Sharing Nature's Garden Archives | Page 4 of 124

Great garden memories from 2018

My garden brings me peace and serenity, and I needed a healthy dose of both in 2018.

I loved the countless hours I spent planning, prepping, and working in the garden. And sharing it with family and friends was just as wonderful. (Especially 92 of my closest friends – garden bloggers – who braved the terrifying elements on that miserable Friday in May!)

Hope you enjoy a few of my favorite pics of my garden in 2018. Looking forward to many more happy memories here in 2019.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-12-28T20:35:22-06:00December 28th, 2018|2018, artichoke, beds, bird bath, cardinal, Cleome, coral honeysuckle, datura, garden art, garden decor, garden sculpture, greenhouse, Morning Glory, planters, roses, Sharing Nature's Garden, sky, succulents, wildlife, yucca, yucca rostrata|3 Comments

Getting cozy in the greenhouse…

In Central Texas, sunny 80-degree days dance with us periodically throughout fall and winter. But, we still have to prepare for the occasional cold spell.

I have to be particularly careful because most of the potted plants in my collection are tropical or subtropical. The plumerias begin to wilt at close to 50, dripping and dropping yellow leaves.

Two weeks ago, we prepared for a 47-degree low and all the pots were rushed into the greenhouse. (You can see more about this annual process here.)

A few of them needed haircuts to fit into their winter home and the rest were carefully nestled inside like a Tetris puzzle.

The greenhouse has to be divided to provide sun for the sun lovers and shade for the more delicate plants.

I typically drape shade cloth down the middle of the greenhouse on a shower rod on top of the ceiling supports.

But, I’d thrown out the shade cloth bits and scraps I’d cobbled together for the last few seasons and didn’t have any in time for the emergency arrival of the immigrants.

So, I improvised. Now a colorful collection of beach towels from around the world adorns the little glass house.

One is from Costa Rica and another is from a cruise Jeff and I took to Santorini, Greece in 2000. In case you were wondering, the 3rd is from Target!

After mid-day, the plants on the east side get some much-needed shade and those on the right get to bask in the sun for the rest of the da

Shade lovers also get to hang out on the bottom shelves while those on the upper bunk provide cover.

In close quarters, I get to enjoy the plants one-on-one through the winter. I keep the automatic heaters on when it gets below 50 to keep the tropicals happy and prevent dormancy.

On hot days, the automatic fan turns on and I open up the 4 ceiling windows and the doors.

The greenhouse temperature on sunny days will get about 20 degrees higher than the outside temperature.

If it reaches more than 80 degrees outside, I wet the pea gravel floor once or twice throughout the day to help cool it down inside.

Sometimes, on a sunny-but-cold day in the dead of winter, I’ll pull in a lawn chair, turn on my iTunes, eat some lunch and soak up the sunshine for a little while.

Here they are, all tucked in for the winter chill.

Can you name all the plants in this picture?

See the before pictures as we began prepping the site to install the greenhouse. I posted about it exactly ten years ago today!

Now that everyone is settled in, I’ll turn my attention to propagating, planting seeds and digging up some outdoor landscape plants to overwinter in the crystal palace.

I love it when volunteer plants show up in the garden and I can pot them and keep them in the greenhouse until spring.

Where will your potted friends spend the winter?

How far into the moving process will you be before this comes out of your mouth?

“I’m not going to plant so many pots next year.”

Let’s just get it over with now. You say it. We all know you’re lying, because we’re telling ourselves the same lie. Just get it off your chest and embrace the obsession. You’ll feel so much better come spring!

Have yourself a happy little winter.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-11-04T20:58:20-06:00November 5th, 2018|2018, greenhouse, plumeria, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|4 Comments

Best little plant in the house and in the garden…

Don’t you love the delicately textured, scalloped leaves of this variegated Swedish ivy? No surprise considering the oddities of botanical nomenclature, but it’s not an ivy and it’s not from Sweden, either. The botanical name is Plectranthus verticillatus, and it’s in the same And the scent is a heavenly citrus.

I’m always looking for beautiful variegated plants to add just one more pop of interest into my landscape beds. Swedish ivy is a tried and true favorite, along with Cuban oregano.

They’re slow and low growers in my garden, zone 8b, so I sprinkle them along bed borders for interest. They like a good bit of shade, and they have moderate water needs.

I planted some late last summer, then realized as we were facing the first cold snap that I didn’t want to lose them to the cold weather.

So, I bought two plastic dish pans from the a dollar store and drilled holes in the bottom.

Well, to be honest, I didn’t actually drill the holes, Jeff did. Thank you, honey. You could also just poke the holes with a screwdriver or some other sharp object.

That’s actually what I was in the process of doing when Jeff saw me and said, very politely, “uhmmmm, why don’t you let me do that?” Ok, ok. So it wasn’t the most sophisticated approach, but I was getting the job done – really! (I could write a book on all of my “necessity is the mother of invention” approaches to problems.)

Then I used coffee filters to prevent soil from spilling out right away. Ultimately they would be draining into the floor of pea gravel from a shelf in the greenhouse. Once they started to re-root, it wasn’t an issue any more.

I dug up the plants from the garden when the temperature dipped below 50 at night, getting as many roots as possible.

Then I placed 2 clumps in each plastic container, allowing a little room for some winter growth.

To make it a little easier to separate them the next spring, I placed a paper towel tube between them. It didn’t separate them 100%, but it did help to contain them. It also made it a little bit easier to pull them apart without destroying the rootball or losing too much of the soil. They also produce small, white flowers which you can see on the photo below.

They lived in the greenhouse through the winter where they thrived. What? No greenhouse you say? No problem. Around the world they are a popular houseplant, native to Australia and the Pacific islands. They look great trailing out of a hanging basket. So, plant them up in a pretty pot. They like bright indoor light, so find a special spot for them near a window.

If digging and replanting with the seasons isn’t your jam, just take a few cuttings and you can propagate them in a water glass like you did in high school.

I’ve watched them grow full and lush since spring, and will be pulling them up and overwintering them in the greenhouse again. I’ll probably bring a few into the house this year, too.

Now, don’t you want to grow this in your garden or in your house?

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-09-18T11:29:24-05:00September 18th, 2018|shade plants, shades of green, Sharing Nature's Garden, variegated Swedish ivy, variegation|1 Comment

Contemporary, xeric garden showcased at Garden Bloggers Fling

As Pam Penick, Laura Wills and I planned the recent 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling in Austin, we aimed to showcase a wide variety of garden styles that would provide inspiration to participants.

Located in southwest Austin, this spacious garden highlighted many native and adapted plants in a stunning contemporary setting.

Armed with rain ponchos, 92 gardeners braved the rain, and it was well worth it.

In the vegetable garden, edibles and ornamentals spill out of contemporary Cor-Ten steel planters.

Using raised planters makes gardening much easier here in Central Texas, where our inhospitable clay and limestone soil presents a real challenge.

Even with regular amendments to the soil, the weather extremes of drought and flood here require serious elbow grease to bring forth vegetables without a raised bed.

While we were hoping for sunshine during our visit to this garden, the crops were relieved to have the rain.

Rain droplets on the yucca bloom add another dimension.

One of the quintessential plants of our region, the yucca provides structure, evergreen color and beautiful blooms in the garden.

The semi-soft form of the bloom provides a contrast to the seriously spiky leaves.

This one must have been missed by deer passersby, left for bloggers to admire.

But, when the inevitable heat and drought arrive, and the deer are searching for food, they love to nibble on these blooms.

The clean lines of the pool contrast with the soft and spiky collection of native plants beyond the edge.

We surveyed the garden under the watchful eye of this little guy. I’m sure he wondered what all these people were doing in his garden while he was left inside.

I think he was ready to get his yard back to himself.

This clean and simple arrangement was the only decor on the patio overlooking the pool and the vista beyond, creating a lovely focal point.

Around the corner of the house, tucked away out of sight against a wooded area, the gorilla awaits any intruders.

Or eager grandkids.

I imagine most little kids would be thrilled to share their secret hiding space with this big fella.

The perfect setting for some make-believe play, a collection of trucks and other toys are carefully parked, waiting for the next play day with King Kong.

A striking garden in a beautiful setting, this one was a real gem.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-08-17T15:27:55-05:00August 17th, 2018|2018 Garden Bloggers Fling, Austin bloggers, Austin gardens, garden bloggers, garden bloggers fling, garden tour, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized, xeric, xeric plants|2 Comments

Bountiful fig harvests mean it’s fig jam time

Over the last week, 3 of my friends and neighbors have shared figs from their drooping, fig-laden trees with us.

We had 2 or 3 different varieties of figs. The ones in the middle, came from my mail carrier. We talk plants periodically when I’m outside and he’s actually hopped out to take a peek at my vegetable garden. (Shhh – don’t tell anyone!) My figs aren’t ripe yet – they seem to be larger than the small ones and smaller than the large ones. I know that mine is a Brown Turkey fig tree. No idea what these were.

I believe the large purple ones are Black Genoa, Black Spanish or Purple Genca. They were the sweetest figs. The figs on the left were larger than those on the right (though it’s hard to tell from this pic) and came early, soI think they are Celeste. Those are just guesses. Who knows what the really are. There are more than 700 varieties of figs, some don’t fruit and some require two trees for pollination. All these figs came from single trees. That’s all I know for sure!

The first figs went into a delicious salad of field greens, walnuts, peppadew picante goat cheese, and proscuitto. I made a balsamic reduction with balsamic vinegar, honey, spicy Asian plum sauce and poured it warm over the salad. It was amazing.

We ate fresh figs everyday throughout the first days we had the figs and then Jeff made refrigerator fig jam.Chop, chop, chop. (It takes a lot of figs to make jam).

Then comes the sugar. These figs were all so sweet, we agreed that the next time we’d use less sugar, and might add some balsamic vinegar to bring out the natural sweetness of the fruit.

The house smelled great as they were bubbling in the pot. Mother Nature’s air freshener!

He didn’t can them, though he sometimes goes that extra step. This refrigerator recipe will keep for up to 3 months in the fridge. I can tell you they won’t last that long in our refrigerator.

After scooping them into the jars we shared some of them and bought some English muffins. You know what happened next.

A wonderful, fresh home garden treat, we’ll be enjoying the jam this winter as well.

There are hundreds of other recipes for fresh figs or fig jam, chutney, sauce, etc. I’m already thinking of pairing the fig jam with pork chops, among other things.

If you don’t have a fig tree in your yard, trust me — you’re missing out.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-07-19T09:14:37-05:00July 19th, 2018|Black genoa fig, brown turkey fig, Celeste fig, fig, fruit, fruit trees, recipes, Sharing Nature's Garden, trees, Uncategorized|3 Comments

In a Vase on Monday

It was a beautiful weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom and my son. And, it was a sad weekend, thinking of people that weren’t with us, including my husband’s Mom who passed away a little more than 2 years ago.

She was like my second mother and I talk to her picture often and keep a tiny vase in front of her picture on the shelf. Yesterday I put together a bigger vase of blooms from my garden for her.

If you’d like to join in with your vase this Monday, you can link back Rambling in the Garden’s meme at https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/

Can you ID all of these blooms?

#InaVaseonMonday #blooms #flowers #vase #gardening #cuttinggarden #cutflowers #wildflowers

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-05-14T09:15:27-05:00May 14th, 2018|bloom, blooms, Mom, Sharing Nature's Garden, vase, Wildflowers|6 Comments

Sharing Nature’s Garden

Great garden memories from 2018

Getting cozy in the greenhouse…

Best little plant in the house and in the garden…

Contemporary, xeric garden showcased at Garden Bloggers Fling

Bountiful fig harvests mean it’s fig jam time

In a Vase on Monday

Escape in the garden