Mexican Mint Marigold Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

January blooms brightening the garden

I’ve been amazed at the lack of a freeze this late in the season, but Facebook reminded me with a photo of brilliant variegated shell ginger that we only had our first freeze here at the house on January 4th last year.

While there aren’t as many blooms as in the summer months, it’s still delightful to find flowers in the garden now, especially these coneflowers.

These Pam’s pink Turks caps start blooming late but keep on going.

The cape honeysuckle are a bright burst on the increasingly grey days.

Another late summer/early fall bloomer, Mexican bush sage is prolific.

As are the Mexican mint marigolds.

In the pots by the front door, these begonias are refreshed after some cooler temps and rain.

And next to the begonias, these Mexican honeysuckles are about to bloom for the third time.

This Royal Queen, or Iochroma, is stunning. Bar none, my favorite in the garden these days. It’s a mid-fall bloomer, but oh-so-well-worth the wait.

In the granite and flagstone path out back, the sweet alyssum are perky as can be.

Even the neighboring pink skull cap is starting to bloom again.

I posted these on my FB profile last week – this abutilon is bursting with blooms.

Unruly, but showing deepening purple colors, indigo spires salvia is tough-as-nails.

The lion’s tails are still showing off — I’ve brought them in and arranged them in vases with other late bloomers. You can see those arrangements here and here. They include many of these blooms.

As I write this post, I realize that I’ve left a few of these bright blooms out of those arrangements, so I’m feeling inspired to make another arrangement today.

THIS is what I love about living in Austin, Texas.

Are you making bouquets from your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-10-03T11:20:55-05:00January 5th, 2016|abutilon, alyssum, Blog, cape honeysuckle, Coneflower, garden art, indigo spires, Iochroma, lion's tail, Mexican bush sage, Mexican honeysuckle, Mexican Mint Marigold, Pam's pink Turk's cap, pink skullcap, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Summer keeps hanging on in the garden…

It’s December 15th, and it’s not beginning to look even a little bit like Christmas here in Central Texas!

Unseasonably warm days have my garden confused.

Many summer plants are still thriving, or even putting on a second bloom.

While we’ve had a few close calls, I haven’t had a real freeze at my house yet this season.

Some plants had a few leaves turn and die but the lowest temperature I have measured is 33F.

I love living here — where we can garden almost 12 months a year. Sometimes that means the plants and I don’t get a long winter’s nap.

Having lived several times in much colder climates, I would like to see a little snow in the winter.

That’s why there are airplanes!

The dogs, Tanner (the tan one!) and Dakota, don’t mind one bit. Indian summer suits them just fine as they enjoy watching me work in the garden.

In the cutting garden, I’ve had these daisies blooming for months.

The Katy Road Carefree Beauty rose is very happy and producing wonderfully fragrant blooms.
Mexican Oregano is flourishing and has bloomed non-stop since the Spring.
The fall-blooming Mexican Mint Marigold, which began blooming in September, is also experiencing a long bloom season. I normally have fewer Fall-blooming plants in the garden, but this year, the Mexican Mint Marigold has had to compete for the spotlight.

This creeping Wegelia perennial groundcover, whose bloom is winding its way through this variegated grass, seems to come into it’s own very late in the summer and doesn’t last long. I’ve seen more growth than ever this year with these warmer days.
My Black and blue salvia was overshadowed by other growing plants this summer and had virtually died back. This brand new shoot came up from the roots a few weeks ago and burst into bloom.
Exotic red blooms cover my Bottle Brush tree, blowing in the breezes above a blue agave.
And, the ever-reliable button mums just keep coming back year after year to put on a big Fall show.

For a garden tour of what’s blooming all over the world, you can visit Carol, at May Dreams Gardens, where she hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:25-06:00December 15th, 2010|Blog, Bottle Brush tree, carefree beauty rose, dogs, GBBD, Mexican Mint Marigold, Mexican Oregano, mums, salvia, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Signs of fall in my garden…plants and projects…

There are several signs of fall in my Central Texas garden. The Mexican Mint Marigold is in full bloom after a summer of green. I can always count on their bright and cheerful flowers after the temperatures begin to cool.
The fall asters are look like lavender firecracker bursts with the fine little petals.
The end of summer also brings out these sunflowers – Helianthus Maxmilliani. They are rather leggy this year from getting too much shade under the oak trees, but I still love their statuesque 6 feet tall form.

Blooms are the only thing that comes with the fall garden. As the temperatures drop, I get the itch to start a garden project…or two!
This little bed on the edge of our woods was pure happenstance. After laying out the bed below, I had quite a bit of leftover recycled glass and decided to make use of it, clearing out little understory scrub oaks and cedars and making a proper place for the birdbath that was tucked in the brush.
But this was the real project. This very large terra cotta pot (not my favorite) had been sitting at the edge of the woods gathering dead leaves, because I kept forgetting to water it and the deer kept eating my plants.

So I decided to move it to the crushed granite path entrance as a focal point and surround it with some recycled glass so it would look like a pond leading into the dry river rock dry creek.

Inside it, I planted a volunteer agave, from a passalong given to me by Phillip of East Side Patch . (One of many, I might add! He’s renown for sharing his agaves.)

And the small river rock outlining the tributary came as a donation from my neighbors — left over from a project they did and sitting by the side of the road with grass growing in it! I asked to buy some and they gave it to me.

With the free rock, $5 worth of recycled glass from the city, and old pot and a volunteer agave, this was designing on a budget! My only real cost was labor for the help I had hauling and spreading the rock.

I’m happy with the result, and now I have some more space in the accidental bed for planting! Imagine that!
While we’ve had temps down to 40, the days can still get up to 80 here, so we have about another month to garden here.

What’s on your fall project list? Or is fall already over for you?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:25-06:00November 6th, 2010|Agave, Blog, dry creek, fall asters, Mexican Mint Marigold, new bed, recycled glass, river rock bed, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Finally Fall…

It’s finally Fall here in Central Texas. Don’t get me wrong, we still have some hot days, but we are also enjoying some cooler nights, some rain and the sun has lost just a little of its “edge.”

How do I know it’s Fall? Because the Mexican Mint Marigolds (Tagetes lucida) have graced us with their perky little Fall blooms.
They grow all summer, getting full and bushy and lush with foliage, but display nary a bloom. Until the cool weather kicks in, that is, and then they burst like baby sunflowers.

This weird weather we’re having has both the Mexican Mint Marigold and the Cassia blooming at the same time. That’s never happened before. The Cassia is very tropical and a hot weather plant. It’s ok, I’ll take whatever blooms I can get, whenever I can get them!
On a glum note, how about this little guy? You’d never know he was a Green Envy Coneflower that I special ordered for some ridiculously high price, would you? He croaked not long after he arrived, succumbing to the drought and the intense heat. While his ordinary Coneflower neighbors were blooming away, he was wilting. He’s technically still alive. Maybe next year he’ll feel better. (I hope!)

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:38-05:00October 22nd, 2009|Blog, Coneflower, fall, Mexican Mint Marigold, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

I am NOT in charge!

See that pretty little yellow bloom? That’s a Mexican Mint Marigold. Just started blooming yesterday.

It’s pretty and the next photo shows you that it will soon be full of bright blooms.

BUT. (There’s always a but, isn’t there?) I planted these 3 little plants last summer when we put in this bed. The purpose of the bed was to provide a place for lots of colorful vines to cover the fence. This picture below is what it looked like last September — everything behaving according to PLAN. See the beautiful orange Mexican Flame Vine behind the little Marigolds? Nice, isn’t it?

Well, this is how it looks now. NO Flame vine, spindly leftover morning glories. All thanks to the thirsty, overgrown, block the sprinkler Marigolds who have hogged the bed.

So, after they bloom – OUT they come, to be replaced in the Spring by something much lower and slower growing so that the Flame Vine – which is still there, but just 6 leaves at the base of the plant – can reach up to the sky along the fence. I don’t know WHERE they are going, mind you, but they ARE going. I will have things according to plan, I will, I will!

And here are some signs of our cool 55 degree night last night. The Plumeria is not happy about those cool, damp temps — see the yellowing leaves inside there?

It’s a desperate cry for the Greenhouse to get here soon!

12 days ’til Greenhouse Day!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:45:06-05:00October 23rd, 2008|Blog, greenhouse, Mexican Flamevine, Mexican Mint Marigold, plumeria, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

The good, the bad and the ugly…

Well, this is definitely the good! This photo was taken last August — it was Kallie’s first day of Kindergarten. You can see the soft morning light and the wonderfully green Mexican Flame Vine, Morning Glories, Mexican Mint Marigold, Purple Coneflower, and Lantana.

Here’s what the fence looks like right now. Everything is brown and dead. I see no signs of life in this bed yet. I’m hopeful that the flamevine will be perennial and come back, along with the coneflower an the lantana. I sprinkled some of the dead seedheads around the existing dead coneflower to help Mother Nature a little bit 😉

Guess you can tell from this post that I wasn’t in the yard today. A cold, blowing 20 mph wind and 58 degree high kept me indoors – drawing on a landscape plan in the morning and sitting at the automotive shop getting a new tire for 2 hours in the afternoon. (I feel lucky that I found the leak (a screw) and didn’t get stuck somewhere.)

Tomorrow, I’ll have some pretty pictures of Texas native tree for you – can you guess what what it might be?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:47:53-05:00February 26th, 2008|Blog, Mexican Flamevine, Mexican Mint Marigold, Morning Glory, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Mexican Mint Marigold

January blooms brightening the garden

Summer keeps hanging on in the garden…

Signs of fall in my garden…plants and projects…

Finally Fall…

I am NOT in charge!

The good, the bad and the ugly…

Escape in the garden