Zanthan Gardens
Weblog of a Central Austin Garden

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

April 15, 2010

Carol dreams of May but April is when it’s happening at Zanthan Gardens. More plants come into bloom and more plants are in bloom than any other month of the year. And this year more than any other my garden is just a mess of color with no apparent design at all. The feral cats apparently find it quite frustrating. They make their own paths through the flowers and sit right in the middle of particularly large bluebonnet plants.

Two thugs, cilantro and Engelmann daisy, fight it out for control in the meadow. Most of the larkspur is in the front yard this year.

April is the month that Zanthan Gardens makes the transition from blue and white to a full spectrum of color. This year because of all the rain, it was even more blue and white than usual. The cilantro has taken over everywhere and the bluebonnets are large and numerous. In most years the bluebonnets have already begun to fade by now. With this year’s cooler, wetter weather, they’re holding on to their flowers longer.

2010 is a banner year for bluebonnets. They are just beginning to go to seed as the pink evening primrose comes into view. False dayflowers peak through the fence with their funny little faces.

New for April

• Allium neapolitanum
• amaryllis ‘Amoretta’
• amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’
• Antirrhinum majus
• Diospyros kaki ‘Eureka’ (Japanese persimmon)
• Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’
• Hippeastrum x johnsonii
• Iris flavescens (?) yellow heirloom
• iris ‘Incantation’
• Meyer lemon
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’
• Nigella damascena
• Oenothera speciosa
• Papaver somniferum “Dorothy Cavanaugh”
• Phlomis lanata
• Pisum sativum ‘Progress #9’
• Pyrrhopappus multicaulis
• rose ‘Blush Noisette’
• rose ‘Madame Alfred Carriere’
• rose ‘Prosperity’
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’
• Solanum jasminoides
• Spiraea bridal wreath
• Thymophylla tenuiloba (Dahlberg daisy)
• tomatoes (all)
• Verbena canadensis
• Vicia sativa (common vetch)
• viola (self-sown)
• yaupon holly

The love-in-the-mist will fill in when the cilantro fades.

Pink evening primrose is considered a thug in other people’s gardens but it is very prim compared to my real thugs.

Bearded iris ‘Incantation’ among the flowering cilantro.

Yellow heirloom irises and white ‘Ducher’ rose in a field of cilantro and poppies.

I had high hopes that these would be Lauren’s Grape but they are the pale salmon “Dorothy Cavanaugh”. Salmon is the gardener’s name for “orange”. They don’t look very orange in this picture but they do in real life especially compared to the cherry red peony poppies behind them.

The artichoke is about to flower. The bluebonnets are giving way to the larkspur. I replaced the entire front yard with larkspur which I can see from my desk.

Some people call these bicolor larkspur “bunny ears”. See the little white bunny face?

2010 has been a great spring for roses in Austin, too. Last Sunday @good_n_evil had us Austin garden bloggers over to look at her roses. Her garden is certainly inspiration to me to work a little harder. In fact you might as well just head on over there virtually and gawk. There’s nothing left to this post but lists.

Rose ‘Prosperity’ is the only rose still struggling to recover from the drought.

Between GBBDs

Several flower bloomed and faded in my garden between GBBDs and so didn’t show up in the inventory for either March or April.

• Hyacinthoides hispanica
• Narcissus triandrus ‘Hawera’
• Prunus caroliniana
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (A couple of flowers early in the month but none today. Gearing up for a big show in about two weeks.)
• Tulipa clusiana
• Ungnadia speciosa

Complete List for April

The list of all plants flowering today, April 15th 2010, at Zanthan Gardens. In 2010, 45 different plants are flowering which is about the same as 2007 (41) and 2008 (43). However, it’s much lower than 2009 (70). Many plants flowered straight through the 2008/9 winter because it did not freeze here.

• Allium neapolitanum (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• amaryllis ‘Amoretta’ (2010)
• amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’ (2010)
• Antirrhinum majus (2010)
• Commelinantia anomala (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Consolida ambigua (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Coriandrum sativum (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Diospyros kaki ‘Eureka’ (Japanese persimmon) (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Diospyros texana (2010)
• Engelmannia peristenia/pinnatifida (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Eschscholzia californica ‘Mikado’ (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Hippeastrum x johnsonii (St. Joseph’s lily) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Iris flavescens (?) yellow heirloom (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• iris ‘Incantation’ (2010)
• Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Mother of Thousands) In pot this year. (2009, 2010)
• Lobularia maritima (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Lupinus texensis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Meyer lemon (2010)
• Nemophila insignis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Nierembergia gracilis ‘Starry Eyes’ (2009, 2010)
• Nigella damascena (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oenothera speciosa (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oxalis crassipis (hot pink) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Oxalis stricta (yellow flowering weed) (2010)
• Oxalis triangularis (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Papaver somniferum “Dorothy Cavanaugh” (2010)
• Phlomis lanata (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Pisum sativum ‘Progress #9’ (2010)
• Pisum sativum ‘Wando’ (2010)
• Pyrrhopappus multicaulis (2010)
• Rhaphiolepis indica (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Blush Noisette‘ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Ducher’ (waning) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Madame Alfred Carriere‘ (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Prosperity’ (full bloom) (2008, 2009, 2010)
• rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Solanum jasminoides (potato vine) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Spiraea bridal wreath (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Thymophylla tenuiloba ‘Golden Fleece’ (Dahlberg daisy) (2009, 2010)
• tomatoes (all) (2007, 2009, 2010)
• Tradescantia (spiderwort) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Verbena canadensis (lavender wilding) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Vicia sativa (common vetch) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Viola cornuta (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• yaupon holly (2007, 2009, 2010)

And just for the record, these are the 45 plants which were blooming on April 15th in previous years that aren’t flowering today. Or should this be on a separate non-bloom day post? Some of them are dead and gone. Some of them froze to the ground this year but are slowly making a comeback.

• Aloe barbadensis (2008, 2009)
• Asclepias curassavica (overwintered) (2009)
• Asparagus densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’ (2008, 2009)
• Brugmansia (from Annie in Austin) (2009)
• Centaurea cyanus ‘Black Magic’ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Crinum bulbispermum (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Datura (from Diana which overwintered) (2009)
• Duranta erecta (overwintered) (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Eupatorium wrightii (from Pam) (2009)
• Hesperaloe parviflora (2008, 2009)
• iris bearded ‘Strictly Ballroom (2009)
• Iris x fulvala ‘Full Eclipse’ (2009)
• jalapeno (2009)
• Lantana montevidensis (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Lantana x hybrida ‘New Gold’ (2008, 2009)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Knee-Hi Mix’ (2009)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Perfume Delight’ (2008)
• Lathyrus odoratus ‘Regal Robe’ (2007)
• Lavandula heterophyla ‘Goodwin Creek Grey‘ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Lavandula stoechas (2009)
• Lonicera japonica (2009)
• Malvaviscus arboreus (2009)
• Mirabilis jalapa (2008, 2009)
• Narcissus jonquilla ‘Quail’ 2007
• Nerium oleander ‘Turner’s Shari D.’ (2008, 2009)
• Orchid (from Dawn) (2009)
• Oxalis pes-caprae ‘Scotty’s Surprise’ (fading) (2008, 2009)
• Polanisia dodecandra (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Retama (2008, 2009)
• rose white Lady Banksia (my neighbor’s but droops over the fence) (2009)
• rose ‘French Lace’ (2007, 2009)
• rose ‘Heritage‘ 2007
• rose ‘Mermaid’ (2009)
• rose ‘New Dawn’ (2007, 2008, 2009)
• rose ‘Penelope‘ 2007
• rose ‘Red Cascade’ (two small flowers) 2008
• ruellia (overwintered) (2009)
• Salvia farinacea ‘Indigo spires’ 2007
• Salvia greggii ‘Raspberry’ 2007
• Sedum album (2008, 2009)
• Setcreasea pallida (2008, 2009)
• tomatillo (2009)
• Trachelospermum jasminoides (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Tradescantia pallida (purple heart) 2007
• Zexmenia hispida (from Pam) (2009)