Saturday, January 14, 2012

A FROST FREE JANUARY FOR GBBD&FF PLUS A SURPRISE!

NOTE: If you're here for Foliage Follow-up, scroll to the bottom to skip past the blooms.
On with the show! On the 15th of each month, Carol at May Dreams Gardens, invites gardeners the world over to snap some photos of what's blooming in the garden.  On the 16th, Pam at Digging, provides foliage fanatics like myself, a chance to tell the rest of the story through her Foliage Follow-up. Thanks to both for hosting! And both are ALWAYS in my sidebar favorite garden blogs link. Please go take a look!
                              Mother Nature was kind this month and held off on the freezes. For this reason, I have
                                                 something to show you. :0)
Tweedia caerulea still blooming! I love this plant! It's in the milkweed family and originally from Argentina.

Mexican milkweed (Asclepius curassavica)

Purple Oxalis (Oxalis triangularis)

Mexican Firespike (Odontonema strictum)

An unknown Aloe species blooms each winter. You can almost set your clock to its exact bloom sequence.

Aechmea gamosepala....has these crazy violet & purple matchstick blooms each winter.

Close-up of Mexican Firespike

NOW FOR FOLIAGE FOLLOW-UP FOR JANUARY

White Bird of Paradise...someone has the munchies!

Foliage is my favorite part of the garden. Here's the front bed with a weird aloe, rosemary, sage in a pot, and some Agave americana in the back.

Sage close-up. One of my favorite plants to put with Agaves!

Chinese fan palms endured the drought and the freezes to grace the garden.

You can see why it's my favorite palm.

Yucca gloriosa with Nuttall Oak leaves

Pecan leaf lands in Agave americana

Agave lophantha ~ voted Most Antisocial Plant in my Garden....OUCH!
It's way over in the side garden away from paths.

Caption:  "It was a hard year"
That's it for the NORMAL version.

To see a surprise version of my GBBD & FoFo...er..uh....Foliage Follow-up, click on the link below. It's my photography blog. I'll risk this once a year in January. Enjoy! :0)



21 comments:

  1. Great photos!
    I enjoy visiting your blog.
    Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
  2. The unknown Aloe is terrific. Wish I could help with an I.D. Loved that Tweedia. What a lovely little flower. I have one of those Matchstick Broms too, but it's in the wrong spot. I think I should move it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice!! You are luckyy to have things blooming. I don't think anything is blooming here:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. So nice that you didn't get a frost! Your blooms are so colorful - what a wonderful thing to be able to see in the winter. I've never seen a white bird of paradise! Intriguing. Happy GBBD!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ouhhh I love the Tweedia caerulea, but I am guessing it likes it dry and not wet and humid, since i never saw it offered here in FL :-/

    Nice pictures :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have some wonderful blooms unlike any I've seen before! Larry

    ReplyDelete
  7. Interesting flowers. The only flowers I have blooming now are four nerve daisies. Oh, the real weeds (not the cultivated ones) are starting to bloom too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great selection of plants! We grow similar exotic plants in the UK, so know how tricky they can be!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Look at that tweedia go! I've got a couple plants not yet blooming size. And I have to jump posts and tell you how impressed I was with the account of protecting your tropicals. Happy bloom day!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I can see why the Chinese fan palms would be favourites - they really are spectacular plants.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's all lovely, David. Beautiful foliage!

    ReplyDelete
  12. David, your Chinese fan palm is my favorite this month in both color and b/w. Such drama! Thanks for joining in!

    ReplyDelete
  13. You do have much to show for both memes. I really like that image of the Chinese palm and can easily see why it is a favorite of yours. It is such an architectural plant.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Chinese fan palms are awesome, great shot of those.

    The agaves and aloes photo could be here in San Antonio except we wouldn't leave the aloes out over the winter. It's been exceptionally warm here so far, hope it continues.

    I enjoyed seeing some photos from my hometown on your other blog. We lived in the Heights when I was very young before moving to the 'burbs.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the palm as well! I have one in my house. It's known as a fan palm here.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lovely photos and beautiful plants. Glad you didn't get any frost. We did.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mild winters - oh the joy of living in south Texas! We have had a freeze, but mild. Still, I've very little blooming, and have enjoyed seeing your blooms!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm amazed at how much your garden looks like a Florida garden. Enjoyed all the blooms in your January garden and the B&W photos, too.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm surprised your plants have survived so well in the Texas heat. I live in GA and it's VERY humid here so it often feels like 100 + degrees and my plants (and water bill) suffers very much.

    Looks like you are doing a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I had forgotten all about the beautiful blue of tweedia which I used to grow from seed. I like the two photos of the leaves with holes especially the first.

    ReplyDelete

I always appreciate your comments & questions! Happy Gardening from David/ Tropical Texana

Related Posts with Thumbnails