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

Mystery wildflower

My neighbor has a beautiful field full of wildflowers — some that came to her with the property and some that she has lovingly sown over the last few years.

And out in the middle of the field is this one, tall plant.

I have no idea what it is, and a flip through my book of Texas wildflowers didn’t turn up anything that I thought fit quite right.

Do you know what it is?

It’s growing in rock and has little to no water since we are in a drought and the field has no irrigation of any sort.

She’d really like to know — can you help Maria name this plant?

On a side note:

My garden and my weeds are overgrowing and I’ve neglected my blogging for a while because my Mom’s been in the hospital twice in the last few weeks and I’ve been there with her. We got a good post-surgical prognosis today, so she’s going to be on the mend soon.

And I’ll be back in due time.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:45-06:00May 8th, 2009|Blog, mystery, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

A few new friends…

The rain must have made my Martha Gonzales rose happy as she is blooming a lot this week. Her open blooms are like little saucers, so I was surprised one evening to find this 1/2 closed bloom with its very different look.
The rain also made the window box happy as it erupted with various snapdragons and geraniums in front of Kallie’s window.
This is a salvia that Renee of Renee’s Roots passed along to me last weekend at our garden bloggers tour … I wish I could remember the exact name of it – Renee … help?
And this is the Engleman’s Daisy that I got from Pam, of Digging, at our gathering last weekend. It was in a BIG pot and took me 2 holes to get it into the ground — I ran into a rock when I was almost finished, and I had to start over 6 – 8 inches next to it. My tendonitis was screaming at me all week!

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:17-05:00May 1st, 2009|Blog, Engelman's daisy, Martha Gonzales, rose, salvia, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Flowers, friendship, food and fun with Austin garden bloggers

On Sunday, a growing group of Austin garden bloggers gathered to tour two gardens and socialize and swap plants. We started with a lovely tour of noted author, Jill Nokes‘, garden and she entertained us with stories of the history of her house and her garden’s evolution.

Her rock wall and archway are filled with memorabilia like fossils, bits and pieces of other things she’s collected and whimiscal items.

After the tour at Jill’s — we wandered through the neighborhood and snapped some pictures of interesting plant life along the way.

Then we ventured south for a tour of Jenny — Lancashire Rose’s garden — along with appetizers and drinks and a plant swap to top off the day.

The architecture of their angular house set against the myriad of rock formations and seeminly endless spring blooms blowing in the breeze was amazing.

I’ve read her blog for some time, but this is an instance where a camera and photos are simply no match for the personal visit and the human eye. Even the best of equipment cannot capture the breath-taking views and rooms she and her husband have created in their Hill Country oasis.

I just had to take a few pictures to remind myself how lovely and peaceful it all was.

After our tour and social hour, we had a plant swap.

What an interesting array of plants. Irises, agaves, salvias, tomatoes, trees, datura, roses, seeds, red wine vinegar mother — you name it, we had it to share.

I felt like a kid in a candy store!

A perfect spring afternoon in Austin, surrounded by friends, and sharing our love of gardening and nature.

Special thanks to Pam of Digging — our fearless leader (!) — for organizing, and to Jill and Jenny for inviting us into their gardens.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:46-06:00April 28th, 2009|Blog, garden tour, Jill Nokes, Lancashire Rose, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Oops…

Sorry folks. At today’s Garden Bloggers gathering, I gave away a bag full of plants to my garden blogging friends and mis-named it!

It is Callisia frangrans, or Basket Plant, not Dutchman’s pipe. I misspoke.

So sorry!

But it’s a fabulous plant and I hope you all enjoy it. Anyone else who didn’t get to come to the tours today can comment here and I would be happy to share more of this wonderful plant – I have plenty to share!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:47-06:00April 26th, 2009|basket plant, Blog, Callisia fragrans, hanging basket, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

My favorite Native Plant for the contest~

Here’s my entry for Gardening Gone Wild’s native plant photo contest.

This is my very favorite — it’s Winecup, or Malvaceae, in the Mallow family. The vibrant blooms are stunning against the spring backdrop of green foliage and they just seem to pop right out of the landscape when you see them. And, as a bonus, it’s a spreading, drought-tolerant perennial, which makes it perfect for me here in Central Texas.

I actually have two different varieties in my rock path. As you can see from these two close-up photos, the leaves on these two are dramatically different.

I never tire of these, but some years I do lose them to a bunny salad!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:44:36-05:00April 25th, 2009|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, winecup|0 Comments

How GREEN are you? Take this test & win a prize!

Happy Earth Day!

I hope you are enjoying this great day and that your weather let you be outside today.

It was 94 F here today.

No kidding. 94.

Is is summer? Did I miss something? Oh, no — it’s TEXAS!

In honor of Earth Day, I have a contest for you. This is what is turning into my annual “Shades of Green” post — honoring the green in our gardens instead of the blooms for just one day of the year.

If you can name all these plants (common names are just fine) or you get the most correct if no one names them all, I will send you “The Gardener’s Bedside Reader.”

This is a wonderful book with a collection of stories and essays, illustrated with vintage advertisements and garden memorabilia, botanical drawings and stunning color photography.

So, take a shot at it and let’s see how green you’re feeling this Earth Day!

This contest will close at midnight CST on Wednesday, April 29th, one week from today.