Still Colorful on My Corner of Katy!

"You might give some serious thought to thanking your lucky stars you live in Texas."


It's the 15th of the month and savvy garden bloggers around the world know that's the day on which Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites us to share what's blooming in our gardens. Despite last week's unexpected and unusually early visit from Old Man Winter, it's still a bountiful Bloom Day here on my corner of Katy. The picture above is a view of the garden in back. Note the lovely new fence enclosing the back, with which I am very happy EXCEPT for the fact that we waited years to replace the old fence, secure in the belief that a hurricane would decimate it. Not one picket was damaged by Ike's winds, not ONE. Hmmphh. The executive producer used this as an argument against replacing the venerable fence: "If a Category 2 hurricane didn't blow it down, it's in good shape." The Head Gardener, however, also serves as the Head Trustee of this corner of Katy and as such was the one in charge of decidingwhether a new fence was needed. Since the Head Gardener also serves as Chief Financial Officer and as such is in charge of disbursement of funds, the executive producer was overruled. The new fence certainly does set the backyard blooms off nicely ... and thus I segue back to the subject at hand ...

The roses are loving the cooler weather. First, a collage of some of the roses that are blooming right now:
I'm really tickled that worked! I've been attempting to teach myself some new tricks blogwise and here's another example of what I've learned (with thanks to Vertie at Vert for her how-to post). Here are closeups of two of those pictured in the collage, the eternally lovely Souvenir de la Malmaison and blushing beauty Reve D'Or. (Upon publishing this post, I saw that the pictures were too large to fit into the post frame so I've edited them to fit better. Obviously I still have some tricks to learn!)


The front garden is hot, hot, hot despite recent chilly temperatures. Clockwise from the top left, we have Copper Canyon Daisy, Rudbeckia hirta (one of the Susans that Gail of Clay & Limestone loves so much), Fruit Cocktail shrimp plant, Salvia regla, Salvia coccinea '
Forest Fire', the seed pod of Yellow Butterfly Vine (Mascagna macroptera?), Cuphea macropetala, Mexican Turk's Cap, Salvia blepharophylla and Variegated native Turk's Cap (a little weatherbeaten):



Batface Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) is so cute that it gets a closeup of its own, which shows exactly why it deserves its name!

Amongst the plants blooming in the back gardens you'll find Purple Coneflower and alyssum, Sweet Almond Verbena (Aloysia), Clerodendron, Salvia farinacea, Purple Fan Flower (Scaevola), Madame Antoine Mari (actually in the rose bed on the alley corner), Gartendirektor Otto Linne rose, Pansy, Fernleaf Lavender (Lavandula multifida), Lilac Penta, Ruby Crystals grass, Pandora/Bower Vine, Amazon Dianthus, Salvia 'Otahal', Scaevola again, an old rose that might be Martha Gonzales and might not (it's not Knockout although it does look very much like it), and Coral Woody Penta (Rondeletia).


Much to my delight, the multihued Melusine Amaryllis decided to get in on the Bloom Day festivities, opening two blooms today. The veining on her leaves is actually much greener than I could capture with the camera. I still think I need more Amaryllis!


Comments

Carol Michel said…
It looks like paradise from here, sitting in my living room where outside it is 18 F! You've got blooms, so many blooms. It's like summertime there! I love the long view of the back and I think the "CFO" of your garden made an excellent decision to get a new fence.

Thanks for joining in for bloom day!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens
EAL said…
Great collages, Cindy! Boy, you have a lot of roses in bloom. I am totally impressed.
I love that Otto whateverhisname is Rose! It's has such a great old-fashioned, relaxed character. I'm also digging your new fence and gate. I hope it will be as sturdy as the old fence.
I love the collage idea and you did a great job on it! Sometimes the CFO has to do what the CFO has to do. And the fence does a wonderful job setting off the garden in your corner of Katy.
Anonymous said…
Everyone north of Katy, say "ooh" and "aah." Now, we all feel better. Your collages are fab my friend, and the roses are even better.~~Dee
Unknown said…
Oh yes, you have a lot to brag about one week from winter!
Gail said…
Impressive Cindy...really impressive from the photo collage to the abundance of blooms. I do love the Susans (thanks for the mention), but if I could grow roses like this I might love them! Great job on the fence; it does set your backyard blooms off very nicely. Good job! Now I do think that the Head Gardener needs a raise for all her hard work...maybe a few more amaryllis.

Gail
Kathy said…
Lovely, lovely, lovely. Tell the Chief Financial Officer the fence was a wise investment.
Unknown said…
gorgeous blooms- the roses are just breathtaking.
Your garden would look wonderful to me whatever kind of fence you had. Right now, my computer says it's 2 degrees outside, here in SE Nebraska.

I like your collages. I've been wanting to try that. I had been tired of my template for awhile, and decided to change it today. What a dumb day to do that, with trying to look at all the GBBD posts. Part of the reason I did it, though, is so it would look different when people looked at my GBBD post. I'm not finished with it, though. I want to find a photo to put in the title.

Have fun with your lovely flowers and blog!
Great collages! You still have so much going on. I think we've had one too many freezes here and we're just 5.5 hours north of you. btw, I love your new fence.
Annie in Austin said…
Hi Cindy - just starting to look at bloom day posts and love your new fence as backdrop for the beautiful garden. The cupheas are frozen here but a few roses linger - may you have colorful holidays in Katy!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Brenda Pruitt said…
All so beautiful! No pretty blooms in my garden after this cold snap. Even burst my cobalt bird bath. And I've had it there years!
Brenda
Anonymous said…
Your roses, indeed all of your flowers, look extra pretty at this quieter time of year. I hope you and your family have a very merry Christmas, Cindy!
Anonymous said…
Very good!
Anonymous said…
Coming to your BLOG, I feel a good start!
Lori said…
Still catching up on my favorite garden blogs. I swear that there will never be a day where I have everything read on Google Reader, but I'm trying. :)

Oh, I miss roses right now. The only ones blooming at the moment are the Rainbow and Pink Knockouts, which are lovely workhorses, but kind of boring.

I think that your maybe-Martha Gonzales rose might be Louis Philippe. The flowers look like the ones on my Louis Philippe, and they're not quite as red or single as the ones on Martha Gonzales. No matter what rose it is, it's charming. :)
Cindy, MCOK said…
Lori, thank you for that ID on Louis Philippe! I knew I had one that I'd started from a cutting but I either forgot to label it or lost the tag. That means the little red rose in one of the back beds is Martha G.
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