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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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Monday, May 14, 2018

March 2018 Garden Scrapbook


Bulbs of Leucojum aestivum AKA Snowflakes showed up in Costco a few autumns back. Adding a bag to the cart turned out to be a brilliant decision. They get fuller and more beautiful every spring.

Late freezes often kill the buds of Texas Mountain Laurels before they ever open – this year we were lucky and the purple, scented blooms were abundant. Hot spells often ruin the blossoms soon after they open – this year we were lucky and moderate weather let them bloom for the longest time I can remember.


The bluebonnet seedlings began to bloom in the second week of March. Bloom was helped by some hand-watering - late winter and spring were dryer than normal.


The entire top half of the Meyer’s Improved Lemon tree had frozen back and was definitely dead. When my daughter came to visit she picked up the big loppers.


The other half of the tree should be OK. The branches releafed but no flower buds appeared.


I first saw this unusually colored bird in January and managed to catch a photo in March. The knowledgeable birders on Twitter confirmed my guess that it is a partially leucistic chickadee.  



This was a good spring for all types of iris. Some heirlooms that had barely bloomed in 2017 were lovely in 2018. I’ve had this fragrant peach iris since 2001 and have shared divisions with Divas of the Dirt friends and fellow Austin bloggers. It’s fun to see it blooming in their photos!


We put this bench near the Magnolia figo. For a few weeks at the end of March and beginning of April it’s a pleasure to sit and smell the banana magnolia flowers


Before the pecans leaf out the back yard has sun. Many of the plants under the canopy rush into bloom before the shadows descend. 


This post, March 2018 Garden Scrapbook was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

January-February 2018 Garden Scrapbook


The indoor plants showed color in January – the garden was green and brown.

I’m glad I took this photo of the violas on the windowsill. That green bowl planter was a favorite and it’s gone now. After it went out in spring, some critter (cat? squirrel? raccoon?)  pushed it off the table to shatter on the concrete patio.



Can we still call it a Christmas cactus if it blooms in mid-January?


By the end of the month the self-seeded bluebonnets were growing. This one spouted in the joint of a wooden step where it would be both noticed and trod upon


We had some very cold days in January – down to 15°F early one morning. The Meyer’s Improved Lemon was not improved by this freeze. Looks like another year without lemons.


But a hardy little self-seeded violet bloomed at the end of the month.


A few days later the February camellia gave a preview of coming glory.


By mid-February the Loropetalum frills were out.


By the end of February what was left of the Carolina Jessamine showed buds. Poor thing was once gorgeous, but its corner of the garden is now too shady.


Also by the end of February the earliest camellia flower were falling apart while new buds kept opening.


The Spring show is just a few weeks ahead!

This post “January-February 2018 Garden Scrapbook” was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.