I hang out on the veggie forums for the most part, but I really need the advice of Texas flower gardeners at the moment.
I have a bird bath around which I sprinkled a seed packet of mixed wildflower this spring. The result was very nice, but of course they don't last. I let everything go to seed, then cleared out the dead stalks and now here I am, with a bare ugly ring around my bird bath until next spring. I assume (hope) the wildflowers will come back next spring, but until then, I'm really tired of looking at a bare brown ring. How would you folks handle a situation like that?
Some additional notes: I'm not a flower gardener, haven't got a lot of money for it either, and the soil there is pretty miserable -- has never been dug, poor drainagle, no amendments in there at all. I figured that wildflowers could handle that, and they did, but not sure about anything else. (I tried a couple of tulip bulbs in there along with the wildflowers and they died, probably due to the miserable soil and no drainage.)
I could dig down, remove a lot of the rock that is just a few inches down and add compost and pine bark fines etc. for better drainage -- but not only is that a lot of work, wouldn't it mess up future wildflower seeds? What I'd prefer is perennial Texas natives that could handle these awful conditions and provide at least a little green or maybe some color through the summer, but that the wildflowers could grow up around in the spring. I know I'm asking a lot! (And if it could be herbs or other edible, so much the better). I was sort of wondering about rosemary.
Also, the light there is dappled in the morning, with afternoon sun. I do have some empty terracota pots, and a bag of red bark mulch, if either of those things might be helpful in trying to beautify this ring of horror, but I'd like to keep getting the wildflowers in the spring.
Thanks SO MUCH for any suggestions you might have.
Lise
Ideas for around my bird bath
Rosemary would overtake the birdbath! It can get HUGE.
I would go with natives, especially since the soil is poor and the weather conditions can be harsh (like now). There are some good salvias, Yarrow, West Texas Mistflower, Blackfoot Daisy, Phlox Pilosa, and Carolina Phlox come to mind.
Thanks for the ideas, stephanietx. It just occurred to me that a photo would help things too, so you can get an idea of scale. It's a pretty small area, really.
So here is the area when bare -- the wildflowers were just starting to peek out (and you can see where I tried to put in tulips but they died) but now that they are done blooming and the stalks cleared away, it looks a lot like this again.
And here is the bird bath when the wildflowers were blooming. They are pretty, but it still lacks something. (Ignore the fact that the rocks are a bit out of place, please, and try to imagine this with some gravel or bark mulch surrounding it. We are slowly turning a bare back yard into an area of raised beds, walkways, etc. NO GRASS is our mantra, but it's a slow process to redo things, especially when we are trying to spend next to zero dollars on it, lol.
I would not go with rosemary since it likes to be well drained and if you keep the birdbath filled....well might be too wet at times. Natives would be the best. Can you post a picture of the space that you are looking to fill?
The west texas mist flower will flop a bit but the Monarchs love it in the fall when it blooms. Lyreleaf sage blooms early in the spring and so does Brazos Penstemon. Both of the latter are pretty much evergreen, and all reseed. For the summer on through to fall blooms Carolina phlox would be nice but they do get quite tall. Depending on the room you have the rock rose is a wonderful companion plant to add. Purple coneflowers are a must and blackeyed susans if you have room.
Cross posted with you....the area looks nice and glad to hear you are willing to expand. You might want to look at some of the postings that Frostweed does. She has taken out all of her grass in the front yard and planted natives. She has mulched rock lined paths. Here is a sample. Her plants are still young most from her propagation and seeds then set out. Several of us took a tour recently.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1192266/ Here are more pictures.
This message was edited Jul 10, 2011 12:24 PM
I have native woodferns that come just to the top of my bird bath. Of course, dies in the winter but doesn't everything? Completely takes care of itself even in this 100+ temperature.
I forgot to say -- thanks for the warning on the rosemary. I was thinking it could be kept trimmed down, but better to have things that grow the right size to begin with. I'm just a sucker for edibles, so that's where my mind went.
I've never heard of West Texas Mistflower. I'm off to learn some more about that and all of the others that you suggest.
Don't miss the link I edited to add.
Yep, we were cross-posting, Sheila_FW. Thanks for your suggestions -- I will look into those too -- and oooh, I just saw the link you posted and have been drooling over Frostweed's yard. Absolutely gorgeous. I should visit this forum more often, I've been missing out on a lot.
I feel sort of silly with my little spot, compared with that gorgeous landscape -- but oh well, we all have to start somewhere, I guess!
LouC, thanks for the idea of some woodfern. Your birdbath sounds pretty. Is it in sun or shade? Anything that can endure this heat is a champion. I only wish *I* could last out there more than a few minutes at a time. I'm getting so little done out there -- and there's so much to do!
I am trying to deal with much of the same thing and I plan to plant broadleafed mustard in my space which if I can get it to germinate will make a nice edible space until I decide what else to plant it already has a profusion of Day lillies and I would like to remove most or all of those...
Coneflowers would look nice, too, and the birds can always eat the seeds! LOL Also, chili petins would work well in that area. They would also provide bird food, are evergreen in your area, and don't blink an eye at the heat or bad soil.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51486
Found this in the plant files. It will spread very fast and fill in the entire bed. The birds seem to like it.
Since she gets the hot afternoon sun in that area, not sure if it would hold up to it. I have some that gets first half of the day sun and it is really suffering in our heat. It does come back year after year though.
zexmenia can take anything and it can spread around. In my experience you cannot kill it and it comes up late in the spring which would allow you to enjoy some early wildflowers.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=WETE
C
Excellent advice everyone!!!
Good luck with your project LiseP.
Josephine.
Oh yes Cheryl the Zexmenia blooms all season, loves the sun, and is a good height too.
Zinnia Linearis - Narrow Leaf Zinnia - great in the heat and full sun. It will reseed and come up when the temperatures rise just as your spring wildflowers are finished. However, it doesn't like a lot of water - not sure if it will receive too much water around the birdbath. It grows to about a foot or so tall so it may be to short for what you need.
Yes zinnias, and the bfs love them all.
Beautiful photo!!
I think those zinnias would work great. The only issue is to have a reliable show you would need to plant them each spring. They don't always reseed or reseed where you want them to be.
Sheila, that should be entered in the annual photo contest. You would win.
LOL! Thanks Christi.