Diana C. Kirby, Author at Diana's Designs Austin

New fiends…

You read right, fiends, not friends.

Yes, we have a spectacularly early and long spring here in Central Texas. And we have mild winters that allow us to grow many plants as perennials. There are many things to love about our climate.

But what else do we have?

Yep – you guessed it…FIRE ANTS.

The dreaded feisty, fearsome fire ants … known to kill calves and colts and other large animals probably a million times their own size. (I’m guessing at that math — work with me here!)

But seriously. They are a menace.

I gave up on the pleasures of walking barefoot in the grass a quarter of a century ago when we moved to Texas (I was just a baby then – ha!). My family and I cannot enjoy summer picnics in the grass on a blanket — we have to sit on the driveway.

And every where you walk, you have to look at your feet, ever watchful for those dreaded monsters.

According to Wikipedia, a typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas and feeds mostly on young plants, seeds and crickets. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them. Unlike other ants, which bite and then spray acid on the wound, fire ants only bite to get a grip and then sting and inject a toxic venom called Solenopsin. A painful sting, it produces a sensation similar to what one feels when being burned by fire, hence the name.

Fire ants nest in the soil, often near moist areas, such as river banks, pond edges and watered lawns. Usually the nest is not visible as it will be build under objects like timber, logs, rocks, etc. If there is no cover for nesting, they will construct dome-shaped mounds that can reach heights of more than 15 inches high.

Colonies are founded by small groups of queens or single queens. Even if only ONE queen survives, within a month, the colony can expand to thousands of individuals. (She’s REALLY busy.)

With our heavy rains this week (for which I eternally grateful – thank you , thank you, thank you), the fire ants came up out of the woodwork to make their domes. The edges of every lawn along my dog-walking route is filled with mounds where they came up out of the ground in the deluge.

Sadly, they are pretty indestructible. There are some baits that help control them, and some insects that researchers are working on to develop predators, but as of now, they have no natural predators.

Pity.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:36-05:00April 19th, 2009|Blog, fire ants, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Rain wreckage and a new day…lily, that is!

Today the first of my Daylilies opened in the lily bed. This is the Spider Miracle Lily — from Olallie Daylily Gardens.
Just another reminder that I am not in charge. I carefully researched color and bloom times to plan my daylily garden. This was supposed to be an AUGUST bloomer! Of course, it’s the first one to bloom in the whole bed.

According to their catalog, this is the biggest lily they have, measuring up to 8.5 inches wide and 32″ high. They are tall and regal, nad a beautiful lemon-lime color.

These little yellow blooms are sad today, though. The torrential rains we got yesterday (1.5 inches — yeah!) were a little hard on the Euryops — they were all lying on the ground this morning when I got up.

And look at poor Maggie. Trashed. Looks like someone had a heck of a party in the garden last night. Since I don’t think Maggie drinks beer, I’ll have to give her the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the storms. But with this drought, we needed the rain, even if it means a little mess in the garden.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:36-05:00April 18th, 2009|Blog, euryops, lilies, maggie rose, Sharing Nature's Garden, spider miracle lily|0 Comments

Seed sowing in the cutting garden & more veggies

Boy — sprinkling a few seeds seems so simple, doesn’t it?

Not.

But it was fun. Since the soil is nothing but nasty clay, I scraped back the mulch, scraped a little soil off and sowed the seeds, then put good, new garden soil on top and replaced the mulch.

I even had a *PLAN* — ha ha. (I almost never make one for myself — it’s the old shoemakers children have no shoes syndrome.)

So all the seeds for the cut flowers are going all around these plants.

Here’s what I planted:

Vinca – Little Pinkie

Sweet Peas — Patio Mix

Shasta Daisies –Silver Princess

Zinnias — Pinwheel Mix

Cosmos – two kinds: Bright Lights & Fordhook Mix

African Lion’s Tail

Blackberry Lily

Bachelor’s Buttons — Blue Boy

Morning Glory – Early Call Mix

And we’re getting some severe thunderstorms today and tomorrow, so they will get some good, fresh rain to get them started.

Cross your fingers!

Now on to the veggie garden.

A tomato! We have several small ones, about golf-ball sized. This one is on the first tomato that I planted successfully from seed — so he’s near and dear to my heart.

And a bell pepper.

And, since this is Texas, we always have some jalapenos growing in our garden.

I love having the makings of fresh pico de gallo (tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, limes and cilanatro) in my garden all summer long. The cilantro is hard to keep when it heats up, but I’m always trying to sneak a few plants into the shade.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:36-05:00April 17th, 2009|bell peppers, Blog, cutting garden, greenhouse bed, jalapenos, seeds, Sharing Nature's Garden, tomatoes|0 Comments

Bountiful blooms and a bright day …

It’s a beautiful Bloom Day in Austin, Texas, full of bountiful blossoms bending toward the springtime sun.

A little (read, little) bit of rain has coaxed our annuals and perennials into bloom throughout the garden.

Our friend, Carol, of May Dreams Gardens arranges this little gathering for us on the 15th of every month.

So, come take a tour with me, won’t you?

These are my blooming African Hostas. Aren’t they cool? Drimiopsis maculata.

What precious little blooms they have on top of leather-y and speckled leaves.

Marigolds to protect the tomatoes in the garden.

The Cilantro has started to bolt here because it is so warm already. It’s almost impossible to grow it here in the summer.

Slightly sad Stock in the new Greenhouse bed.

Purple Penta.

I can’t remember the name of this little one for the life of me…ideas?

Texas Primrose or Sundrops — Calylophus drummondianus.

Sedum Mexicanus in the rock path — it likes being mistreated in the crushed granite!

Skullcap – yellow — Scutellaria.

Pink Skullcap – Scutellaria — this is very common around central Texas, while the yellow above is rare. I also have 9 new lavender plants that I put in a few weeks ago and they are just on the verge of blooming — they will have to wait for another post!

Wine Cup blooms dot the rock path, too — Callirhoe involucrata. Sssshhh- don’t tell the bunnies that they are there!

Two different colors in this little Lobelia – Laurentia – fucsia and periwinkle.

Maggie roses just a-goin’ to town! They have more blooms than I can even count.

Aren’t they precious? How I wish you could scratch and sniff your screen, too!

And as I rounded the corner to capture the Maggies, lo and behold, the first Canna bloom of the season. (Nevermind that I dug these all OUT last fall…they are coming back anyway!)

African Yellow Daisy, or Euryops love this spring weather

The potted Orange honeysuckle – Lonicera ciliosa – is happy with our recent rains.

These Chrysanthemums were in the greenhouse over the winter and are still blooming — totally out of season. I guess I thoroughly confused them!

Beautiful bougainvillea passed along from Robin, or Getting Grounded.

This precious little Vinca bloom is from a hanging basket given to my by my parents when Sierra died last March. I worked very hard to keep it alive in the greenhouse this winter and am so inspired to see it alive and blooming happily.

Mexican Heather, or Cuphea hyssopifolia loves our climate, but the deer love it, too, so I only have a little in the back yard.

This festive Texas Betony – Stachys coccinea – was a passalong from my neighbor. It is the sole survivor of three — thanks to our “deer” friends!

Prairie Verbena – Glandularia bipinnatifida — grows wild all around here, but I paid to plant mine!

More perky Daffodils — Narcissus pseudonarcissus ‘Yellow Fortune’

I’m cheating ! This is actually Kallie’s cactus with its pretty blooms.

She is so proud of it. And those are my little bug friends!

Thanks to a macro lens you can actually see this teeny-tiny bloom of the Grace Ward Lithodora – Lithodora diffusa – that I planted last spring. It’s peeking back out of the mulch, but it’s a struggle.

White Potato vine — Solanum jasminoides is so perky in the partial shade.

And the Japanese Quince — Chaenomeles japonica – still has a few lingering spring blooms on it.

Salvia Greggii is a staple here in the Southwest.

Clearly someone is happy that the Damianita — Chrysactinia mexicana – is in bloom.

Four-nerve daisy or Hymenoxys texana are blooming all around — my garden and all along the roadways.

Salvia Indigo Spires bring such beautiful blues into the garden.

Daffodils — Narcissus pseudonarcissus — I think this is ‘Dutch Master’

Verbena canadensis – ‘Homestead Purple’ (I think…)

More bees – I’m seeing lots of them these days – like this one in the Anacacho Orchid tree – Bauhinia lunarioides.

A few Bluebonnets – Lupinus — are still in bloom. And no, it is NOT against the law to pick them!

My Trailing Lantana – Lantana montevidensis – has been blooming all year long.

These Blackfoot Daisies – Melampodium leucanthum – are always a pick-me-up.

Some sort of Lavender — I have no idea what kind, though…

Society Garlic — Alliaceae Tublighia violacea — is always a reliable little bloomer.

Snapdragons and window box art in front of Kallie’s window.

A geranium keeping this dragonfly company.

Bi-color iris – Dietes (Moraea) is always happy here in our hot weather.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:47-06:00April 14th, 2009|2009, April, Blog, GBBD, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Easter Greetings

Just a few quick shots from our grey day here in Austin.

There is no real gardening on the agenda today — instead I am mostly cleaning house and cooking for tomorrow.

I did have to bring in a few little pots that hadn’t been planted yet because we are supposed to get severe thunderstorms tomorrow morning.

So I battened down the hatches before the rain hits, and closed up the greenhouse windows and doors and picked radishes and parsley for tomorrow’s salad.

I am so tickled to report that there are actual little green tomatoes on several of my tomato plants! They are very small – mostly cherry tomato sized, but there, nonetheless. The green onions are growing nicely, but not ready to pick for a while. (Did I mention that the weeds are also growing nicely?! THAT will be a Monday chore for sure.)

I still have several little daffodils blooming in various small clumps scattered about. It’s so nice that they don’t all come out at once. I like it better that way — it extends the smiling season!

Just a little decorative nest inside the house to welcome the Easter Bunny tomorrow.
The Angel Wing Begonia is beautiful and healthy. It loved the winter in the greenhouse and is enjoying the cooler weather of Spring.
And there are limes on the lime tree. They are about the size of cherry tomatoes, too! But the tree is full of dozens more blooms, so we may have some fresh limeade before too long.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:37-05:00April 11th, 2009|Angel Wing Begonia, Blog, daffodils, lime, Sharing Nature's Garden, tomatoes|0 Comments

Building a new bed…

Well, it doesn’t photograph very well yet, or maybe it’s me (!) but here are the new additions to the Greenhouse corner bed.
I’ve put in an Indigo Spires Salvia, three Lamb’s ears, a variegated Quasimodo Agave, 3 Violet Pentas, 1 Warsaw Nike Clematis vine and a packet of Bachelor’s buttons. I have about 6 more packets of cutting flower seeds to sow and a few more plants to buy for the other end, but I am well on my way.
The new plants are joining some Texas Bluebonnets, some mystery lilies and Larkspur given to me by MSS of Zanthan Gardens. On the other end, I have some orange ditch lilies given to me by Lori of The Gardener of Good and Evil, 3 Daimianita, some Stock, and an Agave passalong from Phillip of East-Side Patch.

Guess I could call this my Passalong Garden!

I wish I could say that I had help, but I didn’t! Just observers.

As much as Dakota digs, I sure wish I could train her to dig holes for me, but no such luck. Lately she’s taken to digging in the grass and unearthing earthworms! And then, yes, eating them. And then yakking them up. Nice, huh? Bet you could have gone all day without knowing that bit of information.

But I really wanted to share it with you!