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.