December 15th, 2009
GBBD 200912: Dec 2009
Unidentified bearded iris.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens invites us to tell her what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month.
December 2009
The last couple of Decembers, I managed to sneak in a flowery GBBD before winter’s first hard freeze. This December the hard freeze came first to Austin and so there is very little blooming in the garden today.
New for December
Only two plants began flowering since November’s GBBD: one passalong blue bearded iris and the winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima. That’s a long name for an insignificant flower. It’s power is in its scent. Both began blooming yesterday (12/14).
Winter honeysuckle.
I also bought a tray of yellow snapdragons. They hardly seem like real flowers since I bought them in bloom and they look more or less the same weeks later. I usually buy violas but I couldn’t find a color I liked this year.
The white marigold ‘Kilimanjaro’ bloomed just days before the freeze and then died. The paperwhite narcissus, the first of all the narcissus to bloom, are usually flowering in my garden by now. They are flowering elsewhere in Austin but not here. Mine need dividing, I think.
Hanging on
Pacific chrysanthemum caught the fancy of several garden bloggers during our field trip to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. I picked up a plant at the Antique Rose Emporium that same trip. The flowers are a pretty gold but I’m more attracted to the foliage.
Pacific chrysanthemum.
Snow fell in Austin since November’s GBBD but it didn’t stick. The closest I have to a carpet of snow is a little clump of sweet alyssum which survived the heat of summer.
Sweet alyssum.
The roses ‘Ducher’ and ‘Red Cascade’ which were in full bloom before the freeze have survived. Some of the smallest buds froze and never opened but the larger flowers still look pretty from a distance. On closer inspection you can see they were nipped by the cold but unlike so many other flowers, they didn’t turn to much and go brown.
December 15, 2009
The list of all plants flowering today, December 15, 2009, at Zanthan Gardens.
- Ajania pacifica (2009)
- Antirrhinum majus (2009)
- Aster ericoides (2007, 2009)
- Commelinantia anomala (2009) a few flowers, most froze
- Galphimia gracilis, indoors (2009)
- iris, unidentified blue bearded (2009)
- Lobularia maritima ‘Tiny Tim’ (2007, 2009) survived the summer
- Lonicera fragrantissima (2009)
- parsnips (2009)
- rose ‘Ducher’ (2007, 2009)
- rose ‘Red Cascade’ (2009)
- rosemary (2007, 2008, 2009)
- Setcreasea (2007, 2009) green
- Tagetes lucida (2009)
by M Sinclair Stevens
December 15th, 2009
I think I’ll go buy more snapdragons tomorrow, too. Your sweet alyssum is so delicate and pretty: will add to my list. My paperwhites are all flopped over to the ground but blooming. I’m still so PLEASED with the Red Cascade rose, which I finally looked back and saw that I’ve had since late 2001 or early 2002. I’m going to get a few more now!
December 15th, 2009
Amazing that you have an iris blooming already! And how did you manage to keep alyssum alive through heat of summer? Was it in some shade?
December 16th, 2009
Austin’s winter seems like a cruel blow to those plants and gardeners who survived that horrible hot, dry summer. The good news is that you can still go to the garden center and buy snapdragons and violas and other flowers and they’ll live through the winter. I, on the other hand, still must face January and February before I can even think about getting my hands on a flat of violas.
Thanks for joining in for bloom day once again.
December 16th, 2009
Pacific chrysanthemum is a neat little plant. You’re right, the flowers are nothing special, but combined with the foliage it is very attractive. It must be wonderful to wander in your garden now and sniff the scents of blooming plants. It’s hard to smell anything outside here, even when my nose isn’t running from the cold.
December 16th, 2009
Iris in December! Wow! I didn’t think they would bloom this early. It’s beautiful.
Most of my things were hit hard. I guess I won’t know until spring, just what survived.
You have a lot still blooming.
December 17th, 2009
When I couldn’t get here by way of May Dreams’ Bloom Day linky, I knew it must be worth coming to see, so I went the long way ’round through your Blotanical Plot.
It was as I thought, worth visiting.
Lonicera fragrantissima was something we had at home when I was a child, so fragrant and attracts whatever insects brave the cold.
I’ll need some snapdragons; thanks for the reminder. I bought orange violas and ordered yellow, which are not going to be forthcoming, I just heard. There’s one clump of alyssum, I wish there was more.
Enjoyed my visit and your list. Red Cascade is a wonder, isn’t it?
December 19th, 2009
My Lonicera fragrantissima has not thrown any blossoms out yet sharing that sweet wonder. I am jealous!
December 29th, 2009
That is pretty crazy about the incredible iris blooming so early. Maybe it’s making up for the slowpoke narcissus. Most of mine aren’t blooming yet, either, but each variety is different. You certainly have a lot going on. I love the yellow snaps, too. Guess I’ll have to add some. The baby blue-eyes are doing just great and wish you a Happy New Year!