Trellis Bed Tree and Vine Planting Completed

We finished installing the trees and vines in the beds at the base of the new trellis yesterday, and now I am praying that we don’t have a hard freeze tonight or tomorrow night. That would be unfortunate. We don’t usually get hard freezes here after March 15, so it would be kind of unusual, but the weather has become reliably unpredictable the past few years. I’m thinking about wrapping the vines and small trees in row cover just in case.

First Trellis Plants Purchased

I sent Ron to the Natural Gardener and Barton Springs Nursery today to search for the trees and vines that I selected to plant in the upper trellis beds. Much to my delight, he was able to find everything I wanted. We didn’t have time to plant them this evening, but we placed them in [...]

The Colors of Spring

Aside from having to deal with allergies, spring is a wonderful time of year. The garden is really coming to life now, and every day brings new blooms, birds, and insects. I find it is easy to get so busy with gardening ‘chores’ that I miss the changes taking place all around me. But today, the activity was so intense, and the colors so bright that I had to stop and take some pictures.

Trellis Project is Complete

Trellis construction is now complete and it looks really good. We found some copper covered post caps which tie in with the copper roofs of the bird houses that are mounted on the taller posts on either side of the stairs that lead to the lower garden. In keeping with the copper accents, I found some string lights with copper shades which I may purchase to string under the trellis, but I haven’t made up my mind on that purchase yet.

Retaining Wall Project Continues

I hope your holidays have been as restful and pleasant as ours have been. To be honest, I am not exactly looking forward to returning to work next week, but the weather is predicted to become cold and rainy on Monday and Tuesday so perhaps it won’t be as difficult a transition as it might be. Today it is lovely here. Not too windy, and quite warm.

Finally, Fall

Fall gardening is in full swing here, despite the warm afternoon temperatures. We have had a couple of mornings in the 40s this past week, which feels pretty brisk first thing in the morning, but by 9 am it is already getting warm. I was out harvesting jalapenos and tomatoes for salsa-making this afternoon when [...]

New Blooms and Veggies

I bought this The President Clematis from the Natural Gardener in the spring of this year, and it was green and covered with large purple blooms. I planted it in an eastern exposure where it gets full morning sun, and the top part of the plant gets midday and afternoon sun as well. There are garden sage plants at the foot of the plant to help shade the roots also. Several weeks after I planted it, the weather turned very hot and dry and all of the blooms fell off and the foliage started to turn a bit brown. No new growth was evident at all, until last week. There are now several new branches putting out leaves and setting flower buds. I am so pleased. I put this plant at the front entrance to the house hoping that it would be worthy of being showcased.

Nightshades, Ferns, Bamboos and Ponytail Palms

The front yard beds are full of volunteer nightshades that are now blooming profusely. I don’t know how many of these I have pulled, but they keep on sprouting, so I sort of gave up trying to remove all of them for the time being. I am keeping them from smothering and crowding the plants [...]

Rain and Moonflowers

At long last we got measurable rain last night. We are still in an extreme drought condition, and it looks like that will not change any time soon, but the half an inch of rain that we got yesterday was extremely welcome.

The moonflowers were opening this evening just before sundown, and I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the huge snow white blooms. I love the contrast of the white against the dark green foliage.

Texas Hill Country Garden Art

The previous owner of our house was a collector of many things, among them was old farm implements and tools. When we purchased the property we inherited these items. They have been scattered about and moved around over the years we have been here, but I just recently decided to use some of them as garden art. To be honest, my decision was prompted by a spot I saw a couple of weeks ago on Central Texas Gardener. They were featuring a Hill Country garden that included alot of garden art, some of which was old tools and farm implements. I got inspired and asked Ron to rustle up any artifacts that he could find laying around the property that looked interesting.

Watering and Weeding

It’s been five or six weeks since we have had a measurable rainfall. Add to that temperatures in the upper 90s and winds at 15-20 mph every day, and that equates to spending a whole lot of time watering just to keep everything alive. Even though almost everything I grow is either native to our area, or well adapted to the dry conditions and high temperatures, they still require a bit of water to keep going, especially when they are first getting established which many of my plants and trees are.

Garden Roses

I spied a butterfly on a parsley plant this morning, but by the time I grabbed my camera and got out to the herb and vegetable gardens to take some pictures of it he was no where to be found. So I took the opportunity to take a few pix of the Caldwell Pink rose near the arbor in the front courtyard area. This rose is growing like gang busters and is blooming profusely.

Can’t Get Enough Roses

Pictures and brief discussion about the progress of the front courtyard landscaping project.

Front Yard Project Continues

Well, it has been a while since I posted an update on our front courtyard project so I thought I would share a few photos showing the progress that has been made over the past couple of months. It has been very hot here for the past few weeks and some of the plants are [...]

As Good as it Gets

The weather here in Central Texas has been ‘as good as it gets’ for the past few weeks. The temperatures have been a little below normal, and the humidity has been low. Even the wind has been more gentle lately. All of this means that the gardens are growing rapidly. I am struggling to keep [...]