A TOUCH OF COLOR IN THE DECEMBER GARDEN

Fall has been a very short season this year. The heat continued through to late November making it impossible to move the plants I would normally move in the fall. I put in winter annuals-they fried. I planted fall vegs. they were eaten by caterpillars and a huge hatch of tarnished plant bugs.
This weekend winter arrived, with a cold rain and promise of a heavy freeze later this week. It will not be the first as we have already had two frosts between those 80º days. Such is Texas weather. I began to cut back many of the last blooms of the season to tidy up the garden for winter. Now, all that remain are the plants that add a touch of color in the winter garden.
It has been a hard summer for the Felicia rose. Although she continued to bloom throughout the spring and summer, the fall blooming has been a disappointment. Thrips! But on Friday a beautiful rose with the fragrance that no other rose can beat.

And this pretty little flower on the donkey ears kalanchoe, Kalanchoe gastonia-bonnieri. A native of Madagascar it blooms at the same time as it would be blooming where it comes from. I have moved it into the greenhouse for the winter.

The winter window box on the potting shed is filling out. Never mind that when I planted it up, on the ground, I planted it the wrong way around. By the time I realized it it was too late to change so the snapdragons are on the front rather than the back. I love the color on the ornamental cabbages but in my garden a window box is the only appropriate place for these plants. If only I could be more successful with cabbages in my vegetable garden. I tucked in a few seeds of nasturtiums but they probably won't survive a heavy freeze.

There are even a few new blooms on the flowering senna tree, peaking over the wall into the vegetable garden. A seedling tree that needs relocating.

Even the ghost plant, Graptopetalum,  in the sunken garden is showing tinges of color from the cooler nights.

and of course, the Euphorbia tirucalli Sticks of Fire, is also responding to the cooler nights with flashes of red on the new growth.

and here's one of the Philippine violets,  Barleria cristata, seeded alongside the pathway, starting to bloom. What am I going to do with them all? There are at least 6 growing in the wrong places which I will need to relocate when they go dormant. I already have 3 potted up in the greenhouse.

But the real splash of color comes from the Yaupon holly, Ilex vomitoria.

The bird planted pyracantha espalier on the bathroom wall.

It's time for the gardener to take a break!

THE END IS NIGH

Our long summer will end this weekend with a frost.

By Monday there will be no flowers draping over the open greenhouse door. It has been the latest bloom on the cross vine in my memory.
The window box against the potting shed will be replaced by a box of winter annuals patiently waiting in the wings.

Seeds will be collected from the narrow leaf zinnias that have performed through the hot summer.

All the cactus and succulents and citrus have left their summer homes for the potting shed greenhouse and house.

The anole is wondering what the heck is going on. All his favorite plants have disappeared.

The two large plumerias are inside the house.

And what will become of my lovely papaya tree.Too big to try to cover it will undoubtedly be a shriveled mess by morning. I might try putting a fan underneath it to keep the frost from settling but it will only be a temporary stay. But let me think about that some more.

Only a crazy gardener would try to protect such a plant.

I am praying that a papaya will not seed itself in my garden next year. I'm getting too old for these kind of antics.

SHHH! GO BACK TO SLEEP

I wasn't planning on my spring window box looking so good in January. I'm afraid it will be worn out by the time the real spring comes in March and April. But what's a gardener to do? Always be on the ready for something different. This is Texas. No two years are ever the same. This time we are having another dry spell but plenty of sunshine and warmer than expected days.

Exactly how long those ornamental cabbages will last I don't know. I remove leaves from the bottom fairly frequently so they are getting taller each week. Maybe it will leave more room for the pansies and violas. At the back are stocks and red flax, which I started from seed, and snapdragons.

I bought this planter from Gardeners' Supply with a gift coupon. It is self watering and holds 3 gallons of water in the reservoir. This certainly makes watering a lot easier. It has been one of my major success purchases, so yesterday, tempted by the fact that they were on sale, I bought another one. That means I will be able to plant up another one in readiness for when this one is finished. It's a luxury but I still had money left on the gift certificate and have decided it is a gift certificate well spent.
Elsewhere in the garden there are some early bloomers. I wish they would wait because it is going to get cold again. Grape hyacinths among their tangle of foliage. Is there a grape hyacinth that has shorter foliage?

The first of the square-bud primrose, Calylophus berlandieri.

And a very early blooming blanket flower, Gaillardia pulchella, sheltered between the walls of the raised beds.

It isn't so much that these last plants aren't hardy enough to survive a few frosts, they have already had at least five, but I would like to see them in my spring garden.

It's good there is something out there for the bees because they have been in evidence once the day warms. They love the sweet smelling alyssum, which has great depth of color in the winter. This is one plant I never need to buy as it seeds itself readily.
But don't leave here with the impression that my garden is full of flowers. It still has that winter look.

The English garden

 It may not have quite the bare look of winters gone bye but I think there is probably time for that to happen.

TWO NEW BOXES

Ever since we removed the two crepe myrtle trees from the front garden I have wondered how to enliven the large expanse of wall. I don't plan to replant trees in the space, at least for the time being. It seemed that it might work to add two of the mirrored boxes to the wall. We had used these on the outside wall to break up a similar area. As it happened we still had 2 mirrors left from the pack of six, so David got to work and built two more. I know... odd numbers work best. The three pot lizards on the wall were moved from the outside wall where they were no longer visible now that the Lady Bank's rose has grown so much. The bed beneath was completely cleaned out so it will be a while before it fills in with plantings.

This is one of the few places that bluebonnets are flowering this year. Most of the ones outside the walls have shriveled up due to the lack of rain. I think it is now too lat to expect any blooms from them. I hope we have a good seed bank. I think they have done better in this garden because there is a good layer of granite beneath the gravel, which tends to hold more moisture.

I may not be able to achieve a wildflower meadow, on the septic field, as I would like, but have no problem in the gravel garden. I am more than happy to leave the blackfoot daisies, four nerve daisies, bluebonnets and grasses to create their own garden.