SPRING IN THE SUNKEN GARDEN

 The area between the house and the pool was a blank canvas and perfect to create a sunken garden. The inspiration was partly inspired by the many sunken gardens I have visited in England, my grandfather's garden where I spent my teenage years and the sunken courtyard at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Many of the rocks dug up during the building of the house were saved in order to create a foundation wall around the sunken area. The floor is Arizona sandstone over decomposed granite. I'm sure the builder was happy not to have to cart those rocks away. Nature has done much of the planting and I am happy for that although it does create considerable work keeping it under control. But, both David and I delight in all the blooms that appear-as if from nowhere. The scene changes from week to week and from year to year. Spring is the most floriferous time.

The only step down is along the front and even here it requires some agility as a Gulf Coast penstemon, Penstemon tennuis, has seeded right in the middle of the two stones. How could I possibly pull it when it was so happy there. I love this penstemon but it is prone to root aphids, placed there by ants who farm its honeydew. They are not easy to control and will kill the plant.

A few plants have been with me since the beginning and one is the chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, 

Compact in the early weeks it does eventually become rather rangy. It has only seeded in one other place and I suspect this is because I usually cut it back part way through the season and the new seed heads may not have time to mature. 

Mullein, may be considered a weed by many but I love its beautiful form over the winter before sending up a tall flower spike with yellow flowers. It is also a favorite of the bees. Many may seed but only a few will be chosen. This was a lucky one on the lower level.

In early spring bluebonnets can really take over and I'm afraid this year I have let rather too many and some of the plants growing beneath have suffered. A single bluebonnet plant can spread to cover 3' and is better suited to a meadow setting.
 

 

Hinckley's yellow columbine. Here there and everywhere as usual.

 It is always interesting to watch how plants grow and move. A large cluster of bee balm was gradually evicted by this yellow iris, so that now there are only a few plants left. Time for the iris to be divided and passed along nd maybe the bee balm will move back in.

 I always let the corn poppies grow wherever they wish. Easy to pull out and something will always take their place later.

One of my favorite views is standing in the sunken garden and looking up to the Sun and Moon Archway. A mix of columbine, larkspur and poppies.
 

The gopher plant, Euphorbia rigida, has flowered and gone to seed. Some of the longer leaves have been removed to leave a small cluster of seed heads for seed saving. Nigella hides the leaves of the faded daffodils above the  mealy blue sage and larkspur.
 

Late April and the wine cups begin to bloom and spread, and spread and spread! Frequent trims will keep them in order. 

There will be a few plants missing this year and they will be missed. Two beautiful Pride of Barbados were lost to the freeze. The seed had appeared from nowhere and we had several years of their summer blooms. There is however, a very small one growing between two of the ledgestones and possibly in a more favorable place. 

 

It's time to get out there and remove some of the more boisterous residents in the sunken garden.

THE 4 O'CLOCK BLUES

Just as many flowers are fading in the afternoon sun these two little native beauties are just beginning to open. The first is Blue gilia, Gilia rigidula, a member of the phlox family.

I rescued this plant many years ago from the lot next door to us and so glad I did. This delicate plant has spread modestly but seems happy in the place where it is planted. Above the retaining wall in the dry, rocky, shaded, filtered light with no irrigation needed. It is the perfect location because the wall is about 4 feet high so the plant can be enjoyed without stooping. 

I have never seen the plant for sale in the nurseries.

The second afternoon bloomer is the Blue-eyed grass. Sisyrinchium angustifolium. Mine occurred naturally although I have seen hybridized varieties in the nurseries. 

 It loves a sunny location and spreads very easily from seed forming good-sized clumps. It is perfect in a rock garden setting enjoying the spaces between the pavers.

And who could pass up the chance to share more photos of the bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, that grow both inside and outside my walled garden. Faithful as ever in their appearance every spring and filling the warm afternoon air with a sweet fragrance.

 

These are the kind of blues a gardener loves.

WHAT DENOTES A COLLECTION?

On UK garden programs they sometimes visit gardens/nurseries who hold the National Collection of a specific plant. In the UK there are over 650 collections and you can see the list at National Collections and where to see a specific family. Plant Heritage aims at conservation of plant and diversity rather like the aim of our own Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. 

Out of curiosity I looked up Clematis where I found myself heading down the inevitable rainy-day rabbit hole. Collections are by group and there among them was our very own  Clematis texensis with  2 species, 15 cultivars and 17 taxa. 

                                                    Clematis texensis Princess Diana

 Our native clematis is almost impossible to find at the nursery and even at the Wildflower Center's Native plant sale coming up soon. I did manage to buy one there some years ago and was at first disappointed in the color but have come to love and treasure it over the years.  I have identified it, rightly or wrongly, as Clematis versicolor , known as the pale leather flower. I think I had expected it to be C. pitcheri, purple leatherflower.

                                             Clematis pitcheri, Pale leatherflower?
 

Now, having found this breeder of clematis in England I plan to send them a photo and ask them what they think about the identity of this clematis. They have one labeled C. pitcheri crispa 26 which they raised from seed. It took 4 years to flower.

Maybe if I am lucky I will be able to add to my one Texensis group, Princess Diana. Among which are Happy Diana, Etoile Rose, Duchess of Albany, Gravetye beauty, Pagoda, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Maxima, Peveril Profusion, Ruby Wedding and Radiance. What I love about these clematis is that they die down to the ground over winter so there is no pruning necessary. But they do require some kind of wire or mesh support in order to support their rapid growth in spring. I think this is why you so often see them planted to entwine around roses.

Both my clematis produce delightful seed heads and this year I have a few seedlings of the C. versicolor. Getting them out of the ground is not easy as they send down very long roots but I have been successful in saving a few rather spindly plants which I hope will grow stronger over the years and eventually flower. Lovely in all its seasons I am now on the hunt.

FEELING BROWNED OFF

To say you were browned-off was a common phrase in England when I was growing up. Maybe because my father was in the Air Force and this is where the saying is said to have originated.  I think it crossed the Atlantic but if you are not familiar with it it means unhappy or displeased with a situation. Both I and many of the plants in my garden are feeling this way after our wretched deep freeze a month back.

My beautiful Texas mountain laurel grown over many years from a seed is showing no signs of life whatsoever. I fear it is doomed.

 

 

Let it be said that this tree was not planted by me but as it started to grow in a pleasant tree form I decided to let it grow.

Furthermore there is an oak sapling, growing quite close to the doomed tree and now about 5' tall, which I may just allow to take the place of the Texas Mountain Laurel.

 There is normally so much work to do in the spring garden  and I am only just now starting to deal with some of the browned-off plants. Some I know are completely dead, others may be showing signs of life. Yesterday, I finally tackled the Confederate jasmine on the potting shed wall. 

Each year a late frost will burn some of the exposed branches separating the bark from the stem. A sure sign of death. This time the same has happened throughout the plant as far down as the base so I know there is no hope of any recovery.

 I looked carefully at the stump and realized that it too must go. A job for the pick axe.

 I decided on immediate replacement with a new Confederate jasmine and was able to find one in a 1gal. pot which is now in the ground. It is a fast grower so I know it won't be long before it is fills the trellis. The only bonus is that this year I will have less pruning to do. 

 I'm pretty browned off about the jasmine at the front door. Similar to the Confederate jasmine but slightly hardier and with a white flower tinged with yellow, it was Trachelospermum asciaticum. It is no more.

We have made the decision, after putting the question out to gardening group about possibilities, not to replace. It will be a welcome reduction in constant pruning but we will miss the gorgeous fragrance when we walked out of the front door.

We are tackling the brown-off little by little but there is some time to admire those plants that survived the brutal and unexpected cold. The gardener quickly moves along from the losses that occur in the garden.

The crossvine, Bignonia capreolata, on the greenhouse is as spectacular as ever. But also due to be cut down to the ground this year in order to control its growth.

The purple iris around the bird bath in the English Garden.

 As always, a profusion of the yellow columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana.

 Where did this red poppy come from. Before I have only had large pink ones.

 And the usual profusion of bluebonnets.

With the Easter weekend upon us I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy some time spent outdoors enjoying springtime blooms.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE