pineapple guava Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Fruit trees in the garden bearing fruit after recent rains…

A tour through the garden this week, after several significant recent rains, has me smiling. Several of our trees are bearing fruit, thanks to a change of seasons and the end the our drought status.

The Texas ever-bearing fig tree we planted this spring is perking up after the summer and producing a second crop of fruit. I can’t wait to taste them, as those from the spring were stressed by the transplant and heat.

It’s a lovely little tree, but I have had to put up a fence to keep Dakota, the fruit-vegetable-bulb-grub-eating dog away from it.

The pineapple guava is getting to be quite large for its spot and when it’s done fruiting, I will do some more pruning on it. I’d like it to be a little less multi-trunked so we can see the structural nature of the tree.

Dakota had eaten some of the guavas, but there are going to be enough for us as I’m keeping a closer eye on her!

The pomegranate tree is absolutely full of fruit. The birds and squirrels often get into these, and I usually leave some on the tree to split open and give them a treat. I’m going to try some different ways for us to enjoy the arils this year. They’re so good for you — their health benefits include helping to fight heart disease, blood pressure, high cholesterol. They have also been shown to help inhibit breast, prostate and colon cancer. We have many more than we could possibly eat, so I’ll be sharing. If you’re in Austin, let me know if you’d like to come get some — they’re not quite ready yet, but it won’t be long now. Just post a comment if you’re interested in coming to get some.

There is no fruit on the loquat, but it’s blooming all over, so that’s a promising sign for future production. Except that this fruit tree sits next to the Pom, so the squirrels usually have a field day with the loquats because they are much less work to eat. I’ll have to be the early bird to get this fruit.

What’s fruiting in your garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:26:58-06:00November 14th, 2015|Blog, fig, fruit, fruit trees, loquat, pineapple guava, pomegranate, Sharing Nature's Garden, Texas ever-bearing fig|0 Comments

Summer comes early to Central Texas gardens…

Although it’s technically still spring, we’ve already had our first 100-degree day here in Central Texas. That means our tough-as-nails perennials are being asked to show their stuff. Many of them are answering the call in my garden this week.

Thryallis, euonymous, salvia greggii, Mexican oregano, lamb’s ears, dianella, indigo spires salvia and Mexican feathergrass surround this agave franzosini with soft, billowing blooms.

This pineapple guava is full of stunning blooms that will soon turn into a yummy snack for us (if the dogs don’t get them before we do!)

Pops of yellow and blue fill this bed with the octopus agave in the cobalt blue pot. New gold lantana, mealy blue sage, mystic spires salvia, zexmenia and Mexican feather grass love these hot, sunny days.

The show put on by the grey santolina with its tiny, button-like blooms is beautiful. In the background, salvia greggii, Mexican oregano, thryallis and a few tiny orange narrow-leaf zinnias I just planted. I could only locate 4 plants, so they are going to have to hurry up and spread fast to make the orange border for the santolina!

One of my all-time favorites, indigo spires salvia is such a vivid purple and blooms all summer long under the worst conditions.

This falls under the category of “I never dreamed this would get this big.” This Mexican oregano in a raised bed in the full hot sun is clearly in its element. It is 10 feet wide!

These poolside day lilies just started blooming this week.

One of my favorite combinations — these pale peachy-coral gladiolas provide a beautiful backdrop for the native Texas clematis pitcheri that’s showing off dozens of purple blooms.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:14-06:00May 21st, 2013|Agave, Blog, clematis pitcheri, daylily, gladiola, indigo spires, mealy blue sage, Mexican feathergrass, Mexican Oregano, mystic spires, pineapple guava, salvia greggii, Santolina, Sharing Nature's Garden, zexmenia|1 Comment

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

Enter, stage right…and left…

The towering palms — the ones that made you think you really had driven too far south of town and ended up in Corpus Christi — are gone.

They came down with barely a whimper on April 29, and left four big holes.

Today, three of those holes were filled.

At the back corners on either side of the pool, I planted two beautiful, graceful, arching Pindo Palms. I’ve been wanting one since the garden bloggers toured Peckerwood Gardens together in November of 2008.

In the open space in the back bed, I also planted a purple Datura (there is a white one there now also) and a Cardoon. Tomorrow, I’ll add several Silver Ponyfoot plants to (eventually) cascade down the wall and fill the base of the bed. (They’re pretty darn tiny right now, but they’ll grow!)

I think a giant burgundy Dracena may be joining them on the end soon. And I’m sure I will think of some more things that need to be in there as well.

See, doesn’t that pretty Pindo look so much better?

I also planted a Pineapple Guava tree on the other side of the pool, having fallen in love with them on our bloggers tour to San Antonio to the Botanic Gardens. I didn’t get a photo of it, but it comes before this palm in the photo below – right where I am standing. (I didn’t take a picture of it because it looks like a giant bush-ball, and I am going to prune it up into a tree once it’s gotten over the shock of the move.)

They didn’t photograph very well in the afternoon sun, but the look sooooo much better there than the other palms. Guess I can let out my breath now … everything went as planned and I’m happy with the result. Can’t ask for more than that!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:28-06:00May 11th, 2010|Blog, Cardoon, dature, pindo palm, pineapple guava, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

pineapple guava

Fruit trees in the garden bearing fruit after recent rains…

Summer comes early to Central Texas gardens…

May showers also bring May flowers…

Enter, stage right…and left…

Escape in the garden