Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-July 2009

Boy, it doesn't seem like any time has passed at all since our last GBBD, but here we are again! To see what else is blooming around the world, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Here's what's blooming in my yard.


Leucophyllum frutescens, or Texas sage, has been a good plant for me. I've had it in a container for a couple years now, and it doesn't do much, but when it does it's very pretty. It's drought tolerant, which is good, seeing as how my pots experience frequent bouts of drought. I believe mine is the 'Green Cloud' variety. Mostly, it's just a nice foliage plant, but after a good rain pretty pink flowers just pop out all over the place.




Here's some bougainvillea, lining up nicely for a shot.



A camera shot over the rock wall reveals that my lantana are still doing well.




Last month, we saw Pam Tajima. Pam is starting to fade a little bit, so this month we'll be looking at...Pam's unnamed brother. Dang. He's got a tag, but there's nothing on it. We'll call him Bob.


I was having a hard time getting a clear picture of Bob. Seems every time I tried to take a picture I was getting jostled around by some mysterious force. Apparently Buster was not as interested in my picture taking as he was in letting me know that he had not yet had breakfast.

Hello. Can I help you?


Technically this isn't blooming, but I thought the red ti plant was pretty in the morning light.



Remember my mysterious purple plant that we watched unfold and grow? Well, now it's blooming too. Always something new with this one!



My golden shrimp plant, Pachystachys lutea was a big hit with everyone last month, and since it is still blooming like crazy I thought I'd provide a close up shot.



Again, these aren't exactly "blooming" but they are popping up all over my lawn, so I thought I would include them too.



And, finally, my poor crape myrtles-they went from sticks that showed no sign of ever blooming again last month to past their prime this month, but they were quite pretty in between.

This month was kind of a challenge, but I hope you all enjoyed hanging out with me and Buster in the garden!

10 comments:

Iris said...

I very much enjoyed visiting your blooms with you and Buster! I'm surprised that you have at least two of the same plants I rely on here in hot, drought-ridden Austin, Texas--lantana and Texas sage.

Your blooms are just lovely! And I still love your yellow shrimp plant.

joco said...

Hiya, Some startling shapes and colours. So different from what I can grow in the UK. It is so interesting to see gardens that are far away.
And you're right: the months fly by between bloomdays.
See you again next month, all being well.

Muum said...

those area some unique plants. I like 'bob'. I have a lot of plants w/ no name, too. 'Bob' for them, too! love the purple plant, wow! let us know if you find out what it is. I think gardening success can be defined as having a 'stick' turn into blooms, as opposed to the opposite happening :)

Kristin said...

I enjoyed your photos :-) I'm in Iowa and we just don't see plants like yours around... ever. Thanks for the treat!

Frances said...

Hi Ginger, I am loving that Bob! And we always enjoy a good foot shot, could it be a fetish of some sort? HA All your blooms are wonders of nature, especially Buster. :-)
Frances

Carol Michel said...

Buster needs to get his priorities straight. Pics, then breakfast!

Thanks for joining in for bloom day.

Jeanne said...

ooh, ah!

Dreamybee said...

Iris-Hawaii can be surprisingly hot and dry, even with 80% humidity...it's kind of weird!

joco-I love seeing what's blooming in far off places too. I love my tropical setting, but when I think of a garden, I picture English country gardens, much more along the lines of what you have blooming in your yard!

Muum-LOL-Good point about the stick-to-bloom definition of succes.

Kristin-I'm glad you enjoyed your tropical getaway!

Frances-The feet were an unfortunate by-product of the Buster shot. Glad it wasn't too in focus! And I agree, Buster IS a wonder of nature! =)

Carol-I tried explaining that to him, but he just didn't seem to get it.

Jeanne-Wow, I feel like a fireworks display!

Sylvana said...

Ah! You made me laugh! My dog loves to spend time with me out in the garden as well. Mornings are our special times together in the garden. He loves to smell the flowers and listen to birds sing.

You have such interesting flowers! I would feel like I were living in a tropical paradise if I had your garden!

Dreamybee said...

Sylvana-I always joke about Buster helping me garden, the joke, of course, being that he doesn't DO any actual gardening himself; but I realized the other day that he does help me garden in the sense that he keeps me company and provides a very zen presence that helps make pulling weeds not such a bad thing.