Lamb's Ears Archives | 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

May showers also bring May flowers…

I know why Carol of May Dreams Gardens dreams of May. We’ve had just that kind of May this year. Full of sunshine AND rain – giving all our parched gardens a good long drink before the relentless summer takes its toll. Garden bloggers around the globe join Carol on the 15th of each month to share what’s blooming in their gardens. Come take a stroll with me and see what catches my eye in the garden today.

This beautiful ditch lily, a passalong from Lori, of Gardener of Good and Evil, who literally dug it up from a ditch in Wisconsin and brought it back to me in a bucket in the back seat of her car. That’s true gardening friendship!

Some short little zinnias that are filling in small spaces in my cottage-style front path bed.

Wine cups in full force in my rock path-thats-no-longer-a-path because of the wine cup!

I’m not wild about the pineapple guava tree itself – rather boring foliage. But these little blooms are to die for.

I’m always in awe of lamb’s ears blooms – they are so low and so understated and then their blooms shoot straight into the sky and make the boldest of statements.

One of my absolute favorite salvias, indigo spires, reaches out it’s long, lanky plumes.

If you think I’m in love with the pineapple guava blooms – this one knocks my socks off. It’s a Mexican Bird of Paradise, and loves our heat and drought here. Tough and wispy at the same time, one of my favorite combos.

And I couldn’t leave out the esperanza, or yellow bells, that grow all over Central Texas. They, too, are native to Mexico.

Daylilies I just can’t get rid of! I’ve dug them up twice and they keep coming back, so now they get to stay. They don’t fit in and clash in the bed they’re in, but they bloom for such a short time that I just pretend it’s part of the plan!

And finally, these gray santolina make the most beautiful button blooms – tiny little golden globes.

What’s blooming in your garden today?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:17-06:00May 15th, 2012|Blog, daylily, ditch lily, esperanza, GBBD, GBBD 2012, indigo spires, Lamb's Ears, Mexican Bird of Paradise, pineapple guava, Santolina, Sharing Nature's Garden, winecup, zinnia|0 Comments

New bed well on its way…

On Friday, many of the plants for the new bed went into their new homes.

I wasn’t able to get several of the things on my list, but I did get most of them, so this is a good start.

And I was able to transplant all of the plants from the preious bed — either to more appropriate spaces to fit the design of the new bed, or into other beds where I had holes.

I’m also very excited that I was able to harvest from my own little volunteer ‘incubator’ of Lamb’s ears. They threw off seed from their blooms and new babies started growing in the playscape gravel next to the cutting garden. More than 20 of them were pulled from the gravel and put into the new bed. If you get out your magnifying glass, you can see them on the lowest level of the bed next to the Blackfoot daisies. The are the silver dots in this photo! What you can’t see just below the Lamb’s ears are several mounding Pink Texas Skullcaps, Skutellaria suffrutescens.

Visible only in this photo in the very back is my transplanted Butterfly Bush, Buddleja, which may or may not be ‘Black Knight.’ It is a deep royal purple and very vibrant. (In the process of researching the botanical name for my variety, I learned that is isn’t spelled Buddleia, which is how I’ve always spelled it, but Buddleja. Saw it first on Wikipedia and didn’t trust them as a horticultural resource, but then I confirmed it with Dave’s Garden, which I do trust! Thought that was interesting trivia.) Around the base of it, I transplanted several Lantana montevidensis, ‘Trailing Purple.’

The pinkish grass is Fireworks Purple Foutain Grass – Pennisetum rubrum ‘Fireworks.’ Next to it, Silver Ponyfoot, Dichondra argentea.

Up here is Artemesia powis castle which I hope will spill over the wall to mix with Blue Velvet Trailing Verbena, Verbena hybrida.
Obstructing your new here is a stick-like native persimmon. I was going to take it out, but I may prune it a bit and look at it for a while to see if it will fit in and can stay. Look closely behind it and you will see a Salvia Greggii ‘Hot pink.’ Next to it are three Daimianita daisies, Chrysactinia mexicana. You can see them better below. Then on the lower level, almost out of sight, are 5 gray Santolinas, Santolina chamaecyarissus.

On the upper level there are three Euryops chrysanthemoides with some Sweet Potato vines Ipomoea batatas to surround it and trail down the wall around the Salvia Mesa ‘purple‘ and the Mexican Feather grasses Nasella tenuissima. Blackfoot daisies and Lamb’s ears in foreground. To the left of the Euryops will be a large blue Agave, a small boulder and some ground cover of Purple Wine Cups.

So, that’s it so far. I’m quite happy with this very xeric bed. Still searching for Mexican Oregano, LARGE Blue Agave, Color guard yucca, and a Queen Victoria agave or something similar with the upright form and strings! And another ground cover.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-09-14T17:14:32-05:00March 13th, 2011|blackfoot daisies, Blog, buddleia, Daimianita, euryops, Lamb's Ears, new bed, new beds, Potato vine, salvia, Santolina, Sharing Nature's Garden, silver ponyfoot, sweet potato vine, verbena|0 Comments

Making up for lost garden time!

I missed Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Foliage Follow up. But I have a note from my doctor…

…just kidding!

But I was doing something important — my 7 year-old daughter and I were at a Mother-Daughter camp in the mountains for the weekend, hiking, swimming, horseback riding and enjoying nature. It was so fun.

But I feel the need to get back to blogging! So here are a few new things from my garden this week:
These are the first blooms of my ditch lily — brought back to me from Wisconsin personally from The Gardener of Good and Evil. What a friend! In a bucket in her car, no less!
This is my first bloom on my first Lamb’s Ear. I know, I know. I didn’t like them before, but I love them in the garden with the Katy Road Rose and Indigo Spires Salvia. And who knew that they bloomed? Not me!
Early Larkspur popping up — given to me by Zanthan Gardens two years ago. They are such amazing colors. Love that deep purple, especially.
The variegated Eureka Lemon is making a strong comeback after the hard freezes this winter. (Maybe it’s because I talk to her!)
The Sagos that are going to be fine are all happily adding new growth. I did lose one, though, a very young one in an unirrigated bed. Too much stress, I guess. This one is happy as can be.
The Plumeria is about to burst forth with yellow, lemon-scented blooms any day now.
Several of my Coneflowers are in bloom, but some sneaky bug has been eating on this one.
The Autumn Joy Sedum must also be Spring Joy, because it, too, is about to bloom. Go for it!
Another immature Coneflower bloom. It’s so compact before it opens up.
Artemnis got a new hairdo last week. Since she looks out over the deer water bowl, I have to be careful what I plant in there. I think this Squid Agave will do well in dry conditions and the deer won’t be interested in it, either.

And this is the first of my Day Lilies to bloom in the Day Lily bed. This is the Spider Miracle Lily — from Olallie Daylily Gardens. Last year it bloomed first on April 18th. So we really are almost exactly a month behind with garden growth — at least that’s been my experience.

We’re getting a wonderful, soaking rain and summer storm tonight. Sat on the back patio with my folks who were over for dinner tonight and smelled the fresh air and let it mist on us a little. It was so refreshing. And we need the rain — looks like we might get it well into the night.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:28-06:00May 17th, 2010|Blog, ditch lily, eureka lemon tree, Lamb's Ears, larkspur, Sago, Sharing Nature's Garden, spider miracle lily|0 Comments

Building a new bed…

Well, it doesn’t photograph very well yet, or maybe it’s me (!) but here are the new additions to the Greenhouse corner bed.
I’ve put in an Indigo Spires Salvia, three Lamb’s ears, a variegated Quasimodo Agave, 3 Violet Pentas, 1 Warsaw Nike Clematis vine and a packet of Bachelor’s buttons. I have about 6 more packets of cutting flower seeds to sow and a few more plants to buy for the other end, but I am well on my way.
The new plants are joining some Texas Bluebonnets, some mystery lilies and Larkspur given to me by MSS of Zanthan Gardens. On the other end, I have some orange ditch lilies given to me by Lori of The Gardener of Good and Evil, 3 Daimianita, some Stock, and an Agave passalong from Phillip of East-Side Patch.

Guess I could call this my Passalong Garden!

I wish I could say that I had help, but I didn’t! Just observers.

As much as Dakota digs, I sure wish I could train her to dig holes for me, but no such luck. Lately she’s taken to digging in the grass and unearthing earthworms! And then, yes, eating them. And then yakking them up. Nice, huh? Bet you could have gone all day without knowing that bit of information.

But I really wanted to share it with you!