Monday, March 17, 2008

March Bloom Day...a little late.

I completely forgot about Bloom Day until it was too late to take pictures, so this month's chronicle is a day late. Compared to the other Austin garden bloggers, my garden still seems brown and sleepy. I completely forget to plan for this time of year with better evergreen structure and flowering bulbs. I did finally get around to adding some permanent color with three blue-glazed pots and several rose pillars spray-painted with what turned out to be a pimped-out glittery blue car paint (now I'm just waiting for the rest of my garden to bounce at stop lights).

You can see one of the blue pots, planted with Agave Americana, in the background:














Ok, this oft-photographed viola wins my own personal award for awesomeness in winter annuals. While the rest of my violas upped and seeded out the minute the weather warmed up, this one is still cool and perky when it's 94 degrees. I hope it sticks around for a while.
















Tangerine crossvine, blooming at last!





















Oxalis "Garnet," from The Natural Gardener. The pink is a bit loud for my taste, but I bought it for the cool mottled leaves. They have a distinct red-pink tinge when it's colder.

















Mexican Feathergrass, taking off:














A new purchase from Barton Springs Nursery, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick. I've never seen one grown in Texas, but when I was in college, there was a gorgeous specimen at the Allen Centennial Gardens, a short walk from my dorm. I love this tree for winter interest:





















Chinese witch hazel. It's a short distance from the redbud, and I suspect that
the bloom colors will match. A few more days, and I'll know for sure:














The aformentioned Agave Americana in a pot. I've been thinking a lot lately about hardscaping, color, and winter interest in my garden, and considering the possibilities within my budget. Last week I bought three matching blue-glazed pots to space throughout the garden, and hopefully guide the eye to some nice all-season views. So far two of the pots have been planted with the agave, and the third is waiting for a bed redesign. The pot by itself is heavy enough that I know once it's filled with dirt and extra-pointy agave, it's not going to be moved again any time soon. Anyway, I like the contrasts of the blues with the purple.



















Henbit and the first Blackfoot Daisy. I scattered so many bluebonnet, bachelor's button, and viola seeds there, and what came up, despite my faithful watering? Henbit. Sigh. I've had no luck so far with direct-sowing winter and spring flowers, which I find especially depressing when I add up how much I've spent on seeds. It's too bad I have equally lousy luck starting seeds in flats. Maybe the bluebonnets will sprout next spring? My fingers are crossed.













And yet another picture of "Marilyn's Choice" abutilon. The longer I have this plant, the more I like it. It flowers right through the extremes of Austin winter and always looks good. I'm hoping it can deal with the heat with as much grace as it's dealt with the cold. At Barton Springs Nursery last week, I saw a much, much larger version blooming in a pot. I'm hoping mine will grow up to look like that one. It's too bad I didn't have my camera.












9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like the Walking Stick--very cool. And I have henbit in bloom, too! Forgot to put it on my bloom day list.

Annie in Austin said...

Oh, you have nice intense, exciting stuff going on here, Lori! Those blue pots and agaves are really great looking.

Good luck with the Harry Lauder - one I wanted very badly in Illinois but never grew. My corkscrew willow was a substitute.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Unknown said...

Hi Lori,

I'm glad you commented on my blog, as it led me to yours (I've been latent, shall we say, in my blogging and in keeping up with newish blogs out there). Great stuff!

Can you tell me how you did the wire on your fences that you've trained the vines on? We've got a new privacy fence and I want to grow a slew of annual vines in the hopes that my yard will be cheery for an October wedding. But first I've got to figure out what the vines will hold onto. Yours look good.

Thanks!

Vivé said...

Hi Lori,

(Pardon the repeat commenting -- I didn't realize it wasn't my log-in on the computer.)

I'm glad you commented on my blog, as it led me to yours (I've been latent, shall we say, in my blogging and in keeping up with newish blogs out there). Great stuff!

Can you tell me how you did the wire on your fences that you've trained the vines on? We've got a new privacy fence and I want to grow a slew of annual vines in the hopes that my yard will be cheery for an October wedding. But first I've got to figure out what the vines will hold onto. Yours look good.

Thanks!

Jean Campbell said...

Love the blue pots. Love the violas. Henbit is cool, it has blooms. Just call it lamium as you're pulling it out before it seeds.

Hint for poppies: Don't plant all your seed at once. Try some in fall, plant more in the same spot in January, sprinkle a few more first of March, just in case. They don't want covering at all, need light to germinate.

Lori said...

Brianna - thanks! I'm hoping that the Walking Stick will like it in my garden.

Annie - Thanks- I'm really liking the pots as well. And as an added bonus, I have one maybe 3 feet away from the blue-grey electric box that just happens to be conveniently located in the middle of my flower bed (and badly hidden by bicolor iris), and now I find myself looking at the bright blue and agave instead of being annoyed by whoever it was who decided that smack-dab in the middle of the backyard was a great place for an electric box. ;)

Vive - I used two kinds of wire on my fence, and one is just cheap plastic mesh that looks like wire. I used two layers of wire to cover the entire fence. The top is galvanized chicken fencing, and I used that because it's extra-sturdy and I wanted to extend the privacy fence another foot higher and put evergreen vines on it, and also train a climbing rose up there where the air circulation and sun are better. You could probably get away with using only the grey plastic mesh if that's not a consideration. I got both kinds at Lowe's. You'll need two people, one to hold the roll of wire and keep it level, and one to use a staple gun with the U-shaped staples to get it to stick to the fence. The mesh is more tricky, actually, since it's a little like sewing with a fabric with bidirectional stretch. Instead of just tacking up the top as you go along, you'll probably want to do the top and bottom as you go along to make sure that it will lie flat when you're done. I can't wait to see how lovely your yard will look in October. :)

Jean - I'm going to have to try sowing poppies a few times a year. I've been admiring everyone else's poppies, and I can't even take the easy way out and buy them in flats like I did with bluebonnets, since nobody seems to sell them!

Anyway, thanks for commenting, everyone! :)

Anonymous said...

I know which abutilon you're talking about at BSN. It IS gorgeous. If you and other bloggers keep posting pics of your abutilons, I'm going to break down and get one too.

I love the way you've planted your walking stick. It's a great focal point. BSN is usually pretty good about carrying plants that grow well here, so I hope it succeeds for you. If it doesn't, I think trifoliate orange might be a good substitute.

Lori said...

Pam - It's ironic that you suggest a trifoliate orange, because I spent a long time looking at one @ BSN the last time I was there. But my roommate has one in a pot on my back deck, and it's not looking so hot...

That said, I did admire the picture of the incredible trifoliate orange that Bill posted @ Prairie Point recently, so who knows. It's pretty cool-looking. :)

jade said...

Once winter comes, I throw them out and when spring arrives, I make more. They're so cheap and easy to make - it's totally worth it. rod iron fence