Bloom Day, December 15 2008

Well another month has passed and it's bloom day again. Why does it seem that time moves in fast-motion in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas? This is my second time to participate in this event and I'm really enjoying it. I have to send a shout out to Carol of May Dreams Gardens maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/index.html for coming up with the idea and allowing me to participate.
The weather here in Central Texas has been so nice lately. I've slept the past 2 nights with the window open in my bedroom. This morning about 5:30 I woke up freezing! A cold front blew in and the temperature has been hovering at just above freezing all day. To top it off the wind is blowing from the north at a pretty rapid clip, so I've been staying in most of the day. I did manage to put on my warmest clothes and snap a few pix of the things blooming in my yard. Some of the pix may be a bit blurry as it is very difficult to photograph flowers that won't sit still!
In the photo above is a viola planted in with some apple chamomile. The chamomile smells just like an apple jolly rancher candy when you crush the leaves.

Some butterfly weed that is still hanging on.

Next up is a close up of some white statice (a.k.a. sea lavender) that I have blooming near my front door. I really like this plant.
Winter in Texas means pansies. They were blooming like crazy out in the bed by the street.
It's not a flower, but I thought this giant mustard looked really nice squeezed in between the zinnias with some leaves from the red oak.
I had really high hopes for this shot of bi-color sage and my purple trailing lantana. Unfortunately the lantana couldn't stop dancing in the breeze long enough for her picture to be taken.
Close up of the lantana
I have several pinks or dianthus planted in the yard, but this was the only one in bloom. Don't know what happened to that missing chunk, but it is easy to find beauty in imperfections. Don't you think?
Yellow snapdragons looking cheerful in spite of the temperature.
Another viola. These things bloom like crazy here all winter long.
A few hot pink snapdragons.
Some magenta colored allysum planted in lava rock. It smells as good as it looks.

This is the bloom from a dianthus called "Spooky Mix". The blooms usually look much better than this (this one looks kinda beat up) but I wanted to be sure to get at least one on here. There were several blooms just a few days ago, now lots of buds, so maybe I'll have better shots of them in January.
Gorgeous orange rose. I dont' know what variety it may be.
Pink rose. Again I don't know what variety. These bushes were here when I bought the house. I've done nothing to them but move them around several times.
Here's a view of that Spooky Mix dianthus just about to open up. It's one of my favorite winter-blooming plants.
This was a surprise. I have a Peggy Martin rose in the container I purchased it in and today it had several little blooms on it. One of these days I'll get around to planting it.
A pot full of petunias. I planted these about 3 years ago and they keep coming back and blooming. I'm gonna keep em as long as they keep it up
A kind of scraggly looking hibiscus. It has 3 blooms on it right now and this was the best one. It may also be it's last of this season.


White alyssum blooming in a pot by the front door.
Probably the last bloom for the Mexican Bird of Paradise.

Again, not a flower but this komatsu looks so nice.
Mexican bush sage is still covered in blooms. I was lucky to get this shot with the breeze that was blowing.
Snapdragons in with the pansies and agave.
Artemisia and zinnias. The zinnias are putting on quite a display right now. This may be the last day for them.

More of the zinnias.
Probably the last bloom this season for the double purple datura. Looks pretty sad doesn't it?
Sorry for the blurry pic here but the mexican mint marigold wouldn't be still. You can see some purple heart peeking out below it.
The periwinkle are still covered in blooms.
And last but not least is another shot of the statice by the front door.
Thanks so much for looking at my blog and I hope that everyone has a happy holiday!!!