Thank you Lee, yes I do have conservation in mind, but also the joy of seeing and admiring all those beautiful and unusual plants.
I am frustrated because it is so cold, we were planning on working at the city greenhouse where we grow the plants for the Molly Hollar Wildscape
http://www.thewildscape.org/index.php
Yesterday we potted 180 Rock Rose, i am basically addicted to propagating plants and we have many cuttings and seeds started, so I am really looking forward to Spring.
Josephine.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, part 18
Oh my goodness! That is a lot of work....period! Potting that many plants!
Same here, Josephine.....I think it's basically....not being able to do what we enjoy soooo much....at least,...not anywhere near what we can do during the "growing" season - that being all the time except this time of the year.....aren't we spoiled? ha ha ha!
And the cold is back....not that it ever truly left! 29.5° last night. Tired of bundling up INSIDE the house!
But I'm happy...DH order lots of stuff from my Amazon.com wish list this time. I'll just mention the ones the most related to native plants:
Remarkable Plants of Texas by Matt Warnock Turner. I've met him twice and heard him talk about this book!
Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas by George Oxford Miller
Plants of Central Texas Wetlands by Scott B. fleenor & Stephen Welton Taber
Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy
I think DH was tired of me always talking about books and saying I'd buy them someday! I don't even know how I'll have time for anything else now!
Alright! Nice additions to your library! I'm going to be reviewing some of the selection of Timber Press and at Amazon....'cause Santa gave me some cash so I could pick what I want ....myself! My curiosity is piqued...about the Matt Turner book.....sounds interesting already!
We're expecting 29-30 degrees tonight too....my GH heater is goin' and should be fine.....wish Spring was only a week away or so...(sigh)....oh well,...I've had time to organize my library/files of articles and photos on the computer!
It is cold here too 31 right now and will get a lot colder.
How funny Linda, I got Remarkable Plants of Texas too and I am almost done reading it,
very interesting, learned a lot about the usefulness of many Texas plants.
Also Bringing Nature Home is excellent, especially for people who haven't yet found out why it is important to have native plants.
Josephine.
I have friends at work who were born here and they sometimes complain about their gardening efforts. For me, learning about native plants serves 2 purposes, I appreciate what grows in a given area and I have had more success with my flower gardens with native plants. I have started bringing in seedlings for my friends at work. I will definately check out some of those books.
C
Good to hear from you Newtonsthirdlaw, giving plants to people is a very good way to get them introduced to new plants, or plants they are not used to.
I can't wait for good weather to get started on all the new plans for spring.
I hope you will make it to the swap this year too.
Josephine.
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.. I am so behind on everything as I haven't been on DG since July!!! I can't beleive it.. I must have been THAT busy!! hahaha
Hope everyone is doing well.. I am anxious for the growing season to start as I am fed up of all our weather!!! hahahaha... I've had great success in attracting butterflies & a few hummingbirds last year so I really want to do that again!!
Look forward to hearing everyone's plans for their gardens.. when I get my pics done I will post them as best as I can ( I am not computer savvy!!).
Hello Cindy, good to have you back. I am anxious for the growing season too, I have some major plans this year.
We are converting our front yard to all native plants with no grass, just beds and mulched paths, it is going to be a lot of work, we live on a corner lot and we have a lot street frontage, so I have to think long and hard to keep it neat and acceptable to the neighbors.
So far we have about two thirds mulched, and one third planted, but this cold weather is holding me back. I am going to need hundreds or maybe thousands of plants, thank God I am pretty good at propagating or there is no way I could afford all those plants.
All in all, I am very excited and hopeful which is a really good thing.
Josephine.
Josephine,I'm sure I speak for all of us to say we would love some pictures of your progress. I learn so much from seeing how people combine plants,work out problems etc..nancy
Yes Nancy, I will probably start a thread about the progress of the project, but I want to have a little more to show, right now everything is dormant, but I will do it, thank you for your interest.
Josephine.
Yes Josephine, that sounds wonderful! Hope to see photos. I have no doubt it will look beautiful.
We've had so much rain here in my area that the ground can not absorb it any longer. So ponding all over much of which is frozen right now because of the below freezing temps. So that is a major obstacle in my gardening plans. Tried to burn some dead wood and it was too wet to even start a fire! Hope it dries out by planting time.
Besides that, BIG PLANS.......small pockets ! LOL
Allwild, that looks nice in spite of the cold. I must say that i couldn't afford all these plants if i didn't propagate them myself.
There is great enjoyment in growing your plants from seed and such. Nothing better than watching them grow...... and creating a garden.
Wonderful food for the soul.
Your neighbors are lucky to get to admire your work in progress.
I hope so, thank Goodness no neighborhood association here, but you do have to be careful about city codes.
The first new bloom of 2010 here. I think I saw it on New Year's Day. Stemless Evening Primrose, kind of out of season!
This message was edited Jan 3, 2010 8:19 PM
Very Pretty Linda, I don't think I have seen those.
Such a pretty primrose!
This stellaria media "Little star", common name: Chickweed started growing this fall and it has withstood the cold very well. It appeared so fragile that I was surpised to see the strength and vigor of it's growth and how extraordinarily hardy it is.
And it's a wonderful, edible herb with sooo many medicinal qualities, full of minerals and vitamins, and makes a great detoxifying & blood purifying herb/wildflower. I may start harvesting some today!
This message was edited Jan 4, 2010 8:59 AM
I hate to tell you this, but be careful with that one, it is on the invasives list.
Been an unusual winter. Today the rain and drizzle was gone, sun came out and was just a little bit spring-like and I saw one Baby Blue-Eyes proudly blooming
Four-Nerve Daisy or Slender-Stem Bitterweed, I believed it's called Tetraneuris scaposa now.
Oh! a bloom and it looks like another one coming behind it! Thank you for sharing.
Earlier today I was looking thru pictures from last January and there were so many things blooming then.... this years wait is a little bit longer but I'm guessing it will be worth it!
Last Jan. flowering quince was blooming. still waiting waiting this year.
My quince is just now starting to bloom!
Quince is so pretty, it makes you glad to see that big splash of color so early in the year.
Yes, that's pretty! I saw some blooming at a nursery once a couple years back. The Baby Blue-Eyes plant actually had 3 blooms all told. It's nice to see the early bloomers! Cheers you up a bit...this weather lately has been kind of depressing, because there's not much sun or warmth to get any plants to start growing. I noticed today a perennial morning glory was trying to start growing again, just barely a tiny hint of green...poor plants, they are trying....I had thought it might be dead before seeing that.
Well, I finally got a shot of Texas Bluebonnets...spring is not here until the bluebonnets bloom!
You are way ahead of us Linda, but I hope it will be a beautiful Spring for everybody.
Josephine,....could we start another page (part 19?).....those of us on land-line are waiting for ages for the page to set up
I've opened up my greenhouse....rolled up the sides..........letting all that wonderful fresh, spring air flow through......keeping the daytime temps
within the GH manageable!
Wow, Linda.......y'all ARE... way ahead of us....my Bluebonnets are just starting to bud up
This message was edited Mar 14, 2010 10:41 AM
Well, actually I'm not ahead of you on that, Lee! Those were in San Antonio. Had some trouble getting pics to come out right because it was hot and SO sunny yesterday. My bluebonnets out here are only just budding also, so had to find some in S.A. I just love this time of year, because it's also Agarita bloom time...this was in town, but mine are starting to bloom also.
Very lovely Linda, I will try and start a new thread as soon as i can.
Linda - that's still kinda in your neck of the woods....stands to reason that certain areas would develop sooner that others!
Oh Josephine.....you'll have to forgive me....wasn't thinkin'. I know you're a very busy bee right now! Later would be better!
I have a bud showing on one of my BB in my Native garden bed also. Good indication that we are on the way to spring!
Yes, so many lovely things, my Mexican plums are about to burst into bloom also.
The bluebonnets out here on the property are finally starting to bloom. And I saw another tiger swallowtail as I was checking mail on getting back from town. It just flitted by quickly!
I hate the snow!!!! I just finished a ton of garden work this past week & I would hate for any of it to die on me!!!
FROSTWEED... I wish I had more room! I can't change my lawn since I live in a "community".. However I am adding a lot more container plants.. last yr I bought a Japanese Maple. I wish I could have a Mexican Plum as they are butterfly magnets!!! hahahaha.
Didi you know that there will be a free plant swap at Calloway's in Plano on April 3rd? There is also one in Fort Worth the same day. I am hoping to go, as I've never been to one & a friend of mine goes all the time. She says that there are also seed trades too... so I am seriously thinking about trading. I have a lot of zinnia seeds from mine from last yr.
I've just ordered milkweed seeds as I think I gave all of mine away... I will probably find them after the fact!! The seeds are from the ones I got from you Sheila_FW & I put them in a container & they were wonderful!!!
Stay warm y'all!!
Cindy, i hope the freeze doesn't go too low and mess everything up. I will be bringing in all the plants i can tomorrow.
Please don't forget we are having the swap here in Arlington May 2nd.
Not the best of weather for the native plant event in S.A....but I was there for about three and a half hours. I was just grateful I dressed as warm as I did, because so many people didn't seem as well-prepared as I was. Of course, it's such a shame...there were very well-known speakers, the food was good, lots of plants for sale, some other organizations were there...but attendance wasn't even half as good as it could have been. And people couldn't enjoy themselves as much, with the cold and wind so unrelenting. Well, if they do it again next year, I'm sure the weather will be much better!
That happened to us here last year at our Spring sale, such a shame after all the work and organizing.
At least the rain had stopped before it started. Sheila and I enjoyed it in spite of it all, as did some other die-hard plant people. They had the big cluster of pavilions at the park, so lots of space. They bartered park volunteer hours in exchange for the rental fee, so at least it didn't cost them a bunch of money. When it comes to outdoor activities in the cold, I figure you err on the side of dressing too warm, then you can always take off layers if it warms up. Needless to say, the layers stayed on! And I really love my leather coat! It froze last night and I forgot to protect some cuttings...darn!
We brought the plants in yesterday, I hope this will be the last time, but you can never be sure.