A CHILLY WIND BLOWS IN

We sat out in the front garden for lunch today. The temperature was only in the 40s but the front garden has a little more shelter from the cold north wind, even though it was gusty from time to time. We were both wearing jackets and needed the sun to keep us comfortable.

There are a few remaining seed heads on the Ruby Crystal grass, Melinus nerviglumis. This grass enjoys even more success than Mexican feather grass, Nasella tenuissima. In fact there is only one remaining in this garden, the crystal grass having taken over.

I like sitting outside because it gives me the chance to enjoy the garden as well as to decide on changes. As I was looking across at the bamboo in the pot I decided it needed to be refreshed with some paint and it was easy to decide what color to use. You can probably guess too.

At one point a drowsy bee appeared on the one remaining white cone flower. Echinacea purpurea 'white swan'

We dodged a freeze last night but it isn't looking good for the next two nights. I think it will be the end of many of the flowers tonight including the gomphrena grapes' Such a pity because they have really only just come into their glory having been nothing but foliage all summer long.

I picked some the other day for our dinner table. Friends commented on what a pretty centerpiece they made. As difficult to photograph on the table as they are in the garden.

Copper Canon daisy, Tagetes lemmonii,  has only just come into flower. I can't remember how this one fares in a frost as this one is weeks too early, but I suspect they will be gone by tomorrow.

and the Flame acanthus, Anisacanthus quadrifidus. No hummingbirds around anymore.

Two days ago the winter veggies were basking in the warm sun. A lone mullein just couldn't wait until next year having put on a spurt of growth and flowered within 2 weeks.

Now the beds are shrouded with blankets.

I think it may be the time for this gardener to have a break.

THE NEW, TIDY ME

I know, you have heard it all before, but this past week I came to grips with how I must keep my pathways clear. Once again it was becoming ridiculous, having to walk on the vegetable beds to get anywhere. And it was time to think about the fall/winter garden.

I will say that the cedar mulch I put down in the early summer did the trick. Very few weeds to contend with. I have already planted snow peas, kale, chard, broccoli and Napa cabbage. I tried a new idea for seeding this year. I heard on Gardeners' Question Time the idea of laying pieces of 2x4 on the bare ground and mulching over the top. That way when you are ready to plant seeds you just lift the 2x4 and bare earth awaits. I didn't have a 2x4 so I used a length of drain pipe.

I had to remove the mulch first, amend the soil and then lay the mulch back down. It seems to work and arugula seeds planted 3 days ago are already germinating.
Napa cabbage is really coming along.

I am pleased to say I have limes this year. After my concern about the distorted flowers on the tree we have a nice crop.

Mexican limes

There are plenty of Meyer lemons but they are the smallest fruit I have ever seen. I shall have to blame that on the lack of summer rain although it may be they need root pruning. Either way the soil needs replenishing in the pots as in some cases it is 6" below the pot rim. No other lemon compares with a Meyer lemon.

I am feeling rather pleased with my new-found tidy look and moving next to the long vegetable beds. More of a challenge.

WHAT I DID TODAY

I was surprised....... by flower on the crinum lily, Crinum procerum 'splendens' in my water garden.

I emptied......... the three outside water tanks, filled the rain barrels in the garden and watered all the plants. It's going to rain this weekend!

I watered.... the flowers growing between the pavers in the potager.

I collected.....seeds from the red spider zinnia.

I potted up.......snapdragons and violas from their 6 packs into 4" pots. They will spend a couple of weeks in the greenhouse until they have made new roots, making them easier to transplant.

I noted.......that the wonderful, fragrant Felicia might need a trellis on which to twine next year.

I jumped over...... the narrow leaf zinnias growing in the pathways between the vegetable beds.

I decided........ that the Philippine violet was at the peak of its bloom.

I resolved ..... to  thin the baby pak choi for tomorrow evenings dinner.

I gave.... the Aloe marlothii a new pot.

It is so happy.

I realized....... that it is time to take lots of cuttings to save for next year.

I did a lot of other things too. Like tackling the fire ant problem and weeding and sowing but the fun bit is always just walking around with the camera.
What did you do today?

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!

IT'S EASY TO GIVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION

It is all too easy to make it look as though your garden is nothing but perfection. The tight shot of that beautiful blooming plant belies what is going on around it. The same is true of wider shots of the garden. They may not be all they seem. At least to the owner/gardener.

Take this shot of the dry creek taken from the driveway. Your eye might pass over all that green growth in the gravel. It is a mixture of zexmenia, feather grass and oak sprouts with a few rain lilies thrown in. It will probably take a whole morning to clean up to my satisfaction. If you have live oak trees you know the oak sprouts just keep coming back and have to be trimmed time and time again.The granite area you see at the top of the picture is another story.

When we took out the two large Texas sage bushes that had seeded in the granite I felt quite relieved. I loved the cleaner look. Well, I learnt something new about this plant. If you leave a little piece of root behind it will grow into a new plant. So there were 15 new Texas sage growing up, clustered together. I should have just taken a few pieces of root and stuck them in the ground in a place where I would like this bush to grow. Of course, I have potted them up until they make a good root mass and I can put them where I want them. It took an hour of my gardening time this morning.

I have mixed feelings about this scenario. Bluebonnet seedlings. Do they really have to clump together like this. I feel the need to save them from strangling each other. There are so many other places I would like to see them. The good news is that I am going to need some extras having discovered this morning that the decollate snails have a taste for the the seed leaves. They have eaten every one in my front garden. So having discovered this I spent an hour searching and removing every snail I could find. It's rather difficult for a snail to dig itself in in the gravel. Its broken cone is always sticking up in the air.

Down on my hands and knees I noticed this little plant beneath the Weber's agave. Is it a ghostly Eryngo? I have never grown this plant so I have no idea where it came from.

I also spotted something else growing and I am hoping it is standing cypress, Ipomopsis rubra. Will it send up that gorgeous red flower stalk next spring?

I couldn't possibly remove this frost weed, Verbesina virginica, even though it is crowding out the rose and spineless prickly pear at the back of the pool. You don't get to see the wide shot! In previous years it was on the berm outside the walls. I may never get to see the frosty stems when we have our first freeze because by then it will be long gone. For now the bees and I will enjoy the pretty white flowers.

The potager may look reasonably tidy but you should see all the weeds. It's a nightmare!

A WEEK OF YANKING

It finally got to me. Yes, I could no longer stand the plants in the pathways. Tired of doing my "Ministry of Silly Walks" walk. Long strides over bluebonnets and swatting aside the Verbena. Sprawling blanket flowers everywhere. They all came out.

Well, most of them.

I left this Verbena bonariensis, so loved by all the butterflies.

and this native mullein, as long as its leaves look attractive.

I then turned my attention to a corner of the upper level of the sunken garden. Three large columbines were looking decidedly sick from lack of water. When in doubt add another rock! This one was no mean size, being rather like an iceberg. This is a favorite spot for plants as the area escapes the blasting afternoon sun. I had a couple of Festuca glauca which I grew from seed and a Gomphrena globosa x fireworks. A couple of narrow leaf zinnias should finish off the spot.
I also took out a lot of plants in the sunken garden. Poppies galore this year.

A good tidy up can certainly make you feel a lot better. Now, please send us some rain.