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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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Sunday, April 27, 2014

Absolutely April


This post about my garden in Austin, Texas was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.

Three weeks can make a big difference in the garden! Since that last post the garden plant spreadsheet shows fewer plants with question marks next to their names.
The Barbados Cherries appear to be alive. They also appear to be about 6" tall now. But you don't want to see that photo and I don't want to take it. Averted eyes is the way to carry on while the boxwoods decide exactly where they'll regrow - don't want to take that photo either.

This photo of the ice-and-freeze damaged Oleander was taken at the beginning of April. It grows near the steps from the house to the drive so it was very hard to not only avert my eyes but to refrain from picking up the lopping shears.

 


Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Early last week tiny green leaves began to sprout along the oleander trunk and by Thursday it was clear which branches were doing well and where to make the cuts. I don't think there will be flowers this spring, but the Oleander should live and grow.


So let's ignore the battered shrubs and let them recover in private. As to the rest of the garden? Even though we're still in drought, something about the long cold rest seems to have benefited the roses - they're shouting that it is now Absolutely April.
'Julia Child' opens new flowers every morning, standing nearly 5-ft tall, with scores of buds still swelling, surrounded by self-sown poppies and larkspurs, by Four-nerve daisies and the last bluebonnets.
 

I've read that this rose was chosen by Julia Child herself to bear her name, because it looked like butter.




I still don't have a positive ID on the pink climber that came with the house, but 'Climbing Pink Peace' seems to be a possibility. My husband Philo built a wooden trellis over the gate and the rose has stretched out and up to cover it.

 



A few big blossoms joined white 'Climbing Iceberg' in a bowl.



This apricot mini-rose finally looks established - last spring it had two flowers.

The frozen Rosa mutabilis quickly outgrew the damage and is reblooming in its patio container.

The color of the clematis next to the back door is hard to describe - it goes through so many changes from bud to blown blossom.



The Oakleaf Hydrangea flaunts something between a bud and a flower.



Up in front most of the native plants in the parkway strip are waking up and thinking about buds, but only the Damianita is in full bloom.



The Texas Mountain Laurel flowers froze in March 2014, but the shrubs are already making buds for Spring 2015.



Fingers crossed these new plants of Damianita, purple skullcap, creeping phlox and Blackfoot daisies can take hold in a new bed up front.



Tomorrow's forecast promises temperatures in the nineties so the individual flowers don't last too long, but April has been absolutely lovely for a while.



This post about my garden in Austin, Texas was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog. 



22 comments:

  1. Good to see much of your garden has recovered from this awful winter. Your roses are beautiful! I still have my fingers crossed for a few of my plants that they will eventually green up, but I think it's wishful thinking. Sigh, I guess that means I get to go plant shopping:)

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    1. Hi Rose! I'd wish you luck on the questionable plants coming back, but you don't sound all that sad about going plant shopping!

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  2. It seems our plants are tougher than we give them credit for. Sometimes a good knock -back is just like forcing us to do that we have difficulty doing. I noticed yesterday life on the seedling Philippine violet . The bark was split down to the ground but sure enough a little green sprout has appeared. Best not to be too hadty in plant removal. I am lusting after your clematis. I have only the native one and much as I love them I really would like to have one with bigger blooms. Happy spring to your garden.

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    1. Isn't it odd how some plants get split bark & die, but others split, then sends up new shoots? The Barbados cherries had practically exploded but they both have green leaves at the base.
      This clematis came packaged-in-peat at Lowe's about 14-rs ago. I just took a chance and grew it in a deck pot for years. So I'm glad to have it, but really wonder what its name is!

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  3. Glad things are blooming up so well. Your roses are incredible and that clematis-wow! Enjoy your loveliness!

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    1. Rose-time is a short show but also a lot of fun!

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  4. Glad you have so much coming back. My garden seems to be weeks behind those up in Austin. But, things are headed in the right direction.
    Now, if we could only get some rain.

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    1. My garden is usually a week behind Central & East Austin, but this year there seem to be roses opening all at once, all over town. Keep thinking those rain thoughts!

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  5. I agree, this is a great year for roses and yours look super. Mine all look pretty darn good; tons of blooms and no black spot. Some of the plants I thought were goners are coming back, but I wonder if they will ever return to their former glory. Time will tell.

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    1. Some of the survivors were so frozen back that I wonder, too. And so many plants do well for a few years then bail.
      We moved here in summer 2004, and when I look at photos in chronological order it's like watching the "In Memoriam" segment at the Oscars.

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  6. I am so glad to see that your garden is recovering with some nice spring weather. Things are much better here too. Does your yellow butter rose smell?

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    1. I think we've lost spring and are into summer, Lisa - it was 94F today! The 'Julia Child' rose has a good fragrance - a little spicy rather than "olde rose" smell. Happy Spring to you!

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  7. Butter rose - love it! Your garden has rebounded nicely. I'm hoping the same for mine but still too early to tell.

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    1. Good luck, Lost Roses... hope your favorites make it. The roses and clematis surely have rebounded, but just remember - I don't show you everything!

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  8. I've taken a lot of photos this month so I decided to make a plant bloom list with a few more pictures for my Annie's Addendum blog If you like the botanical names, they're on that list.

    Annie

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  9. wow u have such a beautiful garden... i think ill come here regularly. spring is always my favourite season for gardens :) since I'm new in blogging world I invite you to come and visit me sometimes...

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  10. Beautiful! I like that you give your shrubs blog privacy while they recover. :)

    That clematis and all the roses... such a pretty spring garden.

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    1. Hi Mary! Thanks for coming over to say hello. The roses have been fun this spring - I'm still amazed at how they bounced back after winter.

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  11. I am glad your oleander survived. I have tried growing it in the past and have not been successful. Your garden looks great. That clematis is spectacular!

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    1. Thanks, Phillip. I bought this one as a 12" rooted cutting from Plant Delights, supposed to be extra hardy - that was in 2001 and so far, it's true!

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  12. You are absolutely right, sometimes the best thing to do is nothing an I love it when that happens! Your roses are beautiful. I am eventually going to get one in the ground, a Lady Banks to climb my porch railing.

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