Sharing Nature's Garden Archives | Page 63 of 124

Presents on the doorstep…

A big box from Gardener’s Supply Company arrived on my doorstep today.

I was excited and eager to learn its contents. But not as eager, it seems, as my bubbies, who stuck their big noses right into the middle of things.

They were so disappointed that there wasn’t anything in there for them — just boring old seed heat mats. (Maybe they will grow something we can eat later, they thought!)
They were only moderately interested as I modeled my new garden clogs. Not too interesting when they are on my feet.
(But Tanner was thinking…”oooh, I can snag one of those when she leaves them outside the back door and run off with it in the yard — now that might be fun!)

Silly dogs.

But I am psyched about my goodie box today.

Seed sowing soon!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:36-05:00February 2nd, 2010|Blog, clogs, Dakota, dogs, seed heat mats, seeds, Sharing Nature's Garden, Tanner|0 Comments

Plants with interest in Winter

With yesterday’s beating rain, and last night’s predicted freeze, I decided to cut my first two daffodils and bring them inside to enjoy.

It was just too painful to watch the only flowers in my garden lying prone on the ground in a puddle.

So I rescued them.

Now I can sit and look at them beside me this morning while I enjoy a cup of tea and blog by the fireplace.

They seem to be enjoying my company inside!

While looking around the garden at all the dead, dying and dormant plants, I found a few bright spots.
Like this native Yaupon Holly, Ilex vomitoria, growing wild in our wooded area. It’s chock-full of beautiful berries – a splash of bright red against the palette of browns that’s overtaken the garden.
And then there is the Leatherleaf Mahonia, Mahonia bealei, which is most interesting in winter. In some other states, it’s been declared invasive, but not in Texas. It’s not for everyone, or everywhere, with its upright and prickly form, but does provide unique structure in the garden. Its new winter growth erupts into a few dozen spires of tiny yellow bell-like flowers.
Although the sedum in the hanging planter is long-since dead – a few little Hens and Chicks found their way into the pot and seem to be quite happy.
I kept hearing the Woodpecker outside this week and finally got a picture of him as he landed close to the breakfast room window while looking for his bugs.
This — not so pretty, huh? On the left – a big HOLE! On the right? the roots of a previously chewed up Agapanthus that have now been ripped out of the ground. I moved them all from the back so Dakota wouldn’t eat them, so now the deer are eating them! And if that weren’t enough, then they are coming back to rip out the roots! Argh.

So the big question is, will I try to plant them around the pretty bird bath in the front again or will I give in a go another route to spare myself the aggravation? What do you think?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:34-06:00January 30th, 2010|Agapanthus, Blog, daffodils, hens and chicks, leatherleaf mahonia, Sharing Nature's Garden, woodpecker, yaupon holly|0 Comments

This ain’t no mellow yellow!

Ok.

Admit it.

You’ve been waiting with bated breath to see the first Daffodil of pseudo-Spring here in Austin!

And here she is.

I think she’s a “Yellow Fortune”, but then again, she could be a “Dutch Master.”

In any case, she’s pretty and a single spot of color on this gray and rainy winter day.

I enjoyed my one warm day in the garden this week and got a lot done, but now it’s back to reality.

Thunderstorms are forecast for today and tomorrow night we are expecting a low of 28 – pretty cold for us.

And then highs in the 40s for the weekend.

Not gardening weather, but definitely good for the garden. We need the rain as we are still down from the past year’s drought.

Luckily, I can peek out and see my little daffodil from the breakfast room window to perk me up!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:36-05:00January 28th, 2010|Blog, daffodils, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Wildflower Wednesday

Our blogging friend Gail, over at Clay and Limestone, has invited us to post our wildflower photos on this fourth Wednesday of the month.

When I first saw her post, I thought, “wildflowers…now?”

Well, no, not now, but soon! And that’s her point. Watching them creep along until they burst forth with beautiful color, dotting our landscape.

The one most easily identified right now in my garden is, of course, the bluebonnet. So, here are a few — first, what I am seeing scattered about today…
And what I hope to see when Spring has officially arrived!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:35-06:00January 27th, 2010|Blog, blue bonnets, Sharing Nature's Garden, wildflower weds|0 Comments

My little pretties are popping up…

Oh, the pretty ladies of Spring are putting on their finery to come to the party.

I’ve been all excited about the little green stalks of Narcissus peeking up out of the mulch in various garden beds.

So you can imagine how worked up I got when I realized today, that I actually have things in bloom!

Several Grape Hyacinths are blooming and have clearly naturalized with lots of little friends popping up right behind them.

I forgot I’d planted them, but when I searched previous posts, I found them here: http://bit.ly/8aqGGs

I realized that they came in an indoor pot with daffodils that I put in the ground when they were done blooming indoors!

How fun.

Love those little surprises.

Strolling through the mostly brown and dormant garden, seeing the little splashes of color just cheers me up.

One clump of Daffodils — the “Yellow Fortune” that I planted last year (yes, in January!), is already about to bloom.

Should be another day or two. And in 2008 it was February before the first Daffodil bloomed. Go figure.
And while crouched down looking at the Daffodils in amazement, I saw — beautiful buds all over my Japanese Quince, just waiting to pop open and show off their luscious salmon colored petals.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:36-05:00January 25th, 2010|Blog, daffodils, hyacinths, quince, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring|0 Comments

Planting a little hope…

A few sunny days this week inspired me to get out into the garden.

I can’t prune yet (for fear of promoting new growth) because we could easily have more freezing weather before the 2nd week in March, our last average freeze.

And I don’t want to pick up all those oak leaves covering the dead plants either, because they are providing a little winter cover. (It’s supposed be down to 36 tonight.)

But I can put in some cool weather annuals in pots and planters to bring some color into my mostly-brown landscape. So I went to the Natural Gardener on Friday and bought some little pretties to scatter about and bring some cheer. I put these three colorful annuals in the pots by the front door.

I also cleaned out and planted one of my window boxes with some very perky Spring colors.
And then I planted all the bulbs I bought last fall.

I know, I know.

In Central Texas, most bulbs are supposed to be planted right after Thanksgiving.

But with traveling for Thanksgiving, preparing for the holidays, two birthdays, party for 160, and traveling for Christmas, bulb planting just wasn’t on my list!

I know – I’m a slacker~! Frankly, I shut off the gardening part of my brain the first of November. It’s tough sometimes, but I just can’t juggle all that at once.

If you were reading through here last January, you’ve read about me doing this before! And since those bulbs came up just fine, I’ve decided I will just plant them on my own time line and hope.
So, now I am ready to welcome back gardening with open arms.
I planted about 60 bulbs this week – most of them daffodils. (I love them, AND the deer don’t — the perfect combination for outside the fence.) But I still covered them up because the deer love to check out the turned earth and the compost and stomp around new plants, whether they eat them or not.

I planted:

Odorous Plenus “Double Campernelle” — which is supposed to be an early blooming heirloom Narcissus dating back to the 1600s and very fragrant.

Tete-a-tete — a shorter Daffodil that I tucked in among some other perennials.

Jonquil “Simplex” — a standard 10-12″ daffodil that I scattered about in several places.

Yellow grape Muscari “Golden Fragrance” — a variety very different from the traditional grapy muscari, known for its scent, which is said to smell a bit like a mix of gardenia and banana.

Fritillaria michailovskyi — a 6″ tall Turkish wildflower with 1-5 purple=edged and yellow hanging bell flowers per stem. They looked so exotic and beautiful in the catalog, I just had to have a bag of them. I put these right outside the breakfast room window, where I will see them the most.

Cross your fingers for me!

Bulbs planted in previous years are popping up all over the beds, much to my delight. If I had to pick one favorite moment in time in the garden, it would be watching the daffodils open in the spring.

What’s your favorite moment in time in the garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:36-05:00January 24th, 2010|Blog, bulbs, daffodils, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Sharing Nature’s Garden

Presents on the doorstep…

Plants with interest in Winter

This ain’t no mellow yellow!

Wildflower Wednesday

My little pretties are popping up…

Planting a little hope…

Escape in the garden