Howdy from Texas!

Hello everyone! I'm excited to join DG! This looks like a great community.

My family and I are moving from our home of 13 years into a new landscape. . . I mean house. ;o)

I remember planting my first flower bed at the old house on Oscar night as a newly-wed. I worked from the beginning of the pre-Oscar Barbara Walters interview show until the end of the Academy Awards, which was after midnight! Now we have two little garden helpers, ages 7 and 9. I learned a lot about gardening at the old house (especially about shade gardening). I evolved from one who suddenly discovered that plants will produce flowers longer than a few weeks after you bring them home from the nursery if you put Miracle Grow on them, into a full fledged organic gardener. I've been off the blue stuff for many years now, but it did play a part in "cultivating" my enjoyment of gardening.

I can't wait to get started with my whole new blank canvas, as I now think of our new yard. I'm actually going to have some full sun areas! They were digging the trenches for the irrigation system today and I've got nearly 50 yards of good compost mix in two big piles, ready to go in to the beds!

Well Howdy PeeperKeeper! Good to see you! Sounds like you will be very busy! I bet those two helpers will have a lot of fun gardening as well!

Any thoughts on what all you're going to put in your beds yet? What kind of a look are you going for? Do you have any colors in mind?

Good luck with your new home and all of the fun that goes into making it yours!

If you get a chance come and visit us over on Tropical Gardening. Lots of fun and knowledge over there....gardeners from around the world, literally! See ya!

Thanks for the reply, Texasgal.
I have lots of ideas for my beds. In the back we have a pool, so I want to do relaxing colors like blues, soft pinks and purples. I have a huge wide bed between the pool/deck and the back wall of the house which is full sun from morning until late afternoon. It will need to slope down from either side so I thought I'd put a large boulder or boulders at one end and riverstone meandering down the middle to the other end like a dry creekbed. My list of potential plants for that bed is long, and I don't know if they'll all fit, but here are the ones I thought of:
Shrubs/trees:
Mountain Laurel, Bridal wreath, Indian Hawthorne, Duranta erecta, maybe a Gardenia and if there's room some Abelia.

Perennials:
Plumbago, pink daylily, Brookside Geranium, Rock Rose (hotter pink than I want to focus on, but I love them), Dianthus, Blue Star Sea Holly, Cat tails (do they require a bog? I'd like them by the boulders at the "head" of the dry creek.) Mint, Purple Coneflower, Hyacinth bulbs, Purple Loosestrife (looks good "on paper" but does anyone know how it does in central TX?) Hibiscus, Jack in the Pulpit, Alium, Mex. Feather grass, Purple Fountain Grass (maybe) and blue and white Ipheion.

Annuals:
Cosmos, lobelia, alyssum

There's also a large Oak tree over the deck by the pool which I had thought of having a coral vine growing up into. Also, the wall of the house is big and made of stone, so it would look fantastic with a big light pink rose on it!

The house is set back pretty far from the road, so in the front I want more pop. I figured I'd go with reds, oranges and yellows.

Here are some of the plants I'd thought about for there:
Flowering Senna, Thryallis, Firebush and Barbados firebush, pyracantha (maybe espaliered on a wall), bulbine, more Cosmos . . .

I hadn't done as much planning for the front yet, although I know how the bed are laid out.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, tips, etc. There are definitely deer in the area, so deer resistance is a huge plus, but I don't *think* they'll be coming up in the pool bed too much. They definitely could, so I figured I'd hide the less deer resistant stuff amongst things they wouldn't be as interested in. The front probably needs to be pretty deer proof though.

Sounds like you've really thought it thru. Sounds very pretty! Can't wait to see it!
The cat tails do need a bog. I have some seeds I want to plant, but don't have a bog.

Everything sounds very nice! I don't have any experience with deer...we live in the city!

In the Texas forum, you might start a new thread asking for people's suggestions! I'm sure there are alot of people out there who do deal with deer daily!

Welcome again....and good luck with all of the work ahead of you!

a belated welcome from upstate new york

Hi welocme.. you have a nice plan there.. like your name to..

Thanks. Yeah, the username is one I use on other forums too. I'm an optometrist, so I "keep peeple's peepers peepin' " LOL. Also, I first used it on a sugar glider website because my first glider's name is Peepers (and I'm her keeper).

They put in the soil, sod and river rock yesterday! We're not going to be able to move in for another couple of weeks still, but I may start planting a few things. We're out at the house pretty much every day anyway and they do have the irrigation in, although not the drip irrigation I'll have in the beds. I don't mind watering with a hose though. I'll try to take pictures this afternoon of the beds and post them! :o)

Have you found the Texas forum yet, PeeperKeeper? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/region_tx/all/ When you get a chance, pop in and say hi. There are lots of friendly folks in there. :-) One of them will know how well (or not) loosestrife behaves, too.

WOW! This is just like going on a picnic! Hello to everyone. I am from Athens, PA. I have been finding my way around this site since 7:00AM this morning and it is almost 11:00AM now.(Daylight Saving time). I have already found answers to many of my problems in the garden and am having a wonderful time here. I must leave and go garden right now,but just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed this visit.

Welcome to Dave's Garden, posyblossom! We're glad you found us. :-)

Sorry Peep.........., I don't know how my hello ended up on your thread. I'd take it out and put it on its own ,but I don't see how to delete it. I do need new glasses;)


I am soooooooooooooo glad to be here,but I wish I would get things right:(