The evolving garden

As with all things, preferences and focus change over time.  When I first started doing 'extreme sport' gardening, I focused on plants and design, color and contrast, embracing native and adaptive plants for Texas.    As time went on, I became more and more excited and attracted to garden art.  I've added several pieces of garden art - and boy do I have plans for more! 


 These signs welcome you to my garden.   These are to the left of my entry gate.    Cannot describe my persona any better! 

 

These are some gutter planters I made along with a tile mural.  All outdoor friendly!   I love the beautiful combo of yellow/orange and blue.  

I've made a succulent area - named 'LeSucculent Cafe' coined after the Succulent Cafe in Oceanside CA.  A succulent vertical planter, along with colored pieces of wood and two mirrors.    

 

More succulents.  My planter made from a  wooden pallet, along with several colorful pocket planters. 

 

How else do you cover an ugly grey house foundation?   Paint on some birds.    I hired a local street artist who paints birds all over the city.   The bird with an attitude 'you're not the boss of me' is in honor of my corgi Maggie.    Really - she thinks she's in charge!  

What season is it anyway?!?!?

Central Texas has had a very mild winter ....  Not that I'm complaining!  The temps so far have been so nice and warm that plants in my garden are very confused!   Lots of blooming going on ...  Not that I'm complaining!

Makes me wonder about the affects on the following seasons.   Will there be more bugs?  Will the bulbs still bloom?  Does this mean we are in for a harsh summer?   We have had a couple of very short freezes.   And those times when the temps have dipped to 32 degrees it has only been for a couple of hours in the early morning hours.

I'm from Midwestern Illinois and the garden season there was relatively short. I always feel very blessed to live in Texas where the growing season is really 12 months long.  My heart goes out to my blogger friends in the colder climates. 


Here are some pics of those confused plants just blooming away in February! 

 Recent inspirations in my garden

I love color.  For those who know me - you know the inside of my house is painted many different colors - and I almost always wear colorful clothes.   It's my feeling that colors emit emotions, energy and excitement! 

I love this color combo of the blue agave and purple heart. 

 Or this colorful Croton in the yellow pot, with the variegated ivy.   The backdrop is cast iron plant, ferns and silver dragon liriope.

And here's a peek through some beautiful red bougainvillaea and my succulents in colorful pots.  

Color everywhere! 

Regrowing food

Did you know that there are tons of foods out there that can be replanted and regrown after you use them? A perfect example of this is green onions. You don't have to go out and buy a bunch of green onions from the store every time a recipe calls for them! Once you cut the base with the roots off the green onions, instead of throwing them away, put them in a little cup of water or plant them in some soil.

You'll be amazed at how quickly they start to regrow and you can just trim off some anytime you want! The picture above is a comparison of just one week of growth, can you believe it?!

Hey You - look at me!

On one of my recent visits to the Red Barn Nursery, with Ally of Garden Ally, I saw this so cute and sweet small shrub.  It had these tiny pink flowers and called out to me - 'hey you - look at me!  You want one of me in your landscaping, don't you!'

What can I say - but of course!   I could NOT resist this little cutie.  It's a dwarf New Zealand Tea tree.  It's native to New Zealand and Australia - and is named 'tea tree' because it's tiny leaves are often dried and used to make tea. 

 

Oh, that's Maggie in the background - my female alpha corgi. 

 

I just LOVE those pink blooms! 

 

Not sure I'll be making tea anytime soon - but I just LOVE those cute, small and pink flowers. The bottom branches look a bit scraggly. I'll give it some time and then maybe prune those back to give it a better shape.

One footnote - it's only hardy in zones 9-11. I'll have to make sure and provide extra cover on cold nights - but... for now, I think we're done with cold temps.

Isn't it a cutie!!!!





Inspiration!

I just read through this month's Garden Designers Roundtable and wow - talk about inspiration! I especially connected with Jenny Peterson's blog post because I also go to public gardens, read blogs and follow along with other garden bloggers here in Austin.

My biggest inspiration comes from color. I love color. If you've been to my house, you know all about my fascination with color. Anyway, here's some colorful pics I took this morning - even in January - that show the colors that are in my garden now.

How's about that red Heavenly Bamboo and Purple heart? 

  More purple heart and Sticks on fire (More on sticks on fire)! 

And a variety of succulents with green, red, blue and varigation!  

Love color.    Can't wait for just a few more weeks so I can start adding even more color through the garden.

New happenings in my garden

Remember my Japanese Maple Trees I bought from a nursery in OK. Here they are today - looking very nice with pretty red leaves. They're still in big pots as I'm still working on their exact placement in my yard. I want to be sure the shady area I've picked really is shady once we get into the heat of the summer.

This one is the 'Acer disectum (laceleaf) weeping Crimson Queen'. Love the lace leaves.

This one is 'Acer palmatum Emperor I.'

Do you hate weeds?  I hate weeds.  This is the pile of weeds I pulled yesterday. My yard is so full of weeds - I'm sure I should receive some sort of award on how many weeds can be pulled in one afternoon - and let me tell you - my ham strings are really sore this morning!   

Last fall, I planted some herbs in the garden - just for fun.  Wanted to see how they did.  This is spearmint - and it's really taken off.  Looks a bit invasive  - but I won't hold that against it. 

 

Those are just a few things happening in my garden these days.  Looking forward to nice warm sunny days this week. 

 

Color - lots and lots of color!

I found this book at Home Depot on one of my visits last Fall, and couldn't help but buy it because I just LOVE the idea of Veggies and annuals - and all of the color! I'm really in to color - if you saw my house - you'd know exactly what I'm talking about.

I enjoyed this book and refer to it alot. It's got a great cross reference in the back listing Veggies and annuals that worked the best - the ones that didn't work so well - and of course those that just wouldn't work at all.

I've started some seedlings inside for things that I know I can't get at one of the local nurseries or from the Master Gardeners - such as snap peas and purple peppers (remember, I said I liked color?) I can't wait to put lots of their suggestions to work.

This is the website you can buy the book from as well as other gardening trugs and trellises:
http://www.kinsmangarden.com/category/Pamela-Crawford-Planters
(Full disclosure - I nabbed that pic from their website).

I just love those trelisses with the cherry tomatoes and red peppers - also paired with other annuals. What a great idea - hope I can post pics of my trails later on this summer.

2012 - the year of the tree!

2012 is the year of the tree for my backyard (whoopsie, don't tell my HOA). I've purchased 2 trees from a local nursery and had 2 others shipped to me. All of them are about 3 to 4 feet tall.

The locally purchased trees are an ornamental Retama (I know, these guys are like weeds) and a Mimosa tree. The other two are Japanese Maples - ordered from a nursery in Oklahoma... and yes..... japanese maples are not native and adapted... but I'll work hard to keep them happy in my backyard.

The two japanese maples were delivered to me in these cool burlap bags. I purchased a 'Acer disectum (laceleaf) weeping Crimson Queen and 'Acer palmatum Emperor I.'

For now, I've potted all of the trees in large pots and will place them in their planned final spots just to make sure they're getting what they need - and not too much sun - before I put them in the ground.

I can't wait to post more pics as time goes on as each tree gets leaves and grows!

Sometimes, things just come together....

This past Sunday was a busy one for me......

Sometimes - things just have a way of coming together. Last year I needed my roof replaced, and the roofers killed the grass right near the house - in the corner of my front yard. Before the roofers came, the grass was up to the edge of the small patio in front of my front door. But ladders and guys walking on the grass, killed it. What's a gardener to do but dig it up and plant something!

I had some landscaping rock I bought from craigslist last year - so used it as the border. I knew that the varigated lirope did well during last summer's heat and this winter's freezes - so I bought a plat of it from Home depot. I also bought a plat of begonia's - even though they are really annuals, they take shade and bloom well in this area.

This is basically 'the cake'. I plan on getting lots more to plant as the 'icing on the cake'. I'm thinking of more color - maybe heucheras and coleus. It's fully shaded, so will have to consider that when picking out plants. Also, I need some sort of a focal point - that will come over time.

My other endeavour on that beautiful Sunday was to 'finish' my greenhouse. I had purchased a used 6'x8' greenhouse - glass with aluminum frame - from craigslist last fall. I worked on getting the glass installed as time allowed - and Viola! There it is. My Greenhouse!

Sunday I spent the day collecting and hauling pea gravel available for free to my subdivision from the hoa play ground that is being redone. I also put in more of the glass panes. I was putting in the LAST piece of glass in the roof and must have given the glass a bit of 'torque' - it broke right in my hands.... so I still need to get one more piece of glass and install it - then I will truly be in business!

I'm hoping that this weekend I can be as productive!

February 23, 2010 - Snowday in Austin!

Pic says it all! It snowed here in Austin - very large flakes - it was beautiful to watch.

I love surprises!

I'm not sure the name of this little gem, but I bought it recently from Great Outdoors when I was putting together plants for the japanese style garden. It's colors and leaf shapes went well with the other plants I had picked. It surprised me with blooms and growth during the winter.





























I've not figured out where to put this flowering shrub.... but it surprised me with a bloom! This gardener's bad habit - buy something, don't know where to put it, keep it sitting in the garden in the pot....... finally figure out it's perfect place and plant it. This little shrub has been in a pot for too long to admit to....































Ok, so not such a good pic - but this varigated bamboo has new growth coming up. Very deep colors - love it.

As a fairly new blogger, I'm experimenting with pictures and text placement.... not sure about my choices for today's post!

Oh, what's a gardener to do....

Oh, what's a gardener to do..... after the freezes in Austin. Post pics of rocks !!!!

I added rocks, ornamental grasses and tree stumps around my water feature last fall.

These Rocks I harvested from the cemetery on Hancock near Mopac - free for the taking.

A pic of my greenhouse - purchased off of Craigslist... still have 5 panes of glass to replace, cover the foundation with bricks that match my house, build benches - and let the planting begin!

The buddha lady in my japanese-garden-in-progress - still looking good! :)

Promises to a bougainvillea!

As I went on my stroll through my backyard this morning, I grabbed the camera, but thought to myself that I really didn't have anything to talk about or take a picture of...... wow was I wrong!

This past holiday weekend was very busy for me in the garden. Saturday I made it out to the Zilker Gardens for the Succulent show and sale. Saw lots of very interesting and colorful succulents and bought me a few to neatly arrange in a container. I've been reading the book that Pam at Digging reviewed on Succulents - it's given me lots of ideas.

Sunday morning garden time was time spent maintaining, planting some miscellaneous this and thats, moving a few things that just weren't in the right place. I planted the bamboo that I bought at the bamboo festival a couple weeks ago. It's very small now - but it will grow fast. I've got 4 Golden Goddess Bamboo plants planted along my fence - hoping that real soon it will soften the fence line and add interest.

And finally, on my trek through Home Depot, I bought a beautiful bougainvillea. I admit that I've NEVER been able to keep a bougainvillea alive..... I'm very very committed to really making this one a go! I'll keep my blog updated with my promise to the bougainvillea!

Signs of recovery

Every morning this week, I've noticed all of the plants looking much healthier, happier, not stressed so much. It's been wonderful. I can't wait for those days when I can spend a couple of hours in the garden, some time working - some time sitting on the patio, under the pergola, with a tasty drink - paper umbrella included!
One happy little Morning Glory.

Morning blooms: Abutilon and Pink Skullcap.

I have bamboo on my mind!

I visited the Bamboo Society festival recently at Zilker Gardens and bought some really nice looking bamboo. Pictured on the leftr is some running Bamboo, varigated and it gets about 2-2.5 feet tall. I'll keep it in a pot in a japanese style garden I'm creating. It's all ready to be separated into two pots. The other is 'Golden Goddess'. I'll plant this in front of part of the many miles of wooden fence I'm trying to cover up!

Friday morning specials

I found this passion flower being friendly to the turk's cap. This particular passion flower vine is compliments of a bird or something as I didn't plant that particular variety, although do have a different passion flower vine in another spot in the yard.



The water lilly had 3 blooms this morning! I've got plans to put in a larger raised water lilly garden...... but that's not for this weekend or the next!


The red tipped hibiscus is perky and dark purple/red as ever. I gave it a good watering last night.

Note to self: figure out how to post pics and text using blogger.....