Flowers still blooming in South Texas at end of October!

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd drop a post about what all is still blooming here in South Texas as of October 28th, 2013.  It's been a very mild fall so far, with us only dropping below 60 degrees once so far.  The flowers of spring and summer are still blooming down here, so I figured that I'd share a few photos of whats happening right now in the backyard.

Roses

My unknown pink rose.

Lots of petals and so fragrant!

Right now, the cooler weather has granted some sort of boon to the rose bushes here in the backyard.  Having been virtually dormant over the majority of the summer, both of my rose bushes have started producing masses of new blooms.  This one here is my Pink Rose and I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it, but the Gold Rush roses (which are yellow and red and nowhere near as fragrant) are doing the same thing.  Unfortunately, the Gold Rush roses are not as full of petals as these pink ones are, and remind me of some sort of demented Knock Out rose, my least favorite on the market right now.

Triple Purple Datura

Prolific blossoms this year!

The Datura have taken over a great deal of space this year and are bigger than I ever could have imagined.  This is the first year that I've ever put them directly into the ground and while I've learned it's a great solution when one is running low on pots, it's NOT the best solution when it comes to controlling your space.  I have about four plants clustered in one area out back and they have become a huge bushlike thing that stands about four foot tall and is about six foot around.  It is blooming profusely though and no one can argue the beauty of this incredibly toxic plant!

Taking over the yard!  Note the red hibiscus to the left.

I've been pruning this severely in order to keep the blooms coming, but I've got a huge crop of little fruits full of seeds coming in.  I've harvested two so far, so those of you who have been wanting seeds can expect an email from me soon requesting addresses to send them on.  Just remember to please check your state laws and make sure that it's legal to grow Datura in your state.  It's not legal in all parts of the United States due to it's hallucinogenic properties, as well as because it can cause death when injested!!  Be careful with this plant!  Handle it with gloves, and keep pets away from it, especially the really dumb ones that think that they can eat everything!

A nice cluster showing varying petals on each
flower.

Hibiscus


Down here in Corpus Christi there is one flower that just keeps on giving.  The hibiscus bush seems to thrive here no matter what happens.  It doesn't matter whether it's the hardy hibiscus varieties or the tropical varieties, you plant one down here and it thrives.  I currently have four different varieties of Hibiscus growing in pots in the backyard.  Two of them are of the Hardy variety, and two are the tropical variety.  Currently three of them are blooming, but I have a suspicion that they all would be blooming if two of them were just a little bit older and bigger than they are.

Last Smokey Mountain of the year.

This past March, while my Mother was in the nursing home, I took 5 cuttings from different varieties of Hibiscus growing there in the gardens at the nursing home. Two of them actually survived to throw out roots.  I posted a photo of the "Pink Cloud" variety in an earlier post.  I've shown photos of my "Smokey Mountain" Hibiscus on several different posts in this blog, so you know what that one is too.  Today I present my first Yellow Hibiscus as it just bloomed a few days ago!  I have no idea what it's called either, but I'm so thrilled with the flower and can't wait for it to give me more in the spring!!

My newest addition!

Well, I guess that's about all for right now.  I'll try to get a more comprehensive group of shots for my next posting.  I'd also like to go over different types of aloe with you all next time.  I have three different varieties back there right now and I"m eager to share.  You all take care and have a great Fall, or Winter, depending on where you are!

As a side note, I would encourage everyone to look at the photos in the "gallery" mode.  Just click on one of the photos and it should take you to that made.  It will give you a much more detailed look at the photos and give you a closer view.

Ciao!