Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A damp morning

When I woke up this morning the ground was wet and rain water was dripping from the eaves. The dripping has continued all morning, just a light sprinkle but continuous. Probably not much in total inches but a pleasant change, especially with the temperature in low 70s. Almost 30 degrees cooler than last week this time. Oy!

The blooms on the Mexican bush sage are opening, either just because it's their time or because they're celebrating the cool and damp as well. I noticed bloom stalks on the salvia Anthony Parker (why do I always want to call it Arnold Palmer?) too but they haven't opened yet. That's the salvia that I saw in luxurious bloom at the nursery Alisa and I stop at when we're on our way back from Port Aransas, along Highway 183 somewhere north of Goliad (or maybe closer to Gonzales? I'll have to pay better attention next time). They have a great selection of plants, especially shrubby things, along with a couple of huge basset hounds. Anyway, I saw the saliva Anthony Parker, which has dark blueish purple blooms, and admired it but they didn't have any for sale (I did score a Mexican bush sage, maybe even the one that's blooming now, with solid purple flowers, which I've always prefered to the white-tipped variety). Some time later, maybe the next year, I saw the Anthony Parker at Barton Springs Nursery and bought it. It's never been as dramatically beautiful as the one I saw on the way back from Port A but lovely at this time of year nonetheless. I'll post a picture once it starts blooming.

4 comments:

r r s said...

I haven't tried growing any type of Salvia yet, but I think I'm going to next year. I love that it's cool in the mornings now. Fall can't come soon enough for me and my garden.

r r s said...

I haven't tried growing any salvia yet. Soon, though.

This wonderful drop in temperature is turning me into an outside person again. I love that the temperature in the morning is actually pleasant.

Susan said...

You should definitely try some salvias. They're some of my favorites, mostly tough and dependable. In the garden right now I have salvia greggii, of course, and then salvia guaranitica "Black and Blue", languishing in a pot, and salvia nemarosa "May Night", salvia leucantha (that's the Mexican bush sage), and salvia lyrata (lyre-leaf sage). I think that's all. Oh and the salvia "Anthony Parker" (or Arnold Palmer, as I prefer to call it).

And the lower temps have me with my a/c off and the doors and windows open (or course it'll probably be 95 again tomorrow. But at least there's hope.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the new links, particulary Texas Superstar plants. Shell nursery is listed among those selling these plants. I'm off to browse.