IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH

It doesn't take much for me to get my gardening mojo back. I have already been hard at work cleaning up following the inclement weather two weeks ago, that wreaked havoc on my Texas garden. Whereas I must wait several more weeks on the woody perennials there are many things that can be done. I felt my first and pressing job was to clean up the vegetable garden. Almost all the winter crop is gone except for the kale, a few Napa cabbage and the multiplying onions. Red onions don't seem to have moved since I planted them but are still alive.

As usual, the beds have their interlopers and they seem to be untouched by the weather. Larkspurs, Love-in-a-mist and some poppies. One or two California poppies were quite far along and much of their foliage was browned-off . I tidied them up hoping they would give me a little color until it comes time to plant the summer crop. I'm finding the lower plants were to the ground the better they have survived.

Lemon grass in late summer.

The next job was to remove the large lemon grass at the corner of the potting shed. It always dies back every winter and it is no mean task removing it. It had lost its shape growing out towards the beds having only been cut back for 2 years. I took some roots in the fall so I have a replacement. It is a lovely grass but grows incredibly vigorously even without irrigation. Extras plants that I put outside the walls but have not checked yet to see if they have survived.

The Confederate jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, on the trellis may not have survived as it is only hardy to 10-15° and we did go below that for at least 2 nights. It will be a big loss but I will replace it because it is an evergreen vine and its fragrance is wonderful. For now I wait and see.

Confederate jasmine spring.

It feels good to have made one area look presentable. There are so many dead agave to pull out, and their removal is pressing because they are starting to rot. But, it is a dispiriting job and has to be interspersed with other more cheerful tasks. One of those came unexpectedly 10 days ago. Instead of our Sunday morning walk at the Wildflower Center we decided to walk around Ladybird Lake for the first time in 18months. Then we stopped by The Great Outdoors. They have been busy during the pandemic making some remarkable changes and with fresh plants in perfect condition I was very tempted. 

 

I purchased two Hesperaloe parviflora, commonly called red yucca. They are tough as nails and also act as a structural plants during winter. They will replace the A. desmetiana in the front courtyard. The area was once shaded by a lady banks rose which we removed in the fall, where there us now plenty of sun for the expected blooms. My first job was to remove the agave-with a pick axe. Then the rain started and a cold wind from the north drove me inside.

Another job I started was the removal of the Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, in the sunken garden. It was a tangle of separated bark, a sure sign of a dead stems. The trellis needs staining and as yet I am undecided as to whether to remove the root ball or hope it has survived. I also bought a replacement plant just in case. 

A third vine the pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum, in the English garden is also only hardy to 10-25 degrees. so is probably lost, although its location in the corner of the English garden and protected from the north wind may have saved it. It was ready to flower.

David has been busy on my behalf. He has sanded and stained the trellis so it is all ready for the new vine which I had purchased at the nursery.

A week later and still no end in sight to the removal of agaves. But from time to time to keep my spirits up I try to work on making at least one are look presentable. This upper part of the sunken garden, surrounding the Y. rostrata needed some work. I cut back the shrimp plant removing some stems that had layered. If the main plant dies then I will at least have some replacements. They had fairly healthy root systems so I am hopeful. I don't think the Philippine violet will have made it but will not be pulling it out until I am sure. I planted a couple of foxgloves I have been growing over the winter. 

And I finally got around to planting the Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirum. The old vine appeared to have some new growth at the base but it seemed like a good time to amend the tired and dry soil. It's a fast growing vine and I will try to train it around both sides of the pillar. David spent the afternoon power washing the patio floor and his next job is to clean up the teak furniture and oil it. Although not the most comfortable seating they have certainly lasted 20 years and look as good as new when cleaned up.

Of course, these jobs were on my list of spring clean-ups anyway and there are plenty of those to do as well as removal of dead material.

Work continues in the front courtyard removing damaged agave and outside the walls where the job is quite daunting. There is so much dead and rotting material and disposal is not easy. We tip the garbage men every week to take some of the extras away. It will takes weeks of work to remove and dispose of them all. I did pull out a couple before the big freeze and hopefully they will soon start pupping.

The oak trees started dropping their leaves prematurely resulting in a massive amount of dead leaves. At least those can be disposed of on our property as mulch. But then the gutters needed cleaning out so David has been enormously busy doing those jobs. 

I feel a little fortunate in having a number of native plants that will brighten the upcoming days. The list is quite long of low-growing plants that survived. Already the golden groundsel, Packera obovata, is blooming. I think I will try to bring some of the small plants into the back garden next year.

 There are good stands of Barbara's buttons, Marshallia caespitosa, which are spreading quite well in the front courtyard. And the species tulips, Tulipa clusiana, will be blooming among the bluebonnets in the next month. Of the hardy natives is the chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, Heart leaf skullcap, Scutellaria ovata, and lyre leaf sage, Salvia lyrata all did well and are growing rapidly. Columbines, Aquilegia chrysantha, var. hinkleyana  is starting to grow new leaves. Of course the bearded iris are fine. 

I removed the A. desmetiana from the pot outside the front window and was fortunate enough to already have the plant that will replace it. 

This Agave striata, which has languished in a pot for years, in the outer parts of the garden where it has neither been watered nor fertilized.  It has now found a pride of place in the front courtyard. My first thought were to leave it in its plastic pot but this afternoon I planted it in the soil that was already in the pot. I am looking on it with renewed admiration after it survived our recent winter weather. Native of northern Mexico it is reported to be hardy to 0°F. I think it just proved its case. And I have a second one, also in a pot. It is a plant that needs to be tucked out of the way as its knitting needle-like leaves show no mercy. 

 A. striata is on of only 2 century plants that does not die after flowering.

The progressive deterioration of the A. parryi over the last two weeks has left me with no choice but to remove it. 

 

Yesterday David removed most of the leaves but neither of us could live with it so today it was time to remove.

It was such a beauty and took years to grow to this size. And all the A.lophantha had to be removed too. 

 

 

So, so sad.

But to finish on a brighter note. The window box I planted some months ago was protected from the freeze in the potting shed. I decided to put it up just to bring a little cheer to the garden.

 If your garden suffered badly during the freeze I hope you will be able to find a way forward to a new and better garden.