HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE

If ever there was a freely seeding flower that I welcome with open arms in my garden it is that of  Love-in-a-mist, Nigella damascena. Who wouldn't be won over by such a lovely flower and if not that a charming name.

Since introducing this flower many years ago it has found its way into every one of my gardens and every nook and cranny. And it comes, not only in blue, but in many shades from white through pink to blue and purple. Don't even try to control which color grows in which place. It is always a surprise when the flower buds open.
I think it found a perfect home in among the stems of this clump of narcissus where its feathery foliage will hide the yellowing stems.

There are some places where there are only white ones but the predominant color is blue.

Here it is all about pink.

I love the ones that seed along the walls. It is a dry spot so they don't get very big.

And the strange this is that there can several colors of flower on the same plant.

I once heard one of the panel on Gardener's Question Time remark on how well this does in the rock garden. I agree. The poor dry soil means it grows only a few inches tall. Seen here with my artichoke agave, A. Parryi truncate.

And when flowering is over the seed heads also are a delight. Just make sure you capture this seeds before they find their way into every nook and cranny in your garden.

WHO IS ON THE STAGE THIS WEEK

The most dominant flowers of the last 4 weeks have been the bluebonnets, columbines and Indian paintbrush. They are now busy setting seed for next year while a whole new range of plants take over, primarily the yellows. Our roadsides are quite stunning with their yellow composites mixed in with blanket flowers.

My garden is not so shabby either.

Square bud primrose, Calylophus barlandieri, nestled in among rocks and gravel.

Engelmann's daisy, Engelmannia peristenia. I remember when I bought this at the Wildflower Center sale some years ago someone said they would be everywhere, and they are.

But so far, only in the from Courtyard garden where I pull those that are in the wrong places. I am hoping to get them to move outside the walls at the front. The question is always, will I be around at seed collection time.

Four nerve daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa,

Damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana.

Threadleaf coreopsis, Coreopsis verticillata, swaying around on two foot high thin stems.

And California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, a vigorous self seeder.

These are all native to Texas but there are a few more yellows enjoying the stage. The native Coreopsis tinctoria is a few weeks away from flowering but other tall and short coreopsis are flowering.

And the silver leaf gazania, Gazania tomentosa, perfectly at home in a bed of gravel.

And in the English Garden the many petaled, fragrant  Rosa 'Molineux' named by David Austin for the football stadium of his favorite soccer team, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

And finally the large yellow named bearded iris which is a favorite because blooms after my other iris have finished blooming.

Will the yellow flowers please take a bow.

HAPPY EASTER

                                         Wishing all my readers a Happy Easter 2019

HOW DOES YOUR CLEMATIS GROW?

I was watching a recent episode of Gardeners' World where they visited a gardener who holds the National Collection of clematis. Specifically Clematis texensis and Clematis viticella, the smaller flowered varieties. His belief is that it is unnatural to constrain these clematis on a trellis. Rather, that they should be allowed to twine into roses and other garden shrubs. I think I agree.

Clematis texensis 'Princess Diana'

Clematis versicolor Pale leather flower

It is not the easiest of tasks to get these two to climb a trellis. Twice this week I have caught two of mine heading into other plants, the first into a potted citrus and the second into an American beauty berry. Once they are twined it is difficult to get them untwined. I have used a secondary support in the form of bird netting to make it easier for the leaf petioles to twine and hold on but there are often stem wafting around in the air looking for........another plant to climb! It is too late for these two but a recent acquisition, with no trellis available, I decided to plant it beneath a climbing rose. This is not one of the smaller kind, but I am hoping its bloom cycle will fill in when the Zephirine drouihin rose finishes blooming. For now they are blooming together.

Clematis 'Brother Stefan'

Although Brother Stefan has a medium-sized flower, I think that the larger flowered varieties are better suited to a trellis. My Clematis jackmanii, Most certainly demands a good trellis to display her large flowers. I planted this one 3 years ago from a small bare root start. It is finally showing its stuff. Gorgeous blooms, some 6" across and many of them.

It seems I am starting my own little collection of Clematis. Will I be scouring the internet every night looking for new varieties like that clematis gardener in England? If I want more I may have to, as our local nurseries never seem to carry any. Or I may just start taking cuttings. I came across a tutorial on how to do this and I think now is about the right time.

I COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT HER

It is often said that mother nature is no gardener but today I will sing her praises as I share with you some of the things she gets right. Just look how she planted this mullein , Verbascum thapsus, in my English garden. It's as though she thought the expanses of gravel needed just a little dressing up. How about a few bluebonnets sprinkled here and there and a grass or two. Isn't that better?

And another fine specimen at the bottom of the vegetable garden steps. What is not to love about those beautiful sage-colored velvety leaves.

I will admit that she tries to have me grow more than I actually need and I am choosy. They must meet a certain criteria if they are to stay, like a  nice even rosette of leaves with few blemishes.
Mullein were introduced into he USA in the 1700s and are pretty widespread throughout the country. They also appear on the invasive list although I rarely see more than a few scattered around where I live. In the 80s we hiked with a Navaho guide into the ruins of Betatakin, and she told us that Native Americans used the leaves as baby diapers. In Texas it is known as cowboy toilet paper. As a biennial it reaches the rosette stage during the first year of its cycle and then sends up a tall flower stalk with pretty yellow flowers. Although, some time in Texas it achieves both stages within a year.

There is no better place to see her handiwork than in my sunken garden. Toadflax, Nuttallanthus texanus, is everywhere this year and one special clump has me won over that this is a worthwhile plant to have in the cottage garden, particularly if you can get it to seed en masse.

There are so many plants in this area that have self seeded, poppies, mealy blue sage, Brazos penstemon, columbine, grasses, skullcaps and even the delicious chocolate daisy. I never know from one year to the next what will be where, but rest assured, they will be there.

A visitor to the garden this past weekend commented to David, out of my earshot, that there didn't seem to be very many vegetables in my vegetable garden. I could have put him straight about the change-over season, when winter crops such as kale, cabbage, broccoli and peas reach the end their lives, to be replaced by the summer vegetables. So far I had only planted some tomatoes and peppers. But he did have a point as many of my beds are filled with those same poppies as grow in the sunken garden.

And then there are the cilantros and parsley plants which I allow to go to seed every year and repay me by filling in the beds with new plants each winter.

I rather like the way she planted the pink primrose at the corner of one of the vegetable beds. Most would rip this plant out immediately because it does have a tendency to spread everywhere. I'm that different kind of gardener.

and this blanket flower in the pathway between vegetable beds.

In the front courtyard I will have to take some action against the numbers of liatris that are showing up everywhere. I tried to gather the seed in the fall but much escaped and is now seeding heavily in the gravel. Most of them will be removed but this is one of the lucky ones which, in a previous year, found a permanent home.

But I am truly excited to see many seedlings of this little plant, Colorado Venus' Looking Glass, Triodanis coloradoënsis. Two years ago the flower showed up in a hole in a rock I had brought in from another area of the lot, and is now starting to spread itself around the garden. It is a member of the bluebell family and endemic to the Hill Country fo Central Texas. A delicate little beauty which I am sure to blog about when it starts blooming in a few weeks. A perfect little rock garden plant.

All thanks to Mother Nature.

FOR A BRIEF SHINING MOMENT

Over the years I have become more and more interested in cactus and succulents and have amassed quite a collection. I see a trend towards this easier kind of gardening in my future. I love the structure of all of them, even those that are the least attractive to look at, and it is many of these that put on the most stunning floral display every year.
On a particularly rainy Sunday it was wonderful to look back at some of my cactus that have flowered in the last two weeks. The first is the ladyfinger cactus, Echinocereus pentalophus. 

I have several of these in pots which spent the winter in the greenhouse where the dry conditions and cool temperatures made for a spectacular blooming over a period of 4 weeks. Not all the flowers opened at once although on this plant 10 blooms appeared at the same time. Whereas many cactus flowers are ephemeral these last for at least 4 days, opening in the late morning and closing by evening. Although we are slightly out of its range in zone 8b I have succeeded in growing in the ground in well-draining gravelly soil.

The claret cup cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus, however, is completely hardy in our area and I have several stands in the front courtyard garden. Their petals are quite stiff which means the blooms can last for over a week. The hummingbird is a regular visitor for nectar.

Some of the mammilaria species pop out a few flowers during the winter when located in a sunny window.

But their main blooming time is spring when the crowns bear tiara-like rings of booms which are similarly long lasting.

We have a number of nurseries which sell cactus and even the big box stores have some nice specimens. As always is is necessary to do ones own research about the hardiness of species as often labels are inaccurate. Surprisingly Walmart had a great cactus selection this year and the thing I loved was that each were labeled with the the genus and species names in detail. So often small cactus come with no labeling. They were a welcome addition to my cactus theatre.

THE LADY IS BACK

Shortly after we moved into the house in 2001 I planted a rose on the corner of the wall in the front garden. I don't recall whether I did any research back then. Probably not, because the rose I bought I knew nothing about when in 2007 a gentleman, who was visiting the garden, shared with me a little about its history. In fact he sent me copies of a story that was in National Geographic magazine about  the man who was responsible for bringing  the rose from China and after whose wife the rose was named.

That rose was the Lady Banks rose, Rosa banksiae. Named for the wife of Sir Joseph Banks, who as director of Kew Gardens was responsible for bringing many plants back from his own travels, but also sponsoring the plant gathering expedition of William Kerr who brought back the rose from China.

The yellow form of the rose, R. banksiae var. lutea, bears clusters of small yellow flowers on thornless stems in early Spring. It is a one time bloomer and a big rose as you can see from the photograph. Underneath my rose is a tangled of dead branches which support the top growth.

The rose has scrambled over the wall to the outside and even up into an oak tree across the path.

I have a clear view of the yellow rose from where I sit in the living room. More often the not a  mockingbird spends the winter in the rose and on cold nights when visitors are leaving there is a shriek of surprise form him. Similarly, at this time of the year a mocking bird also takes up residence-is it the same one I wonder? Every morning he flies towards this window lands on the ledge and pecks away at his reflection. Then he flies into the yaupon holly, picks off a few berries and flies back into the rose. Wrens and cardinals also favor the tree too but it is always the mockingbird high up on the top lording over his demesne.

The original Lady Banks rose brought back by Kerr was white, R. banksiae var. banksiae and a few years ago I bought a rooted cutting of the white rose from the Rose Museum in Tombstone, Arizona. Mindful of the size of the rose in Tombstone, which is supported by a trellis and covers 2,800 sq ft. I planted it at the back of the garden and am making more of an effort to keep it tamed, pruning after it flowers in the Spring. You can read all about my visit to Tombstone here. My white rose has a great provenance.

Unfortunately we were passing though Tombstone in January so did not see the rose blooming. Maybe one day. While our bloom is not quite as spectacular this year due to the earlier buds being subjected to temperatures in the 20s she is putting on a pretty darned good show. When her bloom finishes her leaves provide a little shade to a small part of a very sunny garden.