The Sun is Killing Me: Bloom day

Friday, February 15, 2008

Bloom day - Feb 15th

My garden is still asleep for the winter...but there are a few things stirring here and there:

A rather smallish Texas Yellowstar

The Coral Honeysuckle is in bloom!

The Meyer Lemon is always full of blossoms and has apparently been attacked by a rogue grasshopper. The leaves are looking a bit munched on...

While I was out taking photos, I spied one of my Green Anole friends creeping about the sago palms.

Yes, well, this Varigated Agave is filed under note to self #317: 'Plants from South Florida received from neighbor do not like Austin-type Winters'

13 comments:

Carol Michel said...: Welcome to bloom day. My note to self is that those Austin garden bloggers are ALWAYS going to have flowers!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens; February 16, 2008 at 5:57 AM
Sue Swift said...: Your garden doesn't seem asleep to me!
Sue; February 16, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Annie in Austin said...: Is the Meyer's Lemon in a pot? I've dragged mine in and out for a couple of years and had some lemons, then planted another one in the ground last spring. Even without the lemons I love those blossoms, too.

Happy Blooming Day!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose; February 16, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Anonymous said...: It's always fun to anole-watch. Hope you enjoyed the rain today. We sure needed it.; February 16, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Mary Beth said...: I could almost smell the lovely aroma of your lemon blossoms! Thanks for sharing your blooms,
Mary Beth @ Cultivating Paradise; February 17, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Your Meyer lemon is looking a lot better than mine! Did the variegated agave get frost bitten? I've got some Texas tough ones you can have if you need replacements.; February 17, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Lee17 said...: Carol,

We do always have something blooming don't we? Even in January I usually have blooms on my Lemon plant and on my Geraniums.; March 14, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Lee17 said...: Sue,

No, I guess not. It is more like...Napping. ;); March 14, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Lee17 said...: Annie,

Yes, The lemon is in a pot. I live in North Austin so sometimes those winter winds can be a bit much for it. Plus, it seems to really like it in that pot!; March 14, 2008 at 11:39 AM
Lee17 said...: Pam,

I love those Anoles! They really like to live in our entryway where we have a fountain and big, leafy, tropical-type plants.; March 14, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Lee17 said...: Mary Beth,

I love the lemon blossoms so much! In the spring the fragrance wafts in the house through the windows and it is so sweet.; March 14, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Lee17 said...: Mary Beth,

I love the lemon blossoms so much! In the spring the fragrance wafts in the house through the windows and it is so sweet.; March 14, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Lee17 said...: mss,

Yes, my poor agave got frost-bit. I have trimmed it back now though, and I am moving it to the toasty, sheltered west side of the house where most of the plants never lose their leaves. It should be happy there.; March 14, 2008 at 11:45 AM

Zone What?

Seattle to Olympia is Gardening Hardiness Zone 8.

Zone 8: -12 to -7 C (10 to 20 F)

Austin is Gardening Hardiness Zone 8-9

Zone 8: -12 to -7 C (10 to 20 F)
Zone 9: -7 to -1 C (20 to 30 F)

The USDA map was updated this year - 2012. Some zones have shifted from the previous version.

See the current map here:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

Although both Austin and Seattle are in similiar zone hardiness, their climates could not be more different! Temps top out in the 80's in the summer in Seattle, where in Austin they can top 110 and stay in the 100's for months on end. The same plants that enjoy the Seattle maritime climate will fry in a second in the semi-desert that is Central Texas.

Learn about the heat zone map here:

http://www.ahs.org/publications/heat_zone_map.htm

Check out the AHS Heat Zone map here:

http://www.ahs.org/pdfs/05_heat_map.pdf

Past Garden Quotes of the Month

"The fair-weather gardener, who will do nothing except when the wind and weather and everything else are favorable, is never master of his craft."-- Henry Ellacombe
"The trouble with gardening is that it does not remain an avocation. It becomes an obsession." -- Phyllis McGinley
"The way of cultivation is not easy. He who plants a garden plants happiness." --Chinese Proverb
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." --Greek proverb
'Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.' - Albert Einstein
"Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden." ~Orson Scott Card
"I never had any other desire so strong, and so like to covetousness, as that one which I have had always, that I might be master at last of a small house and a large Garden." ~Abraham Cowley, The Garden, 1666
"A weed is but an unloved flower." ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
"Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebookse
"Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination." ~Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897 (Thanks, Jessica)
"When one of my plants dies, I die a little inside, too." ~Linda Solegato
"In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death." ~Sam Llewelyn
"Plant carrots in January and you'll never have to eat carrots." ~Author Unknown