In the past week, the weather in Texas has been unseasonably warm. Hard to believe it’s winter! The fiance and I raked up some leaves, moved some stone work, and did general clean up work in the front and central yards. Getting a general feel for the planting areas…much of the yards are in part to deep shade. This will be an interesting change in landscaping, dealing with shade-friendly plants. Right now my attention is on the Chocolate Ajuga that I have surviving in one planter. I’m not sure how robust it still is, but I imagine that if it survives any future freezes, I’d like to use it in the center yard for under-planting in the beds. The flame red salvias are hanging on, but looking rather reedy in their pots. The white salvia unfortunately drowned. Two rosemary plants experienced extremes in watering and temperature…I’m fairly certain they are on their way to the compost heap–if we had one! Two salsa jasmines appear to be surviving, along with a thyme plant (strangely hanging on despite the horrid conditions). The potato vines and caladium I’m certain are DOA, the Silver Dragon type liriope specimens are gamely holding their ground, and the occasional dianthus is showing a bit of green.

Did I mention I had pulled all my calla bulbs last fall for storage in the pantry? I’m hoping they will survive for planting this year.

Of course, having all of these gardening catalogs coming in the mail is adding to all of the excitement.

The callas are blooming. First up: Flame. These blooms display brilliant yellow, with a touch of orange or red. I am assuming that as the weeks go on, they will deepen in color per their namesake. As an aside, the single blooming purple flower of my Devil’s Wine calla has barely faded but held its true shape. It’s a testament to how long-lived these calla blooms are!

My Blossom Farm order came in last week, but 2 of the lavender plants I ordered do not appear to be faring very well. I’ve been keeping a close watch on them, but it appears the smallest of the 4 has given up the ghost. I’ve messaged Blossom Farm for assistance…perhaps they are not beyond rescue. I’m just glad that I have one each of the 2 larger specimens, Coconut Ice and White Provence.

I’m not too thrilled with the Bewitched Purple potato vine (which appears to be mislabeled) threatening to take over my planter. While the palmate shape of the leaves are attractive, they are much too large and overshadowing the neighboring plants. I intend to pull it out as soon as I can find a suitable replacement, preferably a petite-leaf purple potato vine, similar to the compact bright green potato vine (which may be a Sweetheart Light Green) in the other planter.

Today is an example of a perfect morning on the patio, cool weather and warm sun. I should invest in a folding patio set. Perhaps I can shop for one this holiday…if the fiance will let me out of bed this weekend.

While I am lamenting the loss of the purple pepper plant in the second box planter on my patio, my first brightly colored planter is hosting an emerging calla show. It appears that the Mango callas are bursting out of the ground…no sign of Flame yet. Here’s hoping to see it soon!

More photos of the patio garden. The Devil’s Wine calla lily has risen in blooms and a magnificent deep purple-red flower. It pairs beautifully with the 2 Purple Flash ornamental pepper plants on its flanks. The peppers, incidentally, will not grow taller than 2 feet high. Also featured in this photo string is a shot of the pale leaves from the top of my asahi zuru. I imagine due to the lack of chlorophyll they are not faring too well. Beautiful colors anyway…