As promised…

And my plumbego:

Spring and Fall are garden seasons in Texas!
April is always so beautiful, with the warm sun, cool breezes, and wildflowers that it’s torture to sit in front of a computer!

Right now all of these are blooming in my garden: azaleas, kholanche, salvias, roses, amaryllis, periwinkles left over from last summer, nasturtiums, lettuce and radishes (maybe I’ll remember to save the seeds!), plumbago, my culinary sage(!) has beautiful lavender flowers.
I love my nasturtiums! They are so cheerful and they were sooo easy from seed!

My Persimmon has tiny little orange flowers. One of my baby Pears (the Akers Home) looks like it’s trying to set fruit. The Satsuma may need some support—it’s very whippy. The little Fig has huge leaves. The neighbor’s Loquat has dropped fruit in our backyard, reminding me that I want to plant a couple of my own. ‘Coppertone’ loquat is as delicious as it is beautiful. The fruit has one large brown pit in it (as opposed to four small black ones), but the fruit is just as sweet as other loquats. And having only one pit means there are less membranes in the middle and more fruit. And it’s so nice to have fruit this time of year—from a tree that has no pests or diseases, has fragrant blooms in the winter, and is so ornamental.

My Magnolia is about to bloom! That’s one of the things I was happy about when we bought the house—I’ve always wanted a magnolia. The Crepe Myrtles have all leafed out.

I have enough lettuce to go on an all-salad diet. My Sugar Snap Peas are done, as are the Radishes. The Danvers Half Long Carrots and Hollow Crown Parsnips are finally almost ready to harvest—a month late for some reason. My Rainbow Chard and Red Mustard are finally recovering from the snail attack. My Cherry Tomatoes (Sungold, Juliet, and Texas Wild) are finally setting fruit.

I promise to get pics up soon–I’m having problems with my software right now.

Technorati Tags: flowers, fruit trees, Spring, vegetables

Love Halloween? You can have a black and orange garden all year!
(Having one bloom black and orange in time for Halloween is trickier: it depends on your climate.)

I like to mix two colors of the same flower for maximum impact.
Here are some suggestions for flowers that come in both black and orange:

Amaranths: I have a fondness for these strange flowers, and Amaranth ‘Oeschberg’ is almost black. Pair it with a bronze variety.

Asian Lilies come in black and orange. There are many varieties of orange—try “Apeldoorn.” For black, “Landini” is stunning.

Cosmos come in orange (“Cosmic Orange,” “Bright Lights,” and other varieties) and a dark brownish-black (Chocolate Cosmos.) Cosmos blooms in the summer but may hang on until Halloween in warmer climates.

Dahlias come in dark blackish-purple and also in orange. “Crossfield Ebony” is a nice dark pom pom; also check out Old House Gardens for some fabulous old-fashioned ones in both colors.

Daylilies come in many shades of orange, including the most common species-type. Plant them with “black” cultivars, including “Midnight Oil” and “Midnight Raider” which are a nice dark purple, or “Night Wings” which is a dark red but looks black most or the time.
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Technorati Tags: black flower, Garden, goth, Halloween

Everyone loves flowers. But not everyone loves to garden. It takes a certain personality to love digging and weeding and transplanting. Most garden experts cannot fathom this, and as a result, give the beginning gardener all sorts of advice about different types of fertilizers and plants, when all the person really wants is some flowers outside to look at.

Easy Flowers
The “easiest” flowers to grow are on shrubs and bulbs. Some perennials are easy, and can be used with the other two. Drive around your area and take pictures of what you like. If they grow well in your area, then they should be easy.

Many flowering shrubs only bloom in the spring or summer. That’s fine: just make sure you have different types that bloom different times of the year. Some shrub roses bloom throughout the year. Be careful when selecting roses! “Hybrid Tea” roses are NOT easy and require lots of care. If you want roses, choose easy-care shrub roses like Knockout and Belinda’s Dream.

Bulbs are the easiest flowers, and quite satisfying for the beginning gardener. You dig a hole, drop them in, cover them up with dirt, and then they later appear like magic! There are types that bloom at different times of the year. Choose at least one type that blooms in the early spring, late spring, summer, and fall.

Perennial flowers are so-called because they return year after year. That means you only have to plant them once, and that is what makes them easy. Like roses, there are fussy ones and easy ones. Different flowers do well in different areas, so what is fussy in my area may be easy in yours. Taking a look at what does well in all the neighbors’ yards will help you determine which to plant. Also, ask for advice at a small nursery where the workers know about plants.

Buying the Flowers
If you intend to buy plants at a big box store or large nursery you must know your zone, whether the bed tends to be wet or dry, and if it is sunny or shady. If you go to a small nursery that has helpful employees, all you need to know is if the bed is sunny or shady. At large nurseries and big box stores, the workers tend to be less knowledgeable and less likely to be able to answer your questions. And national chains stock plants that do well nation-wide, but not necessarily where you live!

Bring the pictures you took of the flowering shrubs and perennials you liked. Even at a big box store, someone should be able to point you towards the plant. Realize that most plants are only available at certain times of the year. Flowering shrubs and perennials tend to be in the stores when they are in bloom, so you will need to buy your spring bloomers in the spring and your summer bloomers in the summer. Read the labels, and select ones that will not get too big for your flower bed. Also pay attention to wet/dry, sunny/shady, and zone (this tells you whether the plant can stand the coldest weather where you live.) Most flowering plants prefer sun, but if your flower bed has to be placed where it is mostly shady, there are many flowering shrubs that do well in shade.

Bulbs are not available when they bloom, because they need to be planted a couple months ahead. Spring blooming bulbs are available in the fall, fall bloomers in the spring, and summer bloomers in the spring or fall. The package should have a picture of the flower, and information: bloom time, shady or sunny, wet or dry, and zones. Select bulbs that will do well in your flower bed.

Planting the Flowers (more…)

Gardening can be expensive…(trust me, stay away from mail order unless you’re chaparoned by a non-gardener!)

But it can also be very inexpensive.. even free!

That’s right: free. Stop the Ride has a great post on Low Cost (and Free) Flower Beds.

These tips can also be used for growing your own food. Use open-pollinated vegetables, and save your seed! Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization that encourages people to save and propagate heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. You can get seeds from them (but not free) and then collect seeds from then on.

Also, ask gardeners for soft wood cuttings from fruit trees and bushes. Free food is even better than free flowers!

When we see a beautiful flower, we put our nose to it. When we see a beautiful garden, we close our eyes and inhale. By creating a fragrant garden, we fulfill these expectations and create an olfactory as well as visual sensory delight.

Design
When designing a fragrant garden, consider how the garden will be used. Is the garden an entrance garden that people will move through? Does the garden have a seating area or place to linger? Will the garden primarily be seen (and smelled) through the window or from a screened-in porch? The placement of the fragrant plants depends on how the garden will be seen and used.

If the garden is situated around a path, then the plants need to be placed in such a way as to be enjoyed by people who are moving through the garden. Foliage that is fragrant when someone brushes against it is ideal for these situations. Herbal groundcovers, like thyme, will release their fragrance when they are stepped on. Place any fragrant blooms near the path, and consider covering parts of the path with arches and training flowering vines over the arches.

In a garden with a seating area, plants with wonderful but subtle smells can be enjoyed. Plant an arbor or gazebo with fragrant vines. Surround a patio with fragrant shrubs and perennials. Place containers with flowering annuals on a deck. Since people will linger, there is more opportunity to move close to enjoy an elusive scent. If you have a favorite fragrant plant, but one that whose scent is not strong, place it near an outdoor seating area.

Gardens that are enjoyed from afar can still be fragrant gardens. Pick plants whose fragrance wafts. Honeysuckle, jasmine, and some old garden roses are ideal. Any fragrance that knocks you over will find a home here. Frame the window or porch with fragrant vines and plant fragrant flowers under a window in order to maximize the experience and let the garden come inside.

Plant choices (more…)

Self-seeding annuals are a frugal gardener’s dream: they come back year after year with no cost to you! But, you have to enjoy a “wild” or “cottage” garden garden, and you have to take care of them.

Prepping the bed
Pick a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun a day, since most self-seeders like sun. Make sure it gets enough water, either rain or watering. Your garden bed has to be full of rich, nutritious, and fluffy soil. Why fluffy? It has to be lightweight or else the seeds won’t be able to germinate! Clay soil needs to be heavily amended or replaced. Adding top dressings of compost and fertilizer is a fabulous thing to do every year, but NO mulch. Mulch keeps weeds out of the garden by smothering weed seeds–you don’t want your seeds to be smothered, too!

Maintenance of the Self-Seeders (more…)