That cool and occasionally moist winter sure has been kind to my garden, and it is coming into its full bloom; maybe I should call that "fullest bloom" because there is something blooming every day of the year here, but this appears to be maximum number and intensity. Here's an overall view:
The majority bloomer is the pale pink, whitish "buttercup" or "evening primrose", Latin name oenothera. Better yet, its a Texas native and entirely a volunteer - I simply let the seedlings sprout and live where they are. No planting by me and they seem to get more intense every year although I do nothing to multiply them. They are also covering up the milkweed that was "found" by the first major wave of migrating monarchs, whose stripey larvae have eaten them down to bare stalks.
Here's a more closeup view of the oenothera:
Here's a recent transplant (last fall). This poor daylily was growing in fairly deep shade under the neighbor's orange tree overhanging my yard and amazing how it has responded to more light and less root competition. Nice contrast to the yellow rose Nacogdoches whose intensity is a bit subdued in the photo even in the cloudy overcast when I took the photo.
Next rose up is Jane Bullock, a little later blooming than the others. I like its foliage/bushy habit best of the roses here. Its pale pink blooms fade to pink as they age, a really nice little rose.
I believe this yellow bloom is a leonotis or a close relative. Better look that one up so I can correctly identify it. It's holding its own.
When it comes to fragrance, the white rose Jean d'Arc is my absolute favorite. Its fragrance perfumes the entire front yard, and there's hardly a month when it doesn't have at least some blooms on it. It's pretty well covered in blooms right now.
The yellow lantana is just opening up. I realized after I was looking at the photo that I also got, in the upper left corner, the succulent plant's 5-petal
star blooms as well.
Mexican salvia is just starting to bloom. It's really grown over the winter, should be pretty spectacular when it too hits full stride. Hummingbirds are coming through in increasing numbers, I'm sure this will be abuzz with them soon, as will several other hummingbird-attracting plants in the garden.
Here's another self-seeding native: Gulf coast penstemon. It also chooses where and when it will grow; this is peak blooming period and it will go more dormant as the heat comes on here in Texas. Sigh, we know it's coming, makes the lovely temperatures right now so much better. But that goes with the turf.
Climbing rose "Old Blush climbing" is doing its thing too. I'm still learning on climbers and how to manage them so it's still a bit wild looking but I'm trying to train it to those wires in front of my house. I can't figure out why the bush seems so insistent about going through and behind the storm shutters in front of my window. ????
