Lubbock Arboretum Plant Sale 2015

Despite the wind the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum was able to host another successful plant sale. The spring plant sale is their annual fundraiser that helps keep the arboretum, which is run by volunteers, going.

I planned only to buy one plant as a way of showing my support for the place but as usually ended up buying several in addition to 8 packets of flower seeds (they were only 25 cents each) and a practically new cottage garden book. What a deal!

After paying for the plants and tucking them into the car I headed back into the arboretum to explore the grounds. My favorite spot was the wildflower garden with its curving gravel pathways. It was established in 2013 in honor of two of their volunteers. There were several gardens, from the size of a small pocket rock bed to the large wildflower beds, that had been created in honor of someone and plaques were attached to rock formations nearby. I suspect those honored either paid for their gardens or their family did.

Many of the wildflowers have not yet bloomed. I'll have to come back next month and take new photos. I bet this garden is spectacular when in full bloom. 

 I really like the use of rocks, flagstone and gravel throughout the gardens. The Arboretum is definitely a strolling-type garden and several other people were walking around checking out the flowers.

 I hadn't realize how far back the grounds went and was delighted to find several sitting ares with stone benches and pergolas.

This was a grouping of 6 large stone seats with an open circular place in front that seemed made for hosting a small wedding or a small church sermon. The trees surrounding it have not yet filled out with leaves.

 Some of flowers were in bloom already. Pictured here are hardy Gladiolas and Irises. The Winecups next to the Irises haven't yet sent up flower buds but they must be close.

These pink Evening Primroses are doing well in the semi-shade. I've killed it in my own garden the two times I tried growing it. 

The few Poppies that were blooming were gorgeous. I bought some poppy seeds in the sale so fingers crossed I'll have some next year in my garden.

Finally, the irises lovely. I especially liked the black one with gold specks that seemed to shimmer. Took a photo of it but it doesn't show off the glow well so I uploaded this one instead.

Scented Irises

The Iris display this year has been good. Generally 20-25% of the irises bloom while the remainder give me nothing but leaves. Don't know why. Even after dividing and transplanting that ratio seems to hold up.

 

Only 1 Dutch Iris bloomed this year. The other five bulbs probably died due to the prolonged drought.

The surprise has been the reminder that the majority of the tall purple irises blooming are scented. Heavily scented to my delight. They were pass along plants from a colleague who think they might have been "Memphis Belle" irises. 

 This lovely pink iris was another pass along from a different colleague. Unfortunately it's planted underneath what is now a 7 foot tall rose bush and not getting enough sunlight. Guess I'll have to dig it up in the fall and move it.

The other purple iris I have is a smaller one, faintly scented one that grows between 12-15 inches tall. It's not very impressive. The local Garden and Art Center is having their annual plant sale next weekend and I plan to dig up some irises and daylilies to donate to the sale. Particularly the daylilies, which have run amuck everywhere. Since I'm not certain what color the unblooming irises are I'll just have to label them purple since 90 % of the blooming ones over the years have been purple. Don't think the plant sale folks will care since they specifically asked me last year for irises. Plus, maybe I'll get lucky and find a different colored one at the plant sale. Would love to have more pink ones and add yellow ones to the strolling garden.

Pinks in the Cottage Garden

A flower that fits perfectly in a cottage style garden is Dianthus, commonly called Pinks. They can be perennials in many places.

And they're filly flowers are so cheerful and attractive to butterflies, Hummingbirds, and Hummingbird moths.

Sadly, they don't seem to survive here in West Texas for longer than 2-3 years. I suspect the hard water has something to do with that.

I got several pots on clearance for $1 in late fall at Lowe's and not only did they survive but they're blooming like crazy.

They also have a nice spicy clove scent. Every cottage garden should have scented flowers. More so when one has a strolling garden that's meant to be traveled regularly.

 Have you planted any pinks in your garden?

Climbing Clematis

Spring came to my garden while I was away for working. The clematis are doing well this year and are covered with buds.

 I planted two varieties at the base of a Climbing America rose bush several years ago. They really haven't grown as tall as I expected but the blossoms are so lovely I don't care.

 I think the purple one is H. F Young but I can't remember what the white one was. The number of blossoms this year is another sign that perhaps we've finally come out of the severe drought cycle and returned to the normal precipitation cycle in West Texas.

Budding Out

The end of March is almost here and the garden is seeing its first signs of color. The three varieties of daffodils have started blooming in the beds.

It's always a nice treat when bulbs, forgotten from the previous seasons, reappear to show off their glory. 

The trees have also all flowered. I'd forgotten how pungent the fruit-less Cleveland Pear tree's blossoms could get. But then they only linger around for about 2 weeks, thank goodness. Pretty flowers, stinky smell.

The pink blossoms of the dwarf peach tree are small but lovely and make a nice contrast with the shiny green leaves.

The clematis already has several buds on it. The gladiola bulbs have broken ground as have the lilies. Yesterday was a productive day in the garden. Planted a small Gala apple tree near last year's Yellow Delicious apple true. They might be planted a little too closely but we'll see. My tiny backyard is getting rather full and there won't be much planting space for large bushes and trees soon. Despite that, I'll probably try to cram another dwarf tree in a bare spot by the back gate. I was also able to divide several Pincushion plants, Salvias, and Tickseeds and replant them. Next month I'll need to divide up some of the Iris and daylilies to donate to the Garden and Arts Center's annual plant sale.

My plans for taking additional photos today was derailed by strong winds so I'll defer that to another day.

So Ready for Spring

Today's a little chillier than I expected and the sun disappeared after about an hour. Gray clouds have moved in so the 20% chance of rain might actually happen tonight. I am so ready for spring to be here so I can start planting seeds and visiting the nurseries. Meanwhile, these vivid garden stakes will have to bring color to the otherwise dull landscape. Got the pair for a steal at Ross. Found one exactly like them last year though unfortunately the color has faded away to a coppery tone.

The first of the daffodils began blooming today. Two whole flowers with more to come. [This picture is supposed to be horizontal. For some bizarre reason Blogger turned it into a vertical image. Very annoying]

2015 is looking good precipitation-wise so far. More rain is predicted this week. Hoping it continues and later this spring I can begin replacing the lily bulbs that dried up during the drought. No cottage garden is complete without scented lilies. Also have selected bare spots in the garden for more miniature roses, which have become a favorite. Looks like this week's snow killed one of the two mini roses I planted in early fall. And of course it was the peachy-pink toned one that I like best of the two. Oh well, just means I get to do more plant shopping soon.

The Beauty of Snow

Lite freezing rain fell in the early AM hours, leaving behind a cool ice crystal-like effect on the tree limbs, plants and other hard surfaces. And the lack of much wind today made it possible to walk around and check out the front and back yard, shoot a few photos, and then put out a bowl of water for the greedy birds flocking to my back yard to fill up on the birdseed I scattered liberally around the yard and into the bird feeders. 

 My neighbors probably shook their heads at the sight of me (in flip flops no less) scooping up snow and ice off the sidewalks and drive ways to dump the piles into the flower beds. Snow is fabulous in that it melts slowly and thus the moisture is absorbed gently and deeply into the ground. 

 And, unlike the water that comes from the sprinklers and hose, the melted snow doesn't contain hard minerals the way our hard water does. I also collected a plastic tub full of snow in order to have  water later this week to dump on the garden beds. I live in a semi-arid area that has been in severe drought for 4 years. When rare rain or snow falls, the buckets and tubs for capturing the water comes out. Free water is nothing to sneeze at, especially with our water rates raising every few years.

Old Man Winter returns

Today Old Man Winter returned to West Texas with a vengeance, dropping over 4 inches of snow in the city of Lubbock alone before 10 am. North of Lubbock received even more snow. Schools, many businesses, public libraries, and city offices were closed for the day. The inconvenience of all the snow will eventually be greatly appreciated in the form of moisture once it melts.

This area of West Texas finally got off of the national drought chart's abnormally dry ranking.

What's the drought been like? Lubbock's normal annual rainfall is between 18-24 inches.
2011 - 5.86 inches
2012 -11.43 inches
2013 - 12.61 inches
2014 - 22.56 inches

Fingers crossed in 2015 we will continue to receive normal rainfall and not fall back into the drought cycle.

Meanwhile, I'm rather bummed that the cold has killed off the flower blossoms on my 2 year old plum tree. The daily yo-yoing of temperatures in January-February from freezing to summer warmth is normal and unfortunately causes plants and trees, especially fruit trees, to start leafing out far too early. Guess there will be no plums again this year. All the rose bushes were heavily leafing out too but those will rebound by late spring. Ah, well, some moisture, even if it's ice cold, is better than none at all.

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.