WAIT A YEAR, THEY SAY

 I'm sure you have heard this piece of advice given when you move into a new house. Take the time to understand the passage of the sun through the year, mark the various micro climates around the garden. When the garden is already planted watch through each of the seasons as plants come and go. Catalogue which plants you have, which will stay and which will go. All the while planning new areas and new plantings.

Sound advice but not for me. I will say I complained the first time I saw the house. "It's already planted. There is no gardening to do" How wrong I was. After moving in and taking a good look around I very quickly saw there was no time to lose. Most of the agave have reached a point where they need to be removed. So far we have removed 3. There are at least 3 more to remove. One monster, one large one and one smaller one at the back. If David thought he would never have to remove another agave after the tens he removed at our last house he was wrong. Thank goodness we kept the chain saw and the pick axes which I insisted on bringing.

Why would anyone plant an A. weberi so close to the fence? It had grown so big that growth of the Texas Mountain laurel planted next to it had been compromised.

I cut off the leaves and then called in the big guns to get out the root. 

Next to go, this monster. I have always thought A. weberii to be pretty innocuous as agave go but these ones have small teeth.

This time David didn't beat about the bush but got out the chain saw, making quick work of it. 

 

I have my eye on this spot to plant either a new calamondin or an satsuma tree. The shops are full of citrus at the moment so I shouldn't have a problem finding one.

I have begun work on making a retaining wall around the mound. Originally the area was piled up with rocks, which prevented us from walking down the side. Now with the soil retained further back I can use left over rocks to make a pathway. 

I am not 100% happy with the rock work but I must make do with what I have on hand and these angular lumps of granite are not as easy to work with as the flat limestone stones I have used in the past. Still I am hoping that succulents and cactus will soften the edges and find a happy home in the nooks and crannies.

After reorganizing the rocks beneath the roof scupper outfalls I will get a few bags of gravel from the local big box store to put down on the rest of the pathway and between the cracks.

 

There is more rock work to do here but I am making a list of plants that I hope to introduce to this part of the garden. Most are desert dwellers. On my list are,

Agave parryi, var, truncata, Artichoke agave,  Euphorbia resinifera Moroccan mound, Echinocereus triglochidiatus Claret cup, Echinocereus engelmannii Engelmanns hedgehog, Aloe x 'Blue elf', as well as many flowering perennials with which I am familiar like Melampodium leucanthum, Blackfoot daisy, Tetraneuris acaulis, Angelita daisy, Damianita and Berlandiera lyrata, chocolate flower.

Let the shopping begin.

A BUCKET A DAY KEEPS THE WILDERNESS AT BAY

 I think I would somehow feel cheated if I didn't pull out at least one bucket of vegetation every day. It is what I do best! When I analyze my style of gardening it is to allow plants to grow with wild abandon. Self seeding plants everywhere and plants allowed to remain until even I find it necessary to bid them goodbye. That takes a lot but it does eventually arrive. And every year I look on enviously at my fellow gardeners with their well-managed borders and thriving plants and wish I could do it that way. But I am trying and maybe two buckets a day would get me there.

 

This week I started to pull out Gomphrena 'fireworks' as well as some of the many ruby crystal grasses in the herb garden. I like to have a few plants growing between the pavers but by the end of summer it becomes too many. The Ministry of Silly Walks has nothing on how we get from A to B in this garden. And in every other garden too! While in that area I tackled pulling out one of the clumps of society garlic. It is actually growing in one of the herb beds but unlike the real chives (not garlic chives) it is prolific in its spread. The roots had become so intertwined that in the end I had to use a pick axe and even with that I left a lot of roots behind. A quick text to my new neighbor to see if she would like some and she did. I am more than happy not to have to put them in the garbage can.

It leaves a nice space to add some new herbs for the winter, like parsley, chives and maybe some dwarf sage-if I can find it and of course some edible flowers like calendula and violas. The one dwarf sage plant, Salvia officinalis minum, I had died this summer. It was so well behaved that I regret its passing.

 Further along I have removed the purple basil which did not like the rain. Cilantro is beginning to germinate from last years seeds. I had to break a little piece off the seed leaf and roll it in my fingers to smell it. Yes! Cilantro. I did the same with another seedling growing in between the pavers-definitely parsley.

It was a bad year for my various thymes. The lemon and variegated thymes did poorly. Only the culinary one seems to make it from year to year, which is a good thing because I use a lot of both fresha nd dried thyme in cooking.

I'm hoping the Mexican mint marigold will flower this year as last year, for the very first time, it failed to flower. I don't see any flower buds yet.

I moved around into the front of the house to tackle a rather large agave that was in the way.  At one time we could walk across the creek and up some steps into the granite area. Delightful when it appeared from beneath the rocks it was now too big and impeding the way.

 If you have ever had the need to remove an agave then you know the only way to tackle it is to cut off the leaves one by one. I use a serrated knife. I suppose you would call that the easy bit of the job.

 Now to find someone to do the hard bit. David! And even he complained how difficult it was because the plant had come from up above and its root was firmly wedged under the rock. 

But there is more to be done. This one needs to go too so that once again we can walk up the steps.

But that will have to wait for another day. The buckets are full.

 
 

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH AGAVES

Texas is about to tuck another horrible summer under its belt. Undoubtedly the number will climb but as of yesterday we have had 51 triple digit days. I wish someone had kept a total of the 99s as well, because I am sure we have had plenty of those. But it is the lack of rainfall that has compounded its detrimental effect on many of our plants. But not the agaves.

It is the first time in a month that I walked out to look at how the front of the house had fared during the summer. This area is without irrigation so I was really pleased to see it looking so good. Those Agave weberi are truly the mainstay of my garden. I love the way they just push up under the rocks. I could never place them so well.
This is the very spot where David took down the dead live oak this year and I find I don't miss it at all. I will admit that David did work on removing the oaks sprouts that had come up over the summer. Probably a life long task.

I transplanted a few liatris corms out there last fall and there is a rather spindly Pride of Barbados which might now benefit from having a little more sun.

And plenty of Lindheimer senna has seeded in the dry creek. The larger area of decomposed granite is dotted with native lantana, a couple of Texas sage, some gopher plants, and once again this year two plains zinnias, Zinnia grandiflora.

There is also a small clump of Agave lophantha. 

Spring will bring bluebonnets to this area, as well as Mexican hats and a sprinkling of blanket flowers. But for now the Agaves hold the fort.

THERE'S A DRAGON IN THE GARDEN

There's a dragon in the garden and he's breathing his fiery breath over my plants.

The dragon was a chance find at an estate sale and as things are at the moment I thought he deserved a place over here.

Can it just be a 6 weeks ago that I was lamenting that 3" downpour on the day of the Fling visit to my garden. Since then we have been completely dry. While other gardeners were recently blessed with another 3" downpour, the storm passed to the north and left nothing here. My stock tanks are empty. This summer is wearing thin-wait a minute it isn't even summer yet. High nineties have been the order of the day for weeks now with a few 100s thrown in. The second flush of flowers, Monarda, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, day lilies have all had a pitifully short season this year. I'm sure I am partly to blame because the soil is poor and drip irrigation has minimal impact when it is so dry.

Who needs flowers anyway? Rocks look pretty good.

and there are plenty of the tough green plants.

The Liatris doesn't seem to need any additional water. In some places it is growing out of the rocks. It is growing everywhere in the front courtyard, having seeded freely, and will bloom with incredible purple spires in the fall........or will that be sooner this year.

Everything has gone quiet in the front courtyard. But that's OK. Less work for me.

Thank goodness for some very tough plants out in the front. These are the plants that manage without additional water although they may not look their absolute best.

And I have moved a few plants into the only shade I have in the side entry courtyard. Even cactus and succulents need a break and I shall be ready for one myself soon.

I have added a battery powered drip irrigation system in here for the summer to water a few plants that need a daily water when I can't be there to do it.

Including the asparagus fern by the garage door. Even the fish have moved into the shade.

There is rain in the forecast for this next week but then we know how that goes.

TAKE A WALK OUTSIDE, PART 1

If you have been to my garden you know that the house is completely surrounded by walls creating smaller gardens within. Outside we have 2 acres of juniper, oaks, persimmons, retama, agarita, growing on dry, dusty thin limestone soils. Around the house itself we have created garden areas which we think tie the land to the house. So I have two vastly different areas in which to garden.

This was the one area we employed someone to move the rocks, which form the dry creek, into position. I then dug down and added river rock to create the wet-weather creek running though this area. I have introduced agaves into the mix, for structure,  and anything that will grow without irrigation. These include the dwarf yaupon, Texas lantana,wax myrtle, rosemary, yucca, copper canyon daisy and Mexican feather grass. It is a sea of bluebonnets out here in the spring.

The dry creek runs all the way across the front directing water from our infrequent, heavy, Texas downpours. Plants seem happy to seed in the area but the soil is poor and dry and few attain any height. That is, all except for the A. weberi which are the most successful along with the zexmenia and the fall flowering Lindheimer senna.

The creek eventually passes in front of the garage where a pipe feeds any water underneath the driveway and into the real wet weather creek at the bottom of the property. There is little color out here during the summer but another explosion of yellow from the Copper canyon daisies, goldeneye and senna during the fall. A. Weberii is prodigious pup maker and the large ones came as young offsets from my neighbor. I now have plenty of my own to share.

Looking back towards the front entrance gate two turquoise pots hold Agave demettiana 'variegata' It is not hardy in our winters but it is worth putting in the garage for the winter. The original plantings of two sago palm are now in the ground. The one in the photo went unprotected this winter and all the leaves turned brown. The other, much smaller plant,  I was about to pull it, thinking it was dead, when I spotted some changes in the center core. It now has a small crown of green leaves. These plants have survived since the age of the dinosaurs which is a testament to their power to live through difficult conditions.

Beyond the garage we have a side entry. In England this would be referred to as the tradesman's entrance. A door by which the milk would be left or if someone was doing a job he would use this door if he wanted to contact the owner of the house. We use it quite differently. We invite our guests who come to visit the garden to enter this way. It is more convenient for a group to meet on the driveway under the large live oak tree before entering. Plus, the flow for a tour of the garden tour begins here and leaves by the front gate to pass around the outside wall into the other enclosed gardens.

Many of my potted cactus and succulents spend the summer here in the shade of the live oak tree.

Looking back from the platform you can see the large stones which David used to create steps down from the driveway. It was not an easy task deciding how to marry the rounded edge of the driveway to the native area. In the end we decided on the ledge stones. They all came out of the ground on our lot. Our personal quarry!

For a while we thought we would make this area into a Japanese garden, but it was never to become one. This summer I have spent a little time working to improve the area. I added this wooden pot found at a garage sale. A new stock tank pond is contained within a raised bed with some home-made floating islands. I am trying to get silver ponyfoot established around the tank. It is a difficult spot being in the shade until the brutal mid-day sun peaks over the roof-top and shines full on the tank. I am thinking I may need to add some plants on the backside to give shade to the tank.

If you enjoyed taking this walk with me then check back for next time when we'll continue a walk around the house to the back and far side.

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.