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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

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

Bloggers celebrate 10th Anniversary of Garden Bloggers Fling

Wow. What a great Garden Bloggers Fling. With long-time friends and new, we laughed, we shared, we took tens of thousands of photos, and we reveled in stunning gardens and event spaces.

A whopping 92 swag bags lived at my house for 4 months – taking up space equal to about 3 queen-size beds. The Austin team, Diana Kirby, Pam Penick, Laura Wills, Jennifer Brown and Sheryl Williams, had 4 stuffing parties as swag arrived so we didn’t have as much to do at the end. (There might or might not have been some Prosecco involved.) We were blown away by the generosity of our wonderful sponsors. This room was also home to dozens of big boxes full of fabulous raffle items. From beginning to end, it felt like we were on the magical mystery tour.

A few bloggers in town early, were treated to a delightful brunch at Laura Will’s house and garden. Then, after two years of planning and prep, the Austin team began welcoming bloggers at the hotel on Thursday afternoon. Shown here – Laura Wills, Pam Penick, Diana Kirby and Sheryl Williams. Not pictured, Jennifer Brown who was clearly busy at work while we were hamming it up.

After the festivities and fajitas at the opening reception, bloggers headed up to the rooftop garden at the new Austin Public Library to enjoy a warm breeze and get a bird’s-eye view of Austin

Gardeners got to know one another and spend down time relaxing before three days of fun-filled garden tours.

Back at the hotel, the Austin team took advantage of tequila shot goodies we included in swag bags while holding the final planning meeting in Pam’s room.

The first Fling stop was at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. While bloggers photographed the wildflowers, the anxiously anticipated clouds gathered and burst forth with a real Texas gully washer. Armed with the rain ponchos from their swag bags, some continued exploring while the majority of folks spent time drying off in the Center’s gift shop.

Then everyone arrived at my house. Along with the pelting rain. I opened up all blinds so they could see the garden from inside. But most ventured outside in their ponchos, seeking some shelter on the back patio, and in the covered outdoor kitchen and cabana. The brave ones continued on to see the garden, though the rain made taking quality photos difficult.

I’m collecting photos from bloggers, because of course I was busy and didn’t have any time to take photos here. So, if you have a few good pics you’re willing to share in high res, I’d love to have them.

Sitting with friends on the bus is a great opportunity to catch up from previous flings and get to know newbie flingers.

We all took shelter with a box lunch under the revival tent at the Natural Gardener and listened to John Dromgoole, an Austin gardening icon and owner of the nursery.

The platoon of ponchos on the march at the next garden.

Color echos in the garden.

Made in the shade.

Follow the yellow brick road.

Finding the best shot.

This feet-in-the-pool shot is becoming a tradition.

A relaxing reception at Articulture provided the perfect setting for BBQ dinner, drinks and live music. We enjoyed taste testing two tequila recipes of our dear friend and Austin icon, Lucinda Hutson. Bloggers also shopped in the store and traded impressions of the gardens. Bloggers traded contact information and started setting their sights on Denver in 2018.

Austin bloggers, minus Laura Wills, gathered for a final photo, as Laura posed with Austin blogger Jenny Stocker and her husband.

Now, on to Denver!

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-06-24T10:33:40-05:00June 23rd, 2018|2018 Garden Bloggers Fling, bloggers, blogging, garden tour 2018, GBF2018, tour, Uncategorized|10 Comments

Gardening trends in my landscape

I’m always fascinated about the transformations in the garden each year. From month to month and season to season, small adjustments often result in big changes.

Here are some of the new plants and hardscape changes in my landscape this year.

January: We enjoy watching the animals that wander, fly and hop into our garden. My husband keeps about 10 bird feeders full. We regularly see cardinals, titmice, sparrows, scrub jays and blue jays, wrens, mockingbirds, road runners, woodpeckers, finches, doves, cliff swallows, and every couple of years, a painted bunting. Several birdbaths and birdbath fountains provide water for sipping and bathing.

February: Last year, spring came very early, and the nurseries were full of beautiful plants at least a month ahead of schedule. If they are selling them, we should be buying them, right?

I didn’t count how many trips I made to our independent nurseries in Austin. Several times a year, I make all the rounds and come home with the SUV full of flowering friends.

Orders I placed over the winter also begin to arrive, ready to join the garden. The slew of catalogs, full of vibrant photos of unique plant specimens give us visions of plants as we settle in for our long winters naps

They provide promise as gardeners experiment with new colors, sizes and varieties.

March: I was delighted with the spread of my ground orchids this spring. The Bletilla striata finally began to naturalize in the woodland garden, making the shady path pop with brilliant fuchsia blooms.

April: When writing about Central Texas gardening, lush is a rarely used adjective. But, it was the perfect description for our beds after a unseasonably warm spring and much-needed rains.

May: This month marked the return of the Rio Grande Leopard frogs to the garden. We often find them resting in plants in the morning, showering in our accessible fountains during heat of the day, and skinny dipping in the pool at night. Fletcher runs around the pool in the dark, flushing them out from the neighboring plants so they jump into the pool. He whines and paces around the perimeter, frustrated that he can’t get to them. No worries, they can jump back out of the on their own.

June: With most of the garden filling nicely by the onset of the heat, I often shift my focus to decor, pots and creative elements in the landscape. This piece of aged cedar inspired me to place a few bromeliads in the shade bed. They had to come in later in the summer, but they added a nice touch for a while.

July: By now, the veggie garden provides us with an ongoing variety of great fruits and vegetables. Sadly, it is also the time for stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs to attack the tomatoes. Almost impossible to eliminate, I get depressed about the impending demise of my tomato crop. They multiply so quickly, it’s impossible to control them by hand squishing or spraying them with the hose.

August: The dog days of summer are also prime time for many of our native and adapted tropicals. Pride of Barbados, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, is bursting with blooms by now, like electric orange fireworks all over town — and along the sides of our pool.

September: This month marked the beginning of my major landscaping project for 2017. The removal of the playscape paved the way for a new garden. Eager to create something different, I settled on a pie-shaped parterre garden. Using the same Oklahoma flagstone in the existing garden path, I had my crew create a rough-edged set of symmetrical beds. To save money and recycle, I kept some of the pea gravel from the playscape area to build the pathway.

October: More progress on the parterre. We revised the existing left path to the vegetable garden, taking out the decomposed granite, flagstone steps and river rock. This path was a continual source of frustration and weeds. In spring, it brought forth a profusion of bluebonnets and winecup that were stunning. But the remaining 10 months of back-breaking proved too much. We then created a mortared flagstone path, leaving a few periodical spaces for plants — a guarantee that they wouldn’t be able to spread. I added another path to reach the new parterre.

November: Fall also brought forth blooms from the newly planted Phillipine Violet, Barleria polytricha. My first experience growing this plant, it was awelcome addition to the tropical garden.

Finally, we finished the parterre and paths. Well, almost. I still need to add one more rose bush and all the accompanying border plants in the beds. I filled the planting holes in the pathways with purslane. You can be sure I will post after pictures in the spring when the beds are full and blooming. To complete the focal points, I added a center birdbath, a wooden framed mirror on the back fence to provide interest and give the space more dimension, and a floral-themed bench to sit on and enjoy the growing garden. If you look closely, you can see my taking this photo in the mirror. Once those elements were in place, I sat on the bench and marveled that I have never really looked at my garden from that vantage point. It’s a wonderful and reflective place to sit and I’m so pleased to see my vision come to life.

December: This month shocked all Central Texas gardeners with a surprise snowfall. Not the dusting and melting immediately variety of snow we occasionally see, but a solid inch of sticking snow. It turned the garden into a southwestern version of a winter wonderland.

Luckily, the blanket of snow insulated the plants and we were spared the worst possible damage of the unseasonably early freeze.

Winter has officially settled in and January feels like January, just colder than normal. Seed catalogs sit by my chair as I cozy up to the fire with my hot tea, dreaming of garden plans to come in 2018.

What were your favorite garden additions in 2017? New plants, new beds, new hardscape — what rocked your garden last year?

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-01-13T11:42:26-06:00January 13th, 2018|beds, bench, bird feeders, birds, Bletilla Striata, bromeliads, cardinal, frog, frogs, hard scape, hardscape, path, paths, pathway, Pride of Barbados, projects, Rio Grande leopard frog, roses, Sharing Nature's Garden, snow, spring bloomers, tropicals, Uncategorized, vegetable garden, vegetables, winter|2 Comments

DC Smithsonian mall gardens pack a powerful punch

I’ve all but forgotten about the heat and the humidity and the bad hair, but I’ll never forget the 15 delightful little Smithsonian gardens along Washington D.C, Mall.

I had a quite a few favorites, so come along on the virtual Mall tour with me. I’m afraid I was so busy photographing that I didn’t link the gardens with their buildings or even their themes, so you won’t be getting a history lesson. But, honestly, it’s all about the plants, right?

Ya gotta have a picture with the Washington Memorial coming out of someone’s head, right?

Laura, of Wills Family Acres in Austin, gets the honor in this multi-selfie photograph.

I’ll start with my favorite vignette. I do remember this garden – it was Mary Livingston Ripley Garden

Full of familiar plants and creative combinations, I also spent the most time photographing this garden.

I may have to find this Yucca desmetiana ‘blue boy’ when I get home.

It seems strange to travel to Washington D.C. to find a new-to-me variety of yucca that I haven’t seen at our local Central Texas nurseries.

That’s the beauty of the Garden Bloggers Flings – we learn so much about plants in other Zones of the country. And, we sometimes go home with fantasies of growing Zone 3 plants in Zone 8b. (No names will be mentioned but her initials might be D.K.)

These delicate hydrangea flowers prove a lovely contrast to the sculpture of the tree they surround.

Living walls like this are growing popularity across the country.

The vibrant and varied composition of this wall is a virtual rainbow of color. This ‘garden art’ with its hues of grey and green would be a stunning addition to any indoor or outdoor room.

Bridging two distinct styles, this formal fountain and globe are filled with a variety of succulents and draped with silver ponyfoot.

It certainly fits the bill of container gardening rules with its collection of ‘thrillers, fillers and spillers.’

This garden flanks the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as The Castle.

We did pay some attention to the museums and buildings along the mall, though I have to admit, our focus was primarily on the gardens.

These beds were full of plants I recognized – phormium, Japanese aralia, daisies, irises and lilies, to name a few.

Here, Mexican feathergrass, phormium and the ever-popular potato vine make a luscious lime combo.

Yucca rostrada and a grey agave (not sure about that one) are the focal points in this hot garden.

It was so evident that this garden was carefully curated for our enjoyment.

The building acts as a backdrop of these collections of coneflowers. The urn helps to give this part of the garden an English Cottage feel.

I’ll leave you with one last vignette — another colorful and contrasting combo of color and texture and form.

They grey/green of this yucca rostrata, paired with the delicate lavender blooms of, well, lavender make a lovely picture together.

The razor-thin straps of the yucca offer a completely different structure than the long, thin, wispy stalks of the lavender blooms.

This conifer is from another garden, although I forget which one. I fell in love with conifers in Chicago at the second fling. One of our stops was a conifer farm with dozens and dozens of different varieties. The texture and form often hold a surprise, with their almost rubber-like, thick leaves or long, fine needles. My garden has a perfect spot for this one; sadly, it would fry in Austin.

These chives look like perky lollipops in the garden.

In spite of the sauna, we powered through it like heat-tolerant Texans, willing to do most anything to see beautiful gardens.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:26:53-06:00November 16th, 2017|2017 Garden Bloggers Fling, Agave, cone flower, DC Mall gardens, euphorbia, GBF2017, Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, phormium, Sharing Nature's Garden, Smithsonian Gardens, succulents, Uncategorized|4 Comments

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