New plants and winter tropical survivors | Texas Gulf Coast Zone 9b

Join me as I go through the garden and show you a couple of new plants for me, my winter surviving tropical hibiscus, and some gardening "things". In this video I talk about:
- Tropical Hibiscus
- Canna Lilies (and Mandevilla)
- Rose of Sharon
- Tithonia
- Liatris
- Snap Dragon
- Porterweed

[@Elle.Smith.]

Looks like dianthus to me :) Thanks for posting your video and showing us your garden 🪴

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you! I couldn't believe it has taken this long to get a bloom - too funny. I guess the doves laying in it set it back each year.

[@tammyjones949]

Rachel, the plants you did not know the name of by the Lillys in the long planter your dad made , which I just love those planters.. it’s Sweet William. I also planted some wildflower seeds and this year all those annuals in that packet are doing their thing and I am super excited to see everything. My Sweet Williams have started to bloom and they are red with almost black outlines.. very pretty, even as the green puff ball . Love your videos as always. Happy Grow season from Southeast Ga

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for your comment! I looked up Sweet William and see that it is a specific type of dianthus. Brilliant - thank you for letting me know. It cracks me up that it has taken so long to get a bloom from them. They are hardy and the mourning doves just love to lay in them (maybe that is why it took so long to get a bloom! 😁) I really like my planters too ... but that is because my father made them so long ago. Good luck with your wildflowers that you planted from seed. We had a lot of fun seeing what would come up. The Sweet William is the only thing that is still with us from that wildflower seed planting we did.

[@goldengirl65]

My Hawaiian hibiscus are all planted against the house brick walls and under the house eaves to protect them. Absolutely love them. Make sure you never prune them until well after the risk of frost has passed. My mum had yellow Cannas when I was growing up and later orange ones. My neighbour has the red and this year they are taller than they have ever been and I was wondering why and then I thought oh it will be because I've done up my garden and have been watering regularly to get the plants established. Their canna sprouted on my side and they didn't want it back so I potted it up and kept it. I've seen on a plant website a stunning bright pink almost red with a yellow edge. It's beautiful. Might have to keep my eye out for when it's available again. I bought liatris this year too. Lol. The snapdragons know they will be nice there. Oh and I wanted to tell you when I was in the garden a couple of days ago and writing labels for what I was planting I was standing right beside my pot of wishes salvias and I noticed a honey bee was in a flower and it was really struggling to get back out. It had gone right in where it gets thinner and got stuck. I actually gently squeezed the narrow part of the flower a few times so he could make his way back out and when he got out he just stood on my rubbish bin so I got a twig and he climbed on and I was making my way to a lavender bush with him when he finally picked up and flew himself to the lavender. I hadn't even thought it possible they could get stuck but I guess he got a little too adventurous.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

What a wonderful story on your little stuck bee! The nectar/pollen was just too irresistible! I do see bees go into my salvia too, but if a flower is too narrow, I also see them go to the base where the flower meets the stem and get it there. I have read that native bees will "drill" a hole and get the nectar that way with cone shaped and narrow flowers. That is good advice on the tropical hibiscus - and I don't prune them ever until frost has passed and I see the tiny leaves starting to come in the spring. I am excited to see what I think of my Cannas. Do they attract pollinators for you?

[@goldengirl65]

My canna that came from the neighbours under the fence is only small so hasn't flowered yet but I haven't noticed any pollinators on the neighbours big ones at all actually. They have almost dropped all their flowers now but I will pay attention when I'm outside later today and see if any visit them. I can't say I recall ever seeing any on their cannas now you've asked. I have lavenders planted on my side of the fence in that area and the bees are always on them so I'm not sure if they prefer the lavender to canna or if cannas just don't attract them. I will be interested to see what comes to yours.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you for the information. I have read Cannas are supposed to be pollinator attractors, so if they aren't I will be disappointed. I wish I could grow lavendar (it doesn't like our high humidity in the Houston area) because that attracts pollinators very well, as you have in your garden!

[@wesleyhackney]

Glad your hibiscus is recovering nicely. I need to trim mine back to ground and see what happens. Last year it did well after 3 nights of 20 degree weather. Hope you enjoy the cannas

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Have your tropical hibiscus started to sprout leaves by any chance? I hope I enjoy the cannas too. I am wondering if they are pollinator attractors like I have been reading.

[@wesleyhackney]

@@ButterfliesNBirds so far no growth coming out of ground for my hibiscus so not sure what’s going to happen

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

How long do you usually wait to see if they will return? That is my weakness - I usually hate to wait for too long. 😕

[@caroltrego1640]

The white blooming flower might be Sweet William.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Thank you ... I think you are right! I was looking up Sweet William after looking through the comments and it appears to be a type of dianthus. It is fun to have a surprise flower! 😊

[@larryearlgosnell]

I have a Hibiscus President that comes back from the roots past couple of seasons but it is planted in the ground.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

That is good to know - thank you! 😊

[@larryearlgosnell]

Angelonia is the only thing blooming for me at this early stage of spring.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

I have quite a few things blooming, but most are what I protected in January during our freeze. The things I have in the ground that I didn't protect that are blooming are multiple salvia, gerbera daisies, snapdragons, and violas.

[@larryearlgosnell]

I'm wondering if you have seen any hummingbirds this early spring? I just put my feeder out and hope I haven't missed them again this year. Enjoyed the video here in Atascocita-Kingwood.

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

Yes, the male hummingbirds started to come through the beginning of March. Right now we have multiple hummingbirds in the yard. I have flowers for them in addition to two hummingbird feeders. So, you haven't missed them! The females and last year's juveniles will be next to migrate (the males are always the first to migrate to get their territories determined).

[@BKsWildlifeWorld]

You had a bird pole shown early on in the video. On the pole it looked like you had 2 baffles on top of each other. Can you tell me where you got those and what’s brands they are? Thx!

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

You have a good eye! The reason we have one on top of each other is because we had a smart squirrel that would take a fast and long run and clamber up the cone shaped baffle and about 1/3 of the time be successful on scaling the pole. It was unbelievable to watch. So, we decided to get the longer squirrel baffle (from Birds Unlimited) and put the cone shaped baffle on top of it because neither one was successful alone. (We had purchased the cone shaped one a few years ago from Amazon). That did the trick ... no more squirrel acrobatics and the birds seed is accessible only by the birds. Now I wish I could find something that would deter the white-winged doves! 😂

[@BKsWildlifeWorld]

@@ButterfliesNBirds Thanks for the info, and I think it’s a great idea. I actually liked the look of the two baffles together. I hear you on the white-winged doves also….as they are one of my least favorite yard visitor’s. 🤣

[@ButterfliesNBirds]

One of the people at my local Wild Bird's Unlimited store calls White-winged doves the garbage cans of the sky. I agree with her! lol.