50 Shades of Pink|Hardy Agaves|Repot Succulents

Thursday, July 26th, 2012 Posted in Agave celsii, Crinum lilies, annuals, bees, garden design, lawn replace, plant propagation, succulents, trees | 23 Comments »

50 shades of pink dominate my garden this week. Okay, well maybe only 10 or so. The most grandiose is the crinum. The tiniest is my new Phlox paniculata 'John Fanick'. It’s been on my list for years! When I ran ...

Catching the rain, tree problems, organic fertilizers

Thursday, July 12th, 2012 Posted in Summer plants, Tours, butterflies, compost, destinations, drought, fertilizing, master gardeners, mulch, native plants, organic fertilizers, patio plants, rain water collection, trees | 4 Comments »

In the wilt of weeks past, our desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) keeps pumping out a few flowers to please the hummingbirds that have finally shown up! Even though this native tree requires very little water and isn’t keen on soggy soils, ...

Garden fireworks!

Thursday, July 5th, 2012 Posted in Insects, Summer plants, firewise gardens, garden design, garden designers, native plants, patio plants, trees, wildlife | 14 Comments »

To celebrate red, white and blue this week, my new blue gazing ball glows against firecracker red Turk’s cap! White native Plumbago scandens droops over soft leaf yucca (Yucca recurvifolia). Non-native blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) sparked some attention from this Snowberry Clearwing ...

Plants that survived the Texas Two-Step: Freeze and Drought

Thursday, April 12th, 2012 Posted in Late spring flowers, Nurseries, books, bulbs, cat cove, drought, early spring flowers, garden design, garden designers, garden projects, native plants, passalong plants, roses, succulents, trees, wildlife | 10 Comments »

Although my spuria iris flowers astound me just once a year, they do it every year—drought, flood, or freeze—since Scott Ogden shared a few divisions with me years ago. My garden is resilient, too, thanks to the words he’s shared with ...