November 15th, 2009
GBBD 200911: Nov 2009
Commelinantia anomala. I prefer this pale false dayflower.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.
November 15, 2009
This last month has been one of the most beautiful in memory, its perfection lulling us into a glowing sense of “God! Isn’t it wonderful to live here in central Texas.” Rain. Rain. Rain. And then a month of dew-kissed mornings when we never got the hose out once and only watered seedlings and new transplants with the bounty in our rain barrels.
The overwintering annuals have filled in making it look more like March than November. The false dayflower is already flowering.
Commelinantia anomala. The common solid blue false day flower has an endearing face, too.
Henbit, chickweed, and dandelions–the early winter weeds (or tonic herbs depending on your point of view)–are also getting a head start on sprouting and blooming. It’s odd to think that our first freeze is due within three weeks when the whole garden is insisting we’re already into spring.
Another March flowerer, cilantro, is about to bolt. I hope this counts as a bonus fall crop and that we get a second crop in spring. Even the spring-flowering Jerusalem sage threw out a few flowers on one bush.
The fall flowers, brilliant with fall yellows and oranges, are in full bloom. With the flowers, the butterflies returned.
Asclepias curassavica.
As did swarms of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes love to be in the garden in the late afternoon at the same time I otherwise find it most pleasant to work. Very discouraging. The garden is buzzing with bees, too. They especially like the coral vine, the basil, and the orange cosmos. The cosmos is in full bloom right now. Unfortunately it is a uniform orange, unlike previous years. It and the pink Port St. John’s Creeper account for almost all the color in the back yard.
Cosmos sulphureus.
All month the roses have been in full bloom. The ‘New Dawn’ rose by the front fence has flowered more and longer than ever before. So has ‘Red Cascade’ which looks like it has finally decided to do something (take over the world?) after years of lying sleepily along the ground. In the back yard, ‘Ducher’ collapsed under its own weight and then sent out a lot of additional new growth from the bent canes. In short, it pegged itself.
Rose ‘Ducher’. Linen white and lemon scented.
Rose ‘Red Cascade’. Tiny flowers on rambling rose that wants to be a groundcover.
Rose ‘Prosperty’. From bud, to faded flower on stem…like a timelapse photo of itself.
Rose ‘Blush Noisette’.
‘Mermaid’ has been blooming this last month, just not today. Only ‘Souvenir del Malmaison’ and ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’, which are still in the shade of a red oak, have not flowered.
The vines have set out to smother the yard, especially the kudzu-like Port St. John’s creeper which is following the coral vine’s leap into the trees. The cypress vine has grown into a flopsy mopsy tangle at the top of its trellis. One surviving morning glory puts out a unique striated flower every other day or so.
Pavonia hastata. A single pale pavonia flower struggles to open. I prefer it to its cousin the solid pink, Texas native, rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala.
In the winter vegetable garden, the parsnips are flowering. The leaves are only just beginning to fall from the pecans today so the newly planted lettuce and other salad greens are struggling in the shade and getting leggy or eaten by pill bugs. The jalapeno is flowering and has peppers on it. One self-sown tomatillo is flowering but the other two which sprouted died so can’t cross-pollinate and set fruit.
Complete List for November
The list of all plants flowering today, November 15th 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.
- Ajania pacifica (2009)
- Antigonon leptopus (2009)
- Asclepias curassavica (2009)
- Aster ericoides (2009)
- basil (2009)
- Callisia repens (2009)
- Calytocarpus vialis (2009) hated horseherb
- Commelina communis (2009)
- Commelinantia anomala (2009)
- Cosmos sulphureus (2009)
- Datura inoxia (2009)
- Dolichos lablab (2009)
- Duranta erecta (2009): overwintered and bloomed all summer
- Eupatorium wrightii (2009): fading
- Galphimia gracilis (2009)
- henbit (2009)
- Ipomoea quamoclit (2009)
- jalapeno (2009)
- Lagerstroemia indica ‘Catawba’ (2009): one flower; leaves browning–not changing color
- Lavandula heterophylla ‘Goodwin Creek’ (2009)
- Lobularia maritima ‘Tiny Tim’ (2009) survived the summer
- Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
- Mirabilis jalapa pink (2009)
- Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2009): fading
- Oxalis crassipis (2009)
- Oxalis triangularis, purple (2009)
- parsnips (2009)
- Pavonia hastata (2009)
- Podranea ricasoliana (2009)
- Polanisia dodecandra (2009)
- rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2009)
- rose ‘Ducher’ (2009): so heavy with new growth and flowers that it’s sprawling
- rose ‘New Dawn’ (2009): both plants
- rose ‘Prosperity’ (2009)
- rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2009)
- rosemary (2009)
- Setcreasea (2009) both purple and green
- Solanum jasminoides (2009)
- tomatillo (2009)
- Tagetes lucida (2009)
- Thymophylla tenuiloba (2009)
- Zexmenia hispida (2009)
by M Sinclair Stevens
November 16th, 2009
Nice roses. Sorry you still have mosquitoes. So glad ours in Raleigh are gone. Happy GBBD!
After two years, Austin finally got quite a bit of rain. Mosquitoes are the downside. I use mosquito dunks but they seem quite happy in the mulch, in the English ivy and other dense groundcovers like horseherb. I wouldn’t trade the rain for zero mosquitoes. Just wish the bats wouldn’t go south for the winter. — mss
November 16th, 2009
Wow! You have a lot of blooms. I love the blue false dayflower. I’m not sure I have ever seen that before. You take wonderful photos. I enjoy looking at your blog.
You’ve probably seen the false dayflower and not recognized it. It’s a common weed in central Texas. Luckily it’s my favorite weed. It has beautiful bright green foliage over the winter when little else is growing. After it flowers in the spring it vanishes gracefully in the heat. If it seeds where you don’t want it, it is easy to pull out. If you want some seeds, I’ll save you some. –mss
November 16th, 2009
Wow–your cilantro’s already bolted? My jalapenos are finally flowering and producing, too. The color of that pale false dayflower is beautiful, and your ‘Ducher’ is just dreamy. I’ve not had much luck with roses but perhaps I’m now ready to branch out (so to speak): is ‘Ducher’ as hardy as ‘Red Cascade’?
I’m on my second ‘Ducher’ because I lost the first one to rose dieback after it got stressed in the 2006 drought. I planted the new one where it got a lot more sun and it has been growing like crazy since I planted it. For more details see my plant profile ‘Ducher’. For me, ‘Ducher’ has been much more successful than ‘Red Cascade’ although the latter seems to finally be settling in. — mss.
November 16th, 2009
I’ve never seen a pale false dayflower. It’s a lovely thing. And your Roses – oh, my! Just stunning. Sorry about the massive mosquito mayhem in your garden. I sympathize. It’s a tough decision choosing whether to be hot & sweaty or bitten up.
I’ve been selecting that pale false dayflower for years by pulling out the solid blue ones as soon as they appear. I only had a few to begin with but now they come up about 50/50. –mss
November 16th, 2009
Thanks for the roses. Mine are just about finished with 43F temps today is probably their last blast. Oh, well, I need a rest anyway, and so do they. It’s nice to know the butterflies and bees now have somewhere to go after leaving here. You all deserve a wonderful fall, winter and spring after your horrid summer.
I often have roses at Christmas even though we usually have at least one hard freeze before that. I’m a bit worried about both ‘Ducher’ and ‘Red Cascade’ because they have put out massive amounts of new tender growth and our first frost date is the beginning of December. It dropped to 41°F overnight. –mss
November 16th, 2009
The Austin garden bloggers, you included, have really carried this bloom day with all the flowers in your gardens right now. I love that “weed”, false dayflower. I’d let it bloom in my garden any day! It does seem like spring from your pictures. Frost is going to be tough to take for the garden and the gardener.
I’m lucky for my weeds. My strategy is throw a lot of seed out there and thin what you don’t want. — mss
November 16th, 2009
Your roses are a treat to see. I love ‘Blush noisette’. The false dayflower is delicate and beautiful. So is the Pavonia. It must be a wonderful time in your garden especially now that you have had some rain.
Rain is the secret ingredient. My happiness is tinged with a bit of regret. I see how the plants respond to double or triple the water they typically get. I’m really, really trying to enjoy the moment. Perfect monts are so rare. — mss
November 17th, 2009
Hi MSS,
My favorite line was about Ducher – “In short, it pegged itself”. Anyone who ever dreamed over rose books is grinning at the thought.
And the uniform orange of the cosmos looks lovely to me. Happy GBBD!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I’m glad (but not surprised) that you knew what I meant. As for the cosmos, for us living in Austin burnt orange is a good color. –mss
November 17th, 2009
Delightful post! I don’t know where the cosmos came from but I’ve got it in front and back…I agree with Annie, I think it’s quite lovely!
I planted some C. sulphureus ‘Bright Lights’ variety a couple of years ago and they reseed readily. I wish the C. bipinnatus with its delicate whites and rose pinks would do the same. One fall, 10 years or more ago, I had a entire meadow of it but it didn’t self-sow. — mss
November 17th, 2009
I’m astounded at the false dayflower. The roses are exquisite (I, too, like the pegged itself line). I’ll check out the P. hastata–lovely color. Oh, per your last comment: I’ve never had much luck with the pink & rose cosmos. I love them but they don’t feel the same about me. I like the cheery orange & yellows just as much.
I believe I promised you some false dayflower seeds when you were here taping last April. If I haven’t given them to you yet it explains this mysterious pile of seeds on my desk. I was wondering what they were and who I was saving them for. — mss
November 17th, 2009
Wow! You do have a lot of blooming goin on at your house. Your photos are so nice.As well as your gardens. The butterfly is so bright and sharp. Nice job.
November 17th, 2009
“Bright Lights” – yes, you’ve got the same crazy cosmos I do. They reseed by the thousands and get as tall as the eaves of the house every October. Eventually I’ll get around to a dedicated post about them. I love ‘dayflowers’ too — your close-up photo is astounding.
Thanks for stopping by. I’d forgotten the name of your blog. When I first planted those cosmos I wrote about them because some plants were quite short and others over seven feet tall. All from the same packet. This year they’re all about the same. — mss
November 18th, 2009
Lovely to see the exotic flowers but also the lovely roses.
November 18th, 2009
The false dayflower is so sweet – not something that grows in my neck of the woods. Your roses are beautiful and make me long for a little color when I look out my window. Lovely!
November 20th, 2009
Pavonia hastata! I am sending you a big hug and my pick for the day. Years ago I purchased this unnamed plant at a roadside sale. I loved it from the beginning, but I couldn’t find the name for it, despite searching through various garden books. I thought it was probably a hibiscus. My one plant has multiplied, and now I have a row of them which makes a nice hedge along one side of my patio. People always comment on how lovely it is. I do have to watch the seedlings – I think they could become invasive under the right conditions. And thank you for stopping by my own blog and for your kind comment there.
Glad I was able to resolve a mystery. Here’s some more information and photographs about Pavonia hastata.. Your post about the cherry fighting to survive was very inspiring. — mss
November 24th, 2009
Your Monarch butterfly is beautiful! What a gorgeous photo. I’ve had blooms, but unfortunately I’ve missed the past couple of Bloom Days.
Thank you for all your wonderful comments on my recent entries and butterfly photos — I haven’t had much time to reply to comments lately, but I sure love to read them! If I can get through a couple of projects, I should be able to reply better.