Just found and joined this site. I'm new to the area(NB by Canyon Lake) came from the desert SW - southern NM & AZ and boy - gardening here is sooooo different. so many plants, bugs, etc that I don't know - this has been a huge help - the info I've found has helped so much. Thank you- you are all so experienced and helpful. I totally feel like a brand new gardener and am really going to use you.. thank you the pictures of natives has been a huge help
Thank you - all of you
Welcome Dutch456!
I recently moved here from Las Vegas, NV. I agree it's very different than the desert and this site has been a huge help.
Happy gardening!
Welcome to Dave's Garden, Dutch.. :)
You have definitely found a wonderful place to share with friends....and welcome to Texas... :)
Melanie
Welcome to the Texas gardening forum Dutch456, I think you will enjoy it here, Texas is a wonderful place, and Texas people even better.
Josephine.
Dutch, I envy you for living so close to Schumacher's Nursery. If you need advice on plants they'll be a huge help, especially if you can talk to Chip. He sort of has a partnership with another guy, but Chip does the propagation. He isn't always there, but keep trying. He used to teach propagation classes, but I don't know if he still does.
Welcome to DavesGarden and the Texas forum, Dutch! :-) We're glad you found us.
Howdy Dutch! May you have many pleasant days on Daves and in your garden.
Welcome Dutch to the best site for natives from a very close, 3rd generation Houstonian. Love the area you're in !!!!
Welcome to Texas,
I'm sure you have already experienced the variable climate here. Some years we have a mild, wet spring (this year). Last year, summer weather started around Easter. This year, we had freezing temps Easter weekend. One thing that is constant, however, is a hot, sunny summer. Most summers in central Texas are on the dry side.
Thought I'd post some links and info that have been of great value to me (copied from a previous post):
A&M xeriscape site
[HYPERLINK@aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu]
Texas superstar plants
[HYPERLINK@texassuperstar.com]
link on low water use plants
[HYPERLINK@bexar-tx.tamu.edu]
Recommended books include the following:
Neil Sperry's Guide to Complete Texas Gardening
Plants for dry climates: How to select, grow, and enjoy by Mary Rose Duffield
Richard
you guys are so helpful -this forum is great - have a really obnoxious thorny vine growing on property - I'll get a picture posted soon and i'll bet ya'all can tell me all about it!!!
thanks for the tip on schumachers I'll find them
i've had too many hot dry summers to ever be unhappy about wet weather so i've probably cussed the wet dreary days less than most. i've had some fungus problems but with help from garden centers seem to be getting that under control - for sure nothing i've ever seen before but spring moisture is always good so i'm not complaining just wish the sun could poke out a little.
Richard, thanks for the resources..already checking em out.
Do any of you try to harvest any of the wild grapes that grow around here - i've been told that they are not truly a muscadine? we have a lot of them on the property and one large one in yard that i've protected from day one - attracts a lot of birds. It is loaded with tiny little clusters and with feeder close, the birds hang out there.Thought it might be interesting to make jam or jelly -
thanks again guys - i am loving my garden and so glad to have found ya'll!!
Welcome to Dave's and the Texas Gardening forum, Dutch!
There are loads of nice people and experienced gardeners here.
You mentioned the thorned vine, I bet it is this one. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31746/index.html
If you want a quick positive ID, take a picture and post it on the ID Forum. They are super fast there.
Again Welcome!
Sheila_FW
Hi Dutch, A BIG Texas welcome to you. Here in the Chappell Hill area we have mustang grapes. They make great jam. Donna
You can also make wine with them. But one year we just crushed them and froze the juice. Add water and sugar and you've got an awsome drink for a hot sunny day.
BTW Schumachers is having a sale. Don't remember all the particulars, but if you call them and give your email address they'll send you a newsletter. Their sales are always really good and they're also giving away free plants if you buy enough. I don't know how far you are from them, but it's worth the trip. They have a huge selection. I can easily spend 2 hours there without out even knowing it.
Thanks Shiela - that's it !!!! Nasty Nasty ----- Sounds like I'll be working on it forever. Well it's in the woods and so far am controlling it in yard - mostly. The website was super
Mommywoman I love love love Chappell Hill (its on 281 right? parents in temple and daughter in baytown so we take that route some)- we stop for kalaches every single time we are there... I will try the jam - would like to start the grape vines on edge of property - neighbors have cedar with mostly dead wood in bottom half - will hide that and entertain birds as well
Silverfluter - i've located schumachers and it's not far - am planning to be there tomorrow or next - it's supposed to be sunny this wkend?? want to be ready - hubby is building garage so I have new area to work on and need some ideas and plants for that area. Kinda excited about it - have looked at their website and it sounds neat.
Hope we get that sunshine & happy gardening to all for the whole wkend - great Mother's day gift !!
Dutch456, Chappell Hill is on Hwy 290, between Austin & Houston. I LOVE it here. Do you stop at the Chappell Hill Exxon station for your kaloches? A couple of years ago after making the jam, I tossed the seeds into the pasture & the birds must have carried some back to my yard cause I now have Mustang grapes taking over my roses. Donna
Dutch, did youget over to Schumacher's? I hope so.:)
Mommywoman - yes the exxon on the corner & it is 290 - I get confused 281 is on the other side of me. They have great pies too .. We go that way quite a bit to my daughter in Houston just cuz it's nicer than 10 (&Katy traffic). The grape we have in the yard is loaded so if birds leave me any I'm for sure going to make some jam. The juice sounds good too. I noticed this morning a vine growing under an oak and climbing climbing. Will have to decide soon whether to let it grow and try to control it or something else. Let me know if you have aproblem with it harming roses or whatever. I may not get too crazy about starting more on edge of property. I'm always getting myself in trouble with things like that LOL (if a little is good alot should be better)
Silverfluter - I didn't make it to Schumaker's, we got a call that am and wkend company was on their way so my trip was cut short. I still have the map so surely will make this week. Probably missed the sale but oh well. I'm anxious to go.
happy gardening all. Dutch
I lived in New Braunfels and gardened there.....................my daughter and her family still live there.........it is a wonderful climate to grow in!!!! You get to have many perennials that we can't grow down here. My favorite nursery in New Braunfels.
I do question the 9b zone as it gets very cold in New Braunfels compared to south Texas where were in zone 9a. I would call New Braunfels ( especially the Canyon Lake are) to be either 8b or 8a?????
If you can indulge me for a couple of minutes, I would like to share with you pics of my daughter's yard last weekend and spring has just gotten there.
Canyon Daisy is a plant that was put in among the daylilies and others. It blooms its head off in that area....little bitty yellow flowers on a rounded shrub like plant.
My son in law is the gardener of the family.............don't know how he finds the time with 3 very active children in sports and a high pressured job, but he finds a way to make the yard always beautiful. This jasmine he planted on a trellis he made and it is located on the second tiered patio.
My favorite nurseries around your area are: Schutlz's nursery in Marion, 10 miles out of New Braunfels, Gardengate in Seguin and the Plant Haus in the heart of New Braunfels.
I am going to upload a few photos of what can be done in that area with so many beautiful readily accessible boulders and rock .....
The wisteria is just branching out for spring...he planted this one last summer
This is another jasmine he planted along the driveway with the wisteria.....
He made little walkways all in the front of the house where it is shaded by lots of trees....I can't remember the name of this perennial ground cover that bloom in light blue all summer...I am blank!!!
This is the Canyon Daisy just getting ready for a show of its own..........planted in the same bed as salvia, daylilies and artemesia....
The holly fern is not quite looking so good yet from a long hard winter, but it is nestled up to the front of the house in mainly shade.
this is in the front yard under a tree....it is amazing how pretty the yellow lantana is all summer, and i can't remember what he planted for more height closer the tree.
In a big bed close to the patio, he made this double waterfall by bringing a good ole boulder from Canyon lake . This corner of the back is a very tropical look......but the rest of the bed has many roses, etc.....where the plants get more sun. I have to be impressed that he has never had any professional help......just good friends who help each other with yard projects.
I took a lousy picture of something wonderful that he created.....He took 3 big boulders and placed them on the second tier of his patio (he laid the patio himself with limestone or something!!!) You can't really see, but there are 3 nice waterfalls you can hear on the first tier of the patio..............so soothing to sit outside under the covered patio.....this part is not covered....
Welcome to wonderful gardening in that part of the state.
I think I had prettier cutting flower beds in New Braunfels than anywhere else I have lived.....
gail
PS,,,,,glad you are back in the state!!! (LOL)
Just don't forget that deer wander in their yard, so they have to be careful what they plant....I feel quite sure the deer will be in your yard also.......that is why people put up real high fences around their back yards.....
Very pretty! The ground cover that blooms blue looks like blue daze to me. And it looks like a salvia in with the yellow lantana. Very pretty, indeed.
knolan, I know it is not blue daze because I know that plant well...............is there such a thing as perennial periwinkle???? It is a very common name....
Gessiegail - thanks for the pictures... Very pretty - gives me hope.. The wisteria is especially nice with the trellis. I've always backed away from them because I thought they were such slow growers. They've done a great job with the water treatments too. If they need more rock please let me know - we have tons here - some really pretty blue something? also lots of white & red. We built a waterfall - will post a picture later today.
I've been searching for a plant that grows on the property with no success so will post a picture. this is a great group of very knowledgeable people.
I used to feed the deer... trying to draw them in... oh well.. live and learn.
Dutch
Dutch, if I were you I wouldn't encourage grapevines under your oak. We have 2 massive oaks on the west side of our house and there is a fence on the property line. Somebody planted a grape vine there, thinking the birds would like the grapes. Well it gets so much shade that the fruit doesn't grow well, but the leaves do really well. So well in fact that the vine invades the tree and makes it look really awful. I guess maybe there are some vines that are delicate enough to only decorate, but grape vines are not delicate. They have also invaded a rose that my DH's grandmother planted near the fence many years ago when the tree was much smaller. We have cut it back many times and even sprayed it with RoundUp and now it's coming up in other places in the yard. There's also some kind of briar with really vicious thorns on it that comes up with the vines so we don't see it until it's quite large.
Sorry you missed the sale at Schumacher's, but even without the sale, it's still an awsome place to spend an afternoon.
Gessie, that jasmin next to the window in your picture reminds me of ours. It's growing on a trellis between 2 windows and blooming it's little heart out still. Awsome smell! And I don't recall that I water it more than once or twice a year in August. Amazing plant. Nice pictures.:)
Silverfluter - See sometimes I get over ambitious . yep - I better cut that one down. Rethink that deal. Thanks
I took some pictures of our waterfall and "creek" Not as good as Gessie's (i'm a horrible photographer) but it sure is nice and relaxing in our yard too.
close up of water fall
That looks really beautiful.
Such a relaxing area, good job.
Awesome ideas, Dutch....may I sit in your yard also!!!! I loved gardening in that area of Texas.
I could park myself on a blanket by that creek with a good book and whittle the day away! Beautiful, Dutch!
Yes I think I could do a good job of relaxing there beside that trickling water.:) Like going on a vacation every time you walk out your door.
You're all invited....how different from the cactus and sand and rabbits we had in az We're loving it here
Oh my, Dutch...your photos are so lovely. :) As different as gardening is here in Texas...I think that AZ has such a beautiful landscape to delve into. I loved it there while on visits... :)
Melanie