Unbeknownst to me, my spiffy new camera arrived this afternoon while I was outside working (AGAIN) on the daylily bed. I didn't find it until I came in after 5, so there wasn't time to charge the battery and take the camera for a test drive for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. So I headed out with my Nikon and took a whole mess of pictures. I'd already made a trek around the various areas of the garden this morning, pencil and paper in hand, and compiled a list of what I saw blooming. I am appalled at the number of different plants I have ... seriously. And I missed a few things, so I added them to the list when I came in from the photo shoot, adding to my appallation. I really and truly am a horthead and it's clear there is no hope for me. This is why it is so important that gardeners seek the company of fellow gardeners: those who don't garden cannot understand. That's one of the many things I'll miss about my friend Amy: it was understood that we would support and enable each other when plant shopping. Token expressions of doubt were allowed, and occasionally offered, but mostly we just egged each other on. Every gardener should have such a friend.OK, pictures first, then a list. The daylilies, of course, are putting on a big show. Here's Big Doc:
This yellow daylily was the first to bloom and has been incredibly prolific. I don't know its name, though; I've got a lot of missing tags.
Little Monica's first bloom:
This Gartendirektor Otto Linne rose is one of my favorites. Look at all those blooms!
Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium) is one of my favorite white flowers and a great little native plant.
Purple coneflowers (Echinacea) are another fave. I didn't know until last year that they're fragrant. I have several different kinds but of course I can't remember where I got each of them. Here are two of them:
This dwarf Calliandra was labeled Fairy Duster and what a perfect name for it!
Another great native plant, white Gaura, sometimes called Whirling Butterflies for the way the airy white blooms dance in the breeze:
Verbena bonariensis, aka Verbena on A Stick :
The corner bed where the red Bauhinia is the star:
A vignette from the back 40 of Caldwell Pink Rose, Serenity mix Verbena and Coneflowers: 
I'm looking forward to more blooms from this Mexican Bauhinia:
And now for the complete listing. Fasten your seat belts, gird your loins, and don't hate me because I'm a horthead:Calibrachoa 'Tequila Sunrise'
Apricot Sinningia
Snapdragons, alyssum, cyclamen, violas (they don't realize summer's almost here)
Nicotiana
Thunbergia erecta
Freesia laxa aka Lapeirousia laxa (just a few slackers)
Turk's caps: Mexican, native red, Pam's Pink
Red shrimp plant
Cupheas: David Verity, Macropetala, Bat Face, Bunny Face, Pink/Purple of unknown name
Rudbeckias
Zinnias: Profusion Apricot, Cut & Come Again, Flame
Ratibida (Mexican Hat)
Red Russellia (Firecracker Fern)
Copper Canyon Daisy (Tagetes lemonii) (STILL)
Verbenas: Plantation Rose, Serenity mix, bonariensis
Iris moraea 'Orange Drop'
Cleome
Miniature Hamelia
Spiderwort
Tangerine Bulbine
Bluebonnets (again not realizing it's summer)
Dill
Gaillardia (Indian Blankets)
Engelmann's Daisy
Calylophus (Sundrops)
Leonotis (Lion's Ear)
Erythrina crista-galli (Fireman's Cap)
Bauhinia galpinii (red Bauhinia)
Mexican bauhinia
Phillipine Violet
Rondeletia (Coral Woody Penta)
Duranta
Pink Dianthera candicans
Dianthus
Pavonia: Rock Rose & Peruvian
Catmint
Vitex 'Montrose Purple' (wonderful cultivar with big fat blue spires)
White Plumbago
Pink skullcap (Scutellaria)
Nasturtiums (yellow & cherry red)
Larkspur
Ruellia caroliniensis (seems less invasive than 'Katie')
Jatropha: Red and pink
Silver oregano
Prostate Rosemary
Stachys coccinea (Texas Betony)
Pink Firespike (Odontonema)
Purple Iochroma
Pentas
Clematis
Diascia
Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue'
Bacopa (Blutiana? blue)
'Voodoo' red Abutilon
Heartleaf Skullcap
Stokes' Aster (Stokesia)
Angelonia
Phillipine Lily
Barbados Cherry
Pandora Vine
Morning Glory Tree (Ipomoea fistulosa)
Petunia Supertunia Mini Silver & Cotton Candy
Fernleaf Lavender
Aster oblongifolius (Fall-Blooming Aster)
Rangoon Creeper
Pink Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes)
Dahlias (from the clearance rack at Lowe's)
Neon Flash Spirea
Clerodendron vine
Nierembergia 'Purple Robe'
Angel Wing Jasmine
Night Blooming Jasmine
Ox-Eye Daisy
Pigeonberry
Pink Salt Marsh Mallow (Kosteletskya?)
Acanthus mollis (Bear's Breeches)
Caryopteris
Buddleia
Alternanthera
Porterweed
Salvias (take a deep breath): Hot Lips, Otahal, Duelberg, Anthony Parker, Giant Blue, Guaranitica, Indigo Spires, Mystic Spires, Leucantha, Miniata, Blepharophylla, Regla, Elegans (Pineapple), Darcyi, Coccinea 'Lady in Red'/'Coral Nymph'/ 'Forest Fire', several Greggiis and Macrophyllas (I'm getting tired ...)
Roses: Belinda's Dream, Reve D'Or, Perle D'Or, Madame Antoine Mari, Mutabilis, Caldwell Pink, The Fairy, Gartendirektor Otto Linne, Mary Rose, Highway 290 Pink Buttons, Marie Pavie, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Cecile Brunner, Carefree Beauty
If there's more, even I don't want to know! Happy Bloom Day, y'all!
Comments
Diana, thank you! There are even more daylilies. I need to set up a photo gallery on Flickr, I guess. My garden is pretty big for the burbs: corner lots in my neighborhood are oversized. Since I have no grass at all in the back and more bed space than lawn in front, I have a lot of room for plants. The older I get, the crazier I know I am.
What's intriguing is that you have plants on your blooming list that grow in Austin but don't usually bloom until fall, like the Copper Canyon daisy and Philippine violet - does the not-so-great difference in climate make this happen?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Any time anyone would like to see the blooms up close, they're welcome to stop by (and if the spirit moves them to pull a few weeds while here, s'alright with me!).
Anyway, that's an impressive plant list and I bet your gardens are beautiful right now.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Carol, you know how it is when you're the head gardener: sometimes you have to look at it through someone else's eyes to see the beauty instead of the weeds and design flaws.
Pam, I'm delighted you think the pics are good. Coming from you, that means something! The new camera battery should be charged and I should be able to get some shots with it today. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.
The 'Gartendirektor Otto Linne' rose is stupendous. I don't think I've ever seen it before. Where did you get it?
I am late in getting around, our son is visiting!
It is amazing how much plant material we can put in the garden! I can stuff more plants in my little bit of sun then one would think is smart.
I love your header photo and see that you do a wonderful job of combining your plants....you have an incredible list of plants!
Gail
You do have a few years head start on me though, so perhaps in a few years I'll catch up...nearly.
:0) from a neighbor just to the East
Gail, sometimes the combinations are mine and sometimes they're Mother Nature's. Since I tend to fling seeds about with wild abandon, I have to do some ruthless editing on those less than felicitous combinations.
Nancy, I think most gardeners would be surprised at how many different plants they have. I really didn't have any clue there were that many blooming in my garden! Some people collect salt-and-pepper shakers: we collect plants!