Sharing Nature's Garden Archives | Page 51 of 124

One of these plants is not like the others…

When I build a new bed and take the time to plan it out and do a real garden design (that means measure, plan, research and shop all at once), it usually works out nicely.

But, do I do that much? In a word, No.

I fall in love with something at a nursery, or in the glossy pages of a garden porn catalog, and I buy. Then I plop. Plop plants wherever there is room and the conditions are right.

We all do it, right? But then it comes back to haunt us.

Or, sometimes, invasive plants behave badly and stretch their limbs and vines to end up far away from where they once started!

Looking around the garden as fall arrives, I can’t help but think, many of these things are not like the others! It’s sometimes hard to see in the photos, because both plants aren’t always in focus, but look carefully and you’ll see reds and pinks, oranges and lavenders, you name it. And I’m all for color and bright combinations, just not hideous ones!

But I’m not a mover. (Maybe a shaker!) But definitely not a mover by nature. Several of my garden blogging friends are always moving things around, trying to find the perfect spot, sun, soil for a particular plant.

Not me.

But I’m done with that. This fall the change of season also marks a change in my gardening habits. I’m going to fix all of the mis-matches in my garden. Or at least those that I reasonably CAN fix.

Because I have 2 Pairie Sun Rudbeckia, and 2 unidentified red plants and as I look at them sitting on the edge of my driveway, I realize — I haven’t planted them because I don’t have a red and yellow bed. Well, I have a yellow bed and tried to have red with it, but the deer didn’t like the color combination and ate all my Standing Cypress this summer!

So, with new resolve, I’m attacking my garden in an attempt to impose a Sesame Street style order to the most unruly of my plants.

What about you? Any mis-matches in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:25-06:00October 4th, 2010|Blog, mismatched, moving plants, replanting, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

What an amazing biennial bloom!

The Night-Blooming Cereus sure put on a show this morning. I assume she opened completely in the night.
When I got out there at 7:30 this morning, she was already beginning to close up some.
But she’s still beautiful and just darn cool!
I missed her blooms in the early spring, so I’m very excited to have had the chance to get a glimpse this time.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:12-05:00September 30th, 2010|Blog, night blooming cereus, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

The promise of things to come in the garden…

As gardeners, we think of the spring as a time of renewal.

Plants awaken from their long winter’s nap and begin the process of growing again.

But fall is also a time of renewal.

Here in Texas, our hot summer perennials are refreshed by ever-so-slightly cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain. Many of them begin a new bloom cycle until the first frost appears.

Fall bloomers, like fall Asters and Oxblood lilies also thrive.

And, our most precious Bluebonnets, the state flower and our February/March pride and joy, begin to grow delicate green foliage.

My Night-blooming Cereus is also experiencing a revival. This bud showed up 3 days ago and I’ve been checking it each night to see if I can capture it’s beautiful flower. The last time it bloomed in the spring, I actually missed 3 blooms at once because I forgot to check it one night. (There is little more disappointing as a gardener than missing such an infrequent bloom, only to find a limp little goose-neck looking spent bloom drooping down.)
These variegated dwarf Satusuma oranges are growing rounder and rounder and turning a little more orange than yellow. I can’t wait to taste them! (But it will still be a few months before our traditional citrus harvest here in Central Texas.)
And more Lycoris Radiata buds are forming in my flower beds. Some are hidden by other plants, and I have to push foliage aside to get a sneak peek at many of them.
I can only get a partial shot of this one, but isn’t she pretty?

There are many more promises of things to come in the garden. What are you looking forward to in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:12-05:00September 29th, 2010|Blog, blue bonnets, dwarf satsuma oranges, fall, lycoris, night blooming cereus, oranges, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring|0 Comments

What a happy garden looks like…

My garden is pretty darn happy these days.

A little rain, a little break from the heat and the promise of a fall break has most plants beaming.

Plants that had almost disappeared have made a remarkable recovery and reappearance. And, those without blooms are now showing off.

It’s amazing what a little moisture can do for the garden!

I hadn’t seen this Bat-faced Cuphea in a while, (the deer munched it to the nubs earlier in the summer) but now it’s bursting with color, even giving the unflappable Lantana a run for its money!

This Pitcher Sage that I bought at last year’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center plant sale has finally come into its own and is blooming profusely in this pretty, dusty cornflower blue.
The Senorita Rosalita Cleome that Pam of Digging trialed last year sounded perfect for our hot, dry summers. All this rain has made mine very leggy. But, in spite of that, she’s still putting out delicate blooms.
This Pale Pavonia passalong, shared with me by Robin of Getting Grounded, is finally blooming after several months of adjusting to the transplant.
And, not so pretty, but very active thanks to the rains, our resident fire ants. This mound rises 3-4 inches high at the base of my Bi-color Iris.
And their monstrous mound has all but obliterated this little decorative rock that reads, Peace. (Well I can tell you that I didn’t leave them in peace, I sprinkled a nice little dose of ant bait all around their pretty little hill!)

How does your garden grow these days?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:12-05:00September 28th, 2010|Blog, Cleome, cuphea, pavonia, pitcher sage, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Rain, rain, come again!

The last few weeks we’ve had an uncharacteristic amount of rain here in Austin. No real relief from the heat, mind you, so it’s been a tropical sauna.

Since it’s such an unusual occurence, I had to capture some of the beauty of the water in the garden.

A lovely, long cool drink in the garden. And this week, fall will really arrive — tonight’s low is forecast to be 58 gloriously cool degrees!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:12-05:00September 26th, 2010|bird bath, Blog, Moy Grande hibiscus, rain, river rock bed, Sharing Nature's Garden, water restrictions|0 Comments

Still going strong for Bloom Day…

It’s been a strange year in the garden.

We had a cold, rainy winter, a wet spring and a late summer.

My garden was at least 3 weeks behind for the better part of spring and summer.

As we head into fall, things are still not quite right.

Some of our native sun-loving plants just aren’t performing the same this year.

And some of my plants are showing the stress of several hard rains in the last few weeks – a real anomaly for September here.

Their feet were very wet and they don’t like it.

This Double Purple Datura has fought off caterpillars or grasshoppers all summer.

I’ve had few blooms and holey leaves, but when it does bloom – it blows me away. It’s like a beautiful ballgown.

This isn’t technically a bloom, but a Magnolia bud – but I wanted to share it with you because it’s just so wonderful. Doesn’t it make you want to just reach out and touch it.
Second set of blooms down low on this Echinacea — the tops have already gone to seed which I am leaving for the birds. It got a slow start too this spring. The deer ate the first TWO sets of blooms before I got to see them.
But the second set is barely holding onto it’s petals.
This is a happy Blackfoot Daisy. Hermine killed two others that were this wonderful until last week. They REALLY don’t like the rain.
The Moy Grande Hibiscus is stunning again this summer – some days sporting 8-10 plate-sized blooms. It has a few yellow leaves, but it liked the rain and is blooming profusely to say thank-you.
The rain also prompted a second set of blooms on the Bottlebrush tree.
And it’s the season for the out-of-control, totally invasive, I-swear-I-will-never-plant-again Cypress Vine. Of course I will never need to plant it again because it comes up all over my garden every year — especially where I don’t want it!
And the amazing ditch lily brought to me by Lori, of the Gardener of Good and Evil, is STILL blooming. Seriously. I love this plant.
The morning glories that were invisible for most of the summer have started to pop out all over the place. There’s just something about them that just makes me smile.

Special thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for inviting us all to share what’s blooming in our gardens on the 15th of every month. It’s like we’re all chatting together over the garden fence!

Happy Bloom Day!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:26-06:00September 15th, 2010|blackfoot daisies, Blog, Bottle Brush tree, cypress vine, datura, ditch lily, echinacea, GBBD, Moy Grande hibiscus, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Sharing Nature’s Garden

One of these plants is not like the others…

What an amazing biennial bloom!

The promise of things to come in the garden…

What a happy garden looks like…

Rain, rain, come again!

Still going strong for Bloom Day…

Escape in the garden