THE THREE Rs OF DESERT GARDENING

 I have been reading Jeff Moore's book. Under the Spell of Succulents. It is a wonderful book, beautifully illustrated and loaded with information.  There is only one problem. Many of the gardens are in California- In my eyes the perfect climate for growing, well____ just about everything. It seems I squandered my 6 years in Southern California growing the wrong thing! Sadly he devotes only two pages to desert gardens. Clearly he knows what will and what won't grow here.

I did learn two major things which seemed to be directed at my new adventure in desert gardening. His mantra of the 3 Rs. Rocks, Restraint and Repetition. Let's see how I am doing. 

Rocks-I had 9. I knew I wanted more, even before I read his book. We have now collected from a local source over 36 decent sized which I have been using to create a rock garden. It may look a little bit currant bun at the moment but I am hoping plants will fill in and soften the look. They are not rocks I would have chosen but this is what we have. The expense of having someone bring in and place larger ones was beyond what we wanted to spend. These broken chunks of granite tend to be rather angular but surely I can soften their edges with plantings. 

 

 I am also thinking of giving them a diluted paint wash to help them blend in. I did that with some limestone ledge stones at my old garden. Then there is the 4" riprack and 1" stone mulch. We rented a UHaul for that job picking up a load at the stone yard. So far two UHaul rentals and two dusty stone yard visits. 

 

Restraint- I have always been known for that. At least from the money angle. I would buy 4" pots and only occasional gallons. But I think Jeff was referring to using a small palette of plants. Maybe I'm not so good at that but hope to manage this better in the desert. The odd large agave may look great as a statement plant but smaller ones look better when they are in groups.

Repetition-I'm been good at repeating some things-namely things that seed themselves or pup. But that was in Austin. I have lots of pups of A.americana and A.weberii but I would like something more exciting. I purchased 3 Agave "Blue glow" of which there were several already planted. I do worry a little that they will not like the full afternoon sun so I will probably protect them with some shade cloth through the first summer. I had hunted around for A. ovatifolia to no avail and then one day we visited Tucson Cactus and Koi and they had several. Sadly they were pock-marked from a hail storm that had passed through the area a few weeks ago. I was just going to buy one but David persuaded me to buy 3 at the discounted price. They are quite small but I know they will grow out of the damage if I treat them well.

                                                    A. ovatifolia "Frosty Blue"

 I had plans to put the second one on the other side of the front planting bed, beneath the large remaining A.weberii. Incidentally when I told a local nursery that these weberii did not have completely smooth edges he told me that almost all of the ones here were a cross between americana and weberii. They could give you a nasty gouge. On the spur of the moment I told David we should take it out. Within minutes I had cut off most of the leaves and he was there to do the final job. Now there was room to plant the A.ovatifolia. 

Of course I read too late his advice about taking out any current planting so as not to have to work around the plants and compromise the design. On the front walkway I couldn't bring myself to do that as the barrel and echinoeereus cactus were about to bloom. They looked too comfortable to mess with. 

 

I worked around them trying to create a drainage swale and mounding on either side, disturbing the cactus as little as possible. He was right of course. He also talked about bringing in soil to create the mounds. We did not. We used what we had. It's just desert sand which is fine for most of the desert plants that grow around us.

 

My garden is now a desert garden and I am surrounded by saguaro and barrel cactus at every turn and discovering the desert is not necessarily the place for all cactus and succulents. Some will withstand the baking summer sun but others demand shade if they are going to survive. I brought with me a large collection of cactus and succulents and herein lies the struggle. Clay pots were perfect for Austin. Not so in the desert. The air is so dry it sucks any moisture out of the pot. I find myself watering more frequently than in Austin. In my former home I would leave them for 6 weeks in the summer, under the shelter of a patio. They quickly responded to a little attention when I came home although they may never have been prize winners, bearing the scars of winter and summer damage. But here they are and I have been doing my best to make them feel at home. Some have been put in the ground. I brought 3 barrel cactus one of which I picked up in a neighborhood concrete wash in a subdivision in Phoenix. At first I thought it was growing in a crack in the concrete but was surprised to find it totally unattached. "I have a home for you" I also brought some agave- A. demettiana, variegata. My neighbor has one so they found a new home in the ground. Also an A. demettiana 'Joe Hoak' I may have to give all some frost protection in winter. I have planted a ladyfinger cactus, Echinocereus pentalophus, in the shade of the ironwood tree. 

I have moved them from one spot to another as the sun moved across the sky finally settling on a place down the North side of the house.  Until I discover the sun has found its way to that spot by the afternoon. So now the only place is under cover along the east facing patio or in the house. 

Most have flowered well this spring but it might be a struggle to keep them happy if we go away.  This cactus asks for little in the way of water or fertilizer and puts on a stunning show of blooms. The blooms last for several days.

                                                 Echinicereus pentalophus

This is not going to be as easy as I thought!

HOW TO DO IT WITH WILDFLOWERS

The front courtyard garden is blooming with Texas native wildflowers and has entered its most floriferous season. Using short season wildflowers in the landscape requires some structural specimens as well as hardscape. We are fortunate to have some great agaves that do the job well.

Under the whales tongue agave, A. ovatifolia, the once blooming flowers of Tulipa hummilis, have been replaced by flowering purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii, and yellow blooming square bud primrose, Calylophus berlandieri. The skull caps will bloom all summer if given a trim back after flowering.

And on the other side beyond the Mexican feather grass is the damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana with its aromatic, fine-leaved shrubby foliage.

Of course the bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, being an annual will soon be gone but the accompanying blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, will bloom all summer and will be at their best in the fall.

Blackfoot daisy

The claret cup cactus flower, Echinocereus triglochidiatus, is one of my favorite. The flower is longer lasting than many cactus flowers.

In a shady corner, and there aren't many in this garden, baby blue eyes, Nemophila phaceliodes.

A few seeds gathered from some flowers on an unbuilt lot and I now have several clumps of Barbara's buttons, Marshallia caespitosa. They are perennial but when summer comes the foliage dies back only to appear again in late winter.

Lyre leaf sage, Salvia lyrata, pops up all over the garden and would make a great ground cover with its attractively pattered leaves.

One of my favorite places to sit in the garden is in the breezeway between the garage and house There I can enjoy the view of this part of the garden with flowers and bubbling water feature. Yesterday I watched the wrens flying back and forward building a nest in-between the pots on the top shelf of the cactus theater.

Such messy builders but such fun to watch.

I hope you are enjoying spring in your garden wherever you are.

ECHOING COLOR

I decided some time ago that I needed to paint the bamboo in the jar the same color as the Whale's tongue agave, Agave ovatifolia. It's only craft paint but has stood up well to the elements. Alas, not so the agave which succumbed to poor drainage. This is the new one I planted last week which has wavier leaves. Paired here with red yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora and Ruby crystal grass, Melinis nerviglumis, the painted bamboo ties this little group together.

LET THIS BE A LESSON

Two of my favorite views of my whale's tongue agave, Agave ovatifolia, are looking through the side gate into the front garden.

And the view from the upper gravel area. From both angles it is such a huge focal point.

But something was wrong. Black patches were beginning to appear deep in the heart of the plant. It could only mean one thing. Rot. The cause could be one of two things. The dreaded agave weevil or poor drainage.

Agave snout weevil

We lost an agave outside the garden to these devils last year. Fortunately we were alerted to the problem by some creature rooting for grubs underneath the plant so we were able to capture many adults and grubs. Hopefully this was not the problem here.
There is no easy way to remove such a large agave. First I cut the tips of the leaves. More damaging than the tip spines are the curved spines along the leaf margins. Nothing to be done there. I began by taking the saw and sawing through the more open leaves. That went well and in no time I had the majority cut down. What a ragged mess.

Then I began to notice that my legs were stinging. Of course I was wearing shorts. Then a light went on in my brain. I recalled someone referring to the sap of agaves being highly allergenic. I downed tools, rushed through the house tearing off my clothes an jumped in the pool. Then I got out the hydrocortisone cream. The stinging began to subside. The job ended there because I had to leave for the afternoon. When I came home the stump was removed and the area tidied up. Thank you David. He assured me there was no evidence of weevils and that the ground was surprisingly dry. This damage must have started a long time ago and progressed rapidly with our rainy fall and June.
Quickly moving on; this morning I planted a new Whale's Tongue but added lots of granite and mounded the area tilting the agave to the front so that any water will drain away from the crown.

I hunted for a few rocks to help camouflage the mound and have plans to add some blackfoot daisies to soften the whole area.
And the lesson is to wear long pants, longs sleeves, gloves and goggles when dealing with agaves.

FOLIAGE FOLLOW UP DAY, MARCH 2014

This maybe the first time I have posted on Foliage Follow up Day but it seems appropriate today as many spring blooms are missing from my garden.
I think, like Pam I have to give first of the day to Whale's Tongue agave, Agave ovatifolia. I have two of these, both in the front courtyard garden, but they differ slightly in their structure one being more open that the other.

I was prompted to call the nursery when I noticed a pup forming underneath the one directly above. Not supposed to happen. However the seed supplier in Germany stood by his seed saying it was definitely A.ovatifolia. I'm not unhappy with this one but I don't think it is quite as attractive as the one at the top.

This Agave lophantha was a passalong. I know some who would not entertain its spiky leaves, which would rip your hands to shreds in a moment. I love it for its green color. It has that bright green streak running through the center; not unlike A. lophantha quadricolor, my next passalong. Gosh, I love this one and I can't have enough of them, which is good because my friend Bob always has tens of these to share.

I can see that this year I will need to move the bulbs of the Tulipa clusiana as the Agave parryi is making their life very difficult.

I have another Agave parryi this one 'truncata' Both came from the Desert Botanic Garden in Phoenix.

All these plants add drama and interest to the garden year round.

What would I do without Agave weberi? What would I do without my neighbor? Every one came from his garden. This agave has a high pupping propensity. I think they look magnificent among the rocks and despite a few blemishes they have survived this horrible winter.

The star of my back garden is the Yucca rostrata. How I wish I had bought more of them at the time. It was just a tiny thing in a pot and has grown incredibly over the past 6 years. What a show stopper this plant is and not dangerous at all.

Spineless prickly pear cactus and squid agave, Agave bracteosa, fill another corner of this garden. Squid agave is another heavy pup maker.

It will be quite a contrast for the secluded garden on the side of the house to have something so prickly. I made this hyertuffa pot especially for this Dyckia.
I still have lots of other green plants like pittosporum, Indian hawthorn and the beautiful viburnum but I thought I'd shine a spotlight on my prickly plants on this Foliage Follow Up Day. Thanks for hosting Pam.

WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT AGAVES, CACTUS AND SUCCULENTS

I am heading into the agave, cactus and succulent phase of my gardening life. The evidence is right there as you climb up the steps to enter through the side gate of my garden.

It is perfect place for these plants. A few hours of direct sun and several hours of filtered sunlight under the branches of the live oak tree. It is one of the few places in my garden where there is filtered sun. One lucky plant gets to sport the clay collar I found at a yard sale.

When visitors come to my garden I invite them to come in through the side gate. From there they can pass through the front courtyard garden and out through the main gate and around the outside of the house into the back gardens.

Look at the variety of shapes and textures in this plant grouping. Small cactus and euphorbias look better when they are grouped together in a wide-mouthed pot or with others.

Small agaves in hypertuffa pot.

Fireplace grouping.

Strawberry jars make great pots for these plants.

My weekend acquisitions; Candellia, Euphorbia antisyphilitica. That's a handy plant to have around!

But the biggest statement of all comes with the large plants situated in the landscape. On the right, Yucca rostrata, sapphire skies

Paired with plumbago which is having its best year ever.

There's a little experiment going on here with the soft leaf yucca. It was a tangle of offsets and dead leaves. I am hoping that the plant will respond to the cut back and take on a new life. Otherwise I will be looking for a replacement.

Structural plants are needed to give height and statement in the garden and none do it more beautifully than the agaves. And no agave makes a bolder statement than the Whale's tongue agave, A. ovatifolia.

Two of these beautiful agaves live in the front courtyard garden.

This is just the tip of the iceberg!