Garden Regrets

After a leisurely stroll through the garden, marveling the still lush and green garden, a definite rarity here in August, I started thinking about the plants I have tried to eradicate.  That's right, I most definitely have plants I wish I didn't have growing in the yard.  Sad parts is that at one point of time I planted them myself.  some, I read could be pest, yet I planted them anyway, others just suddenly took over.

Many of my unfortunate choices are so called Texas Natives, purchased from the annual LBJ Wildflowercenter.
A few notable ones are:
Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, floppy appearance, spread like wildfire.

Spiderwort....aaaah, started with one plant, I now three years later can supply plants to nurseries without seeing less of them.  They are absolutely stunning in early spring when they are in full bloom.  They just reproduce a zillion times faster than I would like.

Pink Evening Primrose Oenothera speciosus, a definite regret.  Stunning when first in bloom, then it looks ragged and no matter how many 55gal trash containers you fill, you can never ever get rid of them.  I soooo wish wish wish I didn't bring that plant home.

Then there's the Native Texas Passion flower, It pops up everywhere, the underground runners go everywhere. 

I guess the lesson learned is, planting wildflowers is a great Idea, just something that should never be executed in real gardens.

Other notables are:
4 o'clocks... they develop giant tupers, you can pull and pull, yet they come back.  Never really look good, insects love chewing the leaves, always look ragged.

Liriope.... also a plant that likes to take over, i could cover nursery stock for half the us, and you still wouldn't be able to notice that I have thinned them out.

I am in love with this combo

Orange Canna that despite the dogs amazingly grew and flowered, right next to PHBV graciously planted by the birdies. The soft orange and purple is a fantastic combo. Will definitely be on the lookout for more soft oranges. So much nicer than the bright in your face oranges that most orange flowers have.

Its a sad day at Kaos's garden

Kaos passed away. It's the saddest day of my life. She was a joy and delight, the perfect dog, and I am blessed to have had her with me for almost 12 years.
She was buried in a shady spot in the yard where she loved to "watch" the fence and people walking by. Eventually it will become her memorial garden...

It's that time of year again, fall bulbs are available at garden centers and online vendors again.  Last fall I went COMPLETELY overboard. 
I had had the hottest driest summer EVER, 60+ days over 100, and no wet stuff.  When fall arrived, or late August, depending on how you look at it, I went NUTS!!!!
I ended up with well over 1000, yes that is over a thousand bulbs.  It is so easy to order, not quite as much fun planting them.  Actually, past the first two bulbs, I had had enough, but eventually got all my bulbs planted and expected a magnificent spring show.  There were 600 alliums in the mix, a couple hundred daffodils, and the rest stuff I wanted to try out.
Needless to say I was very disappointed this spring when, out of the 600 alliums, only about 50 if that ended up blooming. The bulbs I wanted to try out, well, they didn't do anything.
This year I am sticking with what I know will work.  That means daffodils, ranunculus, paperwhites, anemone, amaryllis and peruvian daffodils.
Already seen the bulbs for sale, so guess what I am doing....getting me some spring garden candy!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Garden Pants

Notable plants I will rely on more in the next few years.  These have been doing good in hot hot hot, and dry dry dry conditions.  That makes them perfect Texas garden companions.

Datura...Absolutely LOVE these, and the bonus is that they come back year after year.   I love love love watching these flowers open at dusk.  The hotter it gets the more it grows.  Not really a surprise it does well, since its also known as Jimson's Weed, and Thornapple, and are native to TX.
Perfect for a night garden...they really sparkle in moonlight.


Plumbago.  What's not to love about Plumbago?  I have many of both the blue and white varieties.  I call them the hydrangeas of the west. 
The pale blue or white blooms cover the small shrub, all season long.  Usually they go on and on, just about all year round.  This past year with our terrible winter, most died back to the ground.  The blue ones also produce babies, I haven't gotten any babies of the white one.  Also easy to multiply these by layering. I have never tried them in containers, so I don't really know how they would do.
Picture has a bonus butterfly, and yes, butterflies love to feed on it.
  
Sweet Potato Vine, however, spreads like wildfire in the ground, definitely a container only plant. Blackie is better behaved, and not as vigorous as Limelight, and Tricolor.  and they are soooooo easy to propagate.  just stick 'em in water and roots form.  I have also stuck them straight into moist potting soil, making sure the soil stays wet/moist for about a week, and then you have a new plant.  Does really well in drought conditions, especially in the I forgot to water my containers for a few days, kinda drought.  I see them around town planted in the ground, and they always look lush.  When I pick garden bouquet, I like to add some sweet potato leafs, gives some great foliage. 
Oh and as a nice bonus, blackie produce pink petunia like flowers, if you're lucky.

Great Garden Plants

Notable plants I will rely on more in the next few years.  These have been doing good in hot hot hot, and dry dry dry conditions.  That makes them perfect Texas garden companions.

Datura...Absolutely LOVE these, and the bonus is that they come back year after year.   I love love love watching these flowers open at dusk.  The hotter it gets the more it grows.  Not really a surprise it does well, since its also known as Jimson's Weed, and Thornapple, and are native to TX.

Perfect for a night garden...they really sparkle in moonlight.

Plumbago.  What's not to love about Plumbago?  I have many of both the blue and white varieties.  I call them the hydrangeas of the west. 

The pale blue or white blooms cover the small shrub, all season long.  Usually they go on and on, just about all year round.  This past year with our terrible winter, most died back to the ground.  The blue ones also produce babies, I haven't gotten any babies of the white one.  Also easy to multiply these by layering. I have never tried them in containers, so I don't really know how they would do.

Picture has a bonus butterfly, and yes, butterflies love to feed on it.

  

Sweet Potato Vine, however, spreads like wildfire in the ground, definitely a container only plant. Blackie is better behaved, and not as vigorous as Limelight, and Tricolor.  and they are soooooo easy to propagate.  just stick 'em in water and roots form.  I have also stuck them straight into moist potting soil, making sure the soil stays wet/moist for about a week, and then you have a new plant.  Does really well in drought conditions, especially in the I forgot to water my containers for a few days, kinda drought.  I see them around town planted in the ground, and they always look lush.  When I pick garden bouquet, I like to add some sweet potato leafs, gives some great foliage. 
Oh and as a nice bonus, blackie produce pink petunia like flowers, if you're lucky.

Another perfect Dahlia

That's all that's needed to be said about this picture

Mid July and still green

This has been the best gardening summer ever.  Lower than normal temperatures, and more rain than normal.  what a difference a year can make.  Last July everything was brown.  This year it's lush and green.  Eventually a lawn will be put in the now existing weed patch

Some plants are early bloomers this year, and others are late.  Guess Mother Nature is keeping me on my toes. 

Grasses and Russian Sage have been blooming since June.   

Meet Mr. Squirrel

This year the grape arbor was completed and finally this was going to be the year we got grapes, lots of blooms turned into small clusters, growing larger and larger every day.  The anticipation was growing in tandem with the grapes.  We just didn't know someone else was watching as well.

Meet Mr. Squirrel, he's furry, brown and cute, yet a pest.  He devoured roughly 25 grapes before he hiked up in the hackberry tree and took a well deserved nap.  A fully loaded arbor, yet this year we ate none.  Eventually we're gonna have to find a critter solution

What happened to my Lantana love affair?

I used to love them, collect them, treasure them...

now they are forgotten in the garden.  They are fantastic performer's in the garden, comes in all shapes and colors (except blues).  So what's not to like?  I don't know what happened.  They were my first reliable performer's in the garden when I started many years ago.   Maybe they are just too low maintenance to be appreciated? 

While walking through the garden center the other day I thought to myself, "they have nothing special, just a bunch of different Lantanas."

I think I want to re-discover them...What's not to like.  The hotter and drier it gets, the better they perform.  The only plant I know of that's 100% dogproof, butterflies and hummers love them, no need to fertilize or water.  They are really great plants, but WHY, oh Why can't I get excited about them? Why do I strive to grow "high maintenance plants", plants that need constant care ? 

Tomorrow is a new day, and I WILL start to appreciate Lantanas again.

It's Dahlia time

It is Dahlia time. Dahlias might be my absolute favorite flower ever. They are so perfect looking, actually fake looking. Each one is more stunning than the next, always a surprise, always joyous. Everytime a bud opens I get giddy, it's like unwrapping a gift.
A few were lost in last years drought and this past winter's awful cold and wet. A couple of new acquisitions have been made, but no blooms on those yet. Fresh tubers in the ground usually bloom later than the established ones. My all time favorite, the Nenekazi, was lost.

RAIN

 

Finally.. I had given up hope, but somehow with a coldfront stalled above us we got RAIN.

and not just a little teaser drizzle, nope real rain.  A whole 5 inches of rain.  I do wish it could have been spread out over a few weeks, but I'll take it.  I'll take ANY precipitation in summer.  Only bad thing is the grass will now hit a growth spurt, and grow leaps and bounds overnight and create a jungle.  maybe not quite that quick, but almost.   A nice bonus with this rain, is that the temperature dropped into the 70's.  I haven't seen 70's in a long time.  I've heard that they exist, apparently at 4am...but not when I am awake.

Tomorrow afternoon, when things have dried up a bit, I'll start planting.  Since I lost all my white CF last year during the record heat/drought, I now have 7 new ones, waiting for their new spots.  Also picked up some pink Daylilys and a couple of tall pink Ruellias.  Time to start planting in my newly created sunny bed, and move the shade loving residents elsewhere.  Nothing is more invigorating during a hot TX summer than rain.

More Hydrengas

That's right, Bright and early Sunday morning I went to the HD to look for potting soil.  Looked at their plants, and right by the entrance to the garden center a cart with Hydrangeas.  Reduced, and needing a home.  I picked 4,  5gal sized ones, One Glowing Embers, one Queens Lace, and 2 Variegated ones...Also picked up some white plumbagoes... ( haven't seen them for sale in YEARS, and they don't produce babies like the blue variety...)
THEN....I had to see what was going on at LOWES.  Had to get mulch anyway.  Ended up with pentas galore some vincas and lantanas.  50 pentas, 15 white trailing lantana, 30 vincas(white)...I had JUST about caught up with my stash, and now it's refilled.  CGD...compulsive gardening disorder...Yeppers, that's what I got.
The picture is of Merritts Pride... Acquired with another Deja Bloom Saturday.
I have a feeling that the colors listed and the colors I'll get aren't going to be the same.  Merritts Pride, according to the tag, has BRIGHT RED flowers....We'll see

Crazy Aboy Hydrengas

Or absolutely NUTS!! I have always loved the, and never successfully grown them
I think this year things might go differently.  Over the years I have killed many hydrangeas.  Though this year I have gone completely crazy.
The picture is of my "Doublicious" I have bought two of them, one planted in a planter with potting soil, and the color changed from blue to pink.  The other I haven't planted yet, I have to get something to turn the potting soil acidic.  I want BLUE blooms. 
The list of my new acquisitions started with some mailorder hydrangeas.  To think there were none in my garden 4 months ago, and now I have 12 at least. 
6 Blue Moon, 1 Blueberry Parfait, 1 white, 2 Doublicious, 1 Deja Bloom, 1 Glowing Embers... This is the list so far.  I am definitely getting another Deja Bloom, and who knows what else I'll stumble on at the garden center.

Hummer

Yep, snapped the first hummer pic EVER.  I wish those tiny little birds were larger and slower.  That would make it SO much easier to photograph them.  I have also noticed that they are skittish, and frequently fly away when I try to approach them.  Lizards are WAY easier to photograph, as they sit completely still. 

Now I need to research and buy a telephoto lens that I can attach to my camera.

Clematis...

Every spring this purple Clematis gets prettier and prettier. 

It doesn't bloom for long, but when it does it is breathtaking.  Nothing is prettier April mornings than seeing this Jackmanii in full bloom, the morning sun reflecting of the perfectly purple petals.  Just stunning. 

This is only the second year, so next year it should really be putting on a show.

Costal gattaway....

We took a nice"weekend" trip down to the coast to fish.  The fishing part became excrusiatingly boring for me after a few hrs, so I started to chase birds with my camera instead.  Costal birds are definatly excotic for land locked folks like me. Tohough absolutely STUNNING. 

Here are a few

Spring Has arrived

FINALLY..... phew... I was getting worried, but now after almost two weeks of 70's and sun....I am ready to do my happy dance

Warmish temperatures and sun does create another monster.  That would be the QUICK growing grass and weeds.  In the last two weeks I have mowed 4 times.  Normally I like mowing, but I have so many weeds to terminate, and only so much time.  This picture I am embarrassed of. 

I am not even sure you can see the Pansies in between the creepy-crawly Charlie, and other offenders.  I really have to take care of that.  I am sure that as always I would either take care of them, or the summer heat comes along and kills some of them off.

I see SUN!!!!!

After fighting the demons of depression for days...that seemed like weeks THE SUN finally broke through the clouds.  There's nothing better than the SUN. 

Blue Skies Shining on me....nothing but blue skies do I see 

The Willie diddy is playing over and over in my head.  As I blissfully look at the blue sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun hitting my face.  I feel fuzzy and happy, blissfully alive.  The last few days and the rain has almost slipped my mind... Almost.  I do think I managed to get some nice pictures out of it.
Right now I have hopes and dreams for the garden.  I can't wait for warmer temperatures, and cheerful flowers greeting me in the morning.  This is the time of year, even YELLOW flowers make me smile.

Yellow???

I don't like yellow flowers, but I am drawn to them, buy them and plant them in my garden.  They are cheerful, yet clash with the overall look I am going for. 

Here are some of my Yellers.. and WHY they deserve a place in my garden.

Daffodils...It wouldn't be spring without them.  Cheerful sunny faces smiling at you promising warmer temperatures and SPRING.  Every morning in early spring I rush out in the garden to see if any new ones opened.  They bring happiness and warmth, and WHO doesn't like them.

This year I also got yellow pansies and violas, as well as some short yellow snapdragons.  These are not necessary.  Actually in retrospect, I wish I had gotten different colors.....

DAYLILIES...they have the same cheerfulness as Daffs.  At least I do a daily morning walk to see if I have any new blooms.  I have regular daylilies as well as Butterfly Iris Dietes bicolor....Also pale yellow, and their flowers also last only one day.  Until I learned the correct name, I called them Funky daylilies.  I love the texture of the foliage..flowers are just a bonus.

Canna...First plants I ever planted in the garden.  Right after we moved in I bought one of every bag of summer bulbs at Home Depot...The only one surviving were these yellow cannas...  Now, they can be found all over the country as I have shared plenty...and all around the garden.  The bright green tropical leaves provides nice texture...and they just have sentimental value

Esperanza/Tecoma stans -Small deciduous tree, blooms NON STOP all summer long.  Regardless of how high the temperatures get and how little rain.  I don't think I ever watered it all summer long in 09, and it was the star attraction of the front yard. 

Bulbine...  I mostly grow it for the foliage.  Great year round structural plant  Spiky medium dark green, about a foot tall.  Get spiky flowers.

Clean Up...

There is a saying... what goes up, must come down....that is very true with natural wood structures in the garden, very true. It all started a few years ago when I built a natural arbor using branches from the yard. At the time I thought it was a genius idea. Not to mention easy on the pocketbook.
I planted two Passion Flowers "Lavender Lady", one on each side. They grew and covered the structure beautifully. Critters adopted the arbor as refuge. Amongst the foliage, were bird nest and hiding spots for lizards. Since my stunningly beautiful passion vines preferred to bloom in the cooler parts of the year, and my fear of pruning it, I have let it ramble on for years.
This past summer half of the arbor fell, and this afternoon I pushed the rest down. Cut the vines off and added them to the compost pile, and removed all the deck screws from the rotted wood.
The vines look dead...strange, but a result of an extreme cold front that came through last week. Usually, it's in full bloom during the winter months, and it was this year as well. All the buds and blossoms fell when the temperatures dropped into the teens. The foliage died and dropped. Might actually be a blessing in disguise. It had been growing a bit too much. covered a Loquat and climbing away into the Mesquite tree above. There were blossoms 25ft in the air. Stunning. Though I did know this would be the year I had to cut it back. I really hope it's root hardy...I guess I'll find out in spring. Also time to figure out what kind of arbor to replace it with. If it DOES come back...It will need some support. My thought is to use rebar.

In retrospect. I might build another natural arbor, but Will definitely only use annual vines on it.

January Blues.....

2010 has not been great so far. COLD very cold. We even dropped into the teens. My rain barrel froze solid. That's something I've never seen before.
Had bought some Fig trees....and while doing some research on them...discovered they do not like the cold either. I am going to try to espalier them.  Was thinking a fan shape.  Well that is if they survived... If not ...well gotta love the 1year plant guarantee from Lowes and Home Depot.

Speaking of big box stores....their seeds and summer bulbs are in. Got some Dahlias, Amaryllis, seed potatoes, and grapes.  Got some bright pink amaryllis.  Can't wait til they bloom...I am not sure they'll actually turn out to be pink.  Not the first time that has happened. 

The one day with sunny barely tolerable to be outside temperature, I dug the new homes for the grapes. Unfortunately, the winds started, and the cold front moved in.
I also picked the last 50gal of lemons from the trees...figured freezing temps were not going to extend their lives. Currently squeezing and freezing the juice. We've given away sooo many lemons, thrown away probably 50gal of some that went bad. Mayer Lemons are great... the baby fruits all dropped from the trees, as did most of the foliage. Tried to wrap the trees with X-mas lights and cover with tarp. Time will tell if they survived or not.
Same goes for my potatoes, the tops froze off.  I think this is the year I definately have to set up my red-neck hoop house.  Did look good Illuminated with multi color christmas lights.  It's just too cold to attempt to go outside.