updates on the patio garden

Here are some July updates.

After almost losing my deep, dark red Plumeria this winter, I've been pleasantly surprised with its growth. Here is a reminder of what it looked like after I chopped off the top.

And here is what it looks like today! It has three branch tips, although only two are actively growing. I need to start fertilizing it so that it might bloom next year.

Here is a succulent I ordered off of Etsy. I think it's Senecio mandraliscae. I like its cool, chalky blue color

Next is one of my most prized plants that I almost killed when it didn't get any water while I was on my cruise. It's Quisqualis indica - google it. BEAUTIFUL flowers

This plant is really neat, I'll be sure to take pictures of its flowers once it blooms. It's Snail Vine, Vigna caracalla.

Two new additions, boxwood basil (front) and lemongrass (back)

Unknown gladiolus. Beautiful peach color

Purple basil. Most recently used in a delicious pesto I made last night :-)

Ornamental Black Pepper. you do not want to eat one of these. Here are the leaves.

Windowbox planter. From left, Shasta Daisy, petunia, some type of chrysanthemum

Plumeria Pot Buddies. A.K.A. Companion plants for Plumeria

There was a post in the Garden Web Plumeria forum about companion plants for Plumeria that inspired me for this post. Enjoy!

Lupinus texensis 'Alamo Fire' This plant has been sort of shaded out by the Laurentia and Petunia in the pot, but it's just starting to bloom and should look nice

Yellow Petunias. I know that many people hate Petunias because they are so common, but I just love how bushy they are. These yellow ones are nice.

Calendula 'Zeolights' I can't wait until these take off. Right now, I just have one lonely bloom.

Laurentia This plant has blown me away. From one seed, I got a huge bushy plant that would look wonderful alone in a container. You can see in the first photo how prolific it is. I wish the flower color photographed a little better. It's more purple than it looks here.

White petunias. Crisp, clean and white.

Linaria I don't know the cultivar, but this is an interesting plant.

I also have Statice and Centaurea in the pot, but they aren't blooming yet. For the most part, everything has been really drought tolerant and I only water when they are looking wilty. I bet this pot would look wonderful just filled with colorful petunias.

Strawflower, lilies, calendula

Here is what is blooming on May 12th

Linaria. From seed

White Petunias. Grown from seed.

Helichrysum - Strawflower. The purple color is so interesting

Orange lily. I bought this on sale at Home Depot/Lowe's for $3 last fall. I was surprised at how quickly it bloomed again - It's only May!

Calendula I grew from seed. I started these earlier in the spring.

Yellow Petunias.

GBBD - I'm sorry it's late! Black Dahlia

April 18. I bought three Arabian Nights Dahlia tubers at Home Depot and I was very skeptical about them because I read that they were hard to grow, that you couldn't grow them in pots, etc. But - they actually were not hard at all! Here is the result - It took less than 8 weeks I would say from planting to bloom. Maybe longer though - I am bad at estimating time.

This one isn't fully open, but I like the color

I'd like to take credit for being an expert Dahlia grower, but these really were VERY easy. Aside from the one pot I left in full sun (which almost died - don't do that) They've been basically on my front porch the whole time.

This is a pot with a plumeria in it, but I decided to plant a bunch of annuals as well. I can't wait until they all bloom. From left to right - Centaurea or something else I can't remember, Petunia, (you can't see it) but Alamo Fire bluebonnets, Laurentia, and then at the very top is Asperula.

Here is my first Asperula flower bud

GBBD is my favorite day of the month

I am afraid I do not have much blooming right now but my petunia bag and my 'Spooky Mix' Dianthus. Today we FINALLY got some sunshine in Austin, and no rain. So, I dug a couple holes in the backyard and planted some stuff. I am going to be sore tomorrow. The soil here is basically clay/mud, so it was hard work digging holes for Echinops, candlestick plant, sage, and strawflower. The beds basically look like .... well not so good right now, but slowly I hope to finish digging them out and putting mulch down. I am so ecstatic for this spring.