Woodland garden

This is my thicket.

We're looking at roughleaf dogwood, yaupon holly, behind that is dwarf palmetto, Mexican buckeye,  and somewhere back there is an American beauty berry bush. In the foreground, we have turk's cap (just starting to get some height, but no flowers yet), widow's tears taking over, and in the very front some cedar sage and lyre leaf sage. The cedar sage is blooming beautifully, but I don't see many blooms on the lyre leaf. So... what to do with all this? I'm thinking to scale back some of this growth. I'm just going to have to start curating and pulling up some of the self-seeded plants. I'd like to create a little garden path that I can walk on to get to the back and tend to all the plants in the very back. I guess I'll use some paving stones. This might be a summer project.

Zen garden

I'm trying for a zen feeling when you enter the backyard. This is the side yard next to the carport. I have a series of vines growing along here that I planted about a year and a half ago. There's Carolina jessamine (for early flowers and evergreen screening) and passionflower vine (for excitement and sexiness), mingling with Virginia creeper (that creeped over from our neighbors' yard). The jessamine is much better established than the passionflower, though I have big hopes for the passionflower. My wonderful friend Tamara has been taking cuttings from her prolific vines. She's given me several, and so far I only managed to get one to take root. So I need to add more to balance it out.

You enter the back garden into the gate, and you'll find the fence (which is falling apart, thanks to the overexertions of the neighbor's dog) with more Virgina creeper, and some native grapevine on the right. We purchased the Buddha fountain at Miguel's imports, and I got the garden stool from neighbors across the street who were having a yard sale last weekend! To the right of the fountain is a Japanese holly fern. It requires consistent moisture - fingers crossed it likes living under my (sometimes negligent) care. I typically go for plants that are solidly drought tolerant, cause living with me, there are no guarantees. But I'm taking a risk, so hopefully it gets what it needs to flourish.

So, I'm still waiting on the fountain pump I ordered to come in the mail. My main concerns now are how often I'll have to clean the fountain, whether any birds or other wildlife will appreciate it, and how to keep the other wildlife (ie mosquitos) from breeding in it. 

Here's the full effect via video. You can see the shed is a bit unkempt. I'm debating what to do there (other than clean it up, obvi). Considering another trellis with a vine. I want something vertical that doesn't take up too much room. Then again, I've always wanted a possumhaw holly. I shouldn't... should I??? No, I really shouldn't... 

Update: Finally got the pump, so the fountain works! 

Spring Cleaning

I always feel like I'm scrambling to get everything done before the heat hits us full force, which should be arriving in, ohhh, around 2 weeks. Then we'll be sweltering until October 16th, and good luck getting plants established.

So, firstly, I got some deals on planters at Miguel's imports on Burnet. He claims he's selling the land and closing shop in a month or two. We'll see ;-) But I bought three new planters, and I went for some green. It blends in with the landscape, and I decided I didn't want something too bright.

Wandering Jew, verbena, and coleus

Fig tree and wooly stemodia 

We got the fig tree from a friend. I don't have room to plant it (they get so big) so I'm hoping that keeping it in a container will keep it manageable. I transplanted the wandering Jew (tradescantia) from another location in my garden. It was growing among some Gregg's mistflower, at the base of the pecan tree in the front yard. I want to populate the whole area with the mistflower, so there will be a perfect circle of mistflower all around the tree. It will be the most beautiful thing in the fall when it's flowering and all the queen and monarch butterflies visit it. Anyway, the container with the fig has a southwestern exposure with very intense sun in the late-r afternoon (3ish?). The other container is mostly shaded by the pecan and the cherry laurel, but gets a dose of sun in the late afternoon/evening. We'll see how they do.

I worked on the herb garden a bit - I've recently added some basil, chile pequin, spearmint. I hesitated to put the spearmint in the ground - mint can spread quite a bit, but then again... I can just pull it if it gets out of hand. I'm hopeful the other plants will help keep it in check. I will probably need to add some parsley. I've had a beautiful parsley that's well established, but it's in flower now, so I'm thinking it'll be done soon. You can see a black swallowtail checking it out below.

Moving to the front left side - good morning light, a period of shade in the afternoon, revisited by sun late. I moved this tropical sage from the mistflower patch as well. It was doing well - I hope I got enough of the root structure to make the transplant fairly shock free. It looks like it's doing well so far. I found two seedlings near the plant, so I moved them too.

I've really been appreciating the extraordinary blooms of the red columbines I planted last year. I hope they reseed, and I can get more of them going. The yellow columbine in the backyard has kicked off a few successful seedlings, so perhaps I can expect the same from this. These are a lot smaller than I was expecting. The yellow variety gets good sized - around 1.5' by 1.5'. These babies are only about 6 inches tall.




Back garden - much shadier (4 mature pecan trees). I have recently begun to build a garden next to the fence on the eastern side. I'm slowly adding plants (some which I got from the Wildflower center semi-annual plant sale, some I have been transplanting from other places in the garden). You can see the squid agave pup I moved into the bed (I started with an agave in a pot and it keeps kicking off babies, so now I have several). I moved a blue flax from another garden that had very little sun - we'll see how it fairs here. This is a mostly-shady spot, except for some intense western sun in the late afternoon/evening. In the back I added Indian grass and a Mexican honeysuckle. I've wanted a Mexican honeysuckle for a while: the orange flowers are so striking. But I was sold when I was at my friend's baby shower, hosted in her mom's garden, and I was mesmerized watching all the hummingbirds flitting around the flowers of the Mexican honeysuckle. It's all the way in the back left of the photo. All my plants are so small, so it'll be fun to compare when they've matured.

Finally - the remnants of 6 cu yards of mulch. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It's not a bad idea, really, but apparently I've abused my wheelbarrow too much, and the wheel fell off. So there sits the remaining mulch, waiting until I purchase another wheelbarrow. #smh
But look at those wax myrtles! My favorite southern tree. Not a charmer like Texas Redbud, who arrives boisterously in early spring with its pronouncement of pink joy, or a bewitcher like mountain laurel, with a fragrance that announces its grape-y presence before it appears in view. Wax myrtle is just a dependable, good old tree. Its evergreen leaves provide shade and screen year round, and release a pleasant, fresh, herby scent when crushed. If you'd like to know all the benefits of this tree for human and animal use, check out this link.  I planted three wax myrtles shortly after we moved here to screen out the fluorescent lights and view of the back of the strip mall behind our house. It has taken about 6 years for the trees to get this size. They said they were fast growers, but truth be told, I've seen faster. I don't know if the challenges of keeping them watered in the summer have led to the slower growth. But my Mexican buckeye and anacua have grown like gangbusters on the other side of the yard, so I don't know what accounts for the slow growth of the myrtles.

A propos of nothing, I saw a flock of gray catbirds in my backyard this morning. One of them apparently flew into the screened in porch, and was a bit dazed on the ground when I came outside. I believe they might be migrating through, based on my quick research. I don't usually see them around here, especially not in my backyard.

Spring Happenings

This spring has been fantastic. We ordered 6 cubic yards of mulch. When it's delivered, it doesn't really look like much, but once you start to shovel it around the garden, it becomes the never-ending pile.

I added mulch to the whole side of the yard and in the back among the wax myrtles. I've started adding some to the front yard herb garden, and I need to bring more of it to the front. The fight against encroaching grass and weeds never ends.

I have a new project in mind. Here are the before photos:

You can see the downspout from the gutter on the left, just behind the AC unit. We get a ton of water in this area, and it sits and floods. I'm going to install a dry creek bed from the downspout, connecting to the screen door on the right (our gutters weren't installed very well - we need to get that fixed, but currently we get run off from the roof there). and down along the garden bed next to the porch, culminating at the end of the porch. I hope I do this right! It's going to be a lot of labor. 

New plants from the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center!

Arrangement of a few agave poking out of a sea of Mexican feathergrass and fall aster

Another beautiful spring weekend, with a few storms and wind thrown in. Friday I took a half day to attend the Wildflower Center's Spring Sale. I love getting my plants here. First, I know they're all native plants suited to this area. Second, it benefits a good cause, as the Wildflower Center does so much to preserve and educate the public about native plants. Third, it's pretty affordable. I renewed my membership and got a coupon for 3 free plants. I also got 10% off my purchase with my membership. And of course, Friday is members' only day, so I can beat the rush and get plants before they sell out, although several plants had already sold out when I arrived Friday afternoon.

The Wildflower is my zen place. I love coming here. I was happy to see the mama owl is back at her nest by the front entrance. A curious baby owl was sticking its head out to check on all the gawkers below. The entrance is so peaceful, with ginormous wind chimes and a little pond with a fountain and native water plants.

I didn't have time to do the full walk around, but the new meadow they opened a year or two ago is always pleasing, especially in spring with all the wildflowers in bloom. I did a quick spin through the shady garden. I wish I had a little stream like this one in my garden at home.

So, I made it out with only 40... okay, 42 plants! Because I can never have enough plants! 

This time I'm working on that bed out front that is brand spanking new. I should probably wait to plant until the grass is good and dead under the cardboard-mulch topping, but I am impatient (not a great trait in a gardener). Some photos from my Sunday in the garden:

Adding some mealy blue sage, coneflower, Berlandier's sundrops, black foot daisy, among many others 

Arranging my new plants

I was able to get a few in the ground.

Time for everyone's favorite game, find the sleeping cat! 

Creating new garden beds

Ventured into the garden today. I'm expanding the bed in front to create a more unified appearance for the front yard. It has been a slow process - I started trying to kill the grass last summer by solarizing it with clear plastic. I think, however, the pecan tree provided too much shade, and so it didn't really work. So I had ugly plastic out there for most of the past year. I love to garden, but I am slow at it. Someday, 20 years down the road I'm sure, my garden will look expertly tended and planned out. But for now, it just seems like a hodgepodge.

And of course I ran out of mulch, so I still need to finish the far corner, but now that probably won't happen for another two weeks. 

I love watching for the little surprises spring brings. Sometimes the plant that I had thought was dead comes back to life, or a plant that hasn't bloomed in a few years all of sudden sets out a bloom. That's what happened with my prairie penstemon or wild foxglove. I have bought these every year at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center sale, and every year they've died off. This one specimen didn't, but neither did it create any flowers. This year I noticed a lot more growth, and saw flower stalks shoot up. I have been watching for its blooms every day, and here's the flower, just before blooming. I will have to take more photos after it opens up. And now I'm wondering what my next step should be. Buy more cobaea penstemon at the Wildflower Center sale in a couple of weeks? Collect the seeds and try to grow them? I don't have much luck with seeds typically, but that could also be due to my impatience and lack of proper care/cultivation. 

Penstemon Cobaea 

Same thing with the Wright's penstemon, or Wright's beardtongue. These seem to die back on me every year, but they re-seed prolifically. I have found these growing in random corners of my yard ever since I first introduced about 2-3 plants a few years ago. They transplant pretty easily. I transplanted this bad boy last year and it seemed to hold its own, but no major growth. Now it's got these beautiful blooms. Another one I transplanted in the back yard at the same time has done even better in a shadier spot.

Nature often drops a few unexpected surprises for my garden as well. One year I got some volunteer bluebonnets, which was serendipitously deposited next to a prickly pear and Berlandier's sundrops. There's nothing lovelier than the contrast between the deep blue of the bluebonnet and the bright sunny yellow of the sundrops. But, for whatever reason, that was the only year I got the bluebonnets. A year or so ago some stiff greenthread also found its way to my garden, and it's taken off like mad. 

Its delicate foliage and blooms are gorgeous in the xeriscape, interspersed among the yucca and agave. 

Finally, look at this little surprise I found. Grady likes to be in the garden with me, though she's not so actively engaged in work. She prefers to find a nice bush to hide behind and take a nap.

I haven't entered anything into this blog in a while. Two years, in fact. But now spring is back and I've got my eyes on my garden again. It demands a lot, in part because I ask a lot. I'm not content with an empty yard, perfectly mown and fertilized. I need life and energy in my garden, a small oasis of nature. But I still want it to look nice too. In short, I want it all, and that's a lot of work. Happily, it's the kind of work I can do all day and feel a sense of accomplishment, along with the ache in my hands and legs.

So, one must start with cleaning up after the winter. A whole bunch of weeds grew up in the grass in the backyard, so I took my weed remover and dug and dug and dug and dug. When I removed a dandelion with roots intact... Victory! A sense of jubilation washed over me. I only managed it about 1 in 3-4 times, so I imagine many of those bastards will be back.


Every once in a while you get a weed you love, if you can call it that. A weed by any other name... a weed is in the eye of the beholder. I found this volunteer as I was mowing:

Spiderwort

It is a stunner. I wonder whether I should plant even more next to this one, so he won't be lonely. I would say I'd try to collect and plant seed, but I don't see very skilled at that. I spread a bunch of wildflower seeds last fall, but I haven't seen any plants emerge from the ground this spring. Are they waiting? Will they pop up when I'm least expecting it? Or did they get washed/blown away during the winter? What did I do wrong (**shaking my head sadly**)???

bed sans stickywilly

This morning I tackled the sticky weed, aka Stickywilly. Two hours and scratched arms later, I removed almost all of it from my backyard woodland area.

















And as I was cleaning up, look at the beginnings of spring I have discovered: Columbine beginning to bloom and the first little flowers on the Mexican Buckeye.

Yellow Columbine

Mexican Buckeye 

I'm also going to start a new garden bed in the front. Whenever I start a new bed, I've found it most effective to lay cardboard with about 3 inches of mulch on top. I've tried solarizing with clear plastic, but that took months and didn't seem to kill the grass completely. Cardboard works like a charm, then I might squirt some grass killer on the few blades of grass that attempt to push through.
 

The other joys of gardening in the spring - I love this view of the xeriscape I created a few years ago. All these plants used to be so small! Look at the damianita starting to come into bloom. I love the colors and textures at play - the spiky sotol and agave, wispy Mexican feathergrass, sturdy prickly pear and the burst of yellow damianita. Couldn't have planned it better if I tried. And the coral honeysuckle is blooming like gangbusters, with lots of small bees and flies busily enjoying its offerings. 

 

 Another stunning bloomer - desert globemallow. I have two of these, the one closest to the driveway (pictured) has done the best, the other has struggled. They're native to Mexico and southwestern deserts (duh), so I don't give this any supplemental water and I planted it in the xeriscaped patch of the garden. You can see the flame acanthus behind it, beginning to put out new leaves.

Desert globemallow