Phoebe Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Plants playing games with me …

In my last post, I shared photos of the sneaky little blooms of my “Phoebe” hellebore. I was surprised to see them because there were no signs of them until they popped open.

This morning, I ventured into the cold 39 degree morning to survey a few plants.

Lo and behold, a teeny, tiny flash of pink buried under the “winter wren” hellebore.

Ah ha!

Caught ya – you sneaky little plant.

I had to really pull it up to get even a poor photo of it and was afraid it might snap.

But isn’t she lovely?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:31-05:00March 6th, 2013|Blog, Hellebore, Phoebe, Sharing Nature's Garden, winter's wren hellebore|0 Comments

Bulbs and bores … hellebores, that is

The promise of spring bursts from the irises in my garden today. This clump of stunning blooms, passalongs from Pam Penick, of Digging, has come into its own this year. She calls them Shoshanna’s irises, named for a friend who passed them along to her.

Last week, I was lamenting that our exceptionally warm winter didn’t do my hellebores any favors. There were no blooms in sight and with a heavy sigh I gave up hope of flowers for this year. Less than a week later – voila! Blooms galore. She must have known I was sad.

You can see here that she was trying to hide those buds and blooms – like hellebores do — but I helped Phoebe posed for photos this morning so you could see her.

Any hellebores in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:32-05:00March 4th, 2013|Blog, bulbs, Hellebore, iris, irises, Phoebe, Sharing Nature's Garden, Shoshanna's iris, spring bloomers|0 Comments

Got a little garden bling?

I love bling.

I loved bling when bling wasn’t even cool.

Don’t know what I’m going to do when clothing styles change, because I’m taken with the swirls and the sequins and the glitter that are so popular right now.

Then I got to thinking, I like a little bling in my garden, too.

And I don’t mean gazing balls (I’m not so fond of them, actually).

Like this ginger I recently planted — it’s kind of like bling in my garden.

What’s garden bling, you ask?

You know — it’s those one-of-a-kind specimens, the exotic plants or the plants that perform amazingly. The plants you and your gardening friends ooh and ahhh over time after time.

So here is an overview of the plants I think of as bling in my garden. For starters, there’s this Carara Ginger — a tropical perennial with reddish bracts with pale purple to greenish tips. It blooms for several months and like part shade. It’s new to me, and I don’t know if it will do well here, but it called my name at the nursery.

This “Phoebe” hellebore is another delicate favorite that is a shining star in my garden. It never ceases to amaze me that she almost disappears in warm months, but comes back in the cold of winter like a pale princess.
Even though the foliage is less than attractive at times, when it blooms, this Night-blooming Cereus is stunning. Sadly, you have to catch it late at night or first thing in the morning to enjoy its one-night bloom.
The cassia, with their tall, exotic structure and candle-like blooms is always a thriller in the garden. Especially the year before last when they didn’t die back in the winter and grew to be about 12 feet tall in its second season.
Then of course there is the Moy Grande hibiscus — phenomenal blooms as big as plates. On a mid-summer day, there were as many as 12 giant blooms open at once. It’s a real show-stopper.
These irises are really exotic, but I’m so enamored with the color that I eagerly await their bloom every spring. It’s a Louisiana iris, “Professor Neil” and one of my favorites.
The Bletilla Striata, or ground orchids are defnitely bling. Just the thought that I have “orchids” growing in the ground amazes me!

The plumerias definitely are exotics, but they love it here. It’s been a particularly good year for them this year. They’ve liked the extra moisture in the air.
But on the same note, I’ve had to pull this Desert Rose out of the rain many times this summer because I wants to be dry, dry, dry. And it rewarded me with these great blooms.
These? No exotic at all, but the giant patch of wine cup that completely covers my rock path each spring is another jaw dropper. I walk around the path for months, because I can’t bear to cut it back one little bit!
And this ia a perfectly ordinary Wisconsin ditch lily, brought to me in a bucket by car by Lori, the Gardener of Good and Evil . Hemerocalis experts frown at these common ditch lilies, but this amazing plant bloomed for me ALL summer long and at times had a dozen hot tangerine blooms at once.

I had a hard time limiting my choices because there are so many plants in my garden that I think are special. So, these are just a few of my favorite things.

Which plants are the bling in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:25-06:00October 10th, 2010|Bletilla Striata, bling, Blog, Cassia, desert rose, ditch lily, ginger, Moy Grande hibiscus, night blooming cereus, Phoebe, plumeria, Sharing Nature's Garden, special plants, winecup|0 Comments

Spring awakening…

The Gardening Gone Wild photo contest theme for March is “Awakening.” Our challenge, from photo judge, Saxon Holt, is to cheer the blogosphere with images of spring bursting forth in our gardens.

My entry is Miss Phoebe Hellebore, as she stretches out her delicate petals, braving the rare Texas snowfall. With dewy drops of melting snow gently perched on her bloom she waits patiently for warmer southern spring days to come.

Happily, she’s tougher than she looks, and the following week she greeted 70-degree weather by opening two more blooms.

Now we just wait to see if her friends that were eaten by the deer come back in time to bloom before it’s too hot for them.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:32-06:00March 17th, 2010|Blog, GGW, Hellebore, Phoebe, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Crazy Mixed-Up Garden World

What is up with Mother Nature? Last year on February 18, I had beautiful grape-soda-scented Mountain Laurel blooms all along the driveway.

Today, the Mountain Laurels are not even forming buds yet. The caterpillars are eating them already, but no buds. I wonder if the recent freezes killed them entirely.
And, yet, a month behind in our blooms, we already have May flies! This is a lousy picture (YOU try capturing a flying May fly on film (well, not film, either). And I saw a 3″ long grasshopper on the back of the house today. By all rights, he should have DIED in the big freeze. Sigh.

But there are a few reliables in my garden, even if many things are topsy turvy. Ms. Phoebe Hellebore’s two sisters joined her yesterday – one pink and one with a greenish tint.
And since I am so infatuated with the Hellebores, I did order another from Springhill — see her here above in her little cage? Her name is Ice Wine, and she’ll make a nice contrast with the Phoebes, don’t you think?

Does this look suspiciously like someone forgot there were already a different variety of bulbs planted in this very same spot? Hmmmm…
I was lying on the driveway to take this picture for you. Sure wish you could scratch and sniff your screen. It is Yellow Grape Muscari “Golden Fragrance” — a variety very different from the traditional grape-y muscari, known for its scent, which is said to smell a bit like a mix of gardenia and banana. I stuck my nose in it and WHAM! So full of scent – what a wonderful smell, though I had forgotten how it was described. As I smelled it, I thought it smelled like pineapple and cinnamon. Interesting, huh? But boy was it great.
And here are a few of the different Daffs popping up all around the garden. Dutch Master, Tete-a-Tete, and Yellow Fortune.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:34-05:00March 9th, 2010|Blog, bulbs, daffodils, Hellebore, May flies, Phoebe, Sharing Nature's Garden, Texas Mountain Laurel|0 Comments

Surprise!

Imagine my delight when I walked outside yesterday and found that Miss Phoebe Hellebore is getting ready to herald her arrival! I love the delicate contrast of her soft petals and whisper pink color against the harsh winter surroundings. She clearly hasn’t minded this wicked winter.
Her cousins haven’t fared quite as well. These two Hellebores, purchased this year to join Miss Phoebe, were apparently yummy deer food at some point in the last few weeks. (Yes, they are supposed to be deer-resistant, but we all know what that means — nothing!)
They ate one plant down to the nubbins, but they’re both still green at the base, so I am assuming they will return in their own good time. (If someone doesn’t snack on them again, that is.)