Yes,those late freezes can be devastating because plants will be blooming or ready to bloom, and the frost will kill the flowers.
My Saucer Magnolia, Fig, and Texas Mountain Laurel got zapped last year.
The magnolia and mountain laurel lost the flowers,which only happen once a year, and my 35 year old fig was damaged to the ground and we had to cut it down. It has resprouted, but it is like starting from scratch, only a little quicker, because of the large root system.
I guess these are things we have to learn to live with, just like so many other setbacks in life.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, part 14.
Oh, I discovered later in the day that I DO have something else blooming. My winter honeysuckle is blooming! So nice to see it. But now back to freezing weather this week!
Yep Linda and Josephine,
I better get out there and cover what's growing now.... You won't have any trouble spotting me, I will be the lady trying to pin some tarps down in this outragous wind..LOL! weeeeee..
Okay...the prize is taken for first native wildflower to bloom here after the deep freeze this year! Voila, the prize goes to the Two-Flower Anemone, Anemone edwardsiana! I saw it blooming late in the afternoon. The out-of-focus pic doesn't really do it justice...maybe I can get a better one tomorrow. This wildflower is different from A. heterophylla (Wind Flower) in that a plant can have multiple flowers blooming at one time, with 2 to 3 coming off the same stem side-by-side. All I've seen are white, but the book says it can have the same colors as the other one. They bloom from February to April. I rescued a few from a Leon Springs plant rescue site a few years back. Wish I'd gotten them all. I always feel guilty later on...something like a no-plant-left-behind kind of guilt complex. And the Agaritas are going to be blooming soon. I can see the little reddish buds. From the looks of it, there's going to be quite a large amount of blooms! Yea!
This message was edited Feb 17, 2007 4:37 PM
That is wonderful Linda, thank you for showing us,
Josephine.
Hi Linda,...the anemone has an fascinating,,,,unusual leaf shape!
Would you believe I saw a patch of BLUEBONNETS blooming over in Cleveland...(Tx)
this was Thursday..2 days ago. They weren't very tall ,...for BB,...maybe 3-4 inches tall....strangest thing! They were growing about 6 feet from a group of paperwhites bloomin'. I stopped and got out of my truck to be sure I wasn't in the Twilight Zone! :~)
My BB plantlets are still developing....some maybe 4"- 5" in diameter but still flat against the ground,...no flower stem yet...as one would expect! We had 24 degrees the other night and they're going strong! Lee
Yes, it is amazing how cold resistant Bluebonnets are.
Here's a better photo of my anemones. As warm as is now, it shouldn't be long until something else blooms!
What an incredibly beautiful day it was.... :) I can't wait for things to start rustlin' around in the ground.. :)
Melanie
Good news! My Purple Leatherflower is putting out new growth...from the ground, not on the old vines...and my native honeysuckle has new leaves on the branches. They survived! Much is still in doubt...the Fairy Duster, which looked okay earlier, had only dead leaves after that last freeze, the Desert Ruellia still has no sign of life, most of my Mexican Milkweeds are probably not coming back. Oh, but some of the Golden Groundsel has flower buds already! I really never doubted their cold-hardiness, but it's still good to see. And the Roughleaf Dogwood is putting out some new leaves. Spring is coming! I planted a Spicebush today that I was keeping in a pot...no foliage yet, but it's early. And I know...we still have some freezes ahead here.
Linda, it is wonderful to see signs of Spring, I have one or two jonquils, some snowflakes and my saucer magnolia is starting to unfold. It usually blooms very early, I hope a freeze won't kill the flowers.
Josephine.
The only thing I have seen is some green where I planted some bulbs... and I don't remember which bulbs I planted so I have to wait for the flowers I guess before I can know. This year I'm going to label them so I will know.
My Fairy Duster is looking a bit forlorn as well, Linda.....tho most of my "scrub bushes" are looking that way right now. My poor Pride of Barbados is really looking sad right now! I sure hope it comes back. I think I lost my pentas with that last big freeze of 24 degrees last week...which is such a shame because they were sooo pretty. But my Big Red Sages are really sprouting some new leaves....I can't wait to see what they will do this Spring. :) The Green Wysteria that Lee gave me at the SA RU is also sprouting some new growth...it should be really lovely and will hopefully bloom soon. I love this time of year! :)
Melanie
Yes, can't wait for the weather to settle and get serious about Spring, the wind was atrocious today and the power went off for about 8 hours, but it is back now, Thank God.
frostweed,
Your knowledge is so wonderful and thank you for posting
If you were to have a "perfect" spring garden, what would you plant now...
shade and sun? for a lovely spring show?
Oh my!! so many choices! are we talking about native plants? or just plants in general?
Please advise.
Josephine.
Josephine....I had a fellow DG'r DMail me and asked if I had access to any ipomoea in this area...and while I've seen many Morning Glorys...I'm not real familiar with Texas native MGs. He seems to be a very avid collector and wants me to keep an eye out for them. I never really paid them much mind...but think I will at this point, lol. Any idea about what to look for?
Melanie
The two morning glories that I have are Sharp-pod Morning glory, Ipomoea corditotriloba, and Lindhimer's Morning glory, Ipomoea lindheimeri. Are you wanting to find them in the wild, or are you looking for some seed?
If you are, I will see if I have some saved that i can send to you.
Good to hear from you Melanie.
Well...he sent me a huge list of MG's that he is looking for....some that don't even have an image yet, according to him. He didn't really mention mature plants or a desire for seeds...but I would imagine that either would be ok. The Ipomoea lindheimeri is on his list of wants...but didn't see Ipomoea corditotriloba anywhere in his DMail...but I'm sure he would probably be interested. This letter from this unknown DG'r is making me take a second look at Morning Glorys...lol. Nice to see you too.. :)
Melanie
Melanie, was it RON_CONVOLVULACEAE by any chance? I know he loves morning glories.
I have a wild purple one at my house. he can have all the seed he wants from it.
Caraboof, I hope you didn't think I was putting off answering you, but there are so many plants that I love and would like to have, that I needed to sort out my thoughts about it.
As far as what I would love to have in Spring, I imagine a meadow full of Bluebonnet, Mexican Primrose, Indian Paintbrush, with Indian Blanket, Horsemint, Meadow Pink, Verbena, Cowpen daisy, Brazos Penstemon and Mexican Hat just to name a few.
The list is almost endless. Of course, to have these plants blooming in the Spring I should have planted most of them last Fall, except for the annuals, which still could be put in now to bloom this year.
Thank you for admiring and loving our beautiful Texas native plants, I am crazy about them and I guess I am on a mission to spread the word about native plant cultivation and appreciation.
Please check the little article that I submitted here on Dave's; http://davesgarden.com/articles/view/39/
I have submitted four articles and they put them all up, so I'm on cloud nine.
Let me know what you think.
Josephine.
Melanie, I can give you all the Lindheimer's Morning Glory plants you want! And I'm going to send Ron some seeds for them also.
Good thing Linda, I only have a few seeds form the plant you gave me last year, and I already gave some to Mitch, so I am glad that you offered.
Josephine.
oops...sorry guys...been working late hours so I didn't see your posts. Yes Josephine, lol...it was RON_ who DMailed me. I had no idea that we had wild native Morning Glories in Texas. But again, I'm still learning... :) I'd love to have one, Linda....but I fear that between my passion vine, my coral honeysuckle...and the green wysteria that Lee gave me at the SA RU last year...it would probably be fighting for space along my wee back fence. But wouldn't all of those make an interesting mix of vines along a trellis? lol... :) Can't wait for the Boerne Native Plant Sale!
Melanie
Melanie... you can have all the native MG you want off my land. no reason to buy ANY... I have plenty... more than plenty... and excess... more than an excess....
ya get the picture? *giggle
lol Nada....yeah, I get the picture.... :)
Melanie
Well, even though some people tell me that the Sharp-pod Morning Glory, Ipomoea cordatotriloba is very invasive I have no problem with it, I like to grow it in a hanging pot, and it looks great.
Here is a picture from last summer.
yep that's the one I have... I never planted it. It just grows and grows and grows.. and grows. *giggle
ooo....that is so pretty, Josephine.... :) Thanks for sharing....
Melanie
Well, I signed up for a plant rescue scheduled soon. I'm hoping for rain before then, but the chances don't look good. Anyway, the Agarita blooms this year are absolutely amazing! I've never seen so many blooms on them! Must remember to take a camera next time I'm in town..mine have barely started yet. And the anemones are so beautiful! Mountain Laurels too! And today I spotted a hummingbird! The first one you see in spring is always so special. This one was a male black-chinned hummer, enjoying my Carolina Jessamine blossoms.
Oh Linda, it looks like everything is coming alive again for you. That is so neat about the Agaritas!!
My mountain laurel is not open yet, but it does have a lot of buds, isin't Spring gorgeous?
I was out wandering around in town today. First in a park, then in some yet-to-be-developed land near a shopping center. I saw these in the park, looking really pretty...the Spanish Dagger, Yucca treculeana. A good plant not to EVER brush up against, BTW. That's why the name has "dagger" in it.
And here's some spring bluebonnets on that land by the shopping center. Things bloom later in the hills where we live, so it's great to go into town where things bloom a bit sooner!
And an Agarita in that park...I just love those Agaritas, especially while they're blooming. Later the red berries look so pretty!
Okay, maybe someone knows this one...Josephine, maybe? I've seen this legume plant in moist areas before, no idea what it is!
Oh, and here's one that's probably only going to be noticed in the evening! I believe it's the Stemless Evening Primrose, Oenothera tribloba. Love those primroses, so beautiful!
Great photos, Linda.....thank you for sharing! BTW - My Lindheimer's Morning Glory that you gave me at the plant swap (at Nada's house)....is doin' great and starting to grow vigorously!
If you see Sheila in the near future,...tell her that we said hello!
Hello Linda, thank you for posting those pictures. You are right, that Agarita is really beautiful, I have never seen one with so many flowers.
The Lindheimer Morning glory you gave me is just starting to come up here, and many of the other plants too.
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Lee the plants you gave me are also doing great, the evergreen Wisteria is making runners already, looking forward to the lovely flowers.
Josephine.
The Wysteria that Lee gave me is doing wonderful as well....It has alot of new growth and is climbing its trellis already. :) The wee pecan tree that you gave me, Josephine, is putting out alot of new leaves and is doing great in the new bed.
I know what you mean, Linda..about those Spanish Daggers. I have two large ones in the back and one poked me real bad on Monday. I've had a 50 cent sized green/purple bruise around the puncture mark ever since! Yikes.....Like a hypodermic needle... :p
Melanie