Blooms at the Nursery

Well, I missed GBBD, sorry, so thought I'd share the blooms at the nursery as of late.  

Hope you enjoy!!  

 The Althea are blooming like crazy.

 The butterflies are everywhere- sometimes I feel like my Instagram account is a butterfly watch.

 The Cereus are always neat I think- this one has three blooms on it.  

 I love the Greveillea 'Peaches and Cream' - such an unusual bloom.

 The Palo Verde trees are always pretty to me even without blooms- I love the green bark.

 This was a first for me- two on one.  I posted this on Facebook and a customer posted one on hers as well- guess it isn't that rare but I'd never seen it!

 The Pride of Barbados equals summer in Austin to me.  Love these blooms!

 The 'Sticks of Fire' are always fun- they change colors in the winter but are equally as impressive in the summer.

And last but not least, a Tecoma, this is the 'Lydia' which is a bit more compact and softer yellow.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!  

A Very Late GBBD Post

Better late than never right?
Or I can just say here what has been showing off lately.  =0)

 The hummingbirds are out and about and just so much fun to watch. 

 Never ever do I tire watching them.

 The Palo Verde's are blooming away- such a great tree- ours is HUGE.

 The Bottlebrush are blooming- no wonder how they got their name.  

 The Almond Verbena are as fragrant as ever. 

 The Sesbania are blooming away as well.  Also known as the Rattlebox Tree and if you have ever shook their seed pods you know why…..

And last but not least- the crown not of thorns but of blooms on the Golden Saguaro Cactus.  These guys never disappoint. 

Hope everyone has had a great summer and yes, can you stand it, fall is almost here.

Hard to believe it s back to school time and Labor Day is almost here.  That always for me marks the end of summer.

Happy GBBD May 2013!

 Happy GBBD to everyone!!!!

 Hope everyone is having a great May so far- it has been wonderful here in Austin.  We have had rain off and on and the weather has been beautiful!!!  Enjoying it while we can.

 Posting some photos I have taken this week- I have not been to the nursery much this week, so relying on photos I took earlier while out there this past week/weekend.  The above is the Brugmansia which blooms like upside down trumpets- I love them- in Houston (where I used to live) my neighbors had a HUGE one- it was stunning!!

 The white Leucantha are blooming away- always have been and always will be a favorite.

 The bees are all over the Bulbine!!!

 The Palo Verde 'Desert Museum' is blooming away.  I can't believe how much this tree has grown in the past year!!!

 The red Passion Vines are blooming- love them as all the Passion Vines but something about a red one.... just love it!

 The little Peanut Cactus- love this guy- such big blooms for such a little cactus.

 The Chollas are blooming like mad.  Pretty purple.

 The Bat Face Cuphea- interesting little blooms- they look more like little pig faces to me but intriguing nonetheless.

The Goldenball Lead trees are in full bloom as well.  Our neighbors tree is solid yellow.  They look like little golf balls to me all over the tree.  Hope everyone is having a great GBBD and be sure and visit May Dreams Gardens to check out what is blooming all over the world!

April Show Off's

What to pick?  Everything is so happy right now and just blooming away.

 The White Plumbago are (to me) very classic looking.

The Gregg's mistflower is a new one for me, I like the little soft "puffs".

The butterflies are everywhere as are the bees.  The hummingbirds are zipping around all over the place I guess trying to figure out territory.  I had no idea how territorial they were.  They are such fun little guys to watch.  I love how they just almost hang in the air.

 So many shots of these butterflies over everything but they really seem to love the Lantana.  There are tons of them.  It is wild!!

 I saw the hummers in the Lion's Tail today- hadn't seen that before.  Not sure if they like it or are trying to figure it out.

The Oak Leaf Hydies are opening up and looking as beautiful as ever.  They remind me of home.

The Palo Verde's are blooming away- the blooms look like little yellow saucers from afar.

 The pink on this yucca I think is striking.  A new favorite of mine.  

The Duranta are happy as can be and the bee's are happy it is blooming- they are all over it as are the butterflies.

I think this is a subtle yet sweet little grass, the 'Blonde Ambition' as they call it.  Odd name but I like the grass.

And to finish it off a picture of my little Yucca pallida showing off - that bed is coming along- everything in there is so happy.  Can't wait for the Beach Vitex to bloom!!

It's A Tree Kind of Thing

Can you believe it?  2012 is here.  Where does time go?

I myself spent New Years sick as a result of the infamous Cedar Fever which has many suffering around town.  Upon returning to the nursery we had a bunch of new trees- it was so exciting!  I love to see and learn about new things.
Here is a photo the Cedar Elm.

I must admit I am fascinated but the bark.  It is so neat and has so much character.

 The branches are interesting as well.  I mean look!

I love the different textures on them and they are a really pretty tree.

Another one I found intriguing today was the Poncirus trifoliata.  They are basically covered in curlycues.  I hadn't seen this before but there was one in Chicago outside of the Aquarium.  It gets covered with orange balls- can't wait to see that!  

Here's a close up of one branch.  Love it!

Here's a close up of the Lacey Oak - another one with interesting bark. These trees are also quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  The textured bark is stunning I think. Again, just has a lot of character.

The Palo Verdes never cease to amaze and draw a lot of attention.  The bark is green, hence the name- green sticks translated.   We have one planted in the corner and it has gotten so big this year!  It blooms beautiful yellow flowers which makes a beautiful contrast.

And last but not least is the Monterrey Oak.  An old classic.  The bark is simple yet subtle.  Hope everyone had a great New Year and looking forward to 2012!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

I think this is a really neat thing that May Dreams Gardens has done to ask everyone to post what is blooming in their gardens!  

To be fair I only am posting plants that are blooming in the planted beds today with the one exception of the Cereus.  It was just too pretty not to share.  

Here we go- here is what is blooming today:

In the front planter- I really like this plant- it is a Brazilian Pavonia and I like the burgundy center.  I think it makes a nice contrast to the pale pink.

 The Delospermum are growing like crazy in the front planter.  Such a neat contrast to the Queen Victoria Agave (which is not blooming so no photo).

The Hamelia are full of blooms.

The Tecoma are full of blooms as well- little late in the day to be taking photos on most of these but I got here late so had to deal with the sun on the plants that aren't shaded so sorry some of the photos aren't better.

Plumbago, how can you ever go wrong with Plumbago? 

The Mexican Bird of Paradise Caesalpinia.  So interesting I think with the red sprays.

The White Salvia are blooming like mad- did a close up so you can see the touches of pink.

The Palo Verde- got a little bee in the one bloom to the right.  He was unphased I was there nor was he phased by the wind which was making my photo session difficult.

The Thyrallis are blooming away.  I will admit this has never been my favorite plant but Shonna swears if I just give it time I will come to love it.  We shall see. 

Mystic Spires Salvia, oldie but goodie.  How can you not love these?  I have it in the side bed by the Caesalpinia - I think there are only purple and yellow flowers in this bed.  I also have the other Caesalpinia at the opposite end that is all yellow but it wasn't in full bloom today- when he is showing off I will post that- a really pretty one.

Cat Mint bloom- in my purple and yellow bed of course.  This is a neat little plant.

There you have it.  Everything I have that is in bloom and pretty enough to post. Hope you enjoy.  I wish I had gotten here a little earlier so the sun would not have been quite so bright for the shots.  Now I am off to continue looking at all the pretty posts!!!