cutting garden Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Diana's Designs Austin

El Nino is quenching the garden’s thirst…

Our devastating drought has altered the state of our gardens here in Central Texas and it’s changed our mindset, too.

We’re not used to rain. Not a little rain, not a lot of rain. We’ve had so much rain here this month that we don’t know what to do with it.

There’s so much green in my garden that I have to wear shades to walk through it. My plants would now like a little sun to shine as well, but they’ve never been quite so lush.

A ribbon of catmint, Mexican feather grass and lamb’s ears lines the front of this Southwest cottage-style bed.

The lamb’s ears make a dramatic statement when they are all standing at attention in full bloom.

The black and blue salvia and lingering bluebonnets echo the blue in the large ceramic pot in the front bed.

Soft and spiky plants share this bed, providing sculptural interest and contrasting textures. Soon the color of Mexican limelight salvia and orange tecoma stans will add to this palette.

Beautiful blooms are vying for my attention in the cutting garden – ready to come join me in the house!

Ditch lilies, Klondike cosmos, larkspur, shasta daisies, purple coneflowers and clematis are all showing off in the cutting bed.

This morning, I picked this bouquet for my mom and dad, who are celebrating their wedding anniversary today. But tornado warnings and unrelenting thunderstorms kept me home this afternoon and they had to enjoy them via a photo. So, now we can all enjoy them.

New spring plantings are growing and the caladiums are shooting up out of the ground as fast as I can count them.

I’m smitten with the Mexican bird of paradise, Caesalpinia Mexicana, and its exotic and wispy blooms.

The brilliant purple flags of these Amistad salvia provide a backdrop for senorita Rosalita cleome, dianthus and yarrow.

It’s delightful to walk through the garden with the grass squishing under your clogs, appreciating the much-needed rain.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:38:52-05:00May 25th, 2015|amistad salvia, black and blue salvia, blackfoot daisies, Blog, bouquet, catmint, cutting garden, Klondike cosmos, Lamb's Ears, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Mexican feathergrass, salvia, Senorita Rosalita cleome, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

The camera lens is a great garden tool…

Last week I was taking pictures of all the lovely flowers that popped up after our wonderful rains. I thought the cutting garden looked particularly nice with the clematis blooming.

But when I downloaded the pictures into iPhoto, this one looked odd.

That’s when I realized that I needed another element in that hole between the jackmanii clematis and the pitcheri clematis. Funny how I never saw that before with my naked eye. That area used to be home to a zillion larkspur in the spring, but this year they simply didn’t come back.

So I made a mental shopping list note and went to the nursery. This is what followed me home in the trunk.

I’m quite pleased with myself, and now it looks complete.

It’s interesting, isn’t it, the things that you can see through your camera lens?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:30-05:00May 30th, 2013|Blog, camera, camera lens, clematis, cutting garden, garden art, Sharing Nature's Garden, vines|0 Comments

Sweet dreams of seeds to come from gardening catalogs…

We’re having our long winter’s nap here in Central Texas. I can’t really call it cold here, but it is time for a break in the garden.

And that means…seed catalogs.

They’ve started arriving and I’m making a pile for a cold night, curled up in my chair with a cup of hot tea and a roaring fire.

Never mind that I already have a collection of seed packets large enough to start my own seed catalog, there are new varieties out there that are calling my name. Seeds that are faster to germinate, bolt slower, have sweeter fruit, are more drought tolerant, produce more vegetables, flowers, you name it.

If it’s new, a gardener’s gotta have it, right?

Right now, broccoli, cabbage, kale, strawberries, chard, lettuce, leeks, parsley, cilantro, and onions are taking up most of the veggie garden space. But I’ve always got room for bulbs and cutting flowers (I think!).

Room or not, there are seeds in my future — are there seeds in your future?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:15-06:00January 7th, 2013|Blog, cutting garden, seed catalogs, seeds, Sharing Nature's Garden, winter, winter vegetables|0 Comments

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.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:35-05:00June 30th, 2012|Agave, agave Americana, Blog, Coneflower, Crape Myrtle, cutting garden, heat, May night salvia, Mexican Oregano, Sharing Nature's Garden, thryallis, variegated liriope|2 Comments

Wildflower Wow

Wildflowers along our highways and byways were few and far between this year thanks to the drought.

But one little plant seems to have taken off outside of my garden.

Thanks to a some dribbles of water coming from the cutting garden bed on the other side of the fence, this wildflower has exploded into bloom in the easement beyond our property. (Like my Wisteria vine, it seems to enjoy playing hide and seek with me.)

After some research, I believe I’ve identified it as Coreopsis tripteris, or Tall coreopsis/Tall tickseed.

In any case, it’s fabulous.

I know some of those seeds are going to find their way into my hands and then into an open area (more visible!) with some fresh soil and periodic gentle hand watering this fall.

This beautiful show of color is well worth a little starting TLC to help it along.

And here it is, sneaking through the spaces in the fence to show off to the other blooms in the cutting garden.

Although it’s a little sparse because of the drought, the cutting garden has perked up in the last few weeks thanks to cooler night temperatures and our recent restorative rain.

Speaking of wildflowers, today begins the amazing Fall Plant Sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Here’s the basic information from the Wildflower Center — you can find more at their website.

Plant Sale — Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 14 – 16.

Did the hottest, driest summer in Austin’s recorded history leave you looking for new garden solutions? We can help! At the Wildflower Center’s Fall Plant Sale and Gardening Festival you can choose from nearly 300 species of hardy Texas natives bred to deal with our Central Texas climate. Feel free to leave your plant purchases at the Holding Area while you finish enjoying your visit, or up until the Plant Sale closes Sunday at 5 p.m.

Admission: $8 adults, $7 seniors and students, $4 UT faculty, staff or students with identification, $3 children 5 through 12, members and children under 5 free.

If possible, bring your own wagon to haul your purchases
Plants may be purchased and held for pick-up
Recycle your reusable 4-inch and one gallon plastic pots, collection bin available at the front entrance.
Free cold filtered water, just bring your reusable water bottle, or buy one in the store.

Members Only Sale: Friday, October 14, 1 to 7 p.m. Friday’s sale is exclusively for members of the Wildflower Center. Become a member online or at the preview sale.

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:21-05:00October 14th, 2011|Blog, coreopsis, coreopsis tripteris, cutting garden, Sharing Nature's Garden, tall coreopsis, Wildflower Center, Wildflower Center plant sale, Wildflowers, wildlflower|0 Comments

Landscape drought damage requires long lens on camera…

With the worst drought in Texas history and 80 days with temperatures over 100, plants and people and pets are struggling this summer.

It’s 10 degrees cooler here today — 92 instead of 102 — and we have gusting wind cooling things down as well. Sadly, there are a half dozen wildfires in the Central Teas area around us. We’re safe for now, but 500+ people have lost their homes — burned down to the ground, 2 people have died, and today’s winds are spreading the fires ever further. 25,000 acres have burned. This is the back side of Katia. Instead of the rain we so desperately need that is flooding thousands of other people, we got wildfires. We’re praying for everyone in the path of these terrible fires.

While we are safe from the fires, we are at the mercy of the drought. But with a LOT of hand watering to supplement because we are under water restrictions, the garden looks o.k. overall. The secret? The long shot!

My mother-in-law was visiting two weeks ago and wanted some photos of our house and the gardens. I took lots of long shots, and realized as I looked at them that I rarely post photos like that. And it’s one of my great disappointments when reading other garden blogs — I really want to check out the big picture.

So here are photos of everything in the garden — showing of the bright and colorful and much too far away to see the dead and dying plants.

Come take a stroll around the garden with me…

These plants in the front bed are highly xeric and doing pretty well considering they were planted this spring and have endured this drought while trying to get established. There are dying narrow leafed Zinnias and Euryops and adwarf yaupon holly, but you can’t see them from here.

Yellow Esperanza (Yellow Bells) on the right are native to Mexico and very hardy. They are used to the heat.

The veggie garden needs protection from bunnies and our dogs, hence the fence INSIDE the other fence that keeps the deer out!

This is along the path in our woods that leads to the fenced back yard. This is where we feed birds and water the deer, squirrels, foxes, bunnies and mice! With this drought, we have 3 birdbaths and countless little bowls scattered around to provide constant drinking water for anything that needs it. With less blooms, hummingbirds really need our feeders this year, too.

The play scape, the cutting garden, the greenhouse and the xeric rock path.

The back corner of the yard got a few new plants this summer along with an old, worn out bistro table and chairs and a stunning Filamentosa yucca for a focal point. Even rusty metal furniture looks good from far enough away!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:20-06:00September 5th, 2011|Blog, cutting garden, drought, drought damage, esperanza, front bed, greenhouse, landscape project, long lens, new bed, pathway, Sharing Nature's Garden, water restrictions, xeric, xeric plants|0 Comments

cutting garden

El Nino is quenching the garden’s thirst…

The camera lens is a great garden tool…

Sweet dreams of seeds to come from gardening catalogs…

Summer perennials blooming even in the heat and drought

Wildflower Wow

Landscape drought damage requires long lens on camera…

Escape in the garden