I’ve always adored globe amaranths, but this ‘Fireworks’ in Lucinda Hutson’s garden sparked a new love affair. Beyond, Duranta pops in some wowza color, too.

Here’s why Daphne makes globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) her Pick of the Week: It’s a Texas Superstar, which means it’s been tested around the state for worthiness in our gardens. You can find them in many colors and sizes, even for containers.

They bloom all summer, standing up to searing heat and drought, as in Daphne’s own trials with new varieties in the infamous 2011 torture. But did you know they attract butterflies, too?  They’re so prolific that you can spare a few as long-lasting cut flowers that dry like a dream. Wonderful in a wreath!

Recently, on a mini vacation, I fulfilled a dream to visit Texas Superstar’s Brent Pemberton at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton.

I’ll have more about Superstar in a later post. For now, it was a thrill to stroll the greenhouses where trial seeds and plugs start out.

Isn’t this Calliope geranium a gem? I can’t wait to see if it makes Superstar status!

Once they’re ready, they head to the fields for the ultimate test of endurance and performance.

My garden is a perpetual test ground. One superstar for me is bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa), a grass that surprised me this spring with its first delicate seed heads.

Gulf penstemon found its own test grounds in a bed of Texas sedge (Carex texensis). Both rate **** for me.

Salvia microphylla ‘La Trinidad Pink’ survives the test of just not quite enough sun. A little floppy sometimes, it’s doing fine in morning sun.  It could stand to have a gardener that prunes it more often, you know?

But, I’ll admit: I’m so not adventurous indoors. That’s about to change, thanks to Indoor Plant Décor, authored by friends Jenny Peterson and Kylee Baumle.

Kylee was holding down Ohio, so Jenny joins Tom to pep up your house and office to take the humdrum out of houseplants with THE design style book that connects to your muse, budget and imagination.

In their book, Kylee and Jenny include plant lists and DIY tips in friendly style that prompts “oh, I didn’t know this/I’ve got to try THAT” on every page. Every stunning chapter plugs a new spin into your imagination and creativity, inside.

Back outside, are you seeing this on your trees or other plants?

Before you freak out about horrendous disease or insects, Daphne has the answer: our bizarre late frost. In full disclosure, Daphne puts herself on the line. To pump up her young Monterrey oak, she admits that she fertilized a little too early.  Hey, raise your hands if you’ve done that too!

Normally, it would have been okay that her tree responded by putting out new leaves. EXCEPT. In her microclimate, it got cold enough to damage the new growth. Get her complete answer on how to tell the difference in temporary freeze damage or something evil. By the way, her tree recovered just fine, and so will yours.

So, have you just about had it with flies, fleas, fire ants, and plum curculios? John Dromgoole explains how to tackle them naturally underground with beneficial nematodes.

On tour, visit the diverse gardens at Mueller, the ultimate “testing ground” in its restoration of wildlife habitat over former runways and parking lots.

Thanks for stopping by! Until next week, reach for the stars, indoors and out. Linda

I’m so glad that Austin horticulturist Art Petley found this salvia, now named ‘Silke’s Dream’.

His cuttings wended their way through two horticulturists to end up in nurseries. Beyond, you’ll see my sweet apricot pink globe mallow, which was supposed to be orange. Still, I bought it knowing it could be ANYTHING! Works for me.

I remember when Mexican feathergrass was the new cool plant in Austin (and hard to find).

It was called Stipa tenuissima. I’d recite the botanical name over and over because I liked the sound of it. Now, botanists have changed the taxonomy to Nassella tenuissima. Still the same springtime seed heads on feathery leaves, plus a fancy name to roll off the tongue. And now so available.

Pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) is actually not a guava at all, though many love its flowers in spring and ripe fruits in fall. I’ve heard that the sweetest fruit is when you let them actually fall to the ground.

A German botanist named this fruiting small tree/shrub after Don da Silva Feijoa, a botanist in Spain. Its species name acknowledges F. Sellow, a German who collected specimens in the province of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Mine hasn’t bloomed yet, though I love the silvery undersides of the leaves in a semi-shaded spot. My friend with this blooming one uses it in a natural screen between her driveway and the neighbor’s.

Down her street, this Yucca rostrata sends it flowers to the sky. These days, thanks to tissue culture, there are cultivars like ‘Sapphire Skies’.

Thanks to enterprising folks, my native Penstemon cobaea, Mediterranean Byzantine gladiolus, and larkspurs made it into nurseries and into my melting pot garden.

So, how do horticulture and botany intersect? Daphne deciphers it for us this week.

One of the most quintessential explorations was President Thomas Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello. This week, Peter J. Hatch, Retired Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello, joins Tom to connect Jefferson’s revolutionary garden and organic practices to our cultivation today.

In Peter’s beautifully written and illustrated book, A Rich Spot of Earth, settle down to rich stories of Jefferson’s botanical journeys, detailed diaries, the origins of plants, horticultural tips and recipes from the period. See how Peter restored Jefferson’s vegetable vision and excites us to do the same.

Here’s one of the countless surprises (to me): Jefferson used the leaves of Yucca filamentosa to tie up and stake grapevines. Have you ever thought of that with cultivars like ‘Bright Edge’ or ‘Color Guard’? I’ll have to wait a few years for my passalong ‘Color Guard’!

Oh yes, if you can’t get to Monticello, online you can buy historic seeds for food and ornamentals, like Hyacinth bean that I’ve seeded to cover a part of my chain link fence.  And do check out their events, too, for a family trip into history, wonder, and rejuvenation of good, healthy taste.

Daphne’s pick of the week is Chile pequin/Chiletepin/Chili pequin, etc. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson grew chiletepin, the “Texas bird pepper,” from Dr. Samuel Brown in Natchez. In 1997, the Texas House named chiletepin the official wild pepper of Texas.

Many sources describe tepin as ovoid and pequin as conical or oblong. However, my plants from local nurseries were labeled “chile pequin,” even though the fruits are rounded, as you can see!

In any case, it’s a true tough Texan, and a wonderful perennial in my semi- shady beds with that psycho blast of sun. It’s totally fun to see where birds seed it.  At Travis Extension, they’re larger and denser in full sun.

If you can nab the fruits before the birds get them, here’s a fabulous salsa recipe from KLRU colleague JJ Weber.

Normally he uses dried tepins, but to celebrate Peter Hatch’s visit, he made three different versions with my fresh chile pequins (tepins?). Whatever, it was gone so fast I almost didn’t get a picture!

Thanks to explorers and nurseries, in recent years gardeners have added specimens and cultivars of cacti and agaves. Since tending them without an “ouch” is new for many of us, Jeff Pavlat from the Austin & Cactus Succulent Society demonstrates his spiky/spiny plant toolkit!

To add to your collection, the Cactus & Succulent Society of America is hosting their national convention in Austin June 15-20. Register to attend incredible workshops, talks and private plant sales. If you can’t swing the whole deal, sales to the public are June 16 from 1:00 – 5:00; Monday June 17, Wednesday June 19 from 7:45 – 5:00; and Thursday June 20 from 7:45 – 4:00.

On tour, we repeat our visit to Peckerwood Garden, where botanical explorer John G. Fairey introduced many of the plants that have made it our own explorations. This weekend, May 11 & 12, is Peckerwood’s last general public open days until fall, so head on out if you can!

Viewer picture of the week: an update from Susan Brock. The cardinal eggs in a hanging basket in her NWF certified Backyard Habitat have hatched! What a wonderful discovery!

Thanks for stopping by. Until next week, happy explorations! Linda

I can’t have too many native winecups.

In the cat cove, they team up with Gulf penstemon and Calylophus berlandieri ssp. Pinifolius.

And this time of year is just about my favorite on the patio, when Marie Pavie and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) double up on perfume whammy.

In a Temple garden we taped recently, I love this combination of Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Yellow’, bluebonnets and sotol.

But it’s about time to shed spring and get those hot weather beauties in the ground.

Jeff Yarbrough from Emerald Garden Nursery and Watergardens joins Tom this week to dazzle us with annuals, perennials and shrubs that put the love back into summer!

Get his list for hot weather sizzle, including an intriguing dwarf pomegranate ‘Purple Sunset’ and a new esperanza on the scene.

Oh yes, don’t forget that Jeff’s an expert, locally-oriented plantsman who can help you with anything, including ponds. Emerald Garden also hosts free workshops on every topic under the sun!

Now, about local nurseries: Howard Nursery populated many gardens from 1912 until 2006.

Perhaps you met granddaughter Robin Howard Moore behind the counter where she and brothers Hank and Jim gave hands-on advice. I’ll never forget them as some of my first garden mentors. In fact, Robin always knew when we’d wrapped up another Pledge drive, Auction, or other intense production. I’d drag in on Sunday as my reviving treat. She would say, “So, Linda, guess you just finished a big project. What are you looking for today?”

So, it’s a special honor to present her as our featured gardener on tour. At home with Robin, now working as a landscape designer, she gives us her essential starting points with plants and design. I love our conversation about the changing trends that we’ve witnessed together.

Something I never knew about Robin is her artistic whimsy, like these bird baths she crafted from plates and vases.

This one inspires a trip to the thrift store: a marble-embedded bowling ball, a gift from Anne of the Shady Hollow Garden Club, to brighten up a shady spot.

Robin’s growing Rangoon Creeper in semi-shade, but in San Antonio, Ragna Hersey has this adaptable plant in a few hours of sun. Others have it in full sun.

Daphne gives us the scoop on this drought and freeze-tough tropical that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.

Our viewer question comes from Pete Vera: how to mulch with our scatter spots of rain?

Wow, is this a great question or what? You know what happens: we get that 1/10” that just sloughs right off. As always, Daphne has the answer.

And, Trisha’s got the perfect answer for all those weeds that love that little bit of rain: put them to work as natural teas to fertilize your plants!

Until next week, visit your local nursery and thank these hard-working folks for helping us grow locally and beautifully. Linda

Native Gulf penstemons absolutely suck in the bees. I have them everywhere, including the cat cove; not by my design, but by theirs. Like all parents, plants point their progeny in the right direction.

I don’t mind if they crowd the path for now. I’ll cut them back after the parents launch their seeds to the big wide world. It does take a while for the seeds to brown up, so hang on to your patience.

Sometimes I lose my beloved ground-hugging native Calylophus berlandieri that so well favors the hues of penstemons and winecups in spring, and rock roses (Pavonia lasiopetala) through summer. Recently, I added these: Calylophus drummondii var. berlandieri.

On a fence bed, winecups soothe Macho Mocha mangave in its recent snail attack.

Pink evening primrose is an opportunist who moved right into the path we laid last year. They’re overwhelming the frogfruit underneath, but it’s holding its own.

To the right in the bed, Texas blue grass (Poa arachnifera) leans over from its shady spot underneath the mountain laurel to chat with hotspot edge plant blackfoot daisy.

Hunkering in the shadier spots on the other side, columbine and widow’s tears (Commelina erecta) unite.

Another tough native to add to your list is Engelmann’s daisy, Daphne’s Pick of the Week.

Although it wants sun, it can handle a shade break. Its spring-to-frost flowers feed many beneficial insects. Cutting it back now and then encourages more blooms, but do allow some flowers to go to seed for small birds that will swoop in.

Natives join the not-so-native for me. Jenny Stocker’s garden is my dream of the compatible blend. Oh, recently we taped it again, this time in HD, coming your way in early 2014.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s annual Gardens on Tour is the super duper way to pick up design and native plant combinations to try at home. This week, Tom joins Andrea DeLong-Amaya from the Wildflower Center for a sneak preview.

From gardens big and small and plants for sun, shade, rocks or clay, you’ll get lots of ideas on May 11. Find out how to go on tour.

Here’s a closer look at one of the gardens on tour, where Laura and Andrew Stewart restored native plants and wildlife within biking distance of downtown.  Native plant designer David Mahler united with Miró Rivera Architects to tie together house and land.

Although native plants are very tough, this week Daphne answers, “Why are highway wildflowers sparse in some areas this spring?” Drought. At home, we can water the seeds that germinate in fall and winter.

Earlier this year, we answered Jean Warner’s question about caring for her bluebonnet rosettes. She took our advice to give them a little water now and then. Look what happened!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week, Linda

Starting from just three or so pass-alongs corms, it multiplies every year, so it’s actually very happy!

Maggie rose is looking mighty nice, too.

Still, she’s a little out of sorts since she came down with a case of powdery mildew thanks to cool nights and moisture in the air.

She’ll work it out herself without medication, but if you’re worried about it on your plants, check out neem oil or Serenade. Just don’t apply in the heat of day and don’t use Serenade when the bees are active.

Up the street, an Agave americana is about out of time, though it won’t relinquish its claim to that corner for a century or more, thanks to its pups. And their pups. . .

Coincidentally, it sent up its final comment just as a Central Texas Gardener Facebook question came in about century plants. So, this week, Daphne answers: does it actually take a century to bloom? Nope.

Hella Wagner shared some pictures of her plant’s glorious ascension as the mother plant died. Daphne explains the process, and how the bloom stalk itself can even be dangerous.

My yuccas up front (Y. pallida and Y. reverchonii,) are reaching for the sky, too, but they won’t end their life with this springtime bloom.

Back to agaves, Daphne makes this deer-resistant, drought-tough genus her Pick of the Week. There are many species and cultivars in various forms, colors, sizes and habitats.

Mostly, they want good drainage, though my A. celsii does fine in my island bed that I’ve gradually amended with compost and mulch.

Do look at their cold hardiness. I fell in love with an A. celsii ‘Tricolor’, as it was called then, which is rated for a zone or two just warmer than us. First crazy freeze and they were mush. My regular celsii didn’t fare well in 17 degrees but did return, just slightly modified.

Do take a serious look at their mature size, too. This cute little A. americana will grow up fast, and it won’t take even 10 years!

Event note: The Cactus & Succulent Society of America convenes in Austin June 15 -20, with tours, incredible talks and more. For details and to register, visit http://cssa2013.com.

Certainly, it doesn’t take a century to enjoy homegrown citrus! This week, Tom joins Michelle Pfluger from Green ‘n Growing for her list of easy, productive, and fairly cold tolerant ones to grow.

Recently, I added a calamondin to a patio container. We love the fragrant flowers and can’t wait for its slightly sour fruits a few months down the road.

In the ground, my Satsuma ‘Mr. Mac’ is going gangbusters, thanks to the temperate winter and a little high nitrogen fertilizer in March.

On tour in Liberty Hill, April and Cliff Hendricks harvest Improved Meyer lemons, along with dreams, in close-up gardens bordering their wide open land. With scavenges, imagination, and artistry, they created a paradise without spending a ton of money.

By now, you’ve probably seen or heard about ollas to water plants in conservative times. John Dromgoole gives us the scoop.

Find out more at Dripping Springs Ollas.

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week, Linda

I finally cut it back several inches, since I want it to lush back out: not just for my visual preference, but to cover itself in flowers for migrating and resident butterflies this summer and fall.

Weird years (and that’s most of them), keep us coming back for more. Many weird years ago, I took a risk when I dug up a huge stretch of lawn. At one end, I decided to have a rose arbor. I couldn’t decide between New Dawn or Buff Beauty, so I took a design risk and put one on each side. Well.

I wasn’t so lucky when I planted an Iceberg rose in the den bed, where I figured it would get “just about enough” sun. Nope. I moved it to a really hot spot that I rarely water and never fertilize. Now, it’s almost always in bloom. It reminds me: the odds are better by following SOME of the rules.

Peggy Martin loves her hot spot trellised on my chain link fence as a little privacy and to share with our beloved neighbor.

Known as the “Katrina rose,” here’s the story of how Dr. William C. Welch brought us this intrepid rose, since he’s a man who thrives on a good plant risk.

Recently, Saliva farinacea ‘Henry Duelberg’ joined Texas betony in the island bed. I found it in a nursery, thanks to horticulturist Greg Grant, who collected seeds in a La Grange cemetery and named it for the headstone nearby. I also thank the Texas growers who took a risk to take it public.

And what about avocados, allspice, cinnamon, hibiscus for tea, and other tropical edibles? Amanda Moon from It’s About Thyme joins Tom this week to entice us to follow this delicious trek.

Amanda gives us the few simple rules to take this risk for yummy rewards. Here’s her list for your future adventures.

I snagged this picture of allspice in Lucinda Hutson’s garden last fall. She does overwinter its container in a garage with a Grow Light when she remembers to turn it on! Like all plants protected in a garage, gradually bring them back out into the light to avoid sunburn.

On tour in San Antonio, Ragna and Bob Hersey are all about risks in a glorious garden that Ragna rescued from total boredom with scavenges,  invention, and many passalong plants. Thanks to Shirley Fox, gardener and blogger at Rock-Oak-Deer, for this connection! Take a look to be dancing all day.

Ragna went totally organic since butterflies and other beneficial wildlife matter more than a few pests. Oh, and since then, she doesn’t have many pests! One way to attract butterflies is with summertime annual, Mexican tithonia, Daphne’s pick of the week.

Our viewer question this week comes from garden blogger Robin Mayfield who wants to know if she can mulch over live oak leaves.

Yes, says Daphne, unless there’s been a past problem with oak leaf rollers. She also explains why oak leaf drop happened earlier this year for some of us. Have we mentioned watering trees in drought?! Don’t risk your trees: do water.

Not every plant wants the same kind of mulch. Andrea DeLong-Amaya from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center explores the pros and cons of several options to keep everybody happy.

From Central Texas Gardener’s Face Book page, heads up to Tamara Dextre on the best advice ever: “I am getting fearless…after all, it is about gaining experience and having fun.” Well said!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to have some risky fun until next week! Linda

Past or current grass gets only the minimal water I give everybody else. Fertilizer? Not for me. Mainly, I’ve diversified because I want this:

At some point, I decided if I was going to turn on the spigot, it had to be for plants that re-populate wildlife as their food sources diminish. That golden groundsel (Packera obovata) does a fine job in early spring. Texas betony extends the buffet for months to entice hummingbirds that will stick around for Turk’s cap on the horizon.

Gulf penstemon and poppies are booked up with springtime diners.

Even bulbs, like my Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanicus), attract the paparazzi.

In the new vegetable bed, native Baby blue eyes came along in my home-made compost. They’re not all about looks: the bees will hang around to pollinate my new tomatoes and squash.

Designer Pam Penick shows you how to capture your own version of reduced or no-lawn magic in her book Lawn Gone!

This week, she joins host Tom Spencer to share a few of her DIY tips, techniques, and lovely alternatives for outdoor living minus grass.

With plant options, practical design ideas, ponds, and HOA wrangles, she makes it easy to go Lawn Gone!

This week’s viewer question comes from Diane Salazar: how to get rid of weeds and make gardens in her new house left vacant for months.

Get Daphne’s answer on first steps for Diane’s soil restoration and the best way to smother weeds with newspaper.

Since food is replacing lawn for many gardeners, Daphne’s Pick of the Week is deliciously productive tatume squash, an heirloom variety less troubled by the evil squash vine borer. CTG thanks Master Gardener and blogger Caroline Homer for her hands-on tips and a picture from her crazy abundant harvest last summer.

On tour, see how Meredith Thomas banished lawn for family food by recycling “pre-owned” materials to build beds, including a hugelkulter/keyhole concept, and artwork. She doesn’t buy fertilizer—you just have to see what she does in her own fabulous words. Dear thanks to composer Freejay MacLoud who shared his music that just so perfectly matches Meredith’s truly organic philosophy.

I’ve got the best arugula ever, thanks to Meredith’s passalong seeds of Rocket (also called Rocquette).

Those little insects on it are flea beetles. That’s fine by me because eventually “someone” ate them. You’ll only get long-term predators if you have seasonal prey. Leafy holes didn’t matter a bit in our salads and bunny dinner treats. I’ll be collecting seeds:  to paraphrase Meredith, nature provides our own little seed packets!

And what about those wildflower seed packets?  The party doesn’t end in spring, especially for wildlife that relies on us all year long. So, Andrea DeLong-Amaya from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center shows off a few seeds to scatter now, like native partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata).

Heads up: Get native seeds, perennials (like hard-to-find golden groundsel), shrubs, trees and a lot more at the Wildflower Center’s spring plant sale April 13-14. Member’s day on April 12, but you can join that day to get the first picks! They also have a list online for available plants, so gear up that little red wagon.

Thanks for stopping by! See you next week, Linda

Narcissus ‘Falconet’ wasn’t about to be left out.

This Gladiolus tristis is a newbie, so the trust factor has another year or two to go.

My daylilies are actually evergreen, but this early bird was a surprise!

Freesia laxa makes a springtime chorus line against silvery anchor ‘Powis Castle’ Artemisia.

Native spiderworts are a little slow on the punch this year. Oddly enough, this first year self-seeded one bloomed first, perhaps to let me know that it trusts me not to move it! Okay, got it.

In the cat cove, I always forget about these miniature grape hyacinths that work so nicely between flagstones.

On the edges, Spring starflowers (Ipheion uniflorum) keep on pumping.

Under the mountain laurel in the island bed, I don’t know where I got widow’s tears (Commelina erecta). They showed up last year. I left it to trust that they’d come back. And they did.

Purple oxalis can be finicky for me, but I guess I finally found the right spot for it to return. See, that’s where practicality meets trust!

Nearby, African hosta (Drimiopsis maculata) is coming up with its complementary purple speckles.

Yellow is such a team with purple.  Scotty’s Surprise oxalis, a Scott Ogden foundling, knows it well!

Until next week, hope you have fun with your surprises!  Linda

What about a little plant that gets encores at dinner?

Like mimes, plants reach for the sky to silently gather us into their unfolding stories.

Bulbs like Gladiolus tristis stand in the wings until spring’s stage manager gives them their cue.

Others take center stage all the time, though they get a little upstaged when a flamboyant star commands the spring run.

Then there are those that know they’re just one-hit wonders.

Though, California poppies might make a return run next year if they liked the venue.

Some are delighted to have a small part and happy to return again next year; see you then!

Sometimes, we just have to sit back and applaud.

Gardeners can pick their own performance.

Turning problems into art always gets rave reviews.

With creativity, we turn has-beens into stars once again.

We know how to spin bad reviews when they hail on us.

And we never lack an audience.

In our gardens, we open the doors to performance art every single day.

Until next time, have fun performing in your garden!  Linda

Actually, some shopping was to move plants that needed a little more “aisle” attention. I pumped up a squid agave’s (A. bracteosa) face appeal in a part shade corner of the island bed for a touch of different texture and form. To its left is a Mexican oregano I dramatically pruned to revive it. I’ve left room since a big comeback is on its mind.

I rescued an aster that was being swallowed up by vigorous ‘Helen von Stein’ lamb’s ears. I like to move asters a little earlier than this, but it’s okay to divide them now. With this drought and wind, though, we just have to water transplants frequently.

To get to it, I had to dig up a clump of lamb’s ears. I’d planned to divide some anyway to fill out the den path, so that simply moved up that task! Next weekend, I’ll divide some more for the new front bed.

My sweet dwarf Jerusalem sages (Phlomis lanata) were struggling in front since a shade tree grew up so much last year. In back, I needed a bit of silvery gray in the island bed spot that’s just too hot for lamb’s ears. Perfect fit!

Even though this bed is well-drained after years of compost, leaves, and mulch, I added a few inches of expanded shale to make sure.

In the back bed that I expanded last spring to get rid of dead grass, I moved a crinum out from a clump of daylilies to give it a forefront claim and breathing room.

When I saw all the offsets on the big momma bulb, I filled in that blank spot with a couple to make a little “team crinum.”

Then, ah ha! I decided to add a couple to the new front bed. Do you ever have a garden day like that? You start with a handful of projects and come up with an armload.

I’d been thinking about adding some grasses to my new front bed. I got a good deal on gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) that were simply misplaced in the bed against the house.

In back, I’d also planted an almond verbena (Aloysia virgata) too close to the Mexican plum.

That’s on the list for this weekend, along with a few more moves. Later in March, I’ll mulch to pretty things up.

Thanks for stopping in! See you next week, Linda