Garden Bloggers Bloom Day April

Well, last night I was checking out some other garden blogs and discovered that the 15th of every month is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I may be a day late, but here's what's going on in my garden today.

The Amaryllis are doing well this year. Some are blooming and others are about to explode into bloom.

I heard many bottlebrush in the Houston area died this winter, but this one is doing well. It was toppled over by Ike and survived several freezes this past winter. Gotta respect that.

Iceplant brings back great memories of my gardening time in Ft. Collins, CO and seems to do great here in Houston.

Now, onto the numerous varieties of salvia that are all blooming and attracting their fair share of bees.

Wow, the roses are loving the weather. The winter cold was good for them and they are blooming like mad.

First off are the knockouts. I have about 6 of them in various locations. No wonder everyone has them, they don't ask for a thing in return for their long bloom cycles.

Next up is the pink rose that came with the house. It was in a little more shade when we moved in. I moved it about 6 ft from where it was originally, it gets a little more sun there. I'm surprised at how full of blooms it is in part sun.




   
This one was a cutting given to me at the Mercer plant swap several years ago. It is viciously thorny, I need to get it heading up a trellis, but how will my arms survive such a task?






Fruits & Vegetables

Cherry of the Rio Grande is blooming for the first time. I planted it a little over a year ago. It survived the winter with no frost protection. Looking forward to tasting the fruit.






Then there's the Uju Kitsu, an orange/lemon cross. It is full of blooms and the fruit is starting to form.

The vegetable garden is looking good, all of the tomatoes are in flower and the first banana pepper is lookin' good.







Here's a few others in bloom:

      Not sure the name of this one. It was on clearance and dying at Lowes last Summer. I didn't think it was still alive after I planted it, I guess it likes the cool weather.

Yellow Cestrum

variegated Gaura

dwarf bulbine 'latifolia'

Texas Rock Rose

 Oaxalis

I'm so glad I found out about GBBD. It was nice to tour my own garden and find all the plants that are doing well and coming back after our 'harsh' winter. For those of you not in the Houston area, many Houston gardeners were traumatized by the freezes we had this winter. We are not used to our plants ever looking dead. When we got our first snowfall in November (which is weird to say because we usually don't get any snowfall) my Angel Trumpets were in full bloom and looking gorgeous. Now, they are sticks in the ground and I will be lucky if they come back to life. But despite some of the losses in the garden, many plants survived and are thriving this spring. Thanks for touring my garden with me.