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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.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Late GBBD List for January 2011

There are a few indoor plants in bloom but not much outside after repeated freezes and nights in the mid-20's °F. This month there is no Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post for May Dreams Carol because instead of looking for non-existent flowers outside on the 15th, I kept digger deeper inside, down the tunnels of genealogy research, both for my own family and as one of May Dreams Carol's companions on the search for 1900's garden writer Ida D Bennett of Coldwater, Michigan. It was pretty nice earlier this week but today the temperatures have been steadily dropping, more freezes are coming and the winds are strong and gusty. I put on my coat and decided to make a GBBD List today:

Camellia japonica 'Morning Glow' double white camellia - two open flowers, 10 buds. The open flower shows freeze damage.Annieinaustin, Camellia morning glow in January

Citrus x meyeri, Meyer's Improved Lemon, couple of buds on inside plant

Cyclamen persicum/ florist’s cyclamen hybrids - a few battered flowers. They were gorgeous at Christmas but ratty now.

Gaura lindheimerii, unknown tall rose-pink variety (‘Pink Cloud’?) - one plant is still blooming!

Justicia brandegeana, shrimp plant - I don't see new ones, but the flowers haven't changed much since my December Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post ... they don't feel dry, but maybe are preserved by the cold?

Kalanchoe daigremontiana syn. Bryophyllum daigremontianum/ Mother of Thousands, Alligator Plant still blooming inside - seen here with the Salmon Pelargonium in the background.Annieinaustin, motherofthousands and geranium

Lobularia maritime, Sweet alyssum - in a hanging basket, a few flowers

Osmanthus fragrans/Sweet olive three established shrubs with scattered buds and blooms

Pelargonium hybrid, 'Fantasia Salmon', zonal geranium in breakfast room window.

Plumbago auriculata, blue plumbago - the plant still has a few flowers near the house wall but just a couple of feet away was frozen Annieinaustin blue plumbago in January

Punica granatum 'Nana'/ dwarf pomegranate - this year I've covered it during freezes... many of the leaves fell off but it's still making flowersAnnieinaustin, dwarf pomegranate in January

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' - Prostrate Rosemary, many pale blue flowers

Rosemarinus officianalis, upright Rosemary many white flowers

Salvia elegans/Pineapple sage - the plant in the border is very frozen, but there area a few flowers on this container plant on the patio - surprising because even the Salvia greggii & Salvia 'Hot Lips' have given upAnnieinaustin, Pineapple sage in JanuaryAnnie

Schlumbergera truncata, Thanksgiving cactus - the other plants bloomed in December but this one didn't form buds until I stuck it near the window of the guest bedroom. Now in bloom, it's in the living room.Annieinaustin, thanksgiving cactus in January

Tetraneuris scaposa, four nerve daisy Hymenoxys - one brave flower still blooming. Look close and you'll see a bluebonnet seedling behind it.Annieinaustin, four nerve daisy in January

Viola spp– various hybrids of Pansies and violas in containers and hanging baskets. I hope they make it through this weekend!

3 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Thank you again for all of your help finding information on Ida Bennett. Your blooms look pretty good to me. I'm still staring at a snow covered garden!

Annie in Austin said...

Hi Carol! It's always fun to follow the threads you trail in front of me... think I'm more like a cat than a rabbit ;-]

Hmmm - think it's about 4 and 1/2 hours until someone's birthday, isn't it?

Hugs from Annie

mss @ Zanthan Gardens (Texas) said...

Wow! I'm amazed that your plumbago is blooming. In my yard it blooms only in the heat of summer.

That camellia, even with frost damage, is lovely. I love waxy white flowers.

The only thing blooming here is a couple of paperwhites...not enough for a GBBD post.