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

Blooming beauties on bloom day

Most of my summer bloomers are all still blooming this Bloom Day. Carol, of May Dreams Gardens, encourages us to share our blooms on the 15th of each month, and mine are thrilled to be enjoying a reprieve from the summer’s heat and drought.

The rain has revived them all and they are blooming to their hearts’ content. Because they are the same plants that were barely blooming in September, I’m just going to highlight a few interesting things in the garden today.

Above is a fabulous bloom from my brand-new Bottle Brush tree. It’s a new addition to the bed where I removed an ugly cedar tree earlier this year.
The Turk’s Caps are all standing at attention with the rain renewal. And the cooler temps have really helped, too. Even though it was 92 and sticky today, we have had rain and cooler temps with nights into the high 50s. Fall is trying to show itself here.
I know this does’t qualify because it’s not blooming, but it makes me happy as a bloom would. It is new growth on the 3 new Heucheras I planted this spring. In just a few short months it will have beautiful blooms. So, today, I am celebrating the anticipation of blooms!
And the heady scent of blooms and the sweet rains must have brought romance to our garden toads, because I have hundreds of itty-bitty, teeny-weeny toad babies hopping all over my yard, garden, driveway, pathways … you name it, there are toads there!
I was trying to give you perspective — I failed! he’s about as big as my index fingernail, if that.
Isn’t he cute? Wanna adopt some?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:38-06:00October 15th, 2009|Blog, Bottle Brush tree, GBBD, Heuchera, Sharing Nature's Garden, toads, Turk's cap|0 Comments

Plant junkie….

So, the day after the CTG tv taping, when I was totally happy with my garden for a brief moment in time, I’m at it again.

I would not have gone plant shopping, except that today was the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Annual Fall Plant sale. It’s become a tradition for me.

And it was the members-only sale, so we were guaranteed some great stuff by getting first crack at it. It opens to the public this weekend.

I was there @ 1:00 when it opened, wagon and gardening friend in tow.

(And wearing a jacket, too — at 55 and wet and windy, it really finally felt like Fall here today.)

The weather and the crowd helped encourage us to be quick about our decisions, too.

Doesn’t this look like a great collection of goodies?

Let’s see, there’s:

Silver Ponyfoot
Bushy Purple Skullcap
Missouri Violet
Manfreda sileri
Bue Pitcher Sage
Purple Coneflower
Gulf Coast Muhly Grass
Portulaca
Liatris – Blazing Star
Nolina texana

There are several reasons I love to go to their sales, mostly because I can find unusual plants, and because I can buy them as starters in little 4-inch pots that the nurseries don’t always carry in these varieties. I don’t spend as much, and the plants have all winter to get established. AND, it’s so much easier to dig little-bitty holes, isn’t it?

Then I came home and had hot chocolate and homemade cookies with my girl.

It was a good day.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:38-06:00October 9th, 2009|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflower Center, Wildflower Center plant sale|0 Comments

We did it…now we wait…

Yesterday, Linda Lehmusvirta, the producer for PBS’ Central Texas Gardener, and her crew came to film the garden and to interview me.

It was a dark and stormy night, no, wait, it was a gray, humid and blustery day. It made for good lighting to shoot the garden, but I ended up eating my hair more than once during the interview!

Linda and her crew did a great job of putting me at ease, and I really felt like I was just chatting about my garden with a fellow gardener. If we’re lucky, that’s what I sounded like.

Four hours later, we were done. The program will air in the Spring, most likely in February, and the video will be available on their website as the Featured Garden, so anyone can watch it on the web.

Since they are such a part of my gardening (the challenges part!), Tanner and Dakota may even be in the footage. They came out to check it all out after we were done with the interview.

Thanks to Linda and the crew for a great morning, indulging me in my passion for gardening.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:39-05:00October 9th, 2009|Blog, CTG, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Picking, pruning, pulling … and miles of fire ants

Again? Seriously?

Yes, after I re-re-replanted those Agapanthus, Dakota snuck back in there and pulled them all out again yesterday.

So, as part of my prepping for the Central Texas Gardener t.v. taping here this Thursday, I had to go clean it all up again. And replant them — again.

Then I stepped outside this evening and found a found-lane highway of fire ants racing across my beds, my driveway, down the river rock bed into another flower bed.

No lie – I counted it off, they went 100 feet. And they were in a real hurry. I couldn’t figure out the source at either end and they were going both ways. One bit me before I figured out they were fire ants. It was an amazing, and frightening sight.

So, tomorrow = more pulling and pruning and picking. Most of it is done, but you know, there are always just a few more things you’d like to do … At least I have no plans to rush out to a nursery for any last-minute planting. Now THAT would be nuts!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:39-05:00October 6th, 2009|Agapanthus, Blog, CTG, Dakota, fire ants, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Vines of all kinds …

The cooler nights are starting to affect the vines, so I thought I’d get a few more pictures before they fade away for the season.

I need to go harvest those Coneflower seeds just to the right of this morning glory.
Can you tell I love blue and purple vines?
This mandavilla is so happy here. Too bad it won’t come back after winter.
These scraggly guys are behind the fence.
This Cypress Vine will have to be cut back with a machete when it dies for the winter!

This Tangerine Beauty Crossvine is so not supposed to be blooming now! It’s an early Spring bloomer. I think it’s blooming because it’s just so happy that the heat has finally abated and we’ve gotten a little rare rain.
This Purple Hyacinth Bean vine is loving the rain – it’s been a sindly stalk all summer and now it’s bursting with blooms and beans.

What’s your favorite vine?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:39-05:00October 2nd, 2009|Blog, cross vine, hyacinth bean vine, mandavilla, Morning Glory, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Oh my!

I did it.

But I didn’t do it right. So, I’ll be “under construction” here for a bit. If I can post this message, that will help, but my new background doesn’t include a dashboard for editing. And the old blog layout that I thought I saved the way blogger told me to — well, now they don’t like it any more.

sigh.

That’s what I get for wanting something different.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:38-06:00September 29th, 2009|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Diana C. Kirby

About Diana C. Kirby

Blooming beauties on bloom day

Plant junkie….

We did it…now we wait…

Picking, pruning, pulling … and miles of fire ants

Vines of all kinds …

Oh my!

Escape in the garden