It's bad enough when I don't see my garden in the daylight in January. However, now it's April, and I'm still not spending enough time out there... I was inspired by everyone else's bloomday pictures (see
them at Carol's blog here!) to go run and see what was blooming in my garden this April!
I'm going to post the pictures, but first a short note. I'm pretty sure (though not positive) that, much like the rest of the country, our "spring" is late. We certainly had a very cold winter, especially for this Zone 8B/9A desert, but more importantly (I think) we had a very dry winter. Checking
NOAA's precipitation records for the water year (which started in October of 2012), we got just 1.00 inches
total from October to now (typically, our wet season). That puts us at just
16% of the average to date. Glup.
Now for the spring blooms:
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| My new Flannel Bush - yes, I bought a plant that grows 15 feet tall/wide, with no idea where to put it. oops |
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| First of the blooms on Callistimon "Little John", which seems to have survived the winter |
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| One of the many red yucca bloomstalks forming |
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| I'm willing to bet this 'snow in summer' will be burnt to a crisp when summer gets here... needs to be replaced |
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| ice plant with the flowers closed. even though we have no rain, we have lots of clouds... |
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| the salvias are blooming, and have been. Getting closer than this usually means getting buzzed by the hummingbird |
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| Optunia macrocentra absolutely loaded with buds (cheating a bit on bloom day :) ) |
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| Penstemon pseudospectabilis - hopefully will do fine over the summer |
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| The manfreda is pushing out a HUGE bloom stalk. Not quite blooming yet either... |
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| In the front garden - the first of the yellow ice plant (different one) flowers (ever) |
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| the first rose bud opening - these should make a good show soon |
There are the blooms in my garden for spring... let's see what the rest of the year brings!
I had the same reaction to the Flannel Bush, must have it, but where to put it. Worse mine is only about 9" tall so planning for that eventual size is tricky.
ReplyDeleteLove the pipe planters, what are they made out of?
I really do need to do a post on the pipe garden - just so I remember... And find a place for that flannel bush! Thanks for posting!
DeleteGosh, so sorry to hear about your lack of rain - that's terrible! At least it looks like you have some pretty tough plants though. Strange how late the spring has been this year.
ReplyDeleteSpring seems to be strange everywhere this year. We'll see how the rain goes... thanks for commenting!
DeleteYour opuntia cactus is loving the weather! We've been struggling with drought conditions in Austin the past couple of years, so I'm appreciating the survivor plants more and more. Like the salvias, which look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a huge water bill to make you appreciate tough plants. A lot of the plants I see in Austin blogs are an inspiration! Thanks for your comment!
DeleteThat's a little less rain than us, and winter sounds like it should be wetter for you! At least here it's our driest season. Your plants are benefiting from your care, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteWinter is usually our wet season, so this is all sorts of bad news. But we'll see what happens this summer. Thanks for commenting!
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