Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2016

Our temperature got up to 90 degrees F yesterday and is expected to flirt with 90 over the next few days. Last week we got seven inches of rain over a three day period. The air is yellow with pine and oak pollen. Welcome to the Ides of March in Southeast Texas.

And if it is March in Texas, there must be bluebonnets blooming.

This wild allium seeded itself in one of my flower beds a few years ago. I liked it so much I kept it and propagated it. Now it blooms for me every March.

Some of the citrus trees are in bloom. This is a Mandarin orange tree, covered in blossoms.

The wild oxalis that infests many of my flower beds is in bloom. It'll soon be disappearing now that the temperatures are heating up.

The purple oxalis that I planted on purpose is also in bloom.

Indian hawthorn ('Clara') is a staple in gardens hereabouts.  

Violas are still blooming.

I do love their sweet little blossoms.

The Copper Canyon daisy that in a normal winter would have long been dormant is still blooming, also.

The purple trailing lantana reaches it peak of flowering in late spring and then rests during the summer months.

Esperanza, or yellowbells as it is called here, would normally have gone dormant in the winter, but we haven't really had winter this year. Temperatures never got below freezing here.

This Encore azalea blooms sporadically throughout the year.

This old Kurume azalea blooms only in spring. But what a show it makes!

Salvia greggii is called autumn sage but it flowers throughout the year.

This is another variety of Salvia greggii - 'Hot Lips.'

The oleanders have begun to bloom.

The crossvine 'Tangerine Dream.'

From its pot on the patio, the firecracker fern is shooting off its fireworks.

The butterfly iris that I told you about last week is still putting out a few blooms.

No snow for us this winter but we did have a few snowdrops - Leucojum vernum.

Loropetalum.

A close-up look at loropetalum's blossoms reveals its kinship with native witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). 

The yellow lantana has just begun to bloom.

And red kalanchoe is just at the end of its bloom cycle.

Yellow cestrum has bloomed all winter.

Red cyclamen.

My old camellia still has some of these luscious flowers.

Most of the redbuds in my neighborhood have already completed their flowering, but the one in my backyard ('Forest pansy') blooms later and just this week is reaching its peak.

It is attracting the attention of butterflies like this Monarch.

Most of the day its blossoms are full of native bees like this large carpenter bee.

Convolvulus 'Blue Daze' is just starting to bloom.

The 'Peggy Martin' rose has been in flower for several weeks.

As has the 'Old Blush' rose.

But my first amaryllis blossom of the year didn't quite make it in time for Bloom Day. Maybe tomorrow.

I hope that your garden has no need to beware of the Ides of March and that the change of seasons coming next Sunday is a pleasant change where you live. Happy Bloom Day and thank you, Carol of May Dreams Gardens, for hosting us once again.

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