ginger Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Winter warm up — hot colors in the garden…

Even here in Central Texas, our winter’s freezing temps and cold, damp, grey skies are hanging on. I’m done with it. And I know my gardening friends to the north are exasperated by the volume of snow that continues to plague them.

At the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland last spring, I was struck by the overwhelming use of color in the gardens there. Plants, pots, furniture, you name it, vivid colors perked up each and every garden. With a climate filled with its share of grey days, these pops of color their gardens not only brightened up the space, they brightened my mood.

As I’m sure they were consciously or subconsciously intended to do.

So for everyone who is exasperated by the lingering blanket of winter that covers our souls and our gardens this year, here are some of my favorite photos of tropical style gardens, plants and decor.

A little garden statuary can help to enhance your garden style.

Even if you’re in a drought, a pretty rain chain can make it seem like you might be having a late afternoon tropical shower.

With only a few exotic-looking plants and the right leaf shapes, textures or forms, you can create your own resort-like retreat in your back yard.

Hot, contrasting colors embody the tropical style.

Bananas, crotons and coleus are true tropical plants.

Even if your design doesn’t include many tropical plants, you can add some pops of color with garden art and decor.

While most coleus are shade plants, there are new sun-loving varieties that you can use in sunny spots.

Texture, second only to color, typifies traditional plants of the tropics. Big, bold foliage with exotic patterns and texture abound in this section of the world.

Elephant ears can set the mood in your island oasis.

Giant planters filled with eye-popping color can seem tropical, even if the plants in it aren’t.

Tropical style is all about big, bold design that packs a punch. Simply looking at these hot colors warms me up and gives me the itch to garden.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:38:53-05:00March 5th, 2015|banana tree, Blog, coleus, elephant ears, garden art, garden statues, ginger, rain chain, Sharing Nature's Garden, shell ginger, statuary, texture, tropical color, tropical style, tropicals|0 Comments

More exotic blooms from Thailand – Chiang Mai Orchid Farm

One of my favorite ventures during our trip to Thailand was the tour of the orchid farm outside of Chiang Mai, which is in the mountains of northern Thailand. When we walked in, my dear husband handed me the camera and went of to entertain the girl and leave me to my orchid oggling.

There were rows and rows of them, in every possible color, size and shape. I was actually a little nervous that I’d get lost in there.

I have a lot of variegated shell ginger in my garden, but this sealed the deal for me – I will be getting some other gingers to add to the mix.

There was a little cafe to sit and have a snack or a drink, but I was too focused to stop!

Carvings and intricate architectural details greeted us everywhere we went.

The raised stepping stones will make passage through the rows of orchids possible when the monsoons come this month.

I was fascinated by the propagation areas and their growing of the orchids in tiny glass jars.

I’m not sure why there was a collection of cool old cars there, but they added character to the farm.

They also had information on display to educate visitors about growing orchids.

So now I have serious orchid envy. I may have to try, again, to keep an orchid alive for more than a few months!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:30-05:00July 2nd, 2013|Blog, ginger, orchid farm, orchids, Sharing Nature's Garden, Thailand, vacation, vacation 2013|0 Comments

Got a little garden bling?

I love bling.

I loved bling when bling wasn’t even cool.

Don’t know what I’m going to do when clothing styles change, because I’m taken with the swirls and the sequins and the glitter that are so popular right now.

Then I got to thinking, I like a little bling in my garden, too.

And I don’t mean gazing balls (I’m not so fond of them, actually).

Like this ginger I recently planted — it’s kind of like bling in my garden.

What’s garden bling, you ask?

You know — it’s those one-of-a-kind specimens, the exotic plants or the plants that perform amazingly. The plants you and your gardening friends ooh and ahhh over time after time.

So here is an overview of the plants I think of as bling in my garden. For starters, there’s this Carara Ginger — a tropical perennial with reddish bracts with pale purple to greenish tips. It blooms for several months and like part shade. It’s new to me, and I don’t know if it will do well here, but it called my name at the nursery.

This “Phoebe” hellebore is another delicate favorite that is a shining star in my garden. It never ceases to amaze me that she almost disappears in warm months, but comes back in the cold of winter like a pale princess.
Even though the foliage is less than attractive at times, when it blooms, this Night-blooming Cereus is stunning. Sadly, you have to catch it late at night or first thing in the morning to enjoy its one-night bloom.
The cassia, with their tall, exotic structure and candle-like blooms is always a thriller in the garden. Especially the year before last when they didn’t die back in the winter and grew to be about 12 feet tall in its second season.
Then of course there is the Moy Grande hibiscus — phenomenal blooms as big as plates. On a mid-summer day, there were as many as 12 giant blooms open at once. It’s a real show-stopper.
These irises are really exotic, but I’m so enamored with the color that I eagerly await their bloom every spring. It’s a Louisiana iris, “Professor Neil” and one of my favorites.
The Bletilla Striata, or ground orchids are defnitely bling. Just the thought that I have “orchids” growing in the ground amazes me!

The plumerias definitely are exotics, but they love it here. It’s been a particularly good year for them this year. They’ve liked the extra moisture in the air.
But on the same note, I’ve had to pull this Desert Rose out of the rain many times this summer because I wants to be dry, dry, dry. And it rewarded me with these great blooms.
These? No exotic at all, but the giant patch of wine cup that completely covers my rock path each spring is another jaw dropper. I walk around the path for months, because I can’t bear to cut it back one little bit!
And this ia a perfectly ordinary Wisconsin ditch lily, brought to me in a bucket by car by Lori, the Gardener of Good and Evil . Hemerocalis experts frown at these common ditch lilies, but this amazing plant bloomed for me ALL summer long and at times had a dozen hot tangerine blooms at once.

I had a hard time limiting my choices because there are so many plants in my garden that I think are special. So, these are just a few of my favorite things.

Which plants are the bling in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:25-06:00October 10th, 2010|Bletilla Striata, bling, Blog, Cassia, desert rose, ditch lily, ginger, Moy Grande hibiscus, night blooming cereus, Phoebe, plumeria, Sharing Nature's Garden, special plants, winecup|0 Comments

Very Variegated V…..

Phooey – I’m late for Foliage Follow-up, and I couldn’t think of anything else appropriate that starts with “V.” (Writer’s block!)

But I do have some lovely foliage in the garden thanks to some good spring weather and the recent rains.

I’ve been introducing more variegated plants into the shady areas of my garden over the last year, and they are putting on a show right now.

This is new growth on an agave that almost died last winter.

Walking my garden with me this morning, Robin of Getting Grounded commented that its foliage looks soft, not hard like an Agave. Guess that’s that fresh, new growth.

Isn’t it funny how something so tough and so spiny can also look so delicate at times?

This is a Crystal Palace Gem Geranium.
This is variegated Mikaela Euonymos – it’s a very compact shrub – hasn’t grown much at all since I planted it two years ago. The deer have munched on it once or twice, and while it didn’t do what I wanted it to do, it looks pretty right now.
The variegated Dianella — Flax lily — died back in the freezes, but they are all coming back nicely now.
This is an Agave americana var. mediopicta f. alba.
Sparkler sedge that I got at the Great Outdoors last week — Carex abula — thanks to a tip from Pam at Digging.

This is Carex hachijoensis ‘Evergold’ — well, maybe it’s not. Actually the Carex across the path is the ‘evergold’ — so this would be…..hmmmm….another kind?!
This variegated Vinca keeps coming back in the middle of my Abelia, and I will rip some of it out, but I may try to plant it somewhere that I would actually LIKE for it to grow. It is pretty.
Another variegated sedge or miscanthus — my record-keeping last summer left something to be desired, didn’t it?
These are my blooming African Hostas. Aren’t they cool? Drimiopsis maculata.
The variegated shell ginger by the pool are all coming back nicely.
And last, but not least, the variegated Eureka Lemon tree that rose from the dead and will live to fruit another day!

Happy Foliage Follow-up, and thanks to Pam of Digging for inviting us to share the rest of the story after bloom day.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:32-05:00April 17th, 2010|African hosta, Agave, Blog, Dianella, euonymos, eureka lemon tree, flax lily, geranium, ginger, miscanthus, sedge, Sharing Nature's Garden, sparkler sedge, vinca|0 Comments

I see Dead things!

Some things are just … DEAD.

They might come back, mind you. But for now, they are D-E-A-D!
The gingers always die and come back, but not with these frigid temps. Guess we will have to cross our fingers. The Esperanza behind them sometimes don’t make it back, even in just a cool year, so I expect to lose some of them. But I have to say, the Ginger smells amazing outside – something about the freeze and thaw that is working on their roots and the best smell is wafting up from them. Interesting, you’d think a freeze would generate no smell. That was one of my complaints about living in Minnesota for a few years – grey, no-smells of outdoors winters.
The onion tops cratered — wonder if the 1015s in the ground will still form. I pulled a test one and they are only about the thickness of a double-wide green onion so far. I’ll cross my toes!
The big ol’ 8-ft tall Duranta Erecta succumbed last night. May not get that tall next year. It never froze back or went dorman last fall, so it might take it awhile to get that big again. I’ll cross my arms!
Same with the giant Cassias. The Candlestick trees grew for 2 years straight and never stopped. I suspect they will top out at 6 feet next year, instead of 12 feet! I’ll cross my legs!

Guess it’s gonna be a “short” Spring! (And I don’t think I have anything left to cross)

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:37-05:00January 9th, 2010|Blog, Cassia, duranta, esperanza, freeze, ginger, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

A little Sunshine in my garden

We had a mixed bag of weather today – humid and damp and misty this morning, then that broke and the sun came out and then a cold front blew in and blew right back out again, leaving sunshine and warmth for the rest of the afternoon. As I was cleaning up the back patio and pruning some, I was struck by how many yellows I have in my garden. So I thought I’d take you on a tip-toe through the yellows today. This is a Gerbera daisy left from last year’s basket of mixed color.

Mickaela Euonymus

Daffodils – -again!

This is a Duranta stem with some yellow berries on it — hard to see because it’s in the garage still until we pass the early March last possible freeze point. I’m not moving that baby twice — she’s heavy.