Bloom Me Away!

Today marks the beginning of the third year of Bloom Days, in which Carol of May Dreams Gardens in Indianapolis invites her fellow garden bloggers to share what's blooming at their place on the 15th of each month. If blooms outside are still weeks or months away, gardeners are encouraged to get creative and post about their indoor plants, that favorite needlepoint pillow, a floral comforter or quilt ... even silk flowers!

At a time of year when many gardeners are still feeling winter's chill and even their winter blooming snowdrops are shy about making an appearance, I feel very fortunate to have another colorful Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day here on my corner of Katy. This is the first year I've had success with Delphiniums, which took a bit of a pounding from the rain. Purchased as sturdy young plants in 4 inch pots, just barely budding out, they've grown and flourished and are loaded with bountiful blossoms of blue. Perhaps the weather conditions this year were more to their liking or perhaps I placed them in exactly the spot they wanted ... whatever the reason, they look lovely to me despite their sodden condition. I'm learning that Delphs can get a bit top heavy and need staking: here we see my friend Alvaro helping out.


This gorgeous blue flower is Eranthemum pulchellum nervosum, sometimes called Blue Sage.


Nothing says spring in Texas like our native Bluebonnets. Peak bloom season is usually March to April, but several of mine decided they didn't care what the calendar said. Notice the red dots on a couple of the lower flowers? Here's a bit of bluebonnet trivia for you: that red dot signifies that the bloom has been pollinated. The white spot on the flower is to attract bees to pollinate. Once the flower has been pollinated, the spot turns red so the bees will know to go to another flower. (I learned that fun fact at last year's Garden Bloggers' Spring Fling visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. More on this year's Fling at the end of this post.)


Much as I love bluebonnets, if I were allowed only one spring annual, there's no doubt in my mind at all what it would be: Linaria maroccana, Toadflax.


This Osteospermum was a rescue from the clearance racks at Lowe's. I've had trouble getting them to grow before so I'm delighted at how happy this one has been where I planted it.

I do have other colors besides blues and purples in the gardens. A Crown of Thorns adds a splash of red to a patio.

The Calylophus in the corner bed have bloomed nonstop this winter.


As I mentioned earlier, plans are in the works for this year's Garden Bloggers Spring Fling, to be held May 29-31 in Chicago. Check out their website at Chicago Spring Fling for detailed information on the schedule of events. In addition to the fantastic gardens I'll get to visit, I'm looking forward to reuniting with some of the wonderful gardeners I met last year, and meeting others for the first time. Many thanks to the organizers who are working so hard to make this an amazing weekend for bloggers from across the country.