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Annie in Austin
Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
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Friday, January 15, 2010

Garden Blogger Bloom Day, January 2010


When the amaryllis bud refused to unfold and the rain pelted down, I thought January Garden Bloom Day was a wash. But inspiration hit after I took the camera and an umbrella outside.

Just under the wire, here's my parody tribute to the great Fats Waller for May Dreams Carol and Blooming Day:





It's only 90 seconds but Philo and I fit in a lot of photos - we hope you enjoy it!

Go to Carol's blog for the January Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Roundup.

29 comments:

  1. Yes, I did enjoy that! Good to hear you singing and good for that honeysuckle vine to come through like it did. A very memorable bloom day post for a very memorable January.

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

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  2. That was really good and thank you very much. I left you a nice tip in your tip jar.

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  3. Perfect. January GBBD posts are always so creative (they have to be, nothing's blooming!). Yours is one of the best!

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  4. Thank you for another fine ditty! So you lost the paperwhites. It must have been cold indeed. I would express more sympathy but you've had narcissus for a couple months I seem to recall. Nyah! :) Happy Bloom Day!

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  5. Hi Anne, way to put your own personal stamp on bloom day! This is the best way to wake up, listening to your lilting voice and seeing the amazing honeysuckle vine. I shall be humming along all the rest of the day! Thanks. :-)
    Frances
    ps, I was humming Salvia save me from the deer while pruning the greggis yesterday.

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  6. This was nicely inspiring for those of use still looking at ice on the river!

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  7. What a hoot Annie. After a disasterous freeze I can see why you would be moved to poetry by a single bloom. Happy GBBD.

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  8. What a fun way to start my morning, Annie! Hooray for the honeysuckle vine--we all need something blooming this January!

    Thanks for the nice comments you left on my recent post; I always enjoy them. Hope the weather warms up for you and that your garden returns to normal for February's Bloom Day.

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  9. Brilliant as always! I didn't even bother going out in the rain to check yesterday. And here you went and did something creative. My hat's off to you.

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  10. You're a real trooper, Annie; so is your garden. I look forward to next month.

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  11. Great stuff Annie, how creative. I'm new to your blog, but I'll be coming back for more :-)

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  12. Lovely, Annie! Glad to see your coral honeysuckle is doing so well, too. Mine looks like a tangle of bare vines right now, but I can't wait for the show to begin again in the spring.

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  13. Annie, this could be my favorite gbbd post of all time. bravo!

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  14. Oh, very clever, Annie! I'm glad I don't have to compose anything like that for Bloom Day...just finding something in bloom is enough of a challenge. Happy blooms and happy song!

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  15. You always make me smile. Nothing can hurt the coral honeysuckle vine. :) ~~Dee

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  16. It is a wonderful vine and a really fun presentation! Hoping your weekend was filled with warmer weather
    and more blooms~gail

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  17. I'd been waiting for the 15th just to see what you'd have to come up with. What a great way to make lemonade -- even if the bunch of lemons was frostbitten and slimy. I love it!

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  18. Annie, that was much sweeter, goodness knows, than anything else you could have done!

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  19. That was great fun. Good old coral honeysuckle. Maybe all this freeze damage is for the best - we get to try a bunch of new things this spring!

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  20. Thank you, May Dreams Carol - and thanks also for hosting Bloom Day every month.

    Hiya Flowergarden Girl - comments are wonderful tips!

    Last January 15th was pretty flowery, Shovel Ready Caroline, but in 2007 the whole garden was encased in ice! At least there was something to sing about this year :-]

    These paperwhites have had it, Chuck, but with any luck the Grand Primos will still bloom at the end of February. Why is "Ditty" such a giggle-inducing word?

    Welcome Frances - thank you, and knowing you actually hum the Salvia, Salvia song has cheered me up a great deal!

    On the other hand, Tabor, you have a real river to look at.... my view is the roofs and walls of 9 other houses!

    Glad you got a smile,Lisa at Greenbow - my loquats are okay so I can handle the rest!

    It's very easy to leave nice comments for you, Prairie Rose... you write so well and have so much to say!

    Thank you, but all I had to do was write the lyrics, MSS of Zanthan Gardens - Thomas Waller did the heavy lifting by writing the music ;-]

    Hi NellJean - that's always the big question in a place with erratic weather, isn't it? What will there be to write about in February!?!

    Welcome, Jayne - thanks for visiting and leaving a comment!

    Some of my natives look terrible, Blackswamp Kim, so I was glad to see this one looking relatively good. I'm so glad it grows for you, too.

    Wow, Renee of Renee's Roots - you made me turn that same coral color as the honeysuckle...thank you.

    Oh, Bloomingwriter/Jodi, it wasn't planned! Lyrics aren't too different from any writing that's done for love instead of money...inspiration appears out of nowhere and it won't let you do anything else until the muse is appeased.

    So far that's been true, Dee of Red Dirt Ramblings - Lonicera sempervirens looked pretty punky during the drought & heat, but survived. An old-fashioned Chicago winter might be a different matter - think zone 6 is even iffy!

    Thank you so much, Gail - I know typing that comment probably cost you some effort and pain... hope you are soon healed and happy!

    Hi Tigerlily! Thank you for commenting - hope the outside Meyer's Lemon will recover and make a new batch - right now all the leaves are falling off!

    Last night I had to sing the original lyrics a couple of times Cindy from Katy - don't want to forget Andy Razaf's sultry words! Thank you for coming over ;-]

    That will be a future blog topic for all of us, right Jean? In a small garden, an empty space can mean a new plant...but I'm glad this one made it.

    Thanks for all the comments,

    Annie

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  21. You've certainly had a rough winter Annie, but I so enjoyed the video it inspired. I hope you find many of your plants rebounding soon.

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  22. How fun and memorable! You are truly an artist. Thank you for some philosophy and cheer.

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  23. I loved the vid & song (I'm a Fats Waller fan). It's good to see a few troopers in your garden, I'm sorry about the losses.

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  24. Nothing like a little comic relief to dispel the gloom when Old Man Winter does dastardly deeds in your January garden, Annie. I'm glad you can manage to smile about it and make us smile with you :)
    The honeysuckle is a true survivor! Mine had a bloom or two long after the cold set in.
    Sad to see your soggy paperwhites :(

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  25. The umbrella is unique. I liked the colored light it made.

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  26. My post was coral honeysuckle and rosemary too. This was my first Bloom Day...But your video and song were delightful.

    Here's hoping for spring recovery for all of Central Texas gardeners.

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  27. Cute song! And interesting that your survivors are plants that I have here in Virginia. A good argument for pushing the zone envelope in both directions?

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  28. Loved it Annie! Sorry for the big freeze but the honeysuckle vine is sublime.

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  29. Thanks Leslie - living in Texas means inspiration for weather songs - hope our next cold spell is less lethal!

    I'm glad you liked it, Linda of Central Texas Gardener...especially since you're used to hanging out on KLRU pledge nights with real singers like Ray Benson from Asleep At the Wheel!

    Mr Thomas Waller was killer, wasn't he, Mr McGregor's Daughter? I've found a few of his movies on Netflix and must sing along ;-]

    There are other tough plants that made it through, Kerri, but this one still made flowers - that was impressive!

    Hi Digital Flower Pictures - thanks for the comment. You're giving me ideas...wonder what would happen if I used the umbrella as a parasol for photos when it's too sunny?

    Another rosemary lover here, Kathleen Scott! I can't resist sneaking my upright rosemary onto the blog when given the chance...bought it in 1991 in IL and brought it to TX in 1999. Thanks for commenting and hope your garden recovers, too.

    Most of the stuff from the Midwest USA and China is fine, Entangled, but not the stuff from South Texas! Yes, a good argument for planting lots of variety so something lives.

    Thank you, Layanee - hope there are no more low temperature records broken.

    Thanks for the comments,

    Annie

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