now that I'm catching up with October Bloom Day. 

The pink Muhly grasses are sporting their feathery plumes as the leaves begin to turn--amazing what a transformation can take place in one week!

 

Herb's bed in October.

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' my sister gave me is re-blooming, and the few Chrysanthemums that didn't get eaten by deer over the summer are also in bloom. The red variety is very pretty; I bought the orange one at Lowes' recently and am looking for a spot to plant it in the ground.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

Red Chrysanthemums

Orange Chrysanthemum.

The yellowwood tree ( Cladrastris kentukea) in the west side had turned gold when I got home last week, and this week the hickories in the woods behind our house are turning. The oaks are just starting show a bit of color.

West side bed with yellowwood tree turning gold.

The woods in back from the deck.

The back yard from the west side.

 

The aromatic asters are starting to bloom, but aren't fully open yet. My oldest clump seems to be hollowing out in the center, an indication that it will need to be broken up and re-planted next spring.  Two other clumps that were separated and planted in other beds aren't making much of a show yet.

 

Aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolius)

 

I brought in most of my tender houseplants before leaving on my trip, just in case there might be a frost while I was gone. When I got back from my trip, the yellow hibiscus greeted me with lots of flowers--I rarely see this many at one time.

Yellow hibiscus.

I wonder if there will be any flowers in my garden for November Bloom Day? Surely the first frost will come before then.

October Tints

Muhly grass and flowers in Herb's bed.

 

 Our first frost came two days ago, several weeks earlier than last year. October was already showing its colorful tints in the woods behind our house--the trees started to turn at the beginning of the month, much earlier than last year. The dramatic progression can be seen in these two photos taken less than ten days apart.

The woods in back on Oct. 9

The woods on Oct. 17

The swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolium) usually start to bloom around my birthday at the end of September. This year the pineapple sage I planted next to them began to bloom at the same time. The two together make a nice display of bright colors. One of these days I'll find a perennial red sage that blooms at a time the hummingbirds can make use of it!

 

Swamp sunflowers and pineapple sage.

 

Over the  years, the swamp sunflowers have been spreading all over my garden. I've dug up some of them to replant in other beds, others are volunteers that have sprouted where the seeds were blown by the wind. I love their bright color and the way they complement the other plants in my garden beds!

 

Swamp sunflowers and grasses in Herb's bed on Oct. 9

Similar view on Oct. 19

Sunflowers in back yard.

Now the late asters are starting to open, lending another touch of color. The native aromatic asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) don't seem to spread as easily as the sunflowers, but the Aster laevis, which the deer like to munch a lot, may have spread to areas where the deer can't reach, to yield these very tall flowering stalks by the arbor vitae--I sure didn't plant those! It's possible the Aster laevis has hybridized with our native wild asters to produce these lovely high-rise flowers.

 

Asters with yellowing foliage of Amsonia hubrichtii.

Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

 

I divided the huge clump of asters next to the deck to add to other beds, and although they are growing well, they have not reached the magnificent proportions of the original plant you see here.

West side from the deck on Oct. 11.

West side on Oct. 17.

 The Mount Hood daffodils under the Japanese maple were getting much too overcrowded, so I started digging them up, along with the grape hyacinths around them. It seemed like a good time to expand this bed and consolidate it with the base of the 'Texas White' redbud tree I planted last spring, and join the two large island beds on this side of the yard together.

 

Expanding and reworking two island beds on the west side.

It's going to take a bit more time--it's back-breaking work to dig up the clayey sod and incorporate a load of clay-breaker material and compost. I'm only half-way to my goal at the moment. Naturally, there are other flower beds I'd like to remodel too. As my shrubs and plantings have grown over the years, the spring-flowering bulbs multiply and become overcrowded, while shrubs and perennials outgrow their allotted spaces and begin to crowd out other less vigorous plants. Some plants succumb to the usual garden pests or get eaten by deer, moles, or voles, and need to be replaced. It's a constant chore to keep a garden in balance and growing well.

 

Japanese maples on the east side (Full Moon and Bloodgood)

My Chrysanthemums didn't do well this year, they have very few blossoms. Only the deep purple-red in the front yard looks like much. I need to refresh the plants--buy some new ones or move them to other locations in the garden. Mums don't like to be in the same spot year after year, and need to be re-planted in a different location to prosper.

 

Frosty Chrysanthemums

There's still time before the leaves all come down, we're sure to see more autumn color as the season progresses.

Back yard from the deck at sunset.

Dogwood in front yard on Sept. 22, starting to turn.

Dogwood in front yard on Oct. 4, turning red.

Colorful Fall

My back yard in mid-October.

 

It's looking like we'll have a very colorful fall this year--the night temperatures began to drop in September, and have stayed cool, creating the perfect conditions for the emergence of fall colors. The 'Autumn Blaze' maple tree has turned to its characteristic red, as the swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolium) display their bright yellows. This year a seedling of one of the swamp sunflowers managed to establish itself in my rose bed--it's not the best color combination with my roses, but I've been reluctant to dig it up and move it while it's in bloom. I'll do so as soon as it has finished its display.

 

West yard rose bed.

Front yard, mid-October.

The asters have started their annual show--this genus was recently renamed after genetic studies revealed significant differences so that botanists have subdivided these into several genera--Symphyotrichum is one of them. Symphyotrichum laeve opens earlier, and S. oblongifolium a bit later in the season, just as the sunflowers are starting to fade.

Symphyotrichum laeve with Amsonia hubrichtii behind.

Swamp sunflowers (Heliantus angustifolium) and asters (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)

Purple asters and swamp sunflowers

The Chrysanthemum is another familiar plant genus that has undergone many changes recently--our garden Chrysanthemums had been reclassified as Dendrathryma indicum, but resistance to this change was so great, that the old florist's name, Chrysanthemum indicum has prevailed. By any name, the Chrysanthemum is a garden staple that adds touches of bright color to any flower bed. Mums don't like to stay in one spot for too long, so after a few years, I usually dig mine up and transplant portions to other beds. This way, as the plants multiply, my garden gets populated by a variety of colors.

 

Purple Chrysanthemums

Pink Muhly grasses and mums

Shasta daisies (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)

 

This year my Shasta daisies finally produced decent blooms--they hadn't bloomed much in the past couple of years. I reworked the entire "Badlands" bed some two years ago to improve the soil, and moved the Shastas forward, adding the native purple aster behind. The six Purple de Oro daylilies in front were added recently. Watering during the July drought helped, but I think it was the copious rains in August that got the daisies to bloom. 

Bearss limes

My Bearss lime tree has been very productive this summer; the fruits that had set during the winter survived their summer migration to the porch and grew enormous. These are two that I harvested last week. The plant set more fruit during the summer, so a new set of limes is now developing for the winter season. I'll be bringing it indoors soon, before the first frost--carefully, so as not to damage the fruit.

My Australian red lime bloomed profusely in June but nary a fruit has appeared. I wish it would set some fruit so we could see and taste them. I'm very curious to learn what they are like.

Cotton boll opens

 

The first of the black cotton bolls cracked open last week, hopefully with many more to come. Other late summer flowers such as the hardy Begonias and Angel Trumpets are still hanging in there, but they will soon be finished for the year. It's time to do more fall planting.

Hardy Begonias

Angel trumpets

I started the fall bulb planting season by digging up some of the poet's narcissus and 'February Gold' bulbs that I had planted during our first fall here. After eight years in the ground, the bulbs had become so overcrowded that they weren't blooming well. I dug them up to discover that they had formed giant clumps of bulbs which had to be broken up and separated. After working in a lot of clay-breaking material into the soil, I replanted the largest of those, and will still have plenty to give away as well as add to the back yard beds.