What is blooming in my garden right now? Well, quite a bit, actually.
First off is my new love and most recent acquisition this year: gaura. I love its volume, color and airiness. Plus, although it looks delicate, it can withstand our brutal sun and wind, while still flowering from spring to fall. And, as it is planted right behind my teenager's basketball hoop, it can also take quite a few shots without flinching.
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| Gaura |
Abelia is another of my favorites for the fall. It flowers constantly and brings some red foliage into the garden, which is hard to come by in Spain.
Speaking of red, this naturalized chrysanthemum has been in my garden for several years, and this year it has brought a bit of a suprise. If you look closely, you'll see that one of the petals themelves are bi-colored, sporting the colors of the Spanish flag.
The oleander continue to flower after their second summer in the garden. Last year, we planted 7 large specimens for instant privacy. Instead of making 7 individual holes in our hard-packed soil, my friend at the garden center recommended we dig a trench and space them throughout, to avoid restricted root growth. They have done quite well this year and have been flowering since June.
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| Oleander, with the remnants of Hurrican Leslie, which came through Spain and Portugal Sunday. |
Podranea ricasoliana is very underwhelming in a large enamel pot on the porch. Nothing I have planted here has ever done especially well, though.
As always, the roses start to recover in the fall and produce more flowers in October.
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| Golden Celebration |
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| Heritage |
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| La Sevillana |
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| Lady Emma Hamilton |
Today, I am linking with Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.
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| Today's sunset after the storm |
I have never seen gaura before. Very pretty! What a beautiful sunset too!
ResponderEliminarShelly, you should see it move in the wind - looks like flying butterflies.
EliminarGaura is amazing! Mine has been blooming for months! The plants just keep getting bigger and bigger!
ResponderEliminarDid you know you can take any stems broken off (by those basketballs perhaps?) and root them in water and get more plants! They root super easily and quickly.
Lisa, the funny things is that the stems don't break when hit by the basketball! But, I will definitely try rooting some clippings this fall.
EliminarSaludos, Karen
Your Gaura looks great! Our abelias are blooming away too (and have been all summer).
ResponderEliminarLove your blog! Beautiful pictures. Your roses are stunning. P. x
ResponderEliminarSo many of the blogs about roses in Spain (or that coment on them), had stopped posting, so I´m happy to see this one coming back to live, cause I really like it!
ResponderEliminarIm curious about your Lady Emma rose... Como ha ido con el calor? Lo pasa muy mal en verano?
Tienes un jardin precioso!
Pablo, thanks so much for commenting! Yes, there aren't many gardening blogs in Spain, are there?
EliminarEn cuanto al rosal Lady Emma Hamilton, le tengo plantado al lado de Benjamin Britten y a un metro de un muro, cara este de la casa. Por lo tanto, recibe el sol pleno por la mañana, pero está protegido del sol de mediodía/tarde; además está protegido del viento seco veraniego (que reseca aquí incluso más que el sol) por el muro y Benjamín (que mide 2 metros). En cuanto al suelo, está plantado en una zona que hemos rellenado; por lo tanto, es una tierra más suelta y menos compactada que la que normalmente se encuentra por aquí. Y, claro está, añado mantillo todos los años. Pero, después de comentarte todo esto, me acuerdo que es un rosal que lo pasó mal los primeros 2 años. El tercer año ya estaba asentado y más florífero.
Me ha hecho mucha ilusión que te guste mi blog. Si conoces otros blogs españoles que merecen la pena, ¿me los recomiendas, porfa?
Muchas gracias por tus respuestas!
EliminarA ver si mi Lady Emma va ganando algo de vigor en años venideros, mantendré la fe.
Tengo varios en mente nuevos, y por ahora ya he conseguido un Evelyn, que he leido que resiste muy bien el calor, y que se adapta muy bien a suelos arenosos (justo como el que tengo).
Pues no conozco muchos blogs de España... Es que los que seguía han parado de tener actividad, como Dias de Rosas, pero si descubro alguno nuevo, te lo paso!
Dear Karin, I share your love for Gaura. Unfortunatly I had some bad luck this year. First they vere frozen. I bought 10 new ones. After the dry summer, they were dead. But I was determend and bought 10 again. They are flowering at this very moment! Yours look stunning and big. I feel a bit jalous. Groetjes Hetty
ResponderEliminarHetty, sorry to hear about the bad luck with the gaura. I planted mine last fall, so it has survived the winter. here, we have freezing temps and frost almost every morning, but the ground does not have time to freeze. Plus, it is next to a south-facing wall, protected from the wind, wth no shade. I have it on drip irrigation and do absolutely nothing to it. It is larger than other gauras I have seen, but I don't know the variety because it was not labelled. I would like more, so I am going to try propagating it.
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