tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364454087208052162012-01-21T05:46:49.795-06:00ROCK ROSELots of rocks and a few rosesLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.comBlogger4951100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-39595003706525379452011-12-22T13:50:00.001-06:002011-12-22T13:51:23.749-06:00MERRY CHRISTMAS GARDEN BLOGGERS EVERYWHERELancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-46268052952284887832011-12-19T20:22:00.000-06:002011-12-19T20:22:49.378-06:00MY FAVORITE FLOWER OF THE YEAR
I have decided to name the Blue gilia, Gilia rigidula, flower of the year. Any flower that blooms multiple times during the year, can weather the infernal heat of this past summer, no water for months on end, tolerate a soil with little but eroded limestone and then after a gloomy December week of rain, drizzle and fog put forth some new buds deserves all the accolades I can give it. I'm not Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-66858999327684298292011-12-17T07:21:00.001-06:002011-12-17T08:59:49.002-06:00NOT SO PRETTY A PICTUREEveryone likes to see pretty pictures of life in the garden, but that is not a real gardening life. Sometimes things aren't quite so pretty.
I shouldn't have grumbled so much about the mockingbird sitting on my patio and pooping on the floor. At least that was easy to clean up. He has now taken up his winter residence in the Spanish bayonet and several times a day he sits on the tips of the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-85142183809917816382011-12-14T21:41:00.001-06:002011-12-14T21:42:21.227-06:00" O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREEThy leaves are so unchanging" So goes the old German Christmas carol.
The carol seems quite fitting as my little Christmas tree is a German goose feather tree. Standing only 18" tall it was given to me for my first Christmas. You can imagine that it has great sentimental value and was one of the things I brought back from England 3 years ago after my mother passed away.
We were back in Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-26124761189672915292011-12-09T11:09:00.000-06:002011-12-09T11:09:43.881-06:00DECKS THE HALLSDeck the halls with boughs of holly, tra la la la la, la la, la, la. 'Tis the season to be jolly, tra la la la la , la la la, la.
Bring your garden into the house to celebrate the festive season. Make it an all natural Christmas celebration. Go out into the garden and pick holly or other evergreens, tie together and fasten on a raffia bow. What could be more simple.
Gathering greenery from theLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-44328455749788694112011-12-06T19:24:00.000-06:002011-12-06T19:24:33.557-06:00PICKING HERBS IN THE POTAGERLast evening I went out to pick herbs from the potager. I love my newly named vegetable garden and the herbs that are growing so well now that cooler temperature are here. I suppose now that I have given the garden a little French flair I should call them 'erbs, but the fact is herbs they are and herbs they will always be. Sorry Julia!
I picked chives, parsley, thyme and oregano to but in the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-12060324445147572342011-12-04T19:26:00.003-06:002011-12-05T16:19:32.842-06:00I'M BUSY NESTINGThat is what my father called it when my mother got busy around the house and in the kitchen, and that is what you do when it rains endlessly for 3 days.
I don't think I have spent so much time indoors in years. I did manage to get outside for a short period of time yesterday when the rain and drizzle held up for a few minutes. I transplanted some Napa cabbage seedlings. I should have a great Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-55750115356348203282011-12-03T06:11:00.003-06:002011-12-03T06:15:51.546-06:00$$$$$$$If you don't live in the southwest then you may be wondering what ghastly thing I have done to my finger. If you do live here then you will probably know I've been poking around in the prickly pear cactus. Carefully, I might add.
A prickly pear cactus has established itself under the red oak above the house and a few days ago I noticed a colony of Dactylopius coccus has taken up residence on Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-39899736631566444542011-12-01T14:57:00.003-06:002011-12-01T16:10:03.035-06:00DID YOU OPEN A DOOR TODAY?I did. It is the first day of Advent in the Christian calendar. A time of expectation and waiting. This year I sent my grandchildren an Advent calendar without chocolates.
I even have one on my own computer and today the first door I opened was on Big Ben. On the hour Big Ben chimes according to your computer clock. It gave me quite a shock the first time it happened. This London scene is a Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-10490523758261096682011-11-30T13:46:00.001-06:002011-11-30T16:18:50.407-06:00MORE PREPARATIONS FOR WINTERWe had our third freeze of the winter earlier this week. It came with a howling cold wind. As the wind blew it froze the water on the bird bath into a raised solid lump of ice on the right hand side.
With little moisture in the air there was just a light dusting on the plants.
It was enough the kill off more flowering annuals. Those that had survived the last frost, being in a more favored Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-51579022824631616832011-11-27T17:05:00.001-06:002011-11-27T21:10:42.253-06:00THE CHILDREN ARE NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS...Tonight we will have a hard freeze. No more mucking about with covers.
Except, that is, for the large A. desmettiana in the raised bed by the side entry. I am seriously hoping that it will make it through the night because if it does my plan will be to remove it for the winter. I do this with all the smaller desmets. because they will not survive a winter in this part of town. Small ones are Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-5198105628097184852011-11-25T11:57:00.000-06:002011-11-25T11:57:10.137-06:00THE LEMON COUNTDo you count things in the garden? I do, and today was the day to count the lemons.
I have four lemon trees, all in pots. They are improved Meyer lemons and I can tell you that you will never want to buy a grocery store lemon ever again once you have tasted the Meyer. Thin skinned and wonderfully fragrant, no bitterness.
They spend the frost free months against the house on a south facing wallLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-27782736279259764562011-11-23T15:42:00.000-06:002011-11-23T15:42:05.964-06:00HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2011On this Thanksgiving Day I am thankful for my gardening friends whom I have met throughout the years, my recent garden blogging friends near and afar and all those who have visited my garden blog.
HAPPY THANKSGIVINGLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-49952438219088311092011-11-22T06:29:00.001-06:002011-11-22T06:32:13.868-06:00I'M GOING ALL FANCYI have decided to rename my kitchen garden. I'm going to call it the potager.
Surely this French word for kitchen garden has to have been derived from potage, meaning soup. Lots of things for the pot in my garden and also quite a potage of other things too.
As summer turns to fall there is much work to do to prepare for the winter potager. We have an excellent winter growing season here in Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-46718805317738066972011-11-21T09:00:00.000-06:002011-11-21T09:00:42.351-06:00FIRST OF THE WINTER CROPSPicked the first of the new winter crops last evening. Baby Pak Choi.
I also picked the first new parsley, chives and cilantro. Had to rustle together a quick meal after our drive back from Dallas. A ham, cheese and herb omelet to go with the garlic, sauteed pak choi.
Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-24243169105301477662011-11-19T16:29:00.000-06:002011-11-19T16:29:11.126-06:00THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN....... she didn't live in a shoe ..... but she had so many seedlings she didn't know what to do.
Just look at this lot. There are blackfoot daisies, dahlberg daisies, blanket flowers and purple skullcaps. In the sunken garden the recent rain brought forth a 'spectacle' of seedlings. That's my new collective noun for describing what would happen if I allowed all these to flower. One year I had Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-30265527234854429772011-11-17T06:37:00.000-06:002011-11-17T06:37:30.790-06:00BE CAREFUL WHO YOU BRING INSIDE FOR THE WINTERThere are always a few lucky plants who get to spend the winter inside the house. Partly because the extra greenery is nice to have inside and partly because both potting shed and greenhouse will be full up again this year. Most of the ones which come inside will not require any water over the winter. If we are away for a period of time then plants which require more water will go in the potting Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-22616865411939207392011-11-16T06:58:00.000-06:002011-11-16T06:58:02.484-06:00A GOOD IDEA GONE WRONGSometimes a landscaper doesn't quite get it right. I came across this landscaping in a commercial area just south of the river. Compare this with this mornings foliage follow up by Pam, Digging.
Striking columnar planters and in the right setting they would be an eye catcher but what went wrong here? I see they have placed a spotlight on the feature, planted it with agaves and then walked away Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-69026382676545199692011-11-15T06:24:00.003-06:002011-11-15T06:38:23.205-06:00GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY NOVEMBER 2011, A SEASONAL LOOKHappy Bloom Day, everyone. Please join Carol of Maydreams Gardens in celebration of November Bloom Day.
Nothing really new blooming in my garden this middle of November, but something interesting. At first glance it may look a little like the Holly and the Ivy, but in fact it is the pyracantha and the chile pequin.
This variegated chile pequin showed up this year and I really like it. Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-49852911627883670402011-11-14T06:19:00.001-06:002011-11-14T06:20:50.420-06:00KITCHEN ENTERTAINMENTSo here I am after a full day outside. Walked 5 miles, worked outside until I was dropping, showered then set to work on the pomegranates.
I need a little entertainment while I work and today it was listening to an episode of Gardners' Question Time on BBC Radio 4. I can't begin to tell you how much I learn listening to this show.
Recently I learnt that all those nitrogen fixing nodules on Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-84437732625623172702011-11-12T16:16:00.000-06:002011-11-12T16:16:57.948-06:00JUST WHEN YOU THINK IT WILL LAST FOREVERJust when you think it will last forever summer is over in a flash. Jack Frost pays your garden a visit and takes away with him much of your lingering color.
We have had two freezes in the last two weeks. The first one dipped into the 20s. It was just for a few hours but what a difference those few hours made. Gone are the tithonia, gomphrena, most of the zinnias. The garden is taking on her Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-19161823927469941142011-11-11T00:00:00.004-06:002011-11-11T00:00:03.626-06:0011/11/11/11I will always think of this day in November as Remembrance Day and hear the sounds of Elgar's Nimrod echoing in my ears from having watched the services and poppy wreath laying at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, when I was young.
Originally this day was called Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of fighting in WW I and the armistice signed on November 11th 1918. After the end of WW II it Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-12840500091646017792011-11-08T09:13:00.000-06:002011-11-08T09:13:40.647-06:00THIS YEAR I'M GIVING THEM WHISKYI think I have found a use for the bottle of whisky that has been languishing on the shelf for the last ten years. Here's the scoop.
Are you always disappointed in how your paperwhites produce long leggy leaves and blooms, which eventually topple over? Someone has found the answer and I just learnt about it.
Give them a tot of alcohol and it will stunt their growth without diminishing the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-70544543841449661402011-11-06T18:38:00.000-06:002011-11-06T18:38:16.164-06:00THOSE WALLSAll who come to visit our garden are impressed by the walls that surround our house. They really are the result of an architect who listened to his client.
Let me quote here something I read recently. In 1220 King Henry III gave these instructions to his bailiff.
'to make round about the garden of our queen two walls, good and high, so that no one may be able to enter, with a becoming and Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-73430575474865719102011-11-05T08:13:00.000-05:002011-11-05T08:13:13.537-05:00WHO WILL BUY MY BEAUTIFUL POMEGRANATES?Yesterday I picked the remaining pomegranates from the tree.
Yesterday the pomegranates were on sale at the grocery store! You really do have to wonder why so expensive when the trees are so prolific, easy to grow, and demand nothing in the way of fertilizer and water.
You don't even have to do the work of removing the arils anymore. At Costco they sell tubs of those ruby red seeds, albeit Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-29509226349210157872011-11-04T06:08:00.000-05:002011-11-04T06:08:34.739-05:00GARDENERS, WEAR YOUR SUNGLASSES!No! This was not part of my Halloween costume.
It was the result of surgery that I underwent on Wednesday to remove a lesion from the conjunctiva of my eye. Sounds nasty. Not one of the best of life's experiences, but let me warn you. The sun probably did this. All those hours of gardening outside, eyes unprotected. How come when I hike and I am at the beach I always wear sunglasses. But I go Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-14073390692193099742011-11-03T06:22:00.000-05:002011-11-03T06:22:20.231-05:00TONIGHT'S THE NIGHTOn Sunday I cleaned out the greenhouse. The winter home for my more tender plants.
It seems it was perfectly timed. A cold front is moving through Austin as I write. The wind is banging on the gates, lashing at the trees and making me nervous about a promised frost, for the hill country, tonight. We live on the Edwards Plateau, above Austin, and with the temperature likely to dip to 38 in townLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-84386631725046384762011-11-02T09:11:00.000-05:002011-11-02T09:11:32.554-05:00FRUITS, NUTS AND SPICESIt would be a little difficult for you to ascertain the size of this botanical object without anything alongside to give you some perspective. It is actually 5" long and if you were to shake it you might think it was a rattle. Any idea?
You won't find it growing in my Texas garden. In fact this pod fell or was picked off the tree some time in 1941. That was when my father, who was stationed in Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-56404264650540871922011-11-01T06:28:00.000-05:002011-11-01T06:28:59.293-05:00ONE MAN'S ASH TRAY IS ANOTHER MAN'S...........One morning I was out watering and water collected in a depression in one of our rocks. A little bird came to drink from the water. It wasn't at all shy about my presence.
We have multiple bird baths and a bubbling water feature but there is always room for more. Driving into the neighborhood on Friday I saw a sign to an estate sale. I pulled in to see if they had anything garden wise. Nothing Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-9618975329152767772011-10-30T06:15:00.000-05:002011-10-30T06:15:07.499-05:00A VARIED DIETI caught the mocking bird flying out of the pyracantha today. He likes a varied diet.
Having eaten all the American Beautyberry berries he now has lantana as an appetizer, pokeweed as a main course with a side of chile pequin and pyracantha for dessert.
I'm certainly glad he hasn't stumbled on the pomegranates. They have all taken on this ruby red appearance, standing out like beacons. The Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-40912324066166737672011-10-28T07:21:00.000-05:002011-10-28T07:21:46.711-05:00THEIR TIME HAS FINALLY COMESome plants want to be in the spotlight when summer blooms start to fade and days become cooler. This grass is fast becoming a favorite. For one thing, I don't have to do anything. It just shows up. Then it is easy once the seed heads have faded. They either blow away or you can run your hand over them and pull them off. Pink crystals Melinis nerviglumis stays green all summer with a minimum or Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-83513625339552215532011-10-27T06:21:00.000-05:002011-10-27T06:21:19.646-05:00WE HAVE A WINNER!
Congratulations to Linda at Patchwork Gardens, the winner of the gift certificate generously donated by Shoal Creek Nursery as part of The Support Local Nurseries campaign. Please contact me with your full name and contact information at gardenermum2006@yahoo.com so I can be in touch with Shoal Creek. You must claim your certificate, in person, within 2 weeks. If unable to do so please let meLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-33846229960239983622011-10-26T06:44:00.002-05:002011-10-26T09:53:28.494-05:00A VISIT TO VIVERO GROWERSYesterday, three garden blogging friends and I met for lunch, at Jack Allen's, and then drove out to visit Vivero Gardens. It was my second visit, the first being earlier this year, and the nursery stock was looking just as wonderful as ever.
This visit was prompted by Support Your Independent Nursery month, the brain wave of gardening friend and blogger Pam Penick, Digging,Check out her webpageLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-13515227830875427072011-10-25T07:53:00.001-05:002011-10-25T07:54:52.858-05:00THIS IS MY GARDEN!
I don't mind sharing my garden, why can't he?
The mockingbird was just going crazy with this mirror yesterday. For an more than an hour he had an altercation with himself in the front garden. In the end I had to cover over the mirror with plastic bags. He was so bent on this other mockingbird in his territory that he let me get within 3 feet of him to capture his antics. Later on I caught him Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-62940546749652728372011-10-23T19:16:00.001-05:002011-10-23T19:19:18.976-05:00AM I CRAZY OR WHAT?
Today, after our walk, we went to Whole Foods for our usual taco breakfast/lunch. In the fish department, what did I see but a poor ladybug. Poor thing probably came in with the flowers. It's going home with me. What to put it in? Ah! I have the two paper plates (clean) and the 3 lidded salsa cups and a fork and spoon that I am carrying in a bag, from our lunch ( recycler extraordinaire). I Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-4177910287000300002011-10-22T19:06:00.001-05:002011-10-22T19:07:20.036-05:00ANOTHER PROJECT FINISHED!This was the first of two bee houses David made to order last year. The first and smaller one, I completed and wrote about last fall. I cut and filled the A frame with the cardboard tubes from trouser coat hangers ( the easy bit). They worked well and the apartments were quickly filled.
Here is the original one today. Insects have left their nest, as shown by the holes in the mud sealed Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-75244957009251280652011-10-20T16:14:00.004-05:002011-10-20T16:23:35.345-05:00MAKING MY OWN POTS!If you follow my blog then you know that concrete work is no stranger in this garden. When we first began work on the garden we had to do a few small retaining walls. It was our first dabble into the land of masonry block, mortar and stucco. We bought a cement mixer. Then the real projects began.
"I can't find any pavers that I really like," I told David. "Maybe we could make some" ( By we I Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-33336557572597688542011-10-18T20:41:00.000-05:002011-10-18T20:41:27.998-05:00TEXAS NATIVE PLANT WEEK OCT. 16th. -22nd. WHAT TO GROW.What better time to celebrate Native Plant Week in Texas. Now is the time gardeners are thinking about replacing and adding plants to their fall garden. After such a devastating hot, dry summer natives rule the roost.
Each day 5 natives plants and trees have been chosen and today my namesake rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, is one of the chosen. I think the original plant in my garden came from Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-57554569808389520222011-10-16T08:48:00.017-05:002011-10-20T15:40:13.794-05:00AUSTIN NURSERIES GIVEAWAY: SHOAL CREEK NURSERYEach Wednesday, throughout the month of October, and as part of Support Your Independent Nursery Month, Austin garden bloggers are featuring local nurseries, with an aim to encouraging gardeners to shop local. I am sure we would all be very sad to lose any one of our independent nurseries and with the current, tough economic times this is a reality that we might face....unless we do our part. We Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-7526001940322131402011-10-15T05:00:00.005-05:002011-10-15T15:11:00.912-05:00GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY OCTOBER 2011After suffering the worst heat and drought this summer the garden was finally blessed this last week with 2" of rain and a moderation in temperatures. Suddenly everything has revived just in time for bloom day.
Please join Carol of Maydreams, our host for bloom day, and other gardeners around the world, in sharing with everyone the flowers in your garden this October bloom day.
The soft leaf Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-90680410046090261102011-10-14T09:28:00.002-05:002011-10-14T20:02:26.176-05:00CONCRETE GARDEN PRODUCTS, ENTER TO WINIt's that time of year when we start thinking about garden projects for next year. If you are like me you may have thought about making your own planters from concrete or hypertufa. In my files I have several articles on 'how to' clipped over the years. Thought but not done, until recently(more about that project coming up).
The publishers of Concrete Garden Projects are offering you the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-51445897731688617512011-10-11T20:32:00.000-05:002011-10-11T20:32:00.634-05:00THE NATURAL GARDENER, MY LOCAL NURSERYOctober has been declared 'Support your Independent Nursery Month' by my friend and fellow gardener, Pam Penick, Digging. Each Wednesday we write about one of our local nurseries. Check Pam's blog for other gardeners joining this cause.
I am fortunate to have one of the best nurseries in Austin right on my doorstep. The Natural Gardener.
Come take a look around with me and I'll show you why.Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-54693845522663857112011-10-09T10:00:00.000-05:002011-10-09T10:00:45.484-05:00RAIN DROPS ON YUCCAS
There is not a gardener in central Texas who is not celebrating the arrival of the first rainfall in months. 2" fell in my garden in the last 24 hours. My plants are happy, the soil is happy I am ecstatic. Never mind that we had to cancel our Sunday walk around Lady Bird Lake.
Last night I pulled all the succulents out in the hope that we would get that promised rain.
The baby kalanchoes Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-82216136303871928252011-10-07T06:36:00.001-05:002011-10-07T08:25:29.858-05:00GARDEN GOINGS ONThis is the first preying mantis I have seen this year and boy was she/he doing a dance. Wouldn't keep still jigging back and forward. I decided she was doing a rain dance because she was heading towards the sprinkler on the vegetable bed. Even the mantis is excited about our 40% chance of rain this weekend.
Then as I walked along the path and, what I can only assume was, a male monarch, Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-45779394003285165752011-10-05T08:55:00.000-05:002011-10-05T08:55:33.591-05:00A TOUCH OF COLOR I am not one to use a lot of colorful accents in the garden. I like to leave the color to mother nature. Most of my plant pots are clay and garden furniture brown. However, I am not one to pass up a good deal and when the cushions went on sale at Garden Ridge I decided it was time to dress up the furniture.
This is a favorite spot of ours to sit and have tea on a winter's afternoon. It catchesLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-55236036253162056962011-10-01T14:11:00.000-05:002011-10-01T14:11:22.938-05:00SHOOTING FOR THE STARSThe other day I was out doing my usual early morning inspection when I noticed this. A flower forming on my soft leaf yucca, Yucca recurvifolia.
I'll swear that flower stalk was not there yesterday. Surely I would have noticed it.
But then again, just like the flower stalk on the agave this flower grows at an enormous rate. The good news is that the plant will not die.
These photographs Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-91686733031371611802011-09-28T15:06:00.001-05:002011-09-28T16:51:52.757-05:00NATIVES YOU SAY, I WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT THEMToday has been designated Wildflower Wednesday by Gail at Clay and Limestone, and I was more than ready to hop on the band wagon. Here are the plants that are blooming in my Texas garden on Wildflower Wednesday.
Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum.
Four nerve daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa
Lindheimer senna,
Cross vine, Bignonia capreolata.
Zexmenia, Wedelia texana.
Chocolate daisy, Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-90023854127469028932011-09-27T07:19:00.000-05:002011-09-27T07:19:12.774-05:00THANKS FOR THE DRINKI haven't seen deer around the house for ages. Then the other day two males visited the water butt for a drink.
It prompted me to set up the infra red camera to see if anyone else was visiting.
The deer come around several times a day and the camera captured a pecking order among them. A young male was on his way over to the water when he veered away. In comes a larger male with a bigger rackLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-4878155812013051912011-09-26T06:30:00.001-05:002011-09-26T11:03:11.801-05:00ANOTHER ROUND OF SUMMERThe garden has been fooled into thinking it is fall. Color began returning to my plants when we began to experience a cooling in evenings and mornings.
Gomphrena never seem to mind the hot days, continuing to bloom through even the most miserably hot of days. I have been pruning them back, especially these new firecrackers. Unlike the globe amaranth they tend to elongate with age and shed the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-12166423066678940852011-09-25T18:08:00.000-05:002011-09-25T18:08:54.531-05:00A NEW HOMEI thought it time for my indoor succulent to have a new home. It was a rescue plant from a Lowes store in Florida some years ago. They were just selling off all their succulents and I happened to be there. I think this is the only one that has survived. It has grown quite a bit but I still don't have an id on what it is. Anyone know?
I saw this pot at Garden Ridge for $4.99. It comes with its Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-76027566007219096992011-09-25T06:55:00.000-05:002011-09-25T06:55:34.701-05:00THE CUPBOARD IN THE CORNERI'm one of those people who has difficulty throwing away gardening magazines. I have great piles of them. From time to time I do go through them and cut out pages of interest. I took a huge pile of old Sunset magazines with me this summer and while on the road went through them cutting out anything of relevance to gardening design. When I have to find a place to put the clippings I open the doorsLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-16643960018312521742011-09-24T06:43:00.000-05:002011-09-24T06:43:44.645-05:00RETURN VISIT TO DENVER BOTANIC GARDENSOn our way to Seattle this summer we pulled into Cherry Creek State Park for the weekend. We wanted to pay a return visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens. This has to be one of the most beautiful gardens in the country-and very well funded, as you will see later.
You can imagine that the gardens were quite busy on a summer Saturday. In fact a wedding was about to take place in my favorite garden Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-67220130297777171692011-09-22T09:36:00.000-05:002011-09-22T09:36:12.396-05:00WHEN IS FISHING NOT FISHING?When it's catching.
After all his hard work lugging rocks up the hill, it was time for some fishing R&R for my husband. An incredible day of catch and release fly fishing netted this 17" trout along with ten more between 12"and 15" Fishing was non existent this summer due to late snows and late spring run off. All the rivers we visited were running way too fast for fishing. Now they are just Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-89672753894199669942011-09-21T17:14:00.001-05:002011-09-21T22:02:04.390-05:00IT'S TIME TO START THINKING HARDY ANNUALSThere are lots of opportunities for spring blooming here in Texas. I am talking about that group of plants called the hardy annuals. Those seeds that you can sow in the fall, winter over and bloom early in the year before the heat sets in. The list is long.
I have already done some of my seed shopping. I took advantage of a 25% discount on the new seed selections for 2012 at my local nursery. Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-55610237729505000622011-09-20T06:30:00.002-05:002011-09-20T06:38:09.780-05:00DID I SAY I DIDN'T LIKE REDI should have added that my mind can easily be changed.
This is the second year for the red spider lily, Lycoris radiata, to bloom and once again it took me by surprise. It is one of the few plants to have made it through the summer in the raised bed in the English garden. There were only two last year and the same this year. I must look for more because I think they would look better if they Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-87431686796413673772011-09-19T07:14:00.000-05:002011-09-19T07:14:07.087-05:00THE SAD TALE OF THE POMEGRANATE TREESomeone has been having a feast on my pomegranates.
These fruits are sitting right on the wall, which makes for a great platform for working away at the tough leathery skin on the pomegranate fruit.
You can see what it takes to get in there. The Romans used to tan the fruit skins and use them for leather projects.
Now for the bad news. For a couple of years the tree has been in a decline. ILancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-85868039457148444752011-09-17T22:19:00.007-05:002011-09-17T22:41:31.823-05:00THE ULTIMATE DRY CREEK LANDSCAPEWith thoughts of dry creeks and xeriscape gardening on my mind, let me take you on a trip to the real desert. In January, two years ago, on our way back from California we stopped in at a campsite in Palm Springs for two days. Trust me to hunt out some gardens for us to visit.This one, at the Palm Desert Visitor Center is one of the most gorgeous desert landscapes I have ever seen. The gardens Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-51366866316151620502011-09-16T18:09:00.012-05:002011-09-16T19:14:59.217-05:00WHEN IN DOUBT, ADD MORE ROCKThis morning I went to the stone yard. It was the final step in the completion of a project I started on Labor Day.This summer I lost the two Japanese aralia in the front courtyard garden. They were growing against the wall in a long neglected area. I have never been happy with this part of the garden. It is mostly hidden from view except when I walk down the hallway to the bedroom. I always Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-82281108807731358982011-09-15T06:00:00.002-05:002011-09-15T07:49:04.045-05:00GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY,SEPTEMBER 2011This may be the most difficult bloom day posting I have done. Not because I have nothing blooming in my garden. I do. I am thinking of those people who have lost their gardens and their homes this last month in the Texas fires.So, I begin with the natives because they will be the survivors through all this. I know from experience about controlled burns at the Wildflower Center that new plants Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-47900484437777772102011-09-12T14:49:00.005-05:002011-09-12T15:11:38.838-05:00COULDN'T WAIT FOR BLOOM DAY≈My Texas fishook cactus, Ferocactus hamatacanthus, sometimes called Texas barrel cactus, couldn't wait for bloom day. I noticed 2 of the 5 buds were getting larger each day. As soon as the sun reached the plant this morning they opened.I'm really amazed at how they manage to push their way through those curved 'fishook' spines. I don' think I have ever got close to this plant without being Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-70007715906327855622011-09-10T16:05:00.001-05:002011-09-10T16:07:34.869-05:00I LIKE SURPRISESWhen several Austin gardeners began mentioning the emergence of their Oxblood lilies I looked to see if any of mine were poking through the ground. Sure enough there were one inch shoots. Yesterday they were in full flower. The splash of red against the rocks took me by surprise. Boy do they grow quickly when they get going.The second surprise came this morning. Rain lilies between the pavers in Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-47391042896212081452011-09-07T06:48:00.004-05:002011-09-07T09:46:06.396-05:00MONARCHS ON THE MOVELast evening, as we ate our dinner outside, we were delighted by the antics of five or six monarch butterflies. It has been a summer with little signs of butterfly life. Now the cooler weather is bringing them out again.I waited patiently to get the perfect shot of one but I couldn't quite capture it with wings outstretched.But I enjoyed their acrobatics as they danced around their favorite Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-42989174573647400572011-09-04T13:33:00.004-05:002011-09-04T17:36:30.027-05:00THE INDESTRUCTIBLEYes, the indestructible Huernia schneideriane, red dragon flower. Left all summer in the shade on the front gate. Never a drop of water. Shriveled and forlorn two weeks ago. Miracle comeback after drinking its fill of water. This is one of the easiest plants a gardener could have. Very easy to propagate. (No-one should ever have to buy this plant.) Beautiful draping habit, perfect for a hanging Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-85511444830905594612011-09-03T13:46:00.000-05:002011-09-03T13:46:01.006-05:00AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!Here comes another garden tour. Can you believe how many I have been on this year? However, this one was not in England and not in Seattle. It was in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. On our way up to the Seattle Fling, avec trailer, we pulled into a friend's driveway for the night. We had skipped through Steamboat last year and never even gave it the time of day. Nice main street. Little did we know Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-14132694257620680992011-09-02T06:57:00.003-05:002011-09-02T07:05:01.292-05:00FIRST POM
Yesterday I picked the first pomegranate of the year. They always look ready at this time but are best left until late September when the flesh turns that gorgeous red. For now the seeds are pale although perfectly sweet and edible. We had them on our morning cereal. The heat and lack of rain means it won't be a abundant harvest this year as it was in 2009.Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-2285214512715982562011-09-01T17:34:00.005-05:002011-09-01T19:59:36.825-05:00DO YOU LIKE TREES?Do you like hearing secrets? Don't we all. You might be interested in learning a few secrets about trees. If so, then here is your chance to win a copy of this new book 'Seeing Trees' written by Nancy Ross Hugo with photographs by Robert Llewellyn.
Just go to the Timberpress site and sign up for a chance to win this book. The contest will run until September 9th. I haven't read the book myself Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-563941108078751432011-08-31T17:30:00.003-05:002011-09-01T08:16:50.508-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR DAY 17Our next stop, on the Sunday, was to pay a return visit to Snowshill. We had last visited in 2009. So many Americans visit the Cotswolds and enjoy the pretty villages with their thatched roofs. Few find their way to Snowshill. You don't even need to be a gardener to marvel at what the eccentric Charles Pagett Wade created at Snowshill. It's not just the garden but the contents of his house. It's Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-75163295613349983952011-08-31T08:38:00.003-05:002011-08-31T08:46:31.359-05:00WILL THEY EVER GO AWAY?Last fall David removed the two crape myrtle trees from the back level of the front courtyard garden.
Guess what? They are back, and there are more of them now that there were before. Every little piece of root that was left in the ground has sprouted a new tree creating quite a thicket. I fear they will not be going away any time soon. One bonus will be many seedling trees which I will attempt Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-86497671969743611942011-08-28T16:22:00.005-05:002011-08-28T17:32:41.748-05:00FRYIN' ALIVE AH HA, AH HA, FRYIN' ALIVE, FRYIN' ALIVE! , UH HU, UH HU, GARDEN'S BARELY STAYING ALIVE. ( To the music of Saturday Night Fever)
We are breaking more records today, 73 days over 100. The previous record was set yesterday! Looks like we will also at least match the previous record high set in September 2000. That was 112. Already the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-3255336711330977862011-08-28T09:50:00.000-05:002011-08-28T09:50:00.308-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR DAY 16We were to spend the weekend of June 4th with our friends. The last time we visited was in 2009 and I posted about their beautiful garden. It is still as beautiful today as it was then.
Friday June 3th 2011
Their greenhouse rivals any that I have ever been in and it is chock full of plants.
I think his cactus are happier to be in England than over here.
So many people in England have Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-49770358381976566482011-08-26T10:40:00.003-05:002011-08-26T12:30:15.862-05:00OUT FRONTMost of my efforts at restoring order in the garden have been concentrated on the sunken garden and the vegetable garden. Yesterday, early in the morning, I went out to do some work at the front.
The dry creek areas and the large expanse of decomposed granite were looking in pretty good shape. There is a drip line which runs along side the garage and the front wall. Nothing else gets watered Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-86227659007085587552011-08-23T16:31:00.009-05:002011-08-23T20:56:47.971-05:00THE BIG CLEAN UPEvery day since we got home I have been out in the garden for the only 2 hours it is possible; 7-9am. The sun just wakes up every morning, bless 'im, and that makes it impossible to stay out there any longer. Of course there are others out there with me. If you look closely you can spot 2 hummingbirds seriously annoyed with me because I was out there in their garden with their Texas sunflowers. Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-53709918702548288062011-08-22T06:26:00.018-05:002011-08-22T13:42:14.554-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR, DAY 15Arriving the previous night at our B&B on the Pembrokeshire coast, we were to learn the true meaning of being 'farmed out' It seems, despite our booking, because we were only staying for one night, we were to be 'farmed out' to a relative a couple of miles away. Although the accommodation was not really 'up to scratch' I have to say our hostess was delightful. She didn't mind at all the early Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-22378868665152876612011-08-21T12:21:00.004-05:002011-08-21T21:16:11.805-05:00PURGE THE SPURGE AND SCOOP THE POOPWhen David complained to me this morning that he couldn't walk down the path though the vegetable garden for wayward amaranth and pomegranate branches, I told him. 'First priority is to remove the weeds', namely spurge. They are the scourge of my garden, forming dense dinner plate sized mats along with the taller variety that turn into small trees. Then there is the purslane. One of my vegetable Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-88684951900385742992011-08-20T18:01:00.005-05:002011-08-20T18:16:37.894-05:00YOU KNOW YOU ARE BACK IN TEXAS WHEN.........a snake leaves its calling card outside your trailer door. I 'm sure it was just a harmless rat snake but, nevertheless, I made sure that all doors were shut at all times.
........you can enjoy the hospitality of small Texas Panhandle towns who welcome travelers by providing a place to pull in for the night with an electricity and water hook up. Thanks Lamesa. We enjoyed sitting out under theLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-35308595028464754202011-08-17T18:42:00.005-05:002011-08-17T18:50:46.345-05:00GETTING ACCLIMATIZEDIt's time for home and I am getting myself acclimatized. Today the temperature hit 100 degrees.
That's me underneath Delicate Arch, in Arches National Park. We took the 3 mile hike to the arch setting off early but not early enough! It did me in for the rest of the day. I'm just not used to this heat but the scenery sure is spectacular. I'd better get used to it, though.
Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-36808737024889113602011-08-16T19:18:00.001-05:002011-08-17T08:13:48.793-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR CONTINUES, DAY 14Fortified by the previous night's dinner of delicious Welsh lamb shanks, prepared by our hostess Eleri, and the morning's breakfast, which turned out to be just the same as the good old English breakfast, we headed off to visit Powis Castle. Little did we know that we were about to enter the yew hedge capital of the world. I would hazard a guess that you will find it in the Guinness Book of Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-47627554591138967942011-08-15T05:00:00.004-05:002011-08-15T08:01:13.677-05:00GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY,AUGUST 2011Wow! August Bloom Day! The summer is nearly over. Join with our hostess Carol, of Maydreams, and share your bloom day photos.
This is the third bloom day in a row I have missed in my own garden. I will be there for September though. On my way home after a wonderful trip to the NW, including the Garden Bloggers' Fling in Seattle. This where this little succulent came from. A wonderful visit to Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-9676263077421869002011-08-14T07:43:00.005-05:002011-08-14T07:55:41.943-05:00WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I?I'm hiking on the trail where flowers are blooming, but where? You might think I was in Texas with these pretty bluebonnets,
...But wait a minute, bluebonnets flower in Texas in the spring and this is August.
and I have never seen yellow bluebonnets in Texas, so I can't be in Texas.
But surely this has to be Yellowstone, with fumaroles and mud pots and stinky sulphurous air. But I am not in Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-39562889516966340632011-08-10T09:36:00.005-05:002011-08-10T10:04:58.197-05:00A DIFFERENT KIND OF GARDENLeaving Portland we drove towards the coast to continue our journey down the Oregon coast. As luck would have it we hit Cannon Beach at low tide.
This is Haystack rock and we were looking for the tufted puffin.
While David headed off with binoculars at the ready, I was more intent on looking at the tide pool life. Along with plenty of other visitors. I will say that rangers and volunteers were Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-74668775296157433842011-08-09T21:43:00.004-05:002011-08-09T22:08:09.223-05:00BOGGED DOWN WITH BLOGSHonestly! where to begin. I am barely through half of the garden visits I made in England this summer. I did manage to finish all my visits to the Seattle Fling, but since then there are a hundred more things I could be posting about and a hundred visits before that.
I did, however, think this rose was worthy of a blog all of its own. I saw it in the Portland Rose Garden at the weekend. I am not Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-17383403341101622122011-08-02T22:10:00.008-05:002011-08-02T23:03:17.119-05:00FINAL FLING, SEATTLE 2011The final day of our fling had arrived. We were to take the ferry over to Bainbridge Island for our final visits of the fling. Of course the weather decided to take a turn for the worse. Cloudy skies with rain. Not the perfect day for a ferry trip but as we were to find when we got to the Bloedel Reserve, a perfect day for understanding why the trees and ground were covered with moss.Today was Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-77109438649230712612011-07-28T12:22:00.013-05:002011-07-29T23:48:51.836-05:00SUNDAY AT THE SEATTLE FLINGSunday is farmer's market shopping day in Seattle. By that I mean the neighborhood market selling fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Our bus dropped us off and gave us time to wander around and check out all the produce.The word was out that there was a bakery close by that we must visit.Pam, Caroline, Diana and I joined the long line of locals eager to get inside the store and make our Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-34279730712352054402011-07-26T00:01:00.013-05:002011-07-26T12:21:22.973-05:00SEATTLE FLING DAY 2It is easy to get seriously behind in postings about the Seattle fling (not to mention my Great British Garden Trip). We have reached the end of the Fling and here I am on day 2 of the 4. We awoke on day 2 to glorious clear, sunny skies and cool air. No sooner off the bus than those cameras were out and clicking and we weren't even in the garden.THE EPPING GARDEN (Newcastle, Washington)Everyone Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-67974668610909678152011-07-24T08:04:00.009-05:002011-07-24T23:45:51.401-05:00SEATTLE FLING THE BIRRELL GARDENThe garden next door I would describe as more of a woodland garden. Shaded pathways wind their way between large Douglas fir trees. Everywhere there were places to sit and enjoy the surrounding plants, most of which I am not familiar.Or even relax on a hammock under these towering tees.The homeowners are keen vegetable gardeners and a large portion of their garden was given over to the growing ofLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-39579045081466454492011-07-23T09:17:00.010-05:002011-07-24T00:34:32.442-05:00THE SEATTLE FLING 2011Yesterday morning 75 garden bloggers, from all parts of the country and even as far away as England, met in the lobby of a Seattle hotel. I was one of them, embarking on my first 'Fling' thanks to the hard work of Debra Prinzing, Lorene Edwards Forkner, Maryann Newcomer and Marty Wingate.Two buses arrived at the door to transport us on a 4 day extravaganza of garden visits. The weather was set Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-55855161365813390162011-07-20T19:45:00.001-05:002011-07-20T19:47:46.836-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR DAY13Following the Bank holiday weekend, spent with friends and family, we continued southward again, first visiting Quarry Bank Mill. I was particularly interested to see a cotton mill as it was during the Industrial Revolution. Many of my ancestors worked in the mills. My GG Grandfather was an copper plate engraver for a Calico printing works. Others ancestors spent their days weaving and spinning Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-17426540642429470192011-07-17T07:00:00.002-05:002011-07-17T07:00:02.013-05:00DRY STONE WALLS AND WALL PLANTINGSI thought this notice rather amusing. It was on the back of the door, in the ladies toilet, at Montacute House.I don't actually think either of us need lessons in dry stone walling. This was David's retaining wall. He lumbered every one of those stones, uphill, from the far reaches of our lot.And the other one he built off the driveway, when I told him that the retama tree, which seeded itself inLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-12113678747858782342011-07-15T15:42:00.007-05:002011-07-15T16:01:13.691-05:00GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY JULY 2011I hate to miss bloom day in my own garden, although with the 100+ degree days Austin has experienced this spring and summer, I wonder what might be blooming right now. I am far away in a cool, cool place. The early morning temperature today was 40degrees. Bliss. This morning we hiked up to Baker lake, which is in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. How could I resist a photo of the arrowleaf balsam Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-25327365059189415992011-07-14T14:32:00.014-05:002011-07-14T16:05:41.102-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR DAY 10No point getting off too early in the morning. Most NT places do not open until 11am There is always time for that leisurely English breakfast. I have to admit I am starting to flag a little, opting for only a boiled egg some mornings. The dining room at Damson Cottage.Wow, cards from Prince Charles and Camilla.PACKWOOD HOUSEWe were on our way up north and we were to visit Packwood House on the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-68495458943979937232011-07-13T08:08:00.000-05:002011-07-13T08:09:23.808-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR DAY 9Damson Cottage, the B&B where we were to spend the next 2 nights was within walking distance of the village of Lacock. We headed off to the village to find the George Hotel, where our landlady had booked us a table for dinner.Just a few minutes away, through the kissing gate, and across the fields of grazing sheep. If you are a fan of British TV productions, then you would be familiar with the Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-36405157258546164842011-07-09T21:13:00.003-05:002011-07-09T21:24:19.589-05:00SKY BLUE FLAXThe other morning I was out in the sunken garden when I spotted flax, Linum lewisii, in bloom. The pretty sky blue flowers were peaking out from underneath my 'prize' Scutellaria wrightii.Not the perfect place for the plant to seed itself as the skull cap has increased it's diameter by at least another 12" this year. I am glad to see lots of small flax seedlings in other parts of the sunken Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-73743051684306288012011-07-08T06:04:00.000-05:002011-07-08T06:04:00.270-05:00SAVING GARDEN PRODUCEWhen we came home from our trip my basil plants were barely clinging to life. I cut them back and two weeks later they were full and bushy and ready to pick. This is one of my favorite varieties, Mrs Burns, lemon basil. It is perfect for making a lemony vegetarian pasta. A little lemon zest completes the lemon theme.I'm not fussy about which nuts I use; whatever is around, and this time it was Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-42653044063693809832011-07-06T07:00:00.001-05:002011-07-06T07:00:02.331-05:00LEUCOPHYLLUM STRUTS ITS STUFFWhen we came on our house hunting trip to Austin, in August, all the Texas sage were in bloom. 'I must have that' I said, and I do. We call it Texas sage, although it isn't a member of the sage family. Leucophllum frutescens also known as the barometer bush just put out a major flush of flowers following last weeks rain. It is gorgeous.It seeds itself sparingly, but these bushes are all from Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-36857745525399306912011-07-04T08:00:00.000-05:002011-07-04T08:00:17.537-05:00HAPPY JULY 4THRed white and blue. Happy birthday USA.Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-44122530153391055742011-06-30T09:38:00.019-05:002011-07-03T14:23:00.156-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR, DAY 8Barrington Court was on the first list of gardens to visit this morning. It is known for its Arts and Craft style gardens which were designed by Gertrude Jekyll. A Tudor house built in the 1500s, it was almost derelict when acquired by the trust in 1907. Whenever the National Trust met to discuss whether to undertake a renovation of an ancient house they said, 'Remember Barrington Court' The Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-42127730538440853792011-06-28T21:30:00.007-05:002011-06-28T22:01:41.121-05:00WHAT A GOOD RAIN BRINGSAlthough I am still thinking about all those glorious gardens we saw in England, I am spending plenty of time in my own garden, making reparation for all the weeks away. The rain last week really helped put new life back into the garden.One of the first plants to respond to the rain is the rain lily.And this spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuifolia, suddenly has bright red blooms again. It isn't in quiteLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-73315829109008201122011-06-27T20:20:00.007-05:002011-06-27T20:58:15.138-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR, DAY7Leaving Salisbury late in the afternoon we drove to Ilminster, in Somerset. I had booked us in at a B&B just outside of the town and on the edge of the village of Broadway. I had planned for us to visit several gardens in the area. The following morning, after another ample breakfast, we drove through the country lanes of Somerset to the the privately owned garden of the late Margery Fish in EastLancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-25453706358657730752011-06-23T05:56:00.011-05:002011-06-23T10:16:37.007-05:00THE GREAT ENGLISH GARDEN TOUR, DAY 6I had chosen the B&B in Romsey so that we could visit the gardens of Mottisfont close by.MOTTISFONT For more than 1000 years people have used this spring fed pool as a meeting place.It is believed that the origin of the name Mottisfont came from a combination of the word moot, meaning meeting place in Saxon times, and font. In 1201 an Augustinian Priory was built here and many pilgrims came to Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3636445408720805216.post-63366882804510251842011-06-21T17:17:00.001-05:002011-07-03T14:25:20.518-05:00THE GREAT BRITISH GARDEN TOUR, DAY 5Monday morning we left our B&B and headed out towards Hampshire on the A272. I had planned the trip with opening days in mind, as many places are closed on Mondays. Fortunately one of the gardens I was anxious to visit, Hinton Ampner, was open Monday. On the way we decided to visit another stately home, that of Petworth House. We were not particularly enamored by the tour of the house, save for Lancashire rosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00348711150803587369noreply@blogger.com10