catmint

Building beautiful borders in the garden

Successful, well-designed and attractive landscapes include beds with layers of plants and a variety of shapes, textures and color.  Strategically placed anchor plants, evergreen foundation shrubs, medium-sized perennials, and small border plants, all work together to create a pretty palette.

But many gardeners ask, how do I know which plants to put where?  How do I select the correct size for my space?

Plants grow, and some of them grow a lot once they’re out of that tiny pot you bought and nestled in your lovely garden.  Planting too close together creates more work later as you struggle to prune all the time or are forced to remove plants to allow enough space for them all to thrive.  Believe nursery tags and nursery staff and follow the guidelines in your research.

The plants in the front of your layered beds will be ground covers or border plants.  For most gardens, these plants typically don’t get much bigger than about 18” tall.  There are, of course,  exceptions, depending on the overall scope and proportion of the landscape, whether it’s a very small space or a sizeable piece of property.  The true test is how they will look in comparison to the next line or area of plants behind them in the bed.  Border plants should provide a contrast in size between layers and should look good together, combining different colors, textures and shapes.

How do I pick border plants?  The first order of business is to determine the amount of sun or shade that your border gets.  When the sun is at different points in the sky in the winter, it’s not a true reflection of how plants will fare when heat stressed. I try to consider conditions in the worst of summer, because those days are so intense.

The terms full sun, full shade, part sun, part shade are associated with specific amounts.  Full sun means a site gets at least 6 full hours of sun most days.  But, here in Central Texas, some plants labeled full sun may still struggle if that’s all blistering afternoon sun.  Do your research to determine if there are any limits on tolerance that might apply.

Full shade doesn’t mean no sun at all.  Labels calling for full shade conditions refer to less than 3 hours of sunlight each day, and filtered light the remainder of the day.  In the Austin area, those 3 hours simply cannot fully expose plants in the heat of the day.  A little dappled morning light and good afternoon shade is a much better guide for us.

Part sun or part shade are sometimes used to mean similar conditions, with slight adjustments leaning in either direction.  Generally, these designations refer to between three to six hours of exposure most days.  Part sun  means plants will need the minimum sun requirements to set flowers and bloom.  Part shade also means protecting your plants from the intense afternoon sun, allowing them some sun at other times.  As always, discussing your situation with nursery staff can provide more detailed information.

Some beautiful border plants for Central Texas include:

Agave (some varieties)

Ajuga

Aztec grass

Batface cuphea

Blackfoot Daisy

Bluebonnet

Bulbine

Catmint

Evening primrose

Creeping germander

Dalea

Damianita

Dyckia

Four nerve daisy

Ice plant

Lamb’s ear

Liriope

Lyre leaf sage

Mexican feather grass

Mexican heather

Monkey grass

Pigeonberry

Plum yew

Purple heart

Dwarf Mexican Petunia

Lavender cotton

Sedge (some varieties)

Skullcap

Society garlic

Verbena

Winecup

Yarrow

Yuccas (some varieties)

Zexmenia

Border plants don’t have to be planted in a straight line.  You can also cluster plants in sections according to size, color or texture.  Place them in drifts in front of the next section of larger plants based on which ones look best together.

Many annuals also make excellent border plants, adding color and interest at specific times through the year and allowing you to change out your look with the seasons.

It’s the little things…in life and in the garden…

With the arrival of spring and increasingly warmer temperatures, I’m seeing the fruits of my first projects in the new garden.  All of the plants I brought with me from the last garden went in last summer.  Almost all of them survived the interim neglect, and are starting to bloom now.

I put in some bulbs in the fall, and they’re up and at ’em now.

This Loropetalum seems very happy where I planted it last summer.

The garden did have a few bloomers in it when we moved in.

I am enjoying the Bridal Wreath Spirea that’s in full bloom now.

I almost didn’t notice the grape blooms on the shaded Texas Mountain Laurel until my friend, Robin, discovered them last week.  Because it’s in full shade, I was shocked to see the flowers.

Here are a few of the plants that went into the new bed about 2 weeks ago.

A handful of blooms make all the difference.  I am seeing the garden glass as half full — full of the promise and possibility plants bring into our lives.  Even with lots of projects on the horizon, knowing I’ll enjoy every little bloom along the way makes it all worth while.

Inspiration on a napkin turns ideas into reality in the new garden

I woke up at 5:15 Saturday morning, as excited to wake up and start the day as if it were Christmas morning.  Saturday was planting day.  I could hardly control myself as I tried to go back to sleep for at least a little longer.

When we moved last summer, I knew I would have a blank landscape canvas with which to work.  Now on a large, shaded and very hilly corner lot, the conditions in this garden are dramatically different than our previous garden.

I’m reminded of the adage, “be careful what you wish for…” and smile when I think of my complaints that the other landscape was flat and boring.  There’s nothing flat here!  In fact, the only thing here is ivy.  Lots and lots of ivy.  I’ve found Jasmine, English ivy, trumpet vine and Virginia creeper, all intermingled in an incestuous mess, threatening to eat the trees and the house and everything else in its path.

Over the last few months, I’ve tried to focus on the area that runs along the lower side of the property.

One of our first projects when we moved in was intensive pruning of the wonderful, yet long-neglected heritage trees.  We removed a few dead ones, and opened up the canopy of trees along that side of the property.  Because of the overgrown trees, all that remained in the total shade was dead grass, soil and exposed tree roots.  Now, the afternoon sun shines in this area, and I decided that it might be my best bet at creating a bed friendly to sun-loving plants.

I’ve scribbled on several napkins and I’ve had a few snippets of ideas about possible plant combinations.  Luckily, I came to my senses and decided to take the time to assess the space, allow my vision to evolve, and focus on some of my favorite plants.  The sketch of plants grew as I decided to intersect the long space with a dry creek, boulders and a large ceramic pot as the focal point.

Last week, I put the plan into motion as I drew out the creek outline with construction paint and got the crew digging and delivering rock.

Over the week, I finalized my plant choices and placed my order.  Saturday was the day.

I lovingly placed every plant and every boulder, turning and adjusting and moving an inch to the left and then a half inch to the right and then another half inch back to the left!

At the top of the hill, I’ll add a very large ceramic pot, filled  with a focal point plant and trailing potato vines or maybe silver pony foot.  It will be nestled in the middle of these boulders at the headwaters of the creek.

Bordering the sidewalk entrance, a few dianella, a purple trailing lantana, a red salvia Greggii, blackfoot daisies and damianita surround a regal purple Amistad salvia.  She’ll be the star of the show in short order with her almost foot-long plumes.

To create year-round interest, catmint is intermingled with the elegant and strappy leaves of Agapathus.  I like the textural contrast between the delicate, gray-green catmint and the lime-y foliage of the agapanthus.

In mild winters like this one, catmint was evergreen in my previous garden.

It will be interesting to see how plants fare in this new garden.

At the other end of the bed and the creek, the shining star will be a deep magenta Maggie rose (which I haven’t found yet).  She’ll be flanked by Dianella, a Mediterranean fan palm, trailing white lantana,  purple skullcap and a Weberi agave.  Just past the Weberi, another Dianella keeps an Indigo spires salvia company along with an artichoke and a scattering of sculptural foxtail ferns.

I didn’t realize how much I missed my other garden until I started to create a new one.  It’s filled a void and I’m excited to be moving forward.

I have lots of other ideas swirling around in my head.  And now that this bed is spiffy, neighboring areas definitely look shabby in comparison.

Now I’m dreaming about new stucco bed-bordering walls (to replace railroad ties), driveway flanking beds, and a possible new entrance from the street.

I’ve stocked up on napkins, there is plenty for me to do.  I’ll keep you posted!

Greening up the garden on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

After several gifts of much-needed rain this spring, the garden is beaming with delight. (As are the weeds, but that’s another story.)

We barely saw winter this year, it made a few stops nearby, but never stayed long enough to qualify for a freeze at my house.

Having happily forgone dormancy, many plants in the garden are big and bursting with blooms well ahead of their traditional schedules. So here is a peek into my garden as I celebrate Garden Bloggers Bloom day, created by Carol of May Dreams Gardens
.

This tropical hibiscus was never expected to make it through the winter – I planted two them knowing I’d probably have to replace them this spring, but low and behold, they are happily blooming again.

Euphorbia ‘Ascot rainbow’ against the backdrop of native prairie verbena.

Jerusalem sage, Phlomis, getting cozy with some Salvia Greggii in the front bed.

New additions to my shade garden last year, I added both solid yellow and fruit cocktail shrimp plant to the palette.

Purple and fuchsia dominate the end of the front bed. The irises in the foreground are done already, but they were a lovely lavender.

Scuttelaria wrightii, purple skullcap, enjoyed our warm spring and is trailing out into the walkway.


I replanted Cleome ‘Senorita Rosalita’ again this year where I had some holes in the front bed. It makes a nice contrast agains the sculptural foxtail ferns.

A tidy, low, mounding shrub, Catmint ‘Walker’s Low,’ is one of my favorites.

The Salvia ‘Mexican limelight’ on the right and back of this photo is only sporting a few blooms right now, but soon it will create a nice contrast against the yellow Calylophus in the front.

The butterflies homed right in on this native butterfly weed — they knew I’d planted it just for them. (Along with dill, parsley, fennel and many other host/food plants.)

This explosion of four-nerve daisies came flying over from the bed on the other side of the driveway and clearly like where they landed!

More prairie verbena in driveway bed, set against the Lantana ‘horrida,’ — purple and orange is one of my go-to color combos.

Early spring and much-needed rains also mean an early pruning season in the garden. I’m not quite as excited about that result.

Here, the Jerusalem sage, Salvia greggii, Zexmenia, Mexican feather grass and Mexican honesuckle are getting just a little too neighborly for my taste. I’m gonna have to go break up the fight out there this week!

I’ve twice tried to plant Cardoon in this bed with no success. This year, voila! This plant, put in last summer, overwintered well and is rewarding me with blooms.

I love its color and its beautiful, exotic form.

The cardoon, related to the artichoke, is enjoyed frequently in Mediterranean cuisine. It is grown primarily for its thick stalks, which can be braised, stewed or deep-fried.

I’ve also grown artichokes many times in the past, but usually let the chokes bloom instead of eating them. They are just too pretty to eat, in my opinion.

I think I’ll try to cook a few of the stalks of this cardoon – just to see what it tastes like.

Most of my lantana is blooming throughout the garden. Purple trailing lantana is backed by Loropetalum ‘ever red’ in the front walkway bed.

I think this is Lantana ‘cherry sunrise’ on the side of the house. Unlike the native ‘horrida’ which can take over your garden – growing up to 6 feet wide and almost as tall – this cultivar is a very compact and orderly size of 2-3 feet wide.

The first of several rock roses began blooming this week. Pavonia lasiopetala is a tough native plant, but the deer find it tasty, so it has to live inside of the fence.

This daylily, ‘grape magic’ was ordered from Olallie Daylily Gardens when I created the daylily bed in 2008. It was advertised as an August bloomer. Just a tad early this year~!

This is Mexican flame vine, hard at work brightening up this section of fence.

These daylilies are not in the daylily bed, but out by the pool. I don’t know the cultivar, and they look a little washed out in this photo – they are a very deep, velvety maroon color.

Just down the way in the pool bed, this Pride of Barbados has also begun to bloom, well in advance of its traditional August arrival.

Last year’s addition to the pool bed was this Iochroma ‘royal queen.’

I didn’t realize how well it would do in this spot, so I’ll have to keep pruning it. I might have to get a few more to put in other spots in the bed now that I’ve seen how much they like it.

Clematis pitcheri is crawling with delicate little blooms.

Although I like the bright blue larkspur the best, the white and pale blue are the most prominent in the cutting garden this spring.

Leonotis leonurus, lion’s tail, ‘carefree beauty’ rose and Salvia ‘indigo spires’ are all blooming at once in the cutting garden.

Our recent rains have been good for these salvias. In times of drought, they really fade back.

Plenty of chow for pollinators in this garden!

I planted a few 4″ pots of Limonium sinuatum, (statice) in the garden last month. After all, a cutting garden needs some of this bouquet staple, doesn’t it?

The Echinacea reseed in this small spot and come back in droves, year after year.

Behind the pool, the transplanted Salvia ‘Amistad’ adapted very well and is bordered by yellow bulbine.

Behind our fence, the oleander I planted last year as a screen is doing its job. I will probably add a few more this year so we can start taking out some cedars.

The Loropetalum ‘ever red’ in the front bed makes a dramatic statement.

The Texas Yellow Star, or Lindheimera texana daisy, reseeded into my decomposed granite path and now towers above all of the other low-growers. It doesn’t really matter, though, because the bluebonnets and wine cups have already taken over the entire path, so the yellow star can be right at home.

We may be in for an early, hot summer, but I’m ok with that since I’ve enjoyed so many beautiful early blooms in the garden. What’s blooming in your garden today?

El Nino is quenching the garden’s thirst…

Our devastating drought has altered the state of our gardens here in Central Texas and it’s changed our mindset, too.

We’re not used to rain.  Not a little rain, not a lot of rain. We’ve had so much rain here this month that we don’t know what to do with it. 

There’s so much green in my garden that I have to wear shades to walk through it.  My plants would now like a little sun to shine as well, but they’ve never been quite so lush.

 A ribbon of catmint, Mexican feather grass and lamb’s ears lines the front of this Southwest cottage-style bed.

 The lamb’s ears make a dramatic statement when they are all standing at attention in full bloom.

 The black and blue salvia and lingering bluebonnets echo the blue in the large ceramic pot in the front bed.

Soft and spiky plants share this bed, providing sculptural interest and contrasting textures.  Soon the color of Mexican limelight salvia and orange tecoma stans will add to this palette.

Beautiful blooms are vying for my attention in the cutting garden – ready to come join me in the house!

Ditch lilies, Klondike cosmos, larkspur, shasta daisies, purple coneflowers and clematis are all showing off in the cutting bed.

This morning, I picked this bouquet for my mom and dad, who are celebrating their wedding anniversary today.  But tornado warnings and unrelenting thunderstorms kept me home this afternoon and they had to enjoy them via a photo.  So, now we can all enjoy them.

New spring plantings are growing and the caladiums are shooting up out of the ground as fast as I can count them.

I’m smitten with the Mexican bird of paradise, Caesalpinia Mexicana, and its exotic and wispy blooms.

The brilliant purple flags of these Amistad salvia provide a backdrop for senorita Rosalita cleome, dianthus and yarrow.
It’s delightful to walk through the garden with the grass squishing under your clogs, appreciating the much-needed rain.
Go to Top