A Rainy Bloom Day

My sentiments exactly, a fact known to my good friend Genny, who gifted me with this sign recently. It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day so I shall demonstrate herewith that I am indeed incapable of having just one! But first, a visit to Little Mama: since I last posted, she has rebounded from the drastic pruning I gave her and is now sporting several of these tender green shoots on her carefully rearranged trunks. By next spring, I do believe she'll be lovelier than ever and well on her way to reattaining her original moniker of Big Mama.

We've had some lovely rain showers the last two days. The rain was much needed and therefore entirely welcome ... but it does make photography sessions in the garden a little problematic. I walked outside this morning, camera in hand, intending to take pictures and then spend the morning inside composing a brilliantly worded and beautifully illustrated post. That intention was foiled by the absolutely horrendous humidity level, which caused my camera lens to fog. No matter how quickly I wiped it and then focused, I wasn't quick enough to beat the humidity. I gave up and focused on other things instead (cleaning and organizing the garage, taking the dog to the groomer, more c&o of the garage, picking up the dog at the groomer, watching DVR of HOUSE with daughter). By the time I'd done all those things, there was a break in the rain and I headed back outside. This time the lens didn't fog so badly and I was able to get a few pictures of flowers (with raindrops). (As I review this post before publishing, at approximately 10:15 pm, it is raining again ... that's the second time tonight.)

Summer bloomers continue to provide bursts of color throughout the garden.

Bauhinia galpinii is still recovering from Hurricane Ike but continues to bloom.

Although I've pulled out the older ones, another generation of Zinnias insists on making their presence known in the garden. I love this color with the Blackie Sweet Potato Vine.

Red firespike is strutting its stuff ... I hope there are still some hummingbirds around to enjoy it!

This is a recently planted Dianthera candicans
(kindly pardon the white sheet in the background which
is protecting the roots of a shrub form Evergreen Wisteria
[Millettia] which I liberated from its container and then forgot to plant
before I left for a long weekend in Santa Fe.)

One of many Abelmoschus which have seeded themselves
throughout the gardens.

Although the summer bloomers are loathe to give up their place in the spotlight, autumn beauties are coming on strong.

The leading lady of the back garden right now is this lovely aster.
Formerly known as Aster oblongifolius, she now goes by
the more exotic name of Symphyotricum oblongifolium.
Her tendency to be a rangy beauty can be checked by
cutting her back in spring and summer.

I've also learned this year that toad lilies respond
well to a little pruning in summer, at least here
in south central Texas.

The Cassia splendida/Senna splendida is also coming into its
own as fall makes its way to my corner of Katy. This particular
Cassia can be a shrub or tree. Most of the Cassias at Wit's End are
in the 4 to 6 ft range but I've seen one towering over the roof of a
garage at a fellow gardener's home. One of my favorite things about Cassias:
they're a larval food source for butterflies in the Sulphur family.

There are a few plants that seem to be confused about the season, however, one of which you see below.

After being blown about by Ike and then experiencing an early cool front, the Bridal Wreath Spirea decided it must be spring. I wonder if this will affect the spring bloom?

The roses and clematis can bloom year round here at Wit's End. Roses in bloom right now include Carefree Beauty, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Caldwell Pink, Martha Gonzales, Mutabilis, Madame Antoine Mari, Lafter, Reve D'Or, Highway 290 Pink Buttons, The Fairy, Old Blush, Belinda's Dream and Perle D'Or.

Perle D'Or

This Clematis is either 'Fireworks' or 'Doctor Ruppel'. It's one of the
100 pots of Clematis I brought home from Lowe's clearance
shelves last year. The price? $10.00. Yep, ten dollars.
I distributed them amongst my friends, family and myself. The old
adage that a clematis wants its head in the sun and its roots in the shade
has held true with this one: it's growing in the midst of more
Blackie Sweet Potato Vine.

And now for a list of everything else that's blooming in the garden today (in the order in which I remember them): Cosmos, Verbenas (various), Gaura, Pink Skullcap, Lavender Skullcap, Rudbeckia, Erythrina crista-galli, Batface Cuphea, Hummingbird Cuphea, Echinacea, Rosemary, Silver Oregano, Salvia 'Anthony Parker', Salvia Leucantha, Salvia greggii, Salvia coccinea, Calylophus, Salvia miniata, Turk's Caps (Pam's Pink, Native Red, Mexican), Cuphea ignea 'David Verity', Cuphea macropetala, Pentas, Pink Salt Marsh Mallow (Kosteletskya), Blue Mist Flower (Eupatorium), Duranta, Hamelia, Justicia spicigera, Justicia (Pinecone Shrimp Plant), Bottlebrush, Calliandra, Clerodendron (red/lavender vine), Coral Vine, Sweet Almond Verbena, Persian Vitex, Verbena bonariensis, Ruby Crystals Grass, Miscanthus sinensis, Anisacanthus, Lantana (Denholm White, native pink/yellow), Salvia 'Henry Duelberg', Salvia 'Otahal', Salvia 'Indigo Spires', White Plumbago, Barbados Cherry, Coral Porterweed, Profusion Apricot Zinnias, Spiderwort, Jatrophas (Pink & Red), Rangoon Creeper, Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium), Philippine Violet, Pigeonberry, Australian Violet, Texas Betony (Stachys coccinea). How in the name of Chipping Sodbury did I end up with so danged many plants????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!