ADDING MORE ROCKS AND NEW PLANTS

It is characteristic of me to be working in more than one place at the same time. A few weeks ago I turned by attention to the front of the house, abandoning some of the others areas I had been working on. The whole front needs a revamp which includes removing plants that have grown too big for the area. A huge A. weberi and two baja ruellia, Ruellia peninsularis. Baja ruellia, is a great plant, but when squeezed up against a wall and in poor soil with no attention but chopping they don't do well. No sooner do I say to David, this one is going and those two as well, than he is out there with his saws and choppers. It's a two day job.

We have garbage pick up twice a week and this is our way of disposal. It's a full bin every week.

There is also a giant hesperalo, Hesperaloe funifera, which David does not like which will remain for the time being. Purely a well established structural plant for now. And one Agave weberi at the back.

 

And a photinia, Photinia x fraseri, which will also remain for the time being. They add some height and winter structure, I am still thinking about what to put there. Maybe a desert willow. For all the bad press the photinia received in Austin, it seems to thrive here and no one would disagree with how wonderful the new growth looks in the spring. I read that it can be trained into a small tree so I will take a look at this one and see if that is an option.

It also does well as cut branches in the house. It is now blooming although as someone said the blooms have an unpleasant smell. 

So with a good area now cleaned out I turned my attention to adding more rocks adding 12 more to the front. We have found a good local supply of both larger granite rocks and the Coronado brown rip rap that are used for erosion control. Monsoon season demands this. To bad we no longer have a truck  but we are managing with car loads for now. We will eventually rent a trailer in order to bring in some of the smaller rock to use as a ground cover. I redid all the edge rock adding more around the sides. 

Then planting began. I added the 3 barrel cactus I brought with me and purchased 3 Agave 'blue glow,' one A. parryi, a damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana,  and a chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata. The A. blue glow is a cross between A. attenuata and A. ocahui. It is prized for its blue green floiage with red and yellow margins and its compact size. I will see how well they do in this location, which is west facing. I removed a sad clump of claret cup cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus,  that were rotting due to too much moisture. I am trying to rejuvenate the parts that still showed life but am not too hopeful. 

I am on the hunt for a Whales tongue agave, A.ovatifolia, but as yet have not come across any.

 I also found a home for the concrete balls I made for my Austin garden.

A nice specimen of the blue barrel cactus, Ferocactus glaucescens, is starting to bloom. It reminds me of the crown of thorns starfish.

The area at the back is where the clean outs are for our sewer line and for now I have just added a germander, Teucrium fruticans "Azure Blue' 

 

I see lots of plants growing in gardens that I would love to have but it is a matter of  balance between seasonal bloomers, structural plants and plants to carry the garden through the hottest months of the year. And we shall be gone for a few weeks this summer as we drive up to Madison, Wisconsin to attend he Garden Bloggers Fling. Click here for details.

Will you be there? I hope so.

OH! THE COLORS OF A SOUTHERN FALL

It has been a wonderful week where night temperatures dipped below 70° and day time highs barely touched the 90s. But summer isn't done with us yet as warmer temperatures are promised next week.

Cooler night time temperatures return color to the garden, with new blooms opening on the Salvia greggii. It isn't called Autumn sage for no reason. Clouds of pink and white gaura are a magnet for the bees.

Lindheimer senna, Senna lindheimeriana brings splashes of yellow to the landscape and the hanging pods assure us of an annual display. This is one plant the deer never touch so it is a great plant to have outside the walls. It has, however, found its way inside the walls adding a splash of late summer color to a mainly green landscape.

Sometimes I think a plant is about to die because the foliage has yellowed but then rain brings a fresh infusion and cooler nights bring back the green color to the leaves. It is almost the opposite of what happens in the spring when leaves are yellow because of the cold. This always happens on the hollies and columbines.

In the sunken garden flowering blackfoot daisies Melampodium leucanthum, have been growing quietly from seeds of the previous winter. They seem comfortable growing among the pink crystal grass, Melinus nerviglumis. Soon it will be their turn to fill the garden with pink seedheads.

This wouldn't be a Texas garden without the yellow blooms on the zexmenia, Wedelia hispida. Yes, it may like to take over the garden but when one grows in the perfect spot it is so worthwhile. Here paired with artichoke agave, Agave parryi 'truncata'
Did you experience a garden surprise this week? I had three. The first was the bloom of Lycoris radiata. 

Then the first flower on my pale pavonia, pale rock rose, Pavonia hastata, a passalong seedling from Diana at Sharing Nature's Garden. Although not a native it will be welcome unless it proves to be invasive. How could Rock Rose not love another member of the mallow family.

And two days ago this monster moth on the mail box. A giant female silk moth, Antheraea polyphemus. What a beauty she is and a first for my garden despite being found in all the states from Canada to Mexico. She has a short life and her only job is to find a mate.

We may never give us the fall color as found in the northern climates but we welcome the explosion of color in our Southern fall.

DO YOU PLAN YOUR GARDEN DAY?

Sometimes, after I turn out the light at night, I think about what I might do in the garden the next day. It isn't a real plan but a suggestion to tackle some of the many things that need my attention. The fact is if I made a list it is unlikely that I will do many of the things on that list. This morning was a good example.

My pretty little Mexican trailing purslane, Portulaca Mexicana, in a planter high up on the wall, was being visited by ants. I know immediately that spells trouble. Is it root aphids, stem aphids or scale? It had to be one of those. Closer examination revealed this-scale. I brought the leaves inside to take a good photo of them.

Scale needs to be dealt with immediately otherwise it will just overwhelm the plant and bring about its death. Early intervention is the answer. I have already battled scale on one of my cactus this year. It took a lot of effort but I think it is now scale free. Scale also likes prickly pear and citrus.
Some time later I was filling up a watering can at the barrel when I notice ants crawling up the side of the water tank garden. This time it is aphids.

There I was the other day just thinking how carefree the water garden was and now this. The mud baby, Echinodorus cordifolius, was infested with green aphids. I ran my fingers up and down the stems removing most of them and then dunked the flower heads in the water to remove the rest. I'm not sure what to do here other than hand removal because I don't want to spray with oil. I can't remove the plant because it is growing among the papyrus. I will have to go out with an artist's paint brush to remove the remaining aphids in the cracks and do this regularly until I am sure there are no more. They do make an untidy mess on the water and lily pads with their molting skins. And then there was this......

 I searched for this on the internet thinking it was some kind of mealy bug but the only photograph I came up with said it was a ladybird larvae, Hyperaspis. I have never seen one look like this but apparently they secrete this waxy substance along their sides as a protective device. I'm glad I left well alone because he can get busy eating the leftovers.

Next it was the Manfreda sileri. When ants build up around the base of plants I am always concerned for root aphids. These aphids cannot be seen above the ground but settle onto the roots and suck the plant dry. They are particularly prevalent under dry conditions and favor certain plants like blackfoot daisies, skullcaps and Gulf coast penstemon to name a few. If you see a plant start to fail and there is no visible reason then consider root aphids. They do their work silently below the ground but little do they know that ants give the game away above the ground.
Now it was time to get round to doing the garden chore I had planned; removing the A. parryi pup from underneath mother. Almost buried underneath the mother plant I knew I needed to remove it this summer so that it would have the chance to settle in before winter. I have been leaving it until it was old enough to have its own root clump which it did. The damp soil made extraction easier.

Now, I could cut off the old leaves and the second pup, growing a little further away, would have more room to grow.

The pup was planted along the edge of the dry creek with plenty of room. Next on the list is to try to remove the Whale's tongue agave pup. That will be more of a challenge.

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.

LINGERING AFTER LUNCH

One of the delights of having lunch outside is enjoying the garden. You couldn't possibly go back to work immediately after eating so why not linger a while and enjoy.

I have never been a great fan of Texas betony, Stachys coccinea, but I think it pairs quite nicely with this little groupling of artichoke agave, Agave parryi var. truncata,  Zexmenia, Wedelia texana, and purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii. I watched a hummingbird visit the other afternoon. It was busy visiting all the red flowers including this Claret cup cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus.

I just want it to keep on flowering but I fear the end of next week all the flowers will have faded. For now I think it is outright gorgeous. Behind the cactus are the seed heads of the Tulipa clusiana. I am told they are sterile and while I would normally snip them off they do have an interesting stripe.

Looking back towards the house is the Whale's tongue agave, A. ovatifolia, and the water feature and all kinds of self seeded Texas natives, including blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum, and four nerve daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa. Their blooms are a favorite because they keep on coming.

And a long shot of the garden looking back to the lunch spot.

A quick trip to the outside to look at the bluebonnets and it's back to work!

And a nod to this brown anole sunning himself on the cactus pad. Does he look a little old to you?