Wishing you a Happy 4th of July.
Hope you can spend it in your garden!
Summer perennials blooming even in the heat and drought
While some of the early spring-through-fall bloomers are taking a break in all this heat, some of the mid-summer bloomers are putting on a show.
I love this thryallis in the front xeric bed. It’s a focal point and should have plenty of room to grow and shine.
One of my all-time go-to favorite plants, Mexican oregano. It’s tough as nails and tolerates the heat and the drought.
The the new-ish plants in the back shade bed are starting to fill in and making a lovely cool landscape.
After going after the new gold lantana with a machete (just kidding, but I DO own a machete!), I can now see the agave Americana var. I know it won’t be long before it’s a giant.
The combination of my transplanted coneflowers next to the May night salvias makes a nice contrast.
After a little pruning and clean up of the dead spring flowers last week, the cutting garden has new bloomers. The larkspur and bluebonnets are all gone and the Klondyke cosmos, blackberry lilies and Clematis are blooming.
Now it’s time to prune all the other early bloomers so we have time for another flush of blooms. Too hot to plant, but sadly, not too hot to prune and weed! After 109 on Monday, today’s high of 88 with cloud cover was great and I spent a long time deadheading and pruning the lamb’s ears, narrow-leaf zinnias and the Santolina. It was really delightful with a little breeze.
Artemesia… just keeps on growing and growing …
I love artemesia ‘powis castle.’ I love the lacy, flowing foliage that softens the garden, releases a soft, herby-scent and can easily fill a large space.
Or, an enormous space. And never stop growing.
Ever.
Ever.
It’s great for contrast, texture and form. But it is eating my garden.
I spend hours pruning this one so that it keeps from swallowing up the Acacia tree behind it. Well, it used to be behind it. Now it’s enveloped the entire tree. And while the artemesia is soft, getting close to those Acacia thorns is no fun.
In the back yard, it’s swallowing up my ‘Lord Baltimore’ hibiscus and the variegated shell ginger that you can’t even see in this photo.
It’s common name is wormwood and it’s an herbaceous perennial that grows well from zone 6-9. It’s advertised to get 2-3 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide. (HA!) It loves full sun, tolerates drought and is deer and rabbit resistant. Perfect, right? Well, if you have about 6-8 feet of space for it to take over.
I still love it. But next time, I’ll put it in a larger space where I don’t have to keep it pruned as much.
Sometimes my experience in my garden isn’t quite what’s printed on that little plastic label at the nursery or in my google search!
But that’s part of the fun and mystery of gardening, isn’t it?
What’s surprising you in your garden?
Moy Grande hibiscus is summer showstopper…
Easily one of the best show-stoppers in my garden summer after summer is this hibiscus ‘Moy grande.’ With the largest flowers recorded on a giant-flowered mallow, these blooms can get as big a 1′ across. It gets its name from Dr. Moy of the San Antonio Botanical garden. Many people think it’s a muy grande (meaning VERY large, in Spanish, but it’s Moy, named after Dr. Moy).
On any given summer day, I can have between 10-12 blooms on it at a time. Today marked the first bloom day for this year, with two pretty pink blossoms. I’ve been peering into the buds every day now for about a week, wondering when one would finally appear and I was rewarded for my impatience today! They will continue to bloom well into the fall.
My plant is in deer “fair game” territory, but it’s mature enough to be safe now. The first few years after I planted it, it would get a nibble or two in early spring as it came back from the roots, but now it’s so hardy that the deer are no longer interested in it.
It tolerates alkaline soil and is hardy to Zone 5. It loves FULL Texas sun and gets 5 x 5, though mine is about 6′ tall right now. Fairly easy to grow from the seeds.
Friends at the Fling – Garden Bloggers in Asheville 2012
My garden blogging friends who’ve never been to any of the five Garden Bloggers Flings often ask me, “what’s it like?” That’s a complicated answer because each Fling is so different — geography, itinerary, participants, weather — all play a factor. I love touring the gardens, both private and public, but it’s the people that make the Flings so special.
Since helping with the first Fling held here in Austin 5 years ago, I’ve had the good fortune to attend all the subsequent Flings in Chicago, Buffalo, Seattle and now, Asheville. It’s exciting to see so many of my garden blogging friends and to meet new ones each year.
So, this post is about the people at this year’s Asheville, N.C. Fling. I simply can’t name everyone in each of the photos, so I’ve not included names or blogs because I didn’t want to leave anyone out. My memory just isn’t what it used to be! As you read this post, though, please identify yourself and your blog in your comment back to me to jog my memory and let others find you.
Trekking up the hill to discover stone and garden goodies as Wamboldtopia.
Discussing the stonework at Wamboldtopia.
Listening to Christopher Mello explain about his special blue poppy.
At the cheerful entrance to the Sunny Point Gardens.
Perusing the rows and rows of beautiful veggies and herbs.
Everyone appreciated the drinks and snacks as we toured the gardens.
We all got time to visit over delicious bbq lunch at the gardens of Curve Studios.
Planking at the N.C. Arboretum!
Making a close inspection to verify a plant ID.
Enjoying snacks at the BB Barnes Nursery reception.
Our hosts at BB Barnes were so gracious and the nursery was a delight to wander through…so much cool stuff.
Shopping, eating, drinking and chatting — BB Barnes had it all.
It was so hard to decide where to start in the fabulous Gentling garden.
Is this a familiar pose, or what?
Comparing notes in the Gentling garden.
Taking a little rest after exploring all around the grounds.
There was so much to see at the Biltmore gardens.
And the view of the mountains and the countryside was spectacular. With that breeze, I could have stayed there all day.
Nothing like a little champagne to rehydrate on a warm day!
The Community College gardens were so peaceful and tranquil — and so enjoyable with friends on a quiet Sunday morning.
A garden path less traveled…
On Sunday we finally got to join our host, Christopher, of Outside Clyde, at his mountain top garden, Ku’ulei’Aina, (which means My Beloved Land) and his mother’s neighboring garden, Bonnie Brae (as the steep mountain path winds). It was a beautiful, warm day, filled with sunshine and the sweet smell of green on the mountain top. We started with a delicious fresh lunch outside and then scattered about like little beetles, seeking a path less traveled to explore between the two quaint cottages.
This cairn at the entrance to the property gives guests a rustic welcome.
Christopher built the house, which is literally perched on the mountainside.
We all listen to the history of the two houses and gardens and get our guidance for winding through the mountain paths.
I didn’t get the history of this old fireplace, but I’m sure it has stories to tell of days gone by.
I couldn’t stop looking at the azaleas. The early spring meant there weren’t very many still in bloom. We did see quite a few of the tangerine-colored ones — I assume they bloom a little bit later.
Nestled in the very green of the woods were clusters of every kind of flower imaginable. Some of them just popping up on the mountain, countless numbers of others, carefully yet randomly planted to contribute to the natural look and feel of the winding paths.
This is Christopher’s mother’s deck. The view was incredible – I’m sure every post has the next picture in it. Carol, of May Dreams Gardens is sure to have one in her post! Though I didn’t photograph it, I did enjoy sitting on another small circular deck, a few steps down from this one and under the canopy of some beautiful trees.
On our way back over to Christopher’s we were all impressed with this huge boulder with the stream running out from under it.
His stone labyrinth was inviting and I’m sure all 93 of us took a turn wandering through it.
I caught this little guy trying to crash our party. We were all having such a wonderful time, I don’t think anyone else noticed!
THANK YOU, Christopher, and your whole team, for a wonderful Fling and for sharing your own garden with us all. It was amazing and I’m so glad to have been able to see it firsthand.