Yeah, the reason I move things is that I'll find something just isn't as happy in a space as I thought it would be, or a space seems empty, or crowded. I let everything evolve - much like they would in nature, I guess. But I do like to keep tabs of where everything is. I just don't chart it out. I figure that if I know there are salvias in the River Birch bed, that close enoguh, lol.
Mitch, I can see that with daylilies - a million different hybrids - you want to know what is what. I think I would do it with (artistic) plant markers though. :-)
Paige, I'm going to try this weekend, I'll keep you posted. Wish we lived closer.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, Part 10.
I'm glad that I'm not alone in the "unplanned" garden category. I have perfectionist tendencies but I can't ever make a decision. Maybe that is part of the perfectionism? I could never plan it because I can't decide. When I started gardening and my mom said "you can always move it" any fear I had was gone. If I don't like it, I just move it! I have stationary trees and a few bushes and most of my perennials but it can actually take a while before it becomes stationary.
I've also developed ability to suddenly become tired of looking at something and say "ba-bye". I don't have any more room and when something appears to be wasting my good dirt and space, I just dig it up. I do have a little section of daylilies and those probably won't be moved.
My brain just can't grasp the little circles that are representing my plants. Is that the full grown size of the plant? And in the meantime I'm supposed to look at empty space?!! That's how my beds got so crowded, filling in those spaces. lol
Good luck Mary! Do update that thread so we can see! If Texas wasn't so huge we would live closer! It would be fun to do this project with someone.
Oh dont worry I move things... to many things maybe at times...Anything can move but a few of the baby trees and the Daylilies.. the Daylilies have to stay in the same spot or I will never get to breeding them to see what I can come up with!!
I forgot to add that all my plants have markers. I have the metal ones and they are tucked in so as to not distract. I do this because I can't always remember the botanical name and everyone always asked me what the name is and I have that for reference. So, when the skates come out, the tags go w/them. That way I can do new vinettes and try new color combos.
Hilary
Well, I finally got some pictures after cutting back plants and shredding.
Everything looks sad, but nevertheless here are the bones of the bavk yard garden.
The new bed looking to the southeast corner as you come in through the gate.
The same view the next day when it was sunny, what a difference light makes.
Johephine
Tell me the amount of standing cypress seeds you would like to have. Handfull, tablespoon full, teaspoon full? Also, a question on the gulf or brazon penstemon. I bought 9 of the in separate pots and two of the pots I split into about 20 separate plants because it looked as if there were natural dividers in the roots or stems. Did I make a mistake and should have left the whole clump together.? Also on your flame acanthus..do you prune it back every year and by how much?
jameso
Hello James, goo to hear from you. I guess the usual ammount of seed is about a teaspoon for fine seed like Standing Cypress, but if they are in the hulls a larger ammount would be good, just use your judgement.
There is no harm in splitting the Brazos Penstemon plants, you will just have less blooms on each of those plants this year, but that is O.K. Be sure to scatter some of the seed after it matures, I have had great luck with those seeds comming up, and if they are where I don't want them, no problem, they transplant really well.
I normally don.t cut back the Flame Acanthus, because I like for them to make fairly tall shubs.
I have one tha is about seven feet tall, and this year I cut it back about two feet, so it is still pretty tall. But if you want them to stay low, you can cut them down to one or two feet, and they put out a lot of fresh new growth. Even if you don't cut them back that low, removing all those tiny tangled little branches really helps.
It really is a wonderful and very adaptable shrub, and the hummers are crazy avout it.
Josephine.
Josephine
I appreciate the information and if you'll let me know your mailing address I'll have the seeds on the way to you this weekend.
jameso
Boy, you are so right, Josephine, the light makes an incredible difference!
Hello James, I recieved the Standing Cypress seed from you yesterday.
Thank you very much, I will give them a try again. According to your note they appear to be easy, it is a funny thing, how I have had such bad luck with them.
But your note has encouraged me, so here I go on a new adventure.
Thank you very much, you are so kind.
Josephine.
The Elephant Garlic patch and vegetable garden, January 2006.
Josephine, many of us have been wondering about how our plants will handle such a mild winter - most having never gone dormant, I was wondering if they would be too worn out to perform well this year. Wonder about the natives? Do you think that TX natives - being especially suited to our water-logged, followed by drought, and severe winters followed by mild ones - will do any better? It will certainly be interesting to observe.
My pink skullcap (scuttellaria) has never lost its leaves, the blackfoot daisy could use a trim, but they both seem to be on the grow.
I think that most plants will adjust well to whaever the climate dishes out,
especially the natives.
Of course if we have a sudden freeze, they will be set back, but the strong ones will have no problem.
It looks like you are much further ahead climate wise than we are. The things that I have that are green are the ones that normally grow during the winter, although some of the perennials are starting to show some growth.
We shall see what this weather brings, it is always a surprise.
Josephine.
The southeast corner of the garden.
Looks like you're getting some good sunlight in those beds. If I remember correctly, that corner is on the shady side when the trees have leaves and the other plants are all leafed out.
As mild as the temps are, my yard has been a little shadier than usual, since the water oaks still haven't shed all their leaves (they never hesitate to drop branches though!) I think I'd have lots more blooming if more sun was getting through.
The centerpiece of the back garden, the Fig tree.
The evergreen corner with the compost behind it.
Hellooooo, Anybody out there ?????
Am I the only one just "ITCH'N" to remove frozen folage or prune back ?
And The $60,000 question........When's spring coming ?????
(sorry for all the questions)
Itching - oh yea I sure am! I cannot wait to get out there and get everything going.... soon.
Hello Kipper2 and MitchF, I am itching too, but I am afraid that the ice storm predicted for tonight and tomorrow is going to cool me down quite a bit.
I have been planting all kinds of seeds in little pots though, but for right now, I will have to keep them inside together with the little cuttings.
Yes the weather is kind of crazy, but it will pass.
Josephine,
Hi everyone. My FIL passed away a week ago Thursday, I've been in NM. It was hard to say goodbye, but we were all so glad that we had such a good Christmas with him.
I knew that we would get one night around 28 while I was gone, but didn't worry about it too much - we'd had several nights that low during December, with little effect. Boy was I surprised when I got back! LOTS of stuff got zapped, since the temps stayed that low for such a long time this time around. I'm hoping it will all come back.
Josephine, do you keep your started seeds in the garage, or where? Do you have them under lights, or in a heated place? I really don't have a convenient place to start seeds. If they need to stay warm, they'd have to be on my kitchen counter. I really need to figure something out, because I have seeds I want to try.
Mary I am sorry about your father in law, I figured you might have gone there since you didn't post for a while.
I have had family members pass away, but I was not there at the moment of death for different reasons, it must be a very helpless feeling to watch someone go, and not be able to do anything about it. I appears to me that life involves a lot of letting go.
On a lighter note, my seeds are in little four inch pots, 30 of them, all labeled nicely, then when the little plants are up, I divide them and move them to sepparate pots.
I have them in the garage with no extra heat or lights, since nornally our cold periods don't last but a day or two, and the temperature doesn't go very low in the garage, usually it stays at about 40.
When it warms up, I keep them outside in a place where the squirrels can't get to them, they love to dig in there.
By the way, those little spray caps that you gave us at the RU work just great,
a very tiny and gentle spray that will not disturb the seeds, thank you very much. Josephine.
Hmmm, so your seeds are okay in the garage without extra lights and heat, that's very encouraging. I can find an outside place for them for when the weather is nice (partly shady, right?)
I'm glad the little spray cap worked well, I really do love it.
Mary, I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law's death. It's good that you were able to visit him for Christmas. Saying good-bye is difficult.
Josephine, I lost my FIL 1-1/2 years ago to colon cancer and melanoma. He spent 2 weeks in hospice. We came home for a few hours every other day to feed the cats, the dog and the cattle. Otherwise, we were by his bedside. I was holding Lee hand when he died. By then, I was past the helpless and frustrating feeings. I felt horrible for feeling it, but I prayed that the breath he was taking was his last. He was in so much pain, and had had no water or food for days. I felt he had suffered and wanted him to be pain-free. What I find amazing is how much a body can take before it lets go of life.
I want to start some seeds, but the only place I can put the seed trays is in my large greenhouse. The temperatures very from the high 40s at night to the high 80's during the day. I'm worried about rot at those low temperatures although I have some volunteer seedlings coming up in some of the pots without a problem. Should I give it a try?
Hello Veronica, it is good to hear from you.
I am sorry about your father in law also, and I understand that sometimes death is a relief from so much pain. Thank God for the hope of a wonderful life with Him.
As to the seeds, I think it would be fine to start them now, I don't suppose the squirrels get in the green house, I certainly would give it a try.
The ones I have planted include the seeds you sent me. I hope they do well, I will let you know.
How is the new house coming along?
Josephine
We have a builder, but need to work on the specification sheets so I've spent hours and hours looking at doors, windows, floors, counters....
Before we received the house plans, the architect sent me PDF files of the floor plans for final approval. We were so preoccupied with certain aspects of the plans that we overlooked others. So I ended buying Acrobat Illustrator to fix the things we had overlooked. Since the builder needs 20 copies of the plans, we sent everything back to the architect. We should have what the builder needs to get started in a few weeks.
Fayette County has only one restriction — sewage. We had to hire a Professtional Engineer to test the area where the septic tanks will be and put in the type of system he recommends.
Josephine, my friend who "loveshercowdog" just lost almost all of her seedlings in her greenhouse to some underground tunneler! :(
What kind of seeds are you starting? I have been so excited to see Queen Anne's Lace coming up in quite a few places. I do love it and it's perfect for my garden, so I'm happy that it reseeded. I might have to pull some up next year tho. I'm hoping they survive this cold spell since they have such a long taproot. What do you think? If not, I will just go out and sprinkle more seeds.
I don't know if the babies I'm looking at are all QAL or something else too tho. Can you tell? These leaves look exactly like the ones on my "slope" and I know those are QAL.
This one looks just a little different. Queen Anne's Lace?
This is my future "slope" like Frostweed's. We have this crazy "swale" and this side of the house is too steep to keep mowing so I thought "why not!?"
I planted 2 Evening Primroses from Josephine beside the air conditioner last year. Look how it spread!! I'm excited and a little scared at the same time. It grows underground by runners but also reseeds because I can pull them out and get the entire root sometimes. I'm hoping it will be able to choke out that Bermuda or at least outgrow it but am not sure what to do when the primrose just keeps spreading!
I've sprinkled QAL seeds along the wall too. :)
You have seedlings up? Arg.... I planted what felt like a million seeds last fall for a lot of natives but I have not seen anyting coming up yet.... I am green with envy here.
Paige, I am sorry about that lady loosing her seedlings, those little critters sure can cause a lot of damage.
As to your seedlings I am not really sure about the fisrt one, but it is not QAL, the second one is Prairie Parsley, great for butterflies too.
Don't worry about the Primroses, you can keep them under control with mowing, no problem.
I planted all kinds of seeds the people had sent, including Pride of Barbados, from Trois, Senecio and Woolly White from Veronica, Dessert willow, and a lot of things.
If all goes well, I will have lots to share, I will let you know.
Josephine.
Not QAL? really? Hmmm.... I had some bluebonnets coming up recently, but not sure where they went...or is this them? Don't be too jealous yet Mitch. It sounds like I've got some surprises coming.
Prairie parsley? I've got a batch of Parsley still green. I did have some dill coming up but it got bit last week.
I'll post a pic of the one that I know is QAL because it's by the air conditioner right where I spread out the seeds.
...good luck with your seeds! It's so fun to grow them but so frustrating when they fail. I just have some zinnias started now but might start some others soon. I tried lights last year and even have a small indoor greenhouse, but it just got too difficult.
This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 9:23 PM
Paige, this is a picture of my QAL from last year, see how the leaves are very different from the other two. The leaflets on the others are more rounded.
I am itching for anything green right now and my little peas are not doing the trick! I have a growing mound of seeds to plant outside..... .. and trays in every window trying to grow waiting for spring. I planted all my natives right in the soil for Fall so I hope I did the right thing there! I keep dreaming of the day my Ironweed and Frostweed really get going with QAL and Parsley growing everywhere.... Josephine loaded me up with seeds now if I can just get them all growing!
Wow Mitch - pretty cool plan you have! I thought I was bad, but even I haven't done any "diagrams" yet!! I pretty much just start digging a new bed wherever when I get the urge, without much of a "plan" to it. I bought a small tiller a couple of years ago and am glad I did! I'm eager to see how you yard looks when you're finished, so be sure to post pictures for us. Do you have any plans for trees in all this as well?
Frostweed, love the character of your yard. You should show us more from different angles.
Thanks,
Steve
Thank you Steve, I will try to do more, but sometimes a garden is hard to photograph.
We try to have a natural look.
Josephine.
Trees?
3 plums, 2 orient pears, 6 red buds, smooth sumac, evergreen sumac, desert willow, red crabapple, kidney tree, and a few little guys sitting on the back wanting to get big so they can be planted too! I hope this year to really have some good pics of what we are doing - I posted a little bit last year but really got the seeds going for fall planting so crossing my fingers!
Edited to add - We need to see you this fall at the Dallas plant swap!! I would love to meet you have seen your posts - it will be here this fall we have not set a place for sure but we have had some great ideas so would love your input too!
This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 9:58 PM
Yours is very feathery. I think I've found what it is, False Queen Anne's Lace! Bishop's Flower. I dug out some seed catalogs and one of the first things I saw in the Wildflower Farms book was this and it had a picture of the seedling. (which is really cool for them to show) Before I got the QAL from you last year I had one of these. It's very pretty but now I want the real thing.
What's weird tho is that I threw out the seeds you sent me on the side of the house (and in back) where they are coming up. Maybe those will look different later? I remembered what my bluebonnet seedlings look like now but still don't know where they went. Birds or bugs ate them.
While looking thru my book I remembered that I had thrown out some Scarlett Flax seeds in the fall too. Then I saw a pic of their seedling and think that I pulled them up last week!!! I never pull weed seedlings (except dandelions and thistles) but I thought these were that vetch that comes up and thought I might as well get them early. :( I won't be pulling anything else!!
...ps...I was reading that the QAL isn't going to bloom until the 2nd year?! I'm going to be so sad if that's true! Guess I'll have to look at the Bishop's Flower and deadhead it a lot.
This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 10:03 PM
Paige, the Queen Anne's lace is supposed to be a biennial, but sometimes it behaves like an annual, I have had them bloom in the same year, I guess it depends on how early they get started. I hope yours will bloom for you this year.
Josephine.
The key to biennials is the fact that once they bloom that is it they are done right? At least that is what I was taught about them...