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

Oh, how I wish I were there…

The Cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. are world-renown, miles of blooms lighting up our country’s capital.

And while I’ve never been in Washington in the spring to see them myself, my dear husband, who travels there on business most weeks, sent me these beautiful pictures today so I could enjoy them electronically.

Aren’t they amazing?
Although I would have had to take my coat to handle the 46-degree day there today.
(It was 80 here. )

Hmmm…

Aren’t digital photos and email great?!

Thanks, hon!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:38-05:00March 24th, 2009|Blog, cherry blossoms, Sharing Nature's Garden, washington|0 Comments

Are you growing these, too?

I have lots of these growing in my garden and my lawn…dandelions abound around here these days until the grass gets going and thickens up.

Many other weeds grace Nature’s Garden with their presence, although I don’t know their names like I do the plants I choose to put into the ground.

Can you name them for me?

I’ll send a big bag of free weeds to the garden blogger who IDs the most weeds in this post!

Have a great week! Happy Spring.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:48-06:00March 22nd, 2009|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, weeds|0 Comments

Spectacular signs of Spring

Here she is, Miss Tangerine Crossvine in her full spring splendor. See how gracefully she climbs up into the nearby Live Oak tree?
Her blooms are cheerful and bright – bringing a cacophony of color into the shady corner bed.
And she just keeps on cruising down the fenceline, spreading her beauty.
Out front the little Anacacho Orchid tree that I planted last year is living up to her full expectations with a profusion of delicate white blooms.

The variegated lemon tree is chock full of pink buds, ready to burst into lemony goodness very soon. The bees are eager for the buds to open, too, as they were hovering around just like me!
Green beans peek out of the ground in the veggie garden.
The tomatoes planted before we left for our Indiana Spring Break trip were damaged by the 1 cold night in Austin last week. I think it got down to the mid-30s and the tomatoes all have leaf damage, but they will be fine. See, this one has a BLOOM!!!!! A wannabe tomato…the plants may not be pretty any more, but they are growing and developing, so I won’t complain.
These are the White Icicle Radishes shown in the sidebar photo above. Tasty – and spicy.
Here’s another Bluebonnet blooming in the greenhouse bed. I gave in a planted plants this year as I have not had luck with seeds — we just have too much mulch where I want to plant them, so I carefully amended the soil and pulled back the mulch and put in 15 plants this spring.
The Mexican Plum tree is full of blooms this week, too.
Aren’t they pretty?
This, however, is NOT so pretty. Witness, please the GAZILLION Live Oak leaves that are cascading from my trees. If they were white, you’d think it was snowing in parts of my yard. And they aren’t even 1/2 done with their littering of my beds.

I’m itching to get out there and blow them elsewhere, but more will fall right into their place, so I will wait a week or two. I know, for instance, that there are dozens of wildflower seedlings under here waiting to get out…and I can’t wait to see them…next week maybe!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:38-05:00March 20th, 2009|anacacho orchid, Blog, blue bonnets, green beans, Mexican Plum, oak trees, radishes, Sharing Nature's Garden, tomatoes, trumpet vine|0 Comments

Behind the scenes nursery tour…or the magical mystery tour!

What a day. I can’t quite remember having this much fun in a while.

My in-laws’ friend and neighbor generously offered me a tour of Hoods Gardens, the wholesale nursery where he works in Noblesville, Indiana.
I can’t begin to describe how enormous it is — football field after football field-sized building, with sophisticated climate control, watering and retractable roofing, all designed to keep millions and millions of plants growing and thriving.

I met the owners, Steve and Tina Hood, and several of the employees, all hard at work managing this huge, living operation. Today I saw plants of every imaginable kind in all stages of growth. From the tiniest seedlings to giant flats of plugs to big baskets rich with a variety of mature plants, they had it all.

It was most interesting to see how they move plants from certain areas or buildings to others as they are hardened off and prepared to be trucked throughout Indiana to local nurseries and whole host of commercial customers.

The waves of pansies potted and ready to move out for sale were amazing.

I saw miles and miles of planters! (can you hum that to “Miles and Miles of Texas?”)

This machine helps workers plant tiny plugs by predrilling holes in the soil as flats with pots go by on the conveyor belt.
Aren’t the little plugs cute? They are about a 1/2 inch wide.
These hanging baskets are huge, and were planted for a city client, and will grow to be enormous for dramatic effect hanging high above the streets.
Boston ferns must be a popular item! (I have two at home, and I think everyone I know has one…do you?)
These planters, while sparse now, will be filled to the brim with thrillers, spillers and fillers as they grow and get ready for shipping.
A bazillion little plugs … really!
These machines mix up the soil and then full the flats of pots to prepare for planting.
These beautiful pots filled with succulents gave me an inspiration for my cabana pots.
Ed, my tour guide, with the resident cat.
It was a brisk 39 when I set out for the nursery this morning, but it was nice and warm inside.
Isn’t the pink tinge on this succulent amazing?
And they had dozens and dozens of these huge mixed planters with all variety of succulents — my photos don’t do justice to their scale and drama.
I loved the contrast of the macro photo of the little plugs, compared to the long shot of the same plants below. They are so tiny!

They had entire buildings of different Geraniums ready for spring sales.

This was truly a rare treat, and I appreciate the opportunity for this behind-the-scenes tour that gives me a real appreciation for all the hard work and management that goes into that little 4 inch pot or six-pak that I grab at my local nursery.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:48-06:00March 17th, 2009|Blog, Ed, Hoods, nursery, plugs, seedlings, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

A fine Spring day for hauling manure…

It’s another beautiful Spring day here in Indiana. After a morning of browsing the antique and gift shops along the square in Noblesville, I came back to the farm to see what’s peeking out of the ground. My DH and his brother, on the other hand, cleaned out the horse barns and hauled and spread manure on the fields.

I think I got the better job!

There are many little daylilies popping up in my mother-in-law’s gardens.
And there are the fabulous orange ditch lilies teasing me along the ditch by the creek. I am so lucky to have some at home in Austin, thanks to my good friend, Lori, The Gardener of Good and Evil, who so kindly brought me some back from Wisconsin ditches last year. I am so tempted to dig some of these up, but they aren’t on our side of the road, so I’d better not raid the neighor’s ditch — that wouldn’t be very nice!

Here my mother-in-law’s stunning collection of sedums have survived the winter and the snow and are ready to grow some more.
See the pretty blue sky and all the birds who’ve come to sing for us today?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:48-06:00March 16th, 2009|Blog, daylily, Indiana, manure, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Back home in Indiana

We arrived in Indiana for a family visit on Friday evening, where the weather was cold and in the 40’s, just like back at home in Austin, albeit dry.
Today, it was 58 and sunny and beautiful. We had some fun on the farm doing some chores, cutting down trees (I say we, I really mean the guys – I only watched from afar!), burning wood, taking horse photos (they breed and show Belgian Draft Horses) and watching my sister and brother-in-law’s dogs run amok around the farm. This is Chief in the photo above, who came out for an improptu photo op!
As terriers, these little dogs are always looking for something, and it was a hoot watching them try to dig their way to China in search of a mole. Here they were convinced that they had someone cornered in this hollow tree!

Not much garden news to report. I’m seeing some bulbs peeking up in the yard and grass is starting to turn green.

I’ll have a full report on Tuesday, when I’ll get a private nursery and greenhouse tour from a family friend who works there. I am hoping to get some photos to share with you.

We’ll be here until Wednesday. The rain was supposed to stop in Austin today or tomorrow — I am eager to get home and see all the growth that came as a result. I know that the radish leaves in the garden went from a few inches tall to the size of leaf lettuce in the three days of rain we had before we left — shoot, I might even be able to eat one when we get back.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:39-05:00March 15th, 2009|Blog, dogs, horses, Indiana, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Diana C. Kirby

About Diana C. Kirby

Oh, how I wish I were there…

Are you growing these, too?

Spectacular signs of Spring

Behind the scenes nursery tour…or the magical mystery tour!

A fine Spring day for hauling manure…

Back home in Indiana

Escape in the garden