Spring Has Sprung….February GBBD
The weather has warmed into the low 70’s this week and the flowers are beginning to burst out of their buds….
Pink Beauty (Eremophily laanii) The first few blooms are beginning to appear on this Australian native. Grows up to 6 ft. high and blooms spring through fall.
Desert Senna (Senna artemisiodes sturtii)
Another of my Australian favorites and are drought tolerant and extremely easy to grow.
Grows up to 6 ft. high and flowers in the spring.
Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)
This Southwest Desert native has reached full bloom, causing hummingbirds to eagerly drink of it’s nectar.
Grows up to 2 ft. high, when flowering. Blooms winter through spring (removing spent flowers, will cause more blooms to form and prolong the flowering period).
‘Desert Museum’ Palo Verde (Parkinsonia hybrid ‘Desert Museum’)
It’s early, but the first few blooms on my Palo Verde tree are starting to appear.
This beautiful tree grows approximately 30 ft. high and wide. In late spring, the tree will be a mass of beautiful yellow flowers.
Bower Vine (Pandorea jasminoides)
This blossom is ready to open and join it’s neighbors and reveal its magenta heart.
Grows on a trellis for support and blooms fall through spring in the desert.
Purple Lilac Vine (Hardenbergia violaceae)
My second favorite Australian native, is in full bloom and is buzzing with bees.
Grows on a trellis or as a groundcover. Blooms in February.
Violas and Alyssum
My annuals have bloomed non-stop all winter and show no signs of quitting any time soon.
Valentine (Eremophila maculata ‘Valentine’)
My favorite Australian native who is aptly named for the time of year when it reaches full bloom.
Grows approximately 3 ft. high and wide. Blooms December through April.
This is my monthly contribution to Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, which occurs on the 15th of each month. Please visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens to see what is blooming in other gardens around the world.
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Everything is bright and cheerful in your garden. Spring can't be far away as fat buds burst open.
Happy Bloom day.
Great show! I have to try that Penstemon eatonii again myself. Transplanted one, with sad results.
Happy bloom day!
Gorgeous photos, Noelle. I love how cheerful those Violas look.
I love the way flowers create radial impact by growing them in a cluster. Firecracker Penstemons exemplify that so well… ~bangchik
aloha noelle,
what a riot of colors and a celebration for bloom day, i love the first pic of the pink beauty…what a nice collection you have blooming today. I enjoyed reading your beautiful post today:)
So nice to see a garden in bloom this early in the year! All beautiful pics by that Lilac Vine!! I love that! (And, yes, I know… I've left you that same comment on previous posts. Can't help it. I think I need to move to AZ!)
Beautiful blooms, especially the vine. 🙂
Hardenbergia is a popular plant out my way, too. I can see why you like it! And the penstemon is an electric shock of red this time of year. I just saw it in a seed catalog I had on my nightstand last night. I should get some seed for next season's blooms.
Enjoy your spring!
That firecracker penstemon is gorgeous! I love picturing it visited by hummingbirds. You have a lovely garden, even in February. Mine isn't doing much at the moment, so I'll enjoy yours today. 🙂
Wow I really like that firecracker penstemon. Much more interesting than our native penstemon. And your hardenbergia puts mine to shame.
I was reading Gippsland Gardener and she was explaining how her zone in Australia would relate to ours here and it was interesting to note she is in an area like yours. Makes sense that Australian natives do so well there. They sure are pretty and this posts warms me here (low 20s-brrrr)!
Noelle ~ What interesting flowering plants you have. I am in love with your Hardenbergia violaceae. What a difference in where one lives as to what one can grow. Your bloomers are really lovely and different.
FlowerLady
Doesn't look like you have had winter at all! Everything is so beautiful..
Pretty combination with the violas and alyssum. Sounds like you are having really nice weather! Pretty blooms!
Just gorgeous color. I think you are the hand down "winner" of this months blooms day!
Beautiful blooms, you must have the perfect drainage for the Australian plants!
Spring has indeed sprung in your part of the world! How lovely!
It sure has sprung there! I love all the bright colors of your flowers. That lilac vine is just gorgeous!
Oh Noelle, how beautiful everything is ~ I'd love to sit in your garden and soak up some of the 70 degree weather and your blooms. This time of year (and the last few months) it has to be so nice to live where you do! Happy Bloom Day!
Its great to see a garden with plants looking so prime this month. I saw thousands of palo verdes last month in baja and not a single flower. There one of the more fascinating trees I've ever seen.
Of all those gorgeous plants, only the viola and alyssum would make it here. There is still snow in Alaska, so no spring here yet, alas….
Christine B.
Wow, such amazing color for this time of year! I'm really wanting a Purple Lilac Vine now. Truly beautiful blooms here.
Everything looks just splendid. Happy GBBD!
Low 70s sounds so nice. And I love that purple lilac vine.
You have so much blooming. I guess location, location, location.
Love that lilac vine.
Wow. What a delightful surprise! I didn't realize the weather is so different in Phoenix than in Las Cruces, NM, where my husband's work has been taking him. I love the Valentine.
A wonderful show of the desert in bloom.
By the way, you have inspired me. I now have a compost tumbler tucked way behind the lemon tree where hopefully they HOA won't see it.
Beautiful photos. I keep staring at your lovely photo posts with my brain saying, "Sun? Flowers? Does not compute." It may be different when winter's over. 🙂 But I wanted to comment at least once to say: They're lovely.
Lovely blossoms and sunlight framed in wonderful photos! keep on posting some more blogs like this.
What a green thumb you must have Noelle! Those Australian natives look much healthier and happier than many I've seen in Australian gardens!
So beautiful, Noelle! It's refreshing to see some real spring blooms today. I remember seeing the Palo Verde trees in full bloom last March when we visited my Daughter. They were gorgeous! But I think the purple lilac vine has to be my new Arizona favorite–what a beauty!
Look at all those beautiful blooms. I don't have any at all to post right now, although my neighbor's yellow crocus are blooming already. I was happy to see some color in her yard, if not in mine.
Wow, Noelle, those are super lovely blooms. My favorite is violas, but i also love your firecracker, valentine and of course the purple lilac vine. It is lovely to see these plants without any weeds around them, just the small gravels.
I love looking at your blog to see some familiar plants with many unfamiliar. My firecracker penstemon won't bloom till May. The sunshine in your photos really warms the spirit.
Having always lived in the mid-Atlantic states I might have a bit of difficulty adjusting to life in AZ, however, I would have NO problem 'coping' with non-stop blooms! You have a veritable smorgasbord there…Happy Bloom Day!
Noelle I do think some of your beautiful blooms will do quite well in my garden. Perhaps we can exchange seeds.