As I said in my last post, I believe that interior design should encompass the entire home environment - both inside and out.
Your home should be enjoyed as soon as you pull into the driveway, not as soon as you open the front door.
Since I enjoy the plants and flowers in my garden (please don't judge me by my large collection of weeds), I have decided to document what is blooming at my house today.
My neighbors had a fabulous display of bluebonnets that have sadly recently gone to seed, so I must find joy elsewhere.
Here are a few things that are blooming at my house (gardening zone 9a).
These cute purple flowers are growing from some large leaf clover.
I didn't plant it.
It is currently in a partial shade area of my flower beds.
This evergreen bush is a Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plant.
It blooms purple, the next day the bloom turns light lavender, and the following day the bloom turns white.
I planted this bush several years ago, however this is the first year it has bloomed.
I have it in a mostly shaded area, however it prefers part shade.
It can grow up to 8 foot tall, but it is currently less than 2 foot tall (probably because of the lack of light).
My oleander bushes are blooming.
I have some white oleanders and some hot pink oleanders.
Most of my bushes are still very upset from the unusually brutal cold spell we got this winter.
I thought many of them were dead, but they all survived and are sprouting near the ground beneath ugly dead branches (I would cut the branches down if I were sure they wouldn't get mowed over by the lawn mower - maybe in a few weeks one they get bigger).
So far just 1 white and 1 pink out of 10 total are blooming.
Oleanders like full sun and can often grow to 12 foot tall, but some varieties can grow to 20 foot tall.
Bottlebrush plants are evergreens that can be pruned into trees or left as a bush (I have both bushes and trees).
They like full sun and can grow to 10 foot tall.
They are somewhat fast growing and low maintenance.
The last owner of my house told me that he stopped on the side of the road and took a cutting from a rose bush that was growing there in the wild.
He planted it in the yard and it is still growing.
It seems to double in size every year and always needs to be pruned back so the thorns don't attack people.
It is pretty, but I don't like plants that require constant maintenance - especially ones that require safety gear to handle.
Its seems that my amaryllis are taking FOREVER to bloom this year.
They are usually the first things to bloom, but not this year.
These red and white flowers have 4 flowers per cluster, but I have some solid red amaryllis that are about to bloom that have only 2 flowers per cluster.
After taking the photo, I noticed that I have a little snail on the far right of the flower - aligned with the very center of the flower.
I hope he doesn't do too much damage.
