Morning Glory

My garden brings me peace and serenity, and I needed a healthy dose of both in 2018.

I loved the countless hours I spent planning, prepping, and working in the garden.  And sharing it with family and friends was just as wonderful. (Especially 92 of my closest friends – garden bloggers – who braved the terrifying elements on that miserable Friday in May!)

Hope you enjoy a few of my favorite pics of my garden in 2018.  Looking forward to many more happy memories here in 2019.

The cooler nights are starting to affect the vines, so I thought I’d get a few more pictures before they fade away for the season.

I need to go harvest those Coneflower seeds just to the right of this morning glory.
Can you tell I love blue and purple vines?
This mandavilla is so happy here. Too bad it won’t come back after winter.
These scraggly guys are behind the fence.
This Cypress Vine will have to be cut back with a machete when it dies for the winter!

This Tangerine Beauty Crossvine is so not supposed to be blooming now! It’s an early Spring bloomer. I think it’s blooming because it’s just so happy that the heat has finally abated and we’ve gotten a little rare rain.
This Purple Hyacinth Bean vine is loving the rain – it’s been a sindly stalk all summer and now it’s bursting with blooms and beans.

What’s your favorite vine?

I’ve failed for Bloom Day — I missed it by a day and I didn’t get everything that was blooming. But it’s a long list and much of it has been posted lately, so I’m giving you the short and sweet edition.

The Butterflies are out in full force these days, so I try to keep lots of water (shallow) available for them. Like the birds and the deer, they get thirsty in these 100+ degree days, too.
Grandpa Ott Morning Glory.
My transplanted ditch lily, brought back to me in a bucket from Wisconsin from my good garden-blogging friend, Lori, at the Gardener of Good and Evil.
My Tropical Punch Canna.
Another Morning Glory.
This isn’t technically a bloom yet, it’s going to be beautiful when this Little Gem Magnolia blooms while we are gone next week.

Thanks, Carol, at May Dreams Gardens for inviting us to share our garden beauties with on Bloom Day.

We’re headed to Indiana and Kentucky tomorrow, so look for some cooler posts from the Midwest if my new computer is set up.

So, as the Death Star blazes on (100+ for as long as I can remember …103 today), some things in my garden are still doing well — many things, in fact. These plants have popped up recently and come into their own. These are some of my hot St. Tropez-on-the-beach-loving plants!
Grandpa Ott morning glories greeting the day on the back fence in the cutting garden.
Look hard for the 3 new Butterfly weed plants in the center of the bed – finally filling a hole left by last year’s Viburnum exorcism!
Coral trumpet vine is bursting with trumpets — can you hear her?
The huge Duranta bush looks like purple fireworks exploding in this corner.
And one of my very favorites, the Pride of Barbados, is giving us a long show this year. This tropical normally doesn’t bloom until August and I’m so excited to see them so early. I hope they can last the whole, hot summer.
Another Pride of Barbados.
Like the Pride of Barbados, this Cassia alata, or Candlestick Tree, normally blooms in August. I have two in a slightly less than perfect spot – they routinely stop growing at about 2-2-1/2 feet tall, and this one is blooming already! My other 3 are in a hot protected corner in the back and they are easily 10 feet tall! They aren’t blooming yet, but they never even died back during our mild winter last year. Can’t wait to show them to you.
A few spindly vines still have wonderful tropical colors to offer. They just need to GROW and fill in! The orange one is a Mexican Flame Vine and the other is a Morning Glory.

Ok – did enjoy the tour?

You might want to shield your eyes now — parental discretion is advised for the following photos. These are the bad and the ugly. Things stressed by the heat and the sun and not enough water, or, conversely, too much water or scalding on the leaves. I desperately try to water before 9 a.m., but life doesn’t always cooperate and at 106, 1 missed day of watering can mean death. So, sometimes even careful watering with warmer temps can damage.

Ready? Are you sitting down?
My new Avocado plant. I think it fried in the heat, I thought it like sun…maybe not OUR sun, though.
My lacebark elm is stressed and I’m going to have to get a drip hose on it to deep water tomorrow.
A Mandavilla vine recently planted with roots too close to the surface in the cutting bed.
The variegated lemon tree has a few sad leaves.
And the Sago is suffering, too.
The black elephant ears were great until about 2 weeks ago. These are in full sun, and on a less than scorching summer, which we USED to have, they are fine that way. But, that’s not this year!
Variegated shell ginger struggles, too
And apparently, I have the dreaded day lily rust that came to Texas in the last year or two. I may have to remove them before the other plants in the bed succumb to it.
Even the tropical Plumeria has a few sad spots.
And this one is just plain UGLY. But amazing, nonetheless. This is a Texas Bluebonnet. They normally bloom in March, but I did see my first bloom this year on February 28th and posted about how amazing THAT was in this Seriously? post.

Seems we could all write a lot of “Seriously?” posts these days, couldn’t we?

Sometimes our plants are just sneaky.  This is my Saucer Hibiscus, foolishly planted in the front walkway bed, where the deer and the antelope play!  (Just kidding – but only about the antelope part!)

But today, my hibiscus was sneaky.  Somehow, she evaded those does, and burst forth with a bloom unequalled anywhere in my garden.  The sheer size of these just makes me shake my head in awe.  They are just stunning.  And even though they are few and far between, I love seeing them there, towering above the Lantana and the Euonymous and the Skullcap.
The Indigo Spires are very happy in the back yard – full of tall purple…well… spires!

And then, of course, are the reliable Crepe Myrtles with all their beautiful colors.  
Surprisingly, this exotic little bloom is a Morning Glory.
This trio is white Echinacea.
I realized that I totally ignore this Buddleia, because the deep purple color on my other two is just so amazing.  But this bush is tall and hearty and very pretty in its own right.
In spite of its strong aroma, the society garlics are all in bloom, though most of mine are lavender.
And this is a close-up of the Plumeria bloom.  Can’t you just smell it?  There, put your nose right up next to the monitor there…smell?   

Ok, garden experts! I need help. This lily (I am assuming it is a lily of sorts) is stunningly beautiful. But I have no idea what it is. The entire stem is bright red, unlike the daylilies I know. Do you know what it might be?

I’ve done some google searches and come up empty. I’d love to have your ideas to search through. It lives in dappled shade, gets good water and the soil is probably mostly black clay so I think it’s pretty hearty in that sense.

I planted them at our previous house and loved them so much that I divided them and brought these with me. I’d love to have more, but that would require a name!

Any ideas?

Ok – mystery #2 of the day! I found this amazing moth in our outdoor kitchen, where he/she hung out all day long in this spot. Must have been cozy! It looks like something you’d draw when you were doodling. Any idea what it might be?
And these are not mysterious at all, just pretty! Had to share a shot of my morning glories in their full morning glory! Don’t they look happy?