larkspur
Zanthan Gardens left to its own devices.

April 15th, 2011
GBBD 201104: Apr 2011

Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.

April 2011

The drought continues. The pink evening primrose and Engelmann daisy seem to prefer this drier weather and are the stars of the day. The dry weather hurries summer along. Many flowers that are usually in bloom in April have already finished. Others that don’t usually start blooming until later have already begun. Even semi-weedy plants like baby blue eyes are relatively sparse and the plants are tiny and shrivelled. Austin’s ubiquitous bluebonnets are short and faded.

Nigella damascena
Nigella damascena. Love-in-a-mist. Doubles. A passalong from Jenny.

Dianthus chinensis
Dianthus chinensis. Pinks

Phlox pilosa
Phlox pilosa. Prairie Phlox. A passalong from Julie.

Callirhoe involucrata
Callirhoe involucrata. Winecup

My larkspur plans have gone awry. I dug two beds along the front path several years ago. Larkspur was supposed to line the path and the lawn. The lawn died. I didn’t get the larkspur planted this year. The last two years it self sowed where the lawn was. This year I didn’t get my beds planted so the self-sown larkspur is all I have. Without water or thinning the resultant plants are only about one to two feet tall rather than three or four feet tall. The front yard now looks a bit like the back yard used to. The meadow in the back yard is almost completely devoid of larkspur. After ten years, what was once the meadow is almost completely in shade by the time the wildflowers want to bloom.

larkspur

Between GBBDs

Flowers that bloomed between March 15, 2011 and April 15, 2011 and so did not appear in either list.

  • Allium neapolitanum
    These use to flower in abundance in the meadow but creeping shade and this year’s drought resulted in only one bulb blooming.
  • Datura inoxia
    One flush of flowers already, just none open today.

Incomplete List for April, 2011

I always have to double-check some things but it’s 10PM. So there you are.

  • amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’ (2010, 2011–last day)
  • Antirrhinum majus (2010, 2011–just barely)
  • Aristolochia fimbriata (2011)
  • Callirhoe involucrata (2011)
  • Centaurea cyanus Black Magic (2011)
  • Commelinantia anomala (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Consolida ambigua (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Coriandrum sativum (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Dianthus chinensis (2011)
  • Diospyros kaki ‘Eureka’ (Japanese persimmon) (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Echinacea purpurea (2011)
  • Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Hesperaloe parviflora (2011)
  • Hippeastrum x johnsonii (St. Joseph’s lily) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Iris flavescens (?) yellow heirloom (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • iris ‘Full Eclipse’ (2011)
  • iris ‘Incantation’ (2010, 2011–last day)
  • Lonicera japonica (2011)
  • Lupinus texensis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Nigella damascena (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Oenothera speciosa (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Oxalis crassipis (hot pink) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Oxalis stricta (yellow flowering weed) (2010, 2011)
  • Oxalis triangularis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Papaver somniferum “Dorothy Cavanaugh” (2010, 2011)
  • Parkinsonia aculeata, retama (2009, 2011–first day)
  • Polanisia dodecandra (2011)
  • Phlomis lanata (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Phlox pilosa (2011)
  • Rhaphiolepis indica (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011–last day)
  • rose ‘Blush Noisette’ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • rose ‘New Dawn’ (2011)
  • rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2011)
  • Ruellia (2011)
  • Sedum album (2011?)
  • Solanum jasminoides (potato vine) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011-fading)
  • Spiraea bridal wreath (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Trachelospermum jasminoides (2011)
  • Tradescantia (spiderwort) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
  • Verbena canadensis (lavender wilding) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Vicia sativa (common vetch) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
  • Zexmenia hispida (2009, 2011)