fall Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Fall in the garden: In the air and on the ground…

I can’t honestly say that fall is in the air. With temperatures hovering around 100 for the last several weeks, the thought of fall remains a distant longing.

But it is coming.

Many of the summer-blooming plants are slowing down and taking it easy, done with the hard work of developing flowers. And waiting in the wings to take their place, the fall bloomers grow stronger with each day.

And the trees. Well, the one tree — the Burr oak. A majestic specimen, it decided last week that it was about time for the weather to turn and began dropping its leaves with abandon.

And they fell.

And fell…

Then the Moy Grande Hibiscus next to the oak got the message, too. And it started to turn and drop its leaves.

Oh, look who was posing for me on this rain-drenched leaf. We were lucky to get a nice rain yesterday evening — I’m sure it made this guy happy to have a cool shower.

And so the leaves keep turning.

Fall will be here soon. A whole new season in the garden, with new sets of chores, challenges and opportunities.

I’m ready, are you?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:38:55-05:00August 30th, 2014|Blog, Bur Oak, burr oak, fall, leaves, lizard, Moy Grande hibiscus, seasonal planting, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

A sure sign of fall…

Whether the temperatures cooperate or not, fall announces itself in the garden. One of the harbingers of the changing seasons is the arrival of my Oxblood lilies.

Passalongs from my friend at Zanthan Gardens, they pop up like clockwork, even if the sun is still scalding us. Small and delicate, they always bring a smile to my face, knowing that the cooler days of fall are just around the corner.

Fall. And a whole new palette in the garden.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:29-05:00September 24th, 2013|Blog, bulbs, fall, fall color, lilies, Oxblood lilies, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Beautiful xeric fall bloomer freshens a tired late summer garden…

A profusion of blooms have popped up on my Lindheimer’s Senna, Senna lindheimeriana, in my wild bed outside of the bakc fence. This is deer country, and the velvety leaves of this plant are usually not nibbbled by the deer passing through. This shrub-like perennial is native and grows 3-6 feet.

Glory hallelujah, it likes dry soil, sun or part shade and grows wild in rocky limestone areas all over of Texas. The birds and bees love it, too

I brought this one home as a small starter plant a year or two ago and this year it rewarded me with a growth spurt and tons of blooms. It blooms in late summer, so it’s a welcome sight when some plants are tired and it comes into bloom to perk up the garden in August through October.

This pretty xeric plant is a perfect addition to a hot, dry Central Texas garden.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:29-05:00September 8th, 2013|Blog, deer resistant, fall, fall color, Lindheimer senna, Senna, Sharing Nature's Garden, xeric, xeric plants|0 Comments

Fall color in the Central Texas garden

The fall color in my garden this week isn’t from autumnal leaves on trees, it’s from a nice 1.5 inch rain last week and a few days and nights of cooler temperatures.

These zinnias have a whole fresh set of flowers.

All the perennials shrubs and wildflowers are flush with blooms. Not just fall colors – all colors.

The firecracker gomphrena I planted just a month ago is spreading and has made the transplant with flying colors.

I guess the change of seasons is making them happy and giving them some relief.

These wildflowers just popped up in my cutting garden. They reseeded from somewhere into a mass clump of perky yellow blooms.

My carefree beauty rose is dotted with pretty pink blooms and the deep purple indigo spires make a lovely contrast.

I was surprised to find the Japanese quince in bloom – it must have happened over night when I wasn’t paying attention.

The lackluster purple hyacinth bean vine, which has struggled all summer long – is finally showing off.

The change of seasons makes me happy, too.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:34-05:00October 7th, 2012|Blog, carefree beauty rose, fall, fall color, forecracker gomphrena, gomphrena, japanese quince, purple hyacinth bean vine, quince, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers, zinnia|0 Comments

Fall bloomers and a few surprises…

As temperatures drop and it begins to look a little like fall here in Central Texas, new things are blooming in the garden.

There are the traditional plants, like these beautiful mums.

They disappear during the scorching hot summer, but puff up and explode with flowers when it starts to get chilly outside.

And there are the Mexican Mint Marigolds with their beautiful yellow blooms and the Fall Asters that I wrote about two posts ago, all reliable fall bloomers.
There was beautiful light when I went out with the camera this morning.
The oak in the front yard was aglow like a flaming tree with its golden leaves in the rising sunlight. We have so little fall color here because it’s just not cold enough, so we really appreciate it when we see it!
But I was surprised to find these Shasta Daisies in the cutting garden — blooming for the second time this year.
And the roses are loving this cool weather — especially my Katy Road or Carefree Beauty rose.
Another sign of fall — dead things! I’d better get out there and remove all these seeds from this dead morning glory vine or I won’t have any cutting flowers at all in the spring as they will be choked out by vine-y groundcover!
And these precious little Marigolds came from seeds and volunteers in the vegetable garden, where I plant them to keep bad bugs off the tomatoes. I simply moved them to the cutting garden where they are very happy.