ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH, DEAR FRIENDS.

I can assure you Shakespeare was not thinking bluebonnets when he penned those words. But those words often come into my head at bluebonnet clearing time.

You may recall having seen this photograph earlier this year when the bluebonnets were at their peak. Who could not love this view of the front of our house? But what happened this year? In the past there were but a few bluebonnets in this dry creek. Almost all were in the larger area of granite to the right. It would suddenly seem that they prefer to be in the creek bed and I'm afraid I don't care for all the work that is involved in their removal from the rocks.

It took 2 hours to remove them followed by another hour of blowing and collecting. And then a further pass with the blower.

 On the second day I moved to the area closer to the entrance pathway. First the bluebonnets removed , then the raking of a mass of oak leaves secreted under the bluebonnets and then blowing and gathering. 

And in both areas there were other plants to remove, such as woolly stemodia, Stemodia lanata, that had crept over the wall and set down roots. lantana, Mexican feather grass, Stipa tennuisima,  and weeds. A few like gopher plants, Euphorbia rigida,  and trailing winecup, Callirhoe involucrata, and the native lantana , Lantana horrida, were allowed to stay-for now! 

David took care of the oak sprouts which have really taken over since we removed the failing oak tree. Nothing will stop them.

That accomplished I turned my attention to a bare spot in the corner of the wall. The Anacacho orchid tree, which over the years, had failed to thrive ( probably my fault) expired during the winter. But as luck would have it I had left the little oak tree that had seeded there and I moved a large pot that, was hidden among the trees out at the front, into the bare spot.  

And the color of the pot is a perfect match for the mirror boxes on the wall.

Just the dead fig ivy yet to remove!

And onto the much larger area, once a parking area. The removal of bluebonnets,  raking and blowing of oak leaves plus collecting and disposing took 2 days. Then the weeds. 

As you can see there are just a few plants remaining none of which are very inspiring but I will leave for now. The only plants that are sure to stay are the 4 plains zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora. How I wish there were more. I must look for seeds because the plants are never available at our local nurseries, and they bloom all summer long.

A few prickly pear, A. lophantha and liatris have survived and there are also a few rose campion, Lychnis coronaria, liatris,  and Liatris spicata, which have been pruned by the deer but the other plants have been safe so far. 

I have plans! We have some large flat rocks and I would like to make a walkway through this area with just a few select plants. I realize that it is not the desert but this is a garden I saw recently in Tucson and which I love. Surely I can do something similar? I'm definitely going to try. David!!!!!!

RIGHT PLANT WRONG PLACE, BLUEBONNET PURGE.

I couldn't help but smile when I read this. They are talking about bluebonnets, our Texas State flower.

"While it may be a myth that picking the beautiful blue flowers is illegal, conservation is crucial to preserving these delicate native plants"

Delicate native plants indeed! Not where I live. And I do believe the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center would agree with me on that. That is why they are smart to make a dedicated bluebonnet patch within their garden because otherwise the plant would just take over the whole garden.

 

That is exactly what happened in all of my inside gardens. I am asking myself why did I let this happen again because I have learnt from experience that if I let them grow in here I will spend hours pulling them after they are spent.  Not to mention the poor plants which struggle to grow beneath them and how it impedes walking through the garden. For the last three days I have pulled hundred, piling them in various places under the trees. If they ripen, all well and good, if not then I still have hundreds more whose seed I can collect for places where I want them to grow. It was imperative to remove them before the rain came....and it di. 4.2" over three soggy days.

Ah! The other plants in the gravel can breathe again. The skullcaps, Scutellaria sp.blackfoot dasies, Melampodium leucanthum, mealy blue sage. Salvia farinacea. These much more mannerly plants who will only occupy a small area. I am more than happy to have them brighten up the larger expanses of gravel.

An occasional ruby crystal grass or Mexican feather grass. 

My absolute favorite fro this gravel garden is the purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii, I prune it to a more rounded shape in the spring and scatter the seeds around in the fall.

The other players permitted to remain in this garden are ruby crystal grass, Melinus nerviglumis, Mexican feather grass, Nasella tennuisima and a modest amount of love-in-a-mist Nigella damascena.

I will remind myself next year that this is the look I prefer and certainly saves days of work.

THE TEXAS TWO STEP AND THE CHELSEA CHOP

Having a cottage-style garden is one of the most difficult gardens to have even though many say it is the easiest. It isn't just a matter of throwing out a few seeds and waiting for them to flower. It is trying to create a balance between those annual plants and perennials which carry the garden through the remaining months of the year. In Texas, because we have such a long growing season, a cottage garden will go through many changes and must be helped along at every step.  Texas Two Step is my term for that time when annuals have done their thing, set their seed and must now be pulled for tidiness sake. You sow them, you gather them.
Take this area of bluebonnets, a beautiful sight back in March.

Not looking quite so attractive by mid-May. This annual plant has made and thrown its seed and the dried, crispy remains of the plant must be removed for neatness sake. It's time for the Texas two step.

Having bluebonnets is a labor of love, but isn't all gardening. I have at least 8 areas of dried bluebonnets that I need to work on over the next week or so-if the weather would just cooperate. A stroll around the garden this morning made me realize that I won't be doing much of that today unless the sun comes out and pops those seed heads. But, I will be snipping some of the almost ready heads and storing in a brown paper bags or boxes until the fall.
But first up for the two step this week were the poppies. Those of ten thousand seeds. I'm guessing that like many wildflowers their seeds lie dormant in the ground waiting for me to disturb the soil, just like the poppies in the Flanders fields following WW1, so despite the fact that I have plums to reduce their numbers next year I am sure they will be back.
If you want these, and I do.

Then you must wait for this and hope to catch a few of them. Brown paper bags at the ready!

I am serious about collecting some of these this year because of a long term project we began two years ago. That of converting our septic field into a wildflower meadow. When the field was originally done I ordered 2 bags of wildflower seeds from Native American Seed with instruction for them to be added to the spray mix they use to cover the field. It wasn't enough to tell my builder and give him the bags with instruction for them to be put in the tank before they spread. It was never done.  I would plant seeds in the fall but nothing ever grew and then I discovered that the soil was probably to rich for them. For the past 3 years we have mowed and bagged and last fall I threw out blanket flowers and bluebonnets. It worked. These and so many more wildflowers showed up this year.

May 2019 on the septic field

The next Two-Step with be with Nigella,  Love-in-a mist. A cottage garden must have these.

Their seed pods put on a pretty good show too, but....

But there comes a time when they must be pulled too.

And the herb garden will hopefully take on a tidier appearance as I remove the parsley and cilantro once the seeds are ripe.

It's Chelsea Flower Show week and many gardeners in England adhere to the old rule of cutting back perennials by half at this time. The practice is known as The Chelsea Chop. I have quite a few plants that will get this treatment over the next couple of weeks. The roses, salvias, Mexican marigold mint, Copper Canyon daisy, mealy blue sage, the mint-I may even pull that out completely, oregano, basil, All of theses if left to continue growing will swamp the garden. I want them to look good right through to the fall. A little cut back will help them do that-and some summer rain.

A PROMISE

Yesterday I made a promise to myself. If the storm brings no rain to my garden, then I will start removing the bluebonnets. They were starting to fade and no longer looking their best. I knew I couldn't wait until they set seed. Pretty as they are and the wonderful fragrance that they bring when en masse, I just can't let them grow in here any more.

So, when no rain came, true to my promise, I began pulling. It was refreshing to be out there with clear air and blue skies. A change from those sticky, humid mornings.

I removed most of the bluebonnets, much to the relief of the plants growing beneath and, at 10:30 am left for the day. Who could imagine that pulling out so many plants would make me feel a whole lot better about my garden. It did. I feel as though I have gained back control. I can see the rocks again!

It was such a pretty evening that I couldn't resist getting out with the camera.

Now I just have to decide whether to let this pokeweed to continue growing.

OH ! THE MOST PERFECT MORNING

Sunday morning, we were having garden visitors and I was doing some tidying up. Once in a while it is good to remove the pots, rake, wheelbarrow, stray plants, gloves, multiple pairs of shoes and all manner of other paraphernalia I leave around the garden. When all is cleared away I wonder why I can't keep it looking this way all the time. But I can't.
So, the sun was already over the tree tops by the time I had finished and before I decided to get my camera out. The sunken garden was still in shadow and even though the poppies were still closed there was plenty of color.

Those tall spikes in the potager are Verbena bonariensis. I have often wondered how, in English gardens, those spires buried in among other plants in the herbaceous borders, reach such dizzying heights. Now I think it is a result of a milder winter like the one we just had. That crop of plants, bluebonnets, blanket flowers and verbena are all growing between the pavers. They look so pretty I don't have the heart to pull them out.

 I have pulled out bucket loads of bluebonnets this week. A few came into the house. They actually last quite a long time; probably glad to get away from all the overcrowding. Many came out of the English garden where it is now possible to see the stepping stones. But most came out of the front courtyard.

 It hardly look as though I have made a dent in the population.

In this one corner, which we created last year, bluebonnets came from no where. The corner receives little sunshine so when the rain came they flopped  and failed to recover. I feel much happier now that I can see the creek again.
No bluebonnets in the front garden next year. I distinctly remember uttering those words a few years ago.

THE BIG BLUEBONNET CLEAN UP

One of the things about having a huge bluebonnet display is dealing with the plants when they go to seed-or in some situations before they go to seed. I have decided that it is probably not a good idea to let them grow in the dry creek in front of the entry way. I enlisted David's help to remove these plants before they went to seed. The road runner is much happier to have the space back to himself.

The mirrored boxes on the wall are nearly 10years old. I saw the idea in a Sunset magazine and thought they would be just perfect for this wall. In the spring the cardinal usually spends a lot of time looking at his reflection in the mirror and pecking away at the intruder.

Continuing down the dry creek it feels good to be able to see the structure once again. I think I will be more selective next year in how many bluebonnets get to grow in here. It is always interesting to see what is growing underneath. A few feather grasses, mullein and one Texas sage seedling. Keepers for now.

The granite parking area is looking pretty bad but it will be a few more days before I can remove these plants. I went out yesterday to snip off some of the seed heads but most are not quite ready for cutting and pulling. It was fun to have the wonderful display but now I'm ready for a cleaner look.

Just a few blues remain in the entry courtyard. I am taking stock of what was growing underneath. This year there was an incredible seeding of blackfoot daisies in the gravel. Who gets to go and who gets to stay? More pulling to be done today.