Colors continued
The vibrant colors in the garden this year are lovely. And even when petals fall to the floor in an area that is usually hidden behind a fence, there is a still a hint of prettiness to it all!
26 posts in 2017
Homemade pots and going to seed
So as not to have to take out a second mortgage just to finance my obsession with pots and planters, I found some stones at the back of the shed and had a go at making my own planter. And in tandem with everything bursting into life and taking over most of the garden, a few items are going to seed and it's time to collect the seeds in preparation for next year!
Bursts of color for April
Most of the time has been spent in the garden trying to manage the sudden burst of growth in so many different plants. Not much time for writing about it, but here are some pretty photos:
Easter
It was a low-key Easter on Cloverleaf this year but we still managed to hunt some eggs and enjoy some seasonal blooms with neighbours. Can you spot the hidden eggs? Before the egg hunters woke up, I enjoyed a cup of tea in Sylvia's robin mug and perused the back garden. Still so many jobs to do!
Poppies
I have some luck with California poppies on Cloverleaf, but this year I scattered a load of poppy seeds from my friend, Satch's garden. They've gone crazy--popped up all over the place. Love them.
Random blooms in April
It's all going great guns at Cloverleaf. Here's a few of the flowers blooming in the Texas spring
Mickey
We'll miss having this old boy relaxing with us in the garden. He was a goodie. Glad to have had sixteen years of his company
Larkspur
It may not last very long, but I really enjoy the masses of larkspur that spring up all around the garden. They have spread so much that there are plenty of stems to cut back for arrangements inside the house. It's pushing through the granite at the side of the car port and it's a nice screen for the cars and there's just enough room for a skinny path to walk by. Nothing like a bright purple flower to contrast the other greenery in the yard
New Project for March 2017
I've been debating what to do with the side garden at the back of the house for a while now. Over Christmas, Katie and I tried to find some large blue and white pots to match my patio collection but were unsuccessful. I'd also considered some modern metal planters. As I've been driving around checking out the spring stock at each of the local nurseries, I found myself drawn to the more rustic classic pots and decided to do an eclectic collection alone the fence. Despite my attempts to use my mini when I go to nurseries in order to limit my purchases, I always end up having to be creative to fit everything in! Here's how the project looks mid-completion.
Chinese Lanterns
I remember loving the paper thin exoticness of chinese lanterns in Wood Road. A couple of years ago, I found this abutilon plant which seemed to have a close resemblance to the orange blooms of Codsall. This year, the flurry of lanterns tripled and it's quite a show stopper.
Old Pals
March is the month of anticipation at Cloverleaf. And despite this being my fourth year of gardening, I still get concerned that some of my favorites won't make it through the couple of frosts we get. Luckily for me, these old faithfuls keep showing back up. Whether it be the bluebonnet, larkspur, pomegranate (which I'll revisit when it's in full bloom), or chinese ground orchid , it's always good when these guys show up for the springtime reunion.
Planet Earth
Although I'm able to stay out in the garden past dusk due to a handy corner street lamp, when it does get dark we've been watching Planet Earth. No snow leopards or hyenas are roaming our yard, but we do see the occasional wild beast
Green water bowl
I redesigned the area around the green water bowl. I heard Scot Ogden talk about moonlight gardens and decided to use that area to try out some silvery foliage and some plants that will look nice at dusk. We'll see...
Survivors
Despite it being a mild winter, we did have a couple of freezes that seemed to do more damage than in previous years. Fortunately, it looks like most of my faves have survived.
Attempting a drift
Inspired by the drifts of daffodils that brightened up a trip to England a few years ago, last autumn, I moved all of my bulbs into one area of my garden. This year, I get to see how they come up and whether I will need to rearrange. Here are the first few blooms.
Geraniums
And just like the begonias, I've amassed a few geraniums over the last couple of years. Deadheading geraniums is something I can picture both Sylvia and Katie doing, mid-conversation. Here's how 2017 is looking on the geranium front.
Revisit I
Here's a look at some of the plants that I shared a month or so ago. There's been quite a lot of growth and Chris' orchid addiction seems to be paying off, The yellow and black/purple orchid fascinates me and seems to change every morning
Begonias
I have somehow fallen into collecting begonias. Last year I only branched as far as the strawberry begonia, but this year I couldn't resist a couple of beauties from Red Barn Nursery - the Begonia Rex - Lalomie, the Angel wing Begonia "Sinbad', and the Begonia Cowardly Lion (what a fab name):
Roses
The abnormally warm winter in Austin means the roses are already popping! Two of my David Austin beauties (Molineux and Mayflower) are already blooming. So many blooms that I snipped a few to bring indoors. And of course, the very Texas friendly, knockout rose as well as a lovely coral rose. The light pink is a bush that was here when we moved in and has survived hardscaping and much mowing down over the years when we created the front yard area.
Orchid overload
After basketball this morning, I dragged Chris and Tom to the Orchid Sale at Zilker Botanical Gardens. Tom was not impressed, but Chris ended up buying 11 different plants. I'll make a gardener of him yet! One of my goals for this year is to learn more about the proper names for different plants so I'm including a photo of my attempt to capture both the look and the name of each plant from the start.
Haircuts
As Tom and Chris were out early this morning to get hair cuts, I thought I'd use my new hedger tool to give my grasses a haircut. Something tells me I'll have taken off more than Tom does!
Break through
Looks like spring is starting to sneakily break through into the garden. This morning, I noticed a couple of lovely ranunculus blooms, a peep of my orange esperansa, the mint beginning its takeover, and the poppies fighting back. Should be an interesting year. All these glimpses of the future motivated me to do the less exciting tasks like reviewing the irrigation system schedule for 2017.
Barren wasteland with just a glimmer of hope
The front and side garden look sad after being cut back drastically for winter. It's hard to imagine that in four months, I'll be pulling out perfectly good flowers to help with overcrowding. I do need to begin thinking about some shrubs that will add at least a bit of greenery during the winter months. For now, I'll hold onto the glimmer of color that is beginning to appear and will take over soon
Pots, Pansies, Petunias and more
The weather has been too contradictory to be able to really get our hands dirty in the garden. Instead, we managed to clean up and take care of some of the pots on the back patio. I think the black pansy is my current favorite
Fruits of my labor
My fruit trees look like they may not have survived the recent frost (a frost that was sandwiched between days in the high 70s). Just before their demise, I managed to pull off a couple of grapefruit, a lemon and an orange. The outer skin had black peck marks on it which looked unattractive but hadn't damaged the flesh inside. Turns out it was probably a hummingbird attack but the innards were not damaged. Looking forward to continuing to try to increase my fruit bounty in 2017
2017 New Year New Posts
According to Katie, I have to post to this blog at least four times a year in 2017. So here goes the first post! A quick selection of the rapid garden bed we planted between Christmas and the New Year This bed usually houses a giant orange Esperanza bush and loads of wild mint, but in the winter, it looks barren and sad. To brighten things up for our 7th annual Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day, Katie and I selected and bought a selection of goodies at the nursery and planted them within two hours. We felt like we were on an episode of Ground Force!