Gardening in Santa Fe is a mixed blessing. The average rainfall is 14.22 inches. However, Santa Fe has an average of 283 sunny days. The soil can be rocky, sandy or clay. Last year I hardly planted anything because there was a severe drought. Sometimes, I plant three plants and only one or two plants overwinter. Planting odd numbers has rarely worked for me for this reason. However, this month I'm going to count the blessings in my garden.
I'm joining Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Special thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting. Please check out what's blooming in other parts of the country and in other parts of the world.
About twelve years, the view outside the window of my office was of a courtyard dotted with red yucca (hesperaloe parviflora). However, it seemed too large to put in my garden so that thought entered the recesses of my mind. Last year Susan at Ink & Penstemon blogged about a dwarf hesperaloe that would be the plant to have this year, Brakelights(R) red yucca. I don't know if it was the power of suggestion, but I planted three in my garden this spring. A month or so after planting, aphids covered the blooms on all three plants. I cut all the blooms off and forgot about it. One of the plants rebloomed recently with nary an aphid.
I've had this gaura in my garden for while. It came in a set of three. Only one survived, but for the first time ever it reseeded and now I have another gaura that is doing well in the garden.
These might be the saddest cosmos of all time, but I started them from seed this spring and they're still going. I'm hoping they'll reseed and I won't have to plant cosmos next year.
I planted this desert four o'clock about three summers ago. It's one of the more xeric plants in my garden. Last week the four foot plus wide plant was covered in blossoms.
It's a sea o' licorice mint (agastache rupestris). I've tried other cultivars, but none does as well as the rupestris. I can count on it from year to year to provide soft waves of color in the waning days of summer.
My last blessing is plants overwintering. Plants don't reliably come back in the spring. I had a phantom drip emitter that wasn't attached to a plant so I plugged the end. The xeric desert asters came back where the drip emitter had been plugged. It is not as finicky and doesn't need as much water as traditional asters. I also planted the blue blazes agastache last year and wasn't sure what to expect. Woohoo, all three plants came back.
What blessings are you thankful for in your garden this year?
I'm joining Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Special thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting. Please check out what's blooming in other parts of the country and in other parts of the world.
What blessings are you thankful for in your garden this year?
I really like the colors in your garden. You took some very pretty images too. Cosmos are always pretty reliable in seeding. I thought they looked fine.
ReplyDeleteThe cosmos I started inside. They're on the smallish side, but I'm still enjoying their blooms.
DeleteLovely soft colours :-) I hope you have had some rain lately, we hear on the news over here in England about the drought in America, whilst we are drowning in rain...there's no end to it here. It's going to be a long winter when we haven't really had summer...Loved your Gaura, haven't seen it in white before.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking I might try a pink gaura, but I like the white so much. We gotten a little more rain recently, which makes for good planting weather.
DeleteI wish that your flowers have successfully spent the winter. Cosmos and I got on my flower bed. It's easy and pretty flower.
ReplyDeleteDaniela, cosmos don't require much work and they come back year after. I had some die off after years of reseeding so I finally planted some more.
DeleteLovely blooms. After experiencing this summer and last summer, I don't know how you do it down there but you manage to put out wonderful blooms all the time.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
July was mild, but August is making up for it. I hope the both of us get some much needed rain soon.
DeleteWow what a fantastic garden. The colours are so soft. Really love the agastache haven't seen them in Australia but I bet they would grow in our hot summers. Cosmos rocks, perhaps I should think about planting some at my place?
ReplyDeleteThere are so many types of agastache. They seem to do well in different climates. It's nice to have some flowers to look forward as the summer starts to wane.
DeleteI love the way you described your cosmos "...of all time", and i laughed. I think all flowers not growing in our own gardens are beautiful to us though! I always see gardeners showing the inches of rain in their areas, but i dont bother to look at it. This time when we suffered great flooding for the first time in our lives, we become conscious of the magnitude of rainfall.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by. Rainfall is a precious commodity here, but too much rainfall can be crippling, too. I remember one summer in New Orleans, Louisiana we got so much rain that you couldn't drive down the street and the water was up to my knees.
DeleteWell, what is blooming looks fabulous. I love the desert four o'clock, and the gaura. And asters always make me smile. Yours looks very happy.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the desert asters. I'm glad I figured out they weren't weeds. I was on the fence about what they were and almost pulled them out. :)
DeleteI actually think your Cosmos plants look pretty good. They always seem to wax and wane over the summer for all of us, but when they're waxing they're so lovely! And your desert Four O'Clocks have a lovely hue--they seem perfect for the setting!
ReplyDeleteThe desert four o'clocks are low maintenance. I've tried growing more traditional four o'clocks and they wilted in the heat. I love the color, too. The flowering cycle sneaks up on me and it's a nice surprise to see it all abloom.
DeleteGreat blooms! I tried cosmos from seed and they are spindly things. Thinking they may not have enough sun. I have some straggler 4 o'clocks. So excited to see the asters blooming.
ReplyDeleteI started the cosmos indoors so I wasn't sure that they'd make it. Mine were spindly at first, but we got some rain that gave them a kick start.
DeleteBeautiful flowers, fantastic colours. I am greeting
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I like the colors, too.
DeleteWow there are so many beauties...the reseeded gaura is wonderful. Mine has never seeded. And having four o'clocks and cosmos grow without a fuss is nice. Mine just didn't like the drought. But my fav are the agastaches. I love the smell and the blooms. I have one or 2 agastache rupestris that come back every year and they are my special plants.
ReplyDeleteMy old dog used to walk by the rupestris and come in smelling like root beer. It was great. They've been a lot easier than my other agastaches.
DeleteSo does your agastache planted in pure gravel or have you amended the soil.
ReplyDeleteLots of amended soil with gravel at the bottom of the hole. My soil is mostly rocky and sandy so I spent a lot of time amending it before anything would grow.
DeleteOf course, I love the Agastache most of all :-) So glad your 'Blue Blazes' came back...that is one VIGOROUS plant!!!
ReplyDeleteI also have agastache and gaura. Rupestris doesn't do well here so I have different cultivars, but yours are really beautiful. :o) I love your 4 O'Clocks! We have a different variety here that can be a bit fussy. I finally pulled mine last year after I couldn't make them happy.
ReplyDeleteI guess we all have out challenges with weather extremes. For you, it might be the lack of rainfall, and for me it might be the cold. It is almost like we are at opposite ends of the same problem.
ReplyDeleteI planted a guara in the garden this summer. I like the dainty flowers carried on those long, thin stems. Your agastache rupestris is really pretty and I love all the cool pinks in your garden.
All things considered, you're doing just fine. I'm amazed you have so many fine-looking blossoms in this year of extreme weather on top of your challenging climate. Count and enjoy your wonderfulnesses.
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