November

A large amount of rain in November has certainly helped my drought stricken plants.  


Lion's tail

My new Lion's Tale is just starting to bloom.  This was a ninety nine center from Lowe's.  I think I'll look for more of these next year to add to the mix, as they would look a lot better en masse.

Flame Acanthus

The Flame Acanthus, which I thought was done for the year, has put forth another burst of color.

Coreopsis

While I have not had much luck with Coreopsis before - they always seem to be knocked out by the summer heat and drought, the clearance one that I bought at Lowe's seems to be doing very well.  It is not in bloom, but it has more than doubled in size from the one I planted!

Bluebonnets

A neighborhood boy came around selling fundraising items for his school.  I wasn't much interested in anything, but I felt obligated to help out. So I picked out a packet of bluebonnet seeds.  He delivered them a few weeks ago, so I them them down before the rain.  And they have all started to come up!  I really didn't expect anything, so I am shocked and pleased that I may actually have a nice selection of bluebonnets next spring.  Fingers crossed!

White Mist Flower

I was excited to plant this, this year, as I have seen them growing wild around the house, and I love the light lacy look of them.  This guy is still pretty small, but he did bloom on year one, which is encouraging.  

Even more exciting, I found a white mist flower blooming just on the outside of the back yard fence, near the old bird house/feeder.  I tied a red string around it, so in the spring I can replant it near my other mist flower.

I am really learning that I like large blocks of color.  So far, I have been planting shurbs onsie twosie, here and there. I'd like to go back and start filling in the area around the shrubs with identical plants, to fill in the area.  So, hopefully next Spring, I will uproom this guy and put him beside my newly purchased Mistflower, and I will have at least two of them side by side.

Esperanza

My humongous Esperanza in the back is in full bloom.  Every year I think that I need to move this guy.  But I am so afraid of killing him.

Hopefully the seeded Esperanza I found nearby is of the same huge variety, and it will grow in the back of the yard.  It already is a foot or two high in its first year.  We'll see how it does next year.

Salvia Greggii

The salvia is soaking up the rain and is putting one last big bloom before the winter.  I have lots of these throughout the yard.  Two in the back, two in the front, and right now, they are all in bloom!

One of the interesting things is the re-seed that I found and transplanted from the back porch bed to the side fence bed is doing well, but its bloom is more pink than red.  Strange that an off-shoot would be such a different color.

Dwarf Pomegranate

A few years ago, I stopped cutting this shrub to the ground in the winter, and instead covered it during harsh freezes.  Doing that, the extremities of the plant often die and need to be cut back, but many of the bare branches will burst forth in green leaves come spring.  So, for the last two years, this shrub keeps getting bigger and bigger.  THis year, perhap because of the bees, there is more fruit than ever.