Sunday, March 15, 2009

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day



This post is for Carol's blog, May Dreams, where people from all over the world share what's blooming in their gardens on the 15th of each month.

Rain at last in central Texas! Many trees are beginning to leaf out, and some of the peaches and pears are blooming. But let me not waste words when I have pictures. This is chicory, which I planted once, because I like to put a few leaves in salads. It reseeds itself with abandon.





Cyclmen is a luxury -- requires protection from freezing, likes moisture but hates wet feet, doesn't like the hottest days of summer.





Jasmine takes care of itself, long as there isn't a hard freeze. In fact, it tends to be somewhat invasive, but I can't hold that against it when it gives me such beautiful, fragrant flowers in the early spring.



I've never grown Osteospermum before. I bought this one at the grocery store a few weeks ago -- it had just arrived from a wholesale nursery, so it was still in good shape. It settled into its spot in my garden as though it had been there all its life.





I love the delicate colors of pear blossoms and pink evening primrose.






Of course, I have to bring some of the spring beauty into the house.



Here's a list (although I always forget a few):

roses (all of them are blooming except Fortune's Double Yellow, which seems to be suffering from the drought, although I did water it from time to time throughout the winter)

chicory
pansies & violas
snapdragons
cyclamen
bluebonnets
alyssum
dill, parsley, and cilantro (I use the clusters of tiny blooms in flower arrangements, as well as in the kitchen)
artichoke (first buds of the season are forming!)
salvia - Indigo Spires & native cedar sage
pear & peach trees
a few late blooming tulips
petunias
verbena
dianthus
spider wort
Sophora (Texas Mountain Laurel)
marigolds
a few vounteer zinnias (the little pink ones that must be similar to the wild form of the flower)
a few late blooming narcissus
jasmine
plumbago (in protected locations)
oleander (budding)
patio tomato in protected location south of house (already forming fruit)
gazania

HARVESTING:

broccoli
spinach
asparagus
lettuce & other cool weather salad greens
turnip greens
Swiss chard (silver beet)
beet greens
cabbage
fava beans
garden peas
a few Chandler strawberries (when I can beat the birds to them)
green onions
garlic leaves
cilantro, parsley, chives, dill, etc.

COMING UP

Irish potatoes
sweet peas
sunflowers
larkspur
popppies
tomato, chile, and eggplant starts (moved from seedling flat to 3 in containers)
marigolds, zinnias, vinca in seedling flats

PLANTING

corn
beans
squash


3 comments:

  1. Wow, you have a lot going on! And I'm doing the happy rain dance with all the parts of Texas that got rain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Barb - nice list for GBBD! I'm not sure if your garden is warmer or if it has fewer freezes, but your perennials sure seem to be farther along. And you have marigolds and zinnias, too?
    I just bought a cedar sage and now hope it will be happy where there are no junipers, just some cedar mulch from a bag.
    Happy Spring!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    ReplyDelete
  3. Annie, I'm 30 miles SE of Austin, I suppose that could make a difference, especially if you're in the Hill Country (but I seem to recall you're in South Austin). I started marigold and zinnia cultivars indoors in January, but there are some volunteers coming up in the garden, and the vinca major I planted last summer made it through the winter and is now putting on a lot of new growth. I had hoped the aloe vera would bloom, as it does in my San Antonio garden every year, but it didn't.

    ReplyDelete