A Windy Spring Day on the Plains

2014 so far is shaping up to be a bummer of a year. We've barely gotten over an inch of rain and the local weather forecasters are not optimistic about much precipitation in the next two weeks. What we are receiving is a lot of wind, which is normal in West Texas. Yesterday and today we're experiencing high winds so there's not much gardening going on. However, the yesterday morning was decent and the Lubbock Arboretum held its annual plant sale. The Arboretum relies heavily its small devoted group of volunteers and donations from the public. They are a prime example of an local group doing the best they can with very limited resources.

A bed of May Night salvias beckons visits to sit a spell at the entrance to the Arboretum.

Besides plants, there were rain barrels and seeds available for purchase. As soon as the obnoxious winds settle down in two days I can plant the Bush Zinnia and Love in a Mist seeds I purchased.

Since I was already there I took the opportunity to sign up as a member of the Arboretum and strolled around a small section of the grounds to check out what was growing and blooming. Isn't this a sweet little two story birdhouse?

 

Not sure what this is pretty purple flower is as unfortunately there was no accompanying plant tag. 

Entrance into the Arboretum where a tent was set up for visitors to pay for their plant purchases. The volunteers actually had to take the tent down around 11:30 due to the wind repeatedly knocking it down.

Texas Gold Columbines putting on a lush show. Below is a purple variety growing next to the gold ones.

The pink wildflower below is supposed to be easy to grow here but I've killed it the two times I've tried to grow it.

View down one of the many crushed gravel walkways at the Arboretum.

Not sure what these yellow flowers were but they seemed happy growing in various beds along the walkways.

This was a nice looking Euphorbia plant. I've never planted them in my garden due to the sap being an irritant but they are structurally attractive plants.

Last weekend I spent several hours dividing my daylilies and dragged down three bags full to donate for the sale. I ran out of steam before getting around to dividing the irises, which is pity since one of the volunteers told me Saturday morning that they'd had several requests for irises by visitors to the plant sale. So my goal this summer to to photograph the various irises when they bloom to document what colors they are and then next year when I dig some up for the plant sale I can print out pictures to accompany the plants. The reblooming, scented daylilies I donated this year sold out fast I was told so I'll try to donate a few more of those next year too.

What's fourishing in the garden this year part 2

As I happily listen to the rare sound of rain and thunder, something I haven't heard for almost two months, it's good to reflect back to more of the gardening successes in the strolling garden this year. I had the best results from seeds this year than ever before. The zinnias were awesome and have bloomed for over three months. I planted two tall varieties and there are still buds on them now. I plan to scatter more seeds around the garden next year to attract even more butterflies and bees to the garden. I've also seen a lot of Hummingbird moths buzzing around. They're so much fun to watch diving around the garden and thankfully Miss Penny the Pill hasn't caught any as she stalks around the garden on the lookout for intruders to her yard.

The zinnas grew up to three feet and were a non-stop riot of color. Loved them.

The zinnas were great companion plants to the Scabiosa, Sedum, Salvia, and roses.

Another plant from seed that did well this year were the Cosmos. They did so well in fact that they became a bit of a problem because apparently I didn't read the packaging well and planted them in front of the bed. When they grew to be over five feet tall it became difficult to weed and reach all the plants and herbs behind them this summer. I finally chopped them all down this weekend and have a large vase full of pink cosmos to enjoy from the bummer crop.

They bloomed in various shades of pink, white and burgandy. But mostly pink.

 The Zebrina Mallow reseeded like crazy the second year and was covered with blooms all summer too. It's so much better behaved than its much taller hollyhock cousin, of which I've had to pull out many this year due to their overgrowth and reseeded everywhere. Hollyhocks are so wonderful in a cottage garden but on the windy plains they're often growing sideways and falling over.

Well, off to read a good book and enjoy the steady pitter patter of rain. If only I could have one day a week of this. We're still over six inches below our average, which runs between 18-24 inches a year, and today's steady rain is a god send to parched West Texas.

What's flourishing in the garden this year part 1

The strolling garden is doing much better this year due to better rainfall (though we are still under the normal average rainfall) and less days of triple digit temperatures. The herb circle is now in phase three. The first, pictured below, was heavy on chamomile and dill plants that had reseeded from last year. Nice fragrant combination and I love the little cheerful flower heads of the chamomile.

The caterpillars love the dill and chew it down to the ground but there's so much of it reseeded, including in the grass, that I had plenty of full grown dill plants with their fragrant umbrella-shaped seed heads. I always make a point of brushing against the plants to release their scent too. Pity I dislike salmon as dill goes so well with it.

The second phase of the herb circle was dominated by the reseeded Dalhberg Daises, which I am grateful for since it's very difficult to find these in plant or seed form locally. I planted two six packs 3 years ago and they came back this year. Their nice spicy scent is a favorite of mine. Miss Penny the Pill here enjoys padding through the circle on her daily marches around the yard as she secures her yard from other trespassing felines. Quite a feat for her since the neighbor seems to be collecting cats and then letting them roam free to terrorize the rest of the neighborhood. The next phase will be the Gaillardias at the front of the circle which have now developed flower buds and will eventually brighten up the circle with its red-orange flowers that beckon the butterflies and bees to linger longer in the garden.

Salvia is the garden plant that keeps on giving. It blooms it's heart out, gets a severe trim to clear out the spent flowers, and then sends out more flower spikes within 6 weeks. I have three varieties that I've been transplanting around the front and back yard over the last four years. Love the white and purple color combination of the three varieties and the yellow Coreopsis likes to reseed itself among the salvia, making for a vibrant color combination. Don't think I could ever have a garden without some salvia plants.

The Flame Acanthus, also known as Hummingbird Bush, is gorgeous when in full bloom. Haven't seen any hummingbirds since the severe drought started three years ago but there are plenty of butterflies and hummingbird moths that flit around it.

Amazingly, I have managed to grow one hearty bush of marigolds. This is quite a feat considering I have killed every marigold plant I've tried to grow. Sad, I know, considering it's labeled "the plant you can't kill" and it's grown in children's gardens. The plant below was grown from seed and has been blooming non-stop for almost two months now. My grandmother, from whom I inherited the gardening bug, always had marigolds around her little house that she'd grown from seed and so there's a lot of sentiment attached to this plant which is why I keep trying to grow it despite failure year after year.

 And finally, the Verbena Bonarensis from last year came back and flowered from over two months. I cut it back down to the ground this week after it was done flowering and hopefully it'll come back next year. The butterflies loved it too and I loved the height it added to the back of the bed.

Summer Recap

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last posted. In the last two months we've had the usual constant sunshine and ever present wind, but we've also been very blessed with rainfall. To the point where we're up to around 9 inches for the year, which while under our normal amount of rainfall is still more than last year. And the difference is so apparent in the garden. It's so much greener and lusher than last year. The wind's pretty strong today, making taking any decent garden pictures impossible, so I'm posting some pictures I took earlier in the summer.

Finally gave into temptation and purchased the cute little potting table from World Market I'd been eyeing for two years. It was fairly easy to put together and has been sealed with waterproofing. It's tucked against the wall near the garden gate and adds some vertical interest to the garden. To the left of the table you'll notice the daylilies are doing amazingly this year. In fact, the entire garden is the best it's been in over 3 years.

The larkspur, whose color never seems to film well, went gangbusters this year. And the Gaillardia looks stunning in contrast to the vivid purples of the larkspur.

I have no idea what this plant is. The tag said the tiny plant would grow up to be a foxglove. This isn't a foxglove. It took a year to finally bloom and put out these large cup-shaped white flowers which had a strong vanilla-ish scent that the bees and butterflies adored. And the flowers lasted for a good two months. The down side was the plant got so top heavy the tall stalks flopped over and flattened the plants around it. Anyone have an idea what this plant is?

Love the spring combination of yellows and blues. The Tickseed Coreopsis reseeded underneath to add a golden sea under the roses and larkspur.

Another view of the showy larkspur display. The cute garden bench is from World Market. The cushion is starting to tear apart in the second year so I'm planning to buy some waterproof fabric and recover it.

 The larkspur blocked the pathway through one of the arbors but was so pretty I waited until the blooms started to wane before pulling it out. I also removed the flower bed in the background as it never did that well and constantly pulling out the grass was a losing battle. The bistro set works better in that spot.

The salvia, pincushion, and snapdragons were very happy in the east side beds. Found the cute owl stand and snail at Ross. As the garden is maturing now I've been adding more fun bric-a-brac accents like these to add some whimsy to the garden. It wouldn't be cottage garden without whimsy and bric-a-bracs.

Penny the Pill, aka the garden cat, loves all the cushioning added to the garden bench. As do I. It's the perfect spot to relax and enjoy the color of the strolling garden.

One thing I do need to do eventually is find another site to host my garden blog. Blogger is an absolute nightmare to work with. It took 7 tries and two different browsers to be able to add images today and even then trying to change the order of the images was difficult. Any suggestions for a different blog site?

Anyway, Happy Fertilizer Friday! My garden's doing lovely. How about yours? Visit Tootsie Time to see who else is participating in "Fertilizer Friday" and showing off what's blooming in their gardens.

Fertilizer Friday, May 31st - The Roses

The Strolling Garden is a flush with color, blossoms and bees this month. Not a drop of rain, despite all the storm systems in the area in the last two week so thank goodness for the sprinkler system and hand watering. We're on water restrictions so the sprinklers can only run at certain hours and only twice a week. The rest of the time I'm out in the garden at either early morning or dusk handwatering close to the base of the plants and changing out the water for the birds. A blackbird has been visiting this month which is exciting as I've never had one visit before. But onto the purpose of today's post - the roses. I have about 25 rose bushes of different variety planted around the house and they are all in full bloom.

Here's the front side bed by the drive way in full bloom. Planted this in the hopes of keeping the obnoxious neighbors on their side of the property line but the kids used the plants as 1st and 3rd base for the dodge ball games, at least until the bushes were about 2 years old. With all the thorns they don't mess with the flowers as much anymore.

I have two Peace Roses in the front side bed and they're fabulous bloomers. Completely understand now why my co-workers love this variety of rose.

Heirloom is a steely heather colored rose with the most intoxicating scent. Should have planted this in the backyard so I could better enjoy it.

Can't remember what the name of this white shrub rose is but it blooms all summer long and is covered with large white flowers.

The "Kordes' Perfecta" Rose tag said it was going to bloom pink but it actually blooms yellow and fades to white. Pretty with a sweet scent and you can't have a garden in Texas without a yellow rose.

Queen Elizabeth lives up to her name with her tall, stately shape and elegant pink blossoms. One of my favorites among the roses I've planted.

This unnamed miniature rose has a vibrant orange color and faint scent. One of my cheap clearance finds at Lowe's three years ago.

The Love Rose looks better from a distance as the underside is a lighter color and it looks a bit messy up close. However, it does bloom like crazy. 

The yellow one is an unknown variety since the tag said it was going to be a pink one. Ah, the dangers of buying a plant that has yet to bloom - like a box of chocolates you never know what you'll get. 

This little miniature rose is a cheerful rainbow of color. Another cheap clearance Lowe's plant that is doing well in my garden. The shade from the Cleveland Pear tree I plant back in October is probably part of the reason it's doing so well.

 

Finally, Pinata is a climbing rose that blooms in shades of yellow, orange, pink and red. It grows slower than my other climbing roses and is worth considering for your garden. Also has a light scent too. Ever notice a lot of modern roses today don't have much of a scent? Which is a pity because the scent is part of the reason we all love roses.

Well, these are some of the roses blooming in my garden this week. How about yours? Visit Tootsie Time to see who else is participating in "Fertilizer Friday" and showing off what's blooming in their gardens.

May 15th Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

It's been a while since I updated the strolling garden blog but now that things are green and starting to bloom I hope to update more regularly. The rain situation is still dire out here in West Texas. Rain is hit and miss here and the Lubbock area has not had even 3 inches since January. Cotton farmers have delayed their plantings in the hopes that May rains would occur but so far we've only mostly had a few sprinkles with little measurable rain. And the temperatures are suppose to hit the high 90s before the end of the week. Not good news. We just need a good, long soaking rain to penetrate the ground.

All is not bad news though. The garden is green, vibrant and blooming this month. It's easy to forget we're in year three of severe drought when wandering around in my back garden. The fence repairman made my day when he described my garden as "zen" as he walked around checking out the plants. And I didn't even prompt him. Blooming abvoe is snapdragons, dianthus, pincushion flower, and and purple salvia. The irises, hollyhocks, shasta daisy, and rose blooms are still to come. The wonderful thing about this whole grouping is that it is all perennial to my garden. Didn't have to plant one thing here this year as it all came back from last year.

Close up of the angel statue and rose bush planted in honor of Basil, my sweet tabby cat who passed away. If you want a very robust, striking plant that will keep multiplying I recommend this white saliva plant. I had three originally and have dug up seedlings to put all over the garden. Great as a background filler plant. It does spread out though, so give it some room.

This pretty, small (not even 2 ft. tall) iris bloomed unexpectedly this past weekend. It's the first time in 5 years it has bloomed since I planted it and I adore the color. Softer colors such as pastels and particularly blue-purples stand up to the intense sunlight and heat of West Texas better it seems. I have probably 100 irises scattered around my small suburban property but only about 20 percent ever bloom each year. I must be planting them too deep, or rather the dirt shifts over the bulbs due to dust storms and watering.

Neepeta Walker's Low is a must for the small garden. Blooms for months, the blue colored flowers are like a soft blue cloud in a flower bed, and the bees love it. I'm afraid of bees, and especially wasps, and yet I want to encourage the bees to come into the garden to pollinate the plants and the fruit trees I've planted this spring.

Been dividing the pincushion plants and spreading them around the garden. Awesome plant and I like how their blue heads bob and sway in the wind, which is something we never seem to lack out on the open plains here. The larkspur has reseeded everywhere in the grass and I've been slowly removing it by hand. Will have to get the lawnmower to finish off the rest otherwise the walking path is hard to navigate. Penny the Pill, my garden cat, loves to romping around in the larkspur stalks but she's very naughty and uses it for camoflauge as she tries to sneak closer to the birds feeding in the center of the garden. She gets rather dismayed when I reveal her location to the birds.

The Zebra Mallow got its first flowers this weekend too. They're only about 2 ft. tall and so much better behaved than their taller cousins the hollyhock, which are reseeding everywhere. Have chopped down the same hollyhock plant underneath the dining room kitchen twice now and will probably have to do it again. It would grow to 8 feet tall and block the window otherwise.

One of three clematis blossoms so far. The vines were doing so well and had climbed up to 4 feet on the Climbing America rosebush when three rounds of late spring freezes, the last one being last week which broke a weather record here, killed most of the buds and leaves. Doubt I'll get much of a clematis display this year.

There's lots more blooming in the strolling garden. I'll post more later. Meanwhile, please check out what's blooming in other gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.