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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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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A surprisingly Pleasant, Rainy GBBD for July, 2013



This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.  

Rain is a big deal here, and it rained today! I watched through the kitchen window as the rain ran down the chain into the barrel and then stood on the front porch listening to the welcome sound. Instead of dust we had raindrops. Instead of the 104°F of Saturday afternoon, temperatures on Monday afternoon never broke 80°F.
 
The chance to make a Garden Blogger Bloom Day post featuring petals and leaves dampened by raindrops doesn't come along very often! I caught a few photos, mostly of plants near the house, and mostly of flowers with petals that hadn't disintegrated to mush in the rain.

There are two more rain chains directing water into the very important, long back wall border. This very desirable morning-sun, afternoon-shade spot is jammed full with Blue Plumbago, Tropical Milkweed, a Meyer's Lemon, a Satsuma orange, 'Carmen' peppers, a climbing rose, Grandma's phlox, Blue Butterfly Clerodendron, Pink cuphea, Burgundy oxalis, black Ophiopogon, Coreopsis 'Crème Brulee', three passalong daylilies and more, in the rain

 
Some years ago a couple of bulbs of Amarcrinum were given positions in this special, long border - the fragrant pink flowers appeared in the last post and even more flower stalks are up now. Here is  x Amarcrinum 'Fred Howard' in the rain




Over by the garden gate the Cenizo/Texas Sage had popped into bloom




Across from the Cenizo a daylily that had bloomed a while ago is surprising me. It appears that the developing bloom stalk stalled and shut down when we started seeing temperatures over 100°F. Now the stalk has extended and the buds are swelling, long after the other flowers faded. Here is Hemerocallis 'Devonshire' in the rain.



Behind the daylily are a Firecracker plant and a creamy white Salvia greggii. Let's take a closer look. 


The daylily, Firecracker plant and salvia have all been here for years, but on the other side of the daylily is a more recent addition, Asclepias currasivica 'Silky Gold'. This all-yellow selection of tropical milkweed seems to be settling in well and it sure does look pretty in the rain









Closer to the back fence a young 'Catawba' crepe myrtle bows down with the weight of water-logged blossoms. This tree is only shrub-sized right now, but it has the potential to transform this part of the garden as it grows into a tree.




Blasting afternoon sun combined with deep morning shade and a very dry winter is not the recipe for happy Phlox, but some handwatering and compost helped this Fanick's phlox in the pink entrance garden survive to make a few flowers. I was afraid I had lost this plant so am very happy to take a photo of it in the rain



There are a couple of beds in the garden that usually bloom with red, white & blue flowers around  Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Those beds did not deliver this year, but a large patio container is displaying patriotic colors today. Here's a white Datura AKA Angel's Trumpet, with blue-violet petunias, white hummingbird sage and red hummingbird sage, in the rain.


So far my rain gauge has measured a little over 2" - there's been much more in some parts of Central Texas and much less in other parts of Austin. Y
ou may be tired of reading that little phrase, "In the Rain", but I'm sure not tired of saying it.

Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and keeps the links for all who want to be part of this pleasant tradition. This is her July post.


If I can get a complete list of what's in bloom along with the botanical names, it will appear at Annie's Addendum.  

(That list is now up, with a few more photos)
This post was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog. 

15 comments:

  1. I sense you are happy about the rain! :) Your garden looks very green and flowery in any case. Happy Bloom Day! (i have not participated much recently, but it is certainly on my mind.)

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  2. Hi Chuck!
    Amazing how a couple of inches of rain can temporarily adjust one's attitude, isn't it? Drought, politics and injustice will always be with us, but it's good for humans to stop & look at the flowers.

    I hope your July is good!

    Annie

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  3. I don't blame you for being so happy about the rain. That is worth a blog post in itself. I don't believe I have ever seen an Amarcrinum before. Is it some type of lily? It looks like a lily. So delicate looking are the blooms. Happy GBBD.

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  4. Your garden looks lovely in bloom with the drops of rain adorning it! Isn't this wonderful?

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  5. So may new plants for me, even the ascelpias while recognizable as a member of the family, is a new species. Playing in the rain is a trip back to childhood pleasures, thanks for writing so beautifully about it.

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  6. I'm so happy to hear that you are getting rain. I know the feeling and frustration of droughts and I know you have more of them than we do. It is amazing what rainwater can do, isn't it?

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  7. Oh, hasn't the rain been just wonderful? It's like a big green juice for the earth! Your garden looks gorgeous!

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  8. I understand "in the rain" perfectly, Annie. When it rains here we stand on our porches and watch it, too! Looks like your plants are mostly loving the rain. Tropical milkweed? Who knew! You always have the most interesting plants.

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  9. Yay! So glad you're getting some rain...you garden looks like it is luxuriating in the moisture!

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  10. Lovely blooms. And two inches of rain - wow! Actually, we've been lucky here this week, too, and got well over an inch of rain. I was ecstatic!

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  11. Oh yes, in the rain--what a lovely memory of last week. The flowers look gorgeous and so happy in the rain!

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  12. All your blooms look so happy drenched in raindrops! We've had much more rain this year than last, too, and it certainly makes a difference in the garden. Somehow water from a hose just isn't the same.

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  13. I have a couple of friends living in Austin, and I remember their FB posts abut the rain. We would love to have some of the wet stuff here in the San Joaquin Valley. But not too much as it could ruin some of the crops that are ripe now. We especially don't want rain in August and September when the grapes go on the ground to make raisins and the cotton starts getting white to harvest.

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  14. Hi Annie,
    Long time, no visit for me. Sorry to be a stranger but I do think of you often as I work in my garden. I have self-sown Cuphea blooming and that always reminds me of you :)
    It's so good to see your garden blooming IN THE RAIN!!
    There's nothing more beautiful than rain drops on petals...and oh, the smell of rain!
    Thanks for sharing your joy of seeing your garden in the rain. What a treat for Bloom Day! Your plants are positively sparkling IN THE RAIN!

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  15. Kerri! It's lovely to hear from you and think of you working in your beautiful garden. But self-sown cuphea is really impressive. I've been growing them for years and have never seen a seedling.

    Our temperatures are well over 100F every day now but those pink amarcrinum are still sending up new stalks and the crepe myrtles are flourishing even in heat.

    Thanks so much for saying hello.

    Annie

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A comment from you is like chocolate - maybe I could live without it, but life is more fun with it. I'll try to answer. If someone else's comment piques your interest, please feel free to talk among yourselves.