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Due to numerous problems posting on this blog I have abandoned Blogger.com and moved to a new location. Please visit me at http://horselips.wordpress.com/

Bloom Day January 2009

Here we are already for the first bloom day of the year. I realize that I'm a day late for this, but I figured it's better late than never, right? I've been trying to catch up on my blogging and have been having problems with uploading photos. One of these days I'll get caught up. Anyway, here is what I have for Bloom Day which is the idea of Carol of May Dreams Gardens Blog ( http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/).
















The first photo is what's left of the bottle brush that I recently planted in the backyard. I realize that the bloom is mostly spent, but since it's trying why not put it in I've got a very unusual bloom from my Mule's Ear Kalanchoe. It's covered in buds and they flowers are slowly opening one at a time. I have this plant inside to protect it from the cold.
That bloom in the middle that looks like the flower that Horton carried around full of Who's is from my shoestring acacia. It's a really cool and unusual tree.


I was surprised at the number of things that were blooming in the garden. We've been having some cold weather lately and a few freezing nights, but most of the things I have in the yard are able to survive the freezing temperatures. The statice in the front yard is still blooming nicely. It's interesting to watch the bloom stalks rise and the flowers unfold on this plant.
I've got a nice assortment of violas and pansies and of course dianthus and candytuft.

The petunia that came up volunteer this past spring still had one flower on it. I've got a few of the spooky dianthus blooming. They are really going crazy with flowers right now. My purple trailing lantana is still looking healthy and covered in blooms and I've got one zinnia plant left with a few rather pathetic looking flowers. That one will probably go into the composter soon.

I'm closing out the post with another photo of the Mule's Ear Kalanchoe. It's such an unusual flower.

Well that's it for this post. Sorry to keep it so short and with unorganized photos. Hopefully I will have my photo posting problem figured out soon and can catch up on the entries.

Stay warm everybody and I look forward to seeing what you have in your gardens in February, the coldest month here in Austin.

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!!!

Need a Kelpie?

I know this has nothing to do with gardening, but I've got to find a new home for Elzora and I'm asking for your help. In April I took in a dog that was running up and down the street, half starved and scared. I fed her and took her to the vet for her shots and to be spayed and micro chipped. I then found out that she had heart worms. I've had her treated for the heart worms and she is now completely healthy. She is a kelpie, between 3 and 4 years old weighing about 35 pounds. She's incredibly sweet and affectionate, smart and has a great personality... most of the time.

She has two problems. One is that she growls at people, the other is that she hates other dogs. She doesn't growl all of the time or even when first meeting people. She runs up to anyone, wagging her little stub tail and wanting affection and lets them pet her and love on her but at some point she usually starts to growl. She's never snapped at or bitten anyone, just growls. She growls alot. She growls when she plays with her tennis ball, throwing it up in the air and knocking it around with her front feet. It's really cute, but almost the entire time she's doing it, she's growling. She growls at other dogs too. My dog just ignores her growling and tries to get her to play. She growls and acts angry with Phoebe (my dog) but eventually she starts to play with her a bit (in her own way).

Unfortunately she's not that great with my roommate's dog. For some reason she has decided that she hates his collie. She stares at the collie and follows her everywhere, growling and trying to dominate her. They've had a few full on fights and now the collie is starting to display signs of aggression with other dogs, so the kelpie has got to go. I think that part of her problem is that she's a very intelligent and energetic dog and really needs a job. Because of the problems she has with other dogs she spends her life in my large backyard. She runs around out there and patrols the area but it's not enough to keep her busy. She really wants to work. I think she'd make a great farm or ranch dog or anyone who has some acreage. Before my roommate moved in she was allowed in the house and she is house-broken. Also, she never bothers the cats. She shows a little interest, but has never shown any sign of aggression even as they stroll past her. I'm at the end of my rope. Having to keep the dogs separated is difficult enough, but now it's starting to get cold and I can't stand the thought of leaving her outside. I never intended to keep this dog, I just wanted to help her. I think that the first few years of her life were really hard and she really is a good, sweet dog and deserves to be with someone that can give her a good life. I think that if she was the only dog with one or two owners she'd be a great pet. Please let me know if you have any interest in Elzora?