Bluebonnets!

It is no secret that I love wildflowers, and my favorites are now in bloom not only all along the roadsides of Texas (thank you Lady Bird Johnson!), but also in flower beds in my backyard! As you may remember, I planted seeds last fall..well, it was really late summer. I soaked the seeds the night before, then tilled the dirt a little, then scattered the seeds. Our cold, wet winter was actually good for wildflowers, and now this spring they are putting on quite a show!
The bonnets are pretty any time of day- early morning, or sunny afternoons.
I scattered the seeds mainly in the bed around the new tree because I knew the seeds would love all the sun the bed would get. You can see there are also a few in the corner bed to the left.
The bluebonnets are now in full bloom so they are pretty from any direction. And, did you know they have a wonderful fragrance? It is not very strong, very light.
Of all the views of the bluebonnets I may like this one the best. This is walking in from the side gate into my little backyard. I don't notice the small size of the yard, or the lack of many leaves on the new tree, or the still brown empty places in the yard--I see these beautiful blue flowers that I waited for all winter.

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful: they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul."...Luther Burbank

Wildflower Update

Blue-
bonnets? No, not blooming yet. This is a picture from last year. I was really worried about my wildflowers making it through those cold days we had this winter. If you will remember I even called the Wildseed Farm and asked them about covering the plants--and they said "yes!" But I am pleased to report, the Bluebonnet rosettes are alive and well!
In fact, they are not only alive, they look wonderful. I planted some in the back corner bed, but my concen-
tration this year was the bed around the new tree. (The new tree? I think it's still alive, but that's another post!) They not only survived the cold, the rain, and the snow-they seem to flourish. The bed is almost full of bonnets.
And, they are so lush. I am so excited! And this is the case, not only in my little garden, but across the state of Texas. According to the reports from the newspaper: " Wildflower experts say the upcoming bloom should be exceptional thanks to the heavy rains.. Expect oceans of blue flowers..It's going to be a spectucular year..The spring show will be the best since 2007.." And for other wildflowers: "That stretch of dry weather helped kill off grasses and weeds and other plants, creating more space for wildflowers." I was worried about the snow, but "The snow helped insulate the plants, while the temperatures were not cold enough to threaten the flowers." Bluebonnets are even starting to bloom around Houston! Wow! This is such exciting news for wildflower enthusiest like myself.
I noticed that some of my other wildflowers are starting to produce green as well. This is the Autumn Blush Coreopsis that I fell in love with last year. Not sure about the name as it bloomed all summer.
I don't remember which coreopsis this is, maybe moonbeam, but I just noticed it coming up among the tulips and daffodils.
I need help identifying this plant please. Several of these are growing around the new tree in with the bluebonnets I thought it kind of looked like a columbine. But then I remembered; I planted winecup seeds in the fall. This isn't where I planted them, but you know wildflower seeds are..well..wild. Could this be winecup? They are probably invasive, but right now I am just happy to have the promise of blooms.


Such excitement! Happy March everyone!

Window Boxes and Bluebonnets

When we lost the Bradford, I just knew one of the things to go would be my window boxes. They are full of shade loving plants..and they just couldn't survive in the hot west sun, or so I thought. But, look how good they look!
They didn't just survive, they flourished! I have had these window boxes for years. Hubby made them for me. I just stick bits and pieces of this and that in them. There is airplane plants, swedish ivy, wandering jews, some tiny english ivy, and of course my favorite...
...coleus!!! I snip cuttings from all my coleus plants and just stick them in the dirt. So easy!
I am so pleased with the results, and with all that sun too!
Even the purple heart growing below looks good (although I think it enjoys all this added sun).



And the Bluebonnets ??
I scattered seeds 2 weeks ago all around the bed the new tree is in--and here they are! We have had so much rain lately, I just hope they don't drown, but wildflowers like rain early in their life. Hopefully I will have a bed full of these blue beauties in April!

They're Blooming!!!

I've loved Bluebonnets for as long as I can remember. I waited with such anticipation to see blue appear along the highways every spring. I never thought about growing them myself until a few years ago. I went to a class on Texas Wildflowers at the Arboretum and learned that I could grow Bluebonnets in my own yard!

Unlike other seeds, lots of varieties of wildflowers require planting in the fall. As you may remember from a post I did in September, I soaked the seeds overnight. The next day I "sowed" the seeds rather than plant them in the ground. Something I learned from the class--wildflowers must touch the earth. I have a corner bed in back that I devote to wildflowers and that is where the bluebonnets are blooming. I planted some in another bed in back, and they were doing great until we got ice in January. I lost a really big group of flowers. I was so disappointed, but the bluebonnets in the wildflower bed are huge..and doing great.

I even have a few bonnets in our little garden. I think I tossed some pods from last year's flowers in the garden..and look what happened! You can never have too many flowers!
I don't have spectacular fields of flowers-but for a few weeks one corner of my backyard is filled with these beauties! Just one more reminder....it's SPRING!!

I've got Bluebonnets!

Well, it's not the Willow City Loop near Fredericksburg, or the spectacular fields of bluebonnets in Ennis, but it's my little Bluebonnet festival--right in the corner flowerbed in my backyard. I ordered seeds from the Wildseed Farm last summer. I soaked them the night before planting, and I had rosettes before the first frost. I watered when I should, and tried not to water when they started to grow. I babied them through the backyard re-do. And when I saw the first blooms--I celebrated.