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Annie in Austin
Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
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Monday, August 03, 2009

The Lilies of August

Open the back door and you'll see three plants that are thriving in spite of the weather - they do get water, but the real secret seems to be the house wall - this strip gets full sun in the morning but from early afternoon it's sheltered from the burning rays.
Annieinaustin, Plumbago, milkweed,AmarcrinumThe blue Plumbago auriculata is almost as tall as I am and the Amarcrinum
'Fred Howard', a has finally settled in after a few years, making four flower-stalks on two plants. We call plants like this Crinum lilies, but they're really in the Amaryllis family.

The pink and blue combination was expected, but the pop of orange was added when seeds of Asclepias curassavica/tropical milkweed parachuted in from another part of the garden and made themselves at home.




Annieinaustin, Juliet tomatoesThere isn't enough orange in what's left of the vegetable garden. Last summer's level of heat and drought didn't stop the 'Juliet tomatoes from producing enough to chop up for fresh salsa, but this summer's heat has kept the Juliets down to only 2 or 3 ripe per day. Too bad - I really want to try Renee's fascinating method of drying Juliets inside your parked vehicle!


Annieinaustin, Labuffarosea rainlilies
We had 1/7th of an inch of rain last week. This piddle of nature did nothing for the trees or shrubs or perennials, but some parts of the parched lawn sent out exploratory blades and the rainlilies? They went nuts! Above are Zephyranthes 'Labuffarosea' in a large container on the patio, under the spare boughs of a Pineapple Guava. Zephyranthes are also called lilies and are part of the extended lily family.

Below are 'Labuffarosea' in a container near the front steps, marooned in a sea of Silver Pony Foot/Dichondra argentea. (sideways photo upload courtesy of Blogspot). The original bulbs came from Plant Delights nursery in 2000. They have multiplied and I've given bulbs of this rainlily away to many fellow garden bloggers and to most of the Divas of the Dirt - hope all their rainlilies are blooming, too!
Annieinaustin, rainlilies, Silver ponyfootSo even though there has been a DROP of rain, most of the words in my recent song, 'Don't Want to Be in Texas in July' are still valid... except that it would be a lot harder to write lyrics that rhyme with "August".