Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, April 2008

This post, "Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, April 2008", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.


In the 'other' world April 15th is Tax Day, but in the world of Garden Blogging it's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. You may owe money no matter which day you choose to celebrate, but Blooming Day is sure prettier!


The vines are in the center ring this month at Circus~Cercis. I don't have names for these two varieties of clematis, one white and one reddish-purple. They came planted in one pot, tagged as a pink clematis. The white one is planted at the base of the Lady Banks rose. The rose is already fading as the clematis opens.


The reddish purple clematis is on the back wall, getting morning sun and afternoon shade. At its feet are a cream-colored Salvia greggii, Plumbago and Purple oxalis. This is a big flower - some are over 6 inches tip-to-tip.

Last summer I saw 'Ramona' in a small pot for $2 - she's in a larger pot now, happy and blooming, while she waits for a permanent home.


The Coral honeysuckle bloomed early, shared the spotlight with Lady Banks, and keeps right on blooming now that the rose is done.


In the Secret Garden, the passionvine that bloomed late last summer is full of buds and blooms already! Instead of coaxing it to grow along the fence, I wound it around a repurposed coat rack near the brick wall - the vine stayed green all winter and was ready to bloom months earlier than last year.


Near the steps to the veranda twines a Star Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides - it's flowers are not that showy but the scent is strong.


April is also a month when herbs go to flower - like this culinary sage in a trough near the stone fountain.


My camera couldn't capture the chives, but did pretty well with these Rosemary flowers.


The Cilantro/Coriander is going to seed in a few places - sometimes I let it stay, sometimes I pull it up.







We use a lot for Salsa but the extras get to bloom just because they look so pretty.


The pale peach iris 'Amethyst Flame' iris and old-fashioned white iris are gone, but Ellen's grapey-scented purple iris are in full bloom in the pink Entrance garden, along with pink gaura, spiraea, weigela, petunias and the new 'Belinda's Dream' rose.

An unnamed Siberian iris grows in back - a passalong from my friend Barbara in Illinois. I was happy to see one flower stalk last year, and am amazed to see 10 stalks this year. It's gone through drought and flood and is situated in morning sun with some afternoon shade.


A medium height violet larkspur seeded itself near the ranunculus from a few posts back. At the other end of the bed a tall double lilac larkspur is just starting to open. I throw the seeds around each year and hope for the best.









The potted 'Meyer's Improved' lemon has had several flushes of bloom and now has tiny lemons. We planted another of these lemons on the back wall. It survived winter, is growing and made a few fragrant flowers but no fruit has set.


All the climbing pink roses from the last post have shattered, so it didn't earn a photograph. I still see some rose buds in development.


The shrub of 'Julia Child' rose appeared in the previous post - here's a closeup. A dozen flowers have opened and then fallen apart, more than a dozen are open now, and at least 20 more are still small and green.

The air actually seems green under the 12-foot tall mockorange growing on both our side and the neighbors's side of the back fence. The individual flowers are large but I miss the traditional Mock orange scent. I think this is Philadelphus inodorus, sometimes called English Dogwood, but it's nothing like the real dogwood that Frances/Faire Garden grows!


The blue-violet petunias planted last fall are pretty happy with our relatively cool weather- some 'Moonshine' Achillea is budding next to the petunias. Look in the center right and you'll see why tree-seedling removal has been one of my most tedious tasks this spring... another pecan planted by the squirrels has sprouted. I pull up a few more every day, in every border and container.



The tall Salvias have no flowers yet but the Salvia greggii is blooming in several colors, including this solid red form from Diva Mindy. When the Divas of the Dirt worked on her entrance beds last year she potted up seedlings for the other Divas - this one is the perfect color for the Hummingbird bed.

Also in bloom are the two new plants of Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'. The photo of this salvia in last week's post showed red flowers with a little white, but this week's very cool nights trigger pinker flowers with red splotches.





In this wider shot, a 'Mutabilis' rose grows in the container at left with a couple of 'Hot Lips' in the right pot. Across the lawn that hint of violet is the clump of Siberian iris and the Michelia figo shown in the previous post is the evergreen at center back.

A few more bulbs are blooming - here is a red Anemone with an old Christmas amaryllis/ Hippeastrum on the left side of the bulb bed.

On the opposite side the pink ranunculus keeps making new buds, another holiday Amaryllis is making a stalk and the purple oxalis adds to the scene. Maybe this would be enough contrast for Blackswamp Kim.


One more bulb continues blooming on the veranda - it's a pot of cyclamen given to me by Dawn/Suburban Wildlife Garden several months ago. It was languishing inside, but once tucked next to the railing under the overhang, new flowers appeared to remind me of my garden blogging friend.


Last month there were 72 comments when May Dream's Carol made her official Bloom Day post - and that was only March. I wonder how long it will take us to visit everyone in April!

This post, "Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, April 2008", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.