rose Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Vision and creating a new garden or landscape bed

Starting a new garden is scary. There. I said it. Whether you’re gardening in a completely different space, creating a new bed, or just revamping what you’ve got, it can be daunting.

All sorts of things clutter up my brain. What’s the soil like here? Will there really be enough sun in that spot? What if I change my mind later or come up with a better plan?

Realistically, these are all the questions any time we go into the garden, aren’t they?

I’ve given myself some time to sit in this new space, observe it, think long and hard about what I really want and what will bring me joy. (Thank you, Marie Kondo!) I wanted new beds immediately. But creating new beds is an investment and I didn’t want to be rash and then regret my choices later.

I made lists of plants I love – shade plants, sun plants – evergreens, perennials, annuals, bulbs. NO vines! Never again.

Go back through a few posts and you’ll see that our current yard, trees and house are being eaten by not just ivy, but Asian Jasmine, English ivy, Virginia creeper and trumpet vine. And what wasn’t covered in vines, was eroding and lifeless.

Grass originally lived in this area, but the overgrown trees reached across the street and made this full shade spot too dark for healthy grass.

Following my own consulting/design advice, I started by evaluating my goals. Then I looked at physical/site issues like sun and drainage. I measured and sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil.

I’ve posted pics of the whole new bed, stretching from under a massive oak along a new dry creek and down to the other end of our property.

Making my list of most-loved plants, I knew that I wanted a rose. One of the first things we did at the house was prune the lot full of overgrown trees. That gave us some sunshine along the street, and conditions that I hope will be enough for a Maggie rose.

I had two of them behind the pool at the other house. They loved the sun and I loved having them. But it wasn’t the right place for them – I couldn’t ever reach them to prune or care for them. So, I pulled them out. But I missed them.

Now I’ve made a special spot for a Maggie in my new garden.

We’ll have to see if she gets enough sun there.

There are some more branches I can prune in the trees directly above if she needs a few more golden rays. I’ll have to see what happens in the summer sun.

For now, she’s small and spindly. I ordered her from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, so I know she’s a healthy plant. She has some buds and I’m babying her for now. With the backdrop of a Mediterranean fan palm, variegated dianella and some neighboring trailing white lantana, I think she’ll be very happy there.

And I’m happy to have her.

By Diana C. Kirby|2020-03-31T14:32:47-05:00March 31st, 2020|Dianella, dry creek, Escondido Cove, maggie rose, Mediterranean, Mediterranean fan palm, new bed, new beds, rose, roses, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|2 Comments

My garden and design photo faves of 2019

It’s a new year and I’ve just passed the 6 month milestone in a new garden. I miss so many things about my previous garden – an acre and a half that I nurtured and loved for more than 16 years. I’m also excited about having a new challenge. A BIG new challenge!

So, I’m recapping some of my favorite 2019 photos of my gardens, both old and new.

This Japanese flowering quince always joined the daffodils and hellebores as the first harbingers of spring. These are plants I will definitely incorporate into the new garden. I’ve already planted several varieties of daffodil bulbs.

The row of Mountain Laurels lining the old driveway was heady with grape-y goodness when they were all in bloom. Luckily, there is a Mountain Laurel in the new garden.

I dug up and brought several hellebores from my collection to the new house and they are thriving. I lost one in the process (I might have been too busy to take good care of them in their pots for months before I began creating a bed for them).

These lyre leaf sage also came with me. They provide lovely ground cover all year and put up these delicate blooms in the spring.

All of the Austin Garden Bloggers will recognize this as Lucinda’s iris – passalongs that I believe we all share.

Rest assured, Lori, the ditch lilies you brought me back from Wisconsin in a bucket traveled with me to the new house, too. I’d never leave those behind!

Dianella and loropetalum were building blocks in the previous garden and the will be again when I start building some big beds.

I think I’ll find a home for another ebb tide rose, too.

The current yard (it’s not a garden!) is covered with ivy. I hope to craft a happier habitat for beneficials and pollinators and birds.

I loved the hot, confetti pops of color in the front bed at the previous house. This is the one I jokingly called the hideous bed.

Swedish ivy always perked up the shadier nooks and crannies in the garden.

I fell in love with crocosmia at many Garden Bloggers Flings and was happy to add some to my garden two years ago.

I always made room for cordyline in the garden and in ornamental pots.

Of course I brought all of my pots with me. I think we moved 75 of them – yikes! Having them all here made us feel right out home on the big back deck and outdoor living areas.

This eyesore area at the new house needed an overhaul. We had to regrade, take out trees, build a French drain and dig out a dozen trashy shrub volunteers. As a small project, it was my first garden creation.

I started by giving some curves and shape to this part of the French drain to define a new bed area in this square space. Then I painted the dilapidated concrete. This area is the view out of the dining room French doors that open onto a courtyard. I designed these steel panels and had them custom built to surround the AC units at the previous house, but don’t need them here. They were perfect for adding interest to this odd space.

Plants and a bird bath were the crowning touches! The wrought iron table and chairs in the courtyard offer a lovely spot for morning coffee.

Lots of fun projects are on tap for 2020. I hope you’ll come see how things are progressing.

Happy New Year and Happy Gardening!

By Diana C. Kirby|2020-01-05T10:39:28-06:00January 5th, 2020|2019, bulbs, Cordyline, cover plants, Crocosmia, daffodils, day lilies, Dianella, ditch lily, drainage, dry creek, flax lily, four-nerve daisy, Garden, Hellebore, irises, japanese quince, lady bugs, lily, loropetalum, mountain laurel, narcissus, new bed, passalongs, quince, river rock, river rock bed, rose, roses, screen, sculpture, shade plants, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring, spring bloomers, Swedish ivy, Uncategorized|6 Comments

Spring flowers scattered around my garden on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

We’ve had a tumultuous winter and spring. Well, it isn’t officially spring, but here in Central Texas, spring starts in February. We’ve already had a 91-degree day, then a week or so after that we had a low of 21. It was the first hard freeze of the winter in my garden. Of course, everything had already started to sprout and put on buds. We love the warm days, but then we pay for it.

Today is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, so we can see what’s blooming around the world today.

I covered for the 21-degree freeze. I normally don’t do that any more — it’s just too much work. But we’re getting things ready to put our house on the market and move up to northwest Austin and I’d really rather not have to replace plants and fill holes. (And, I want to take some of the great plants with me!)

Nonetheless, there are things blooming in the garden, in spite of the yo-yoing weather. I planted these Ostespermum, African daisy, late summer last year and I’m getting another round be beautiful blooms.

These pass-along white cemetery iris bloom first among all the iris in the garden. They’ve made the rounds among most of the Austin garden bloggers so they brighten gardens all around town.

I can always count on the bulbs and love the daffodils in my garden.

I’ve had these in the garden for a long time. It’s called yellow fortune. The contrast of the almost orange cup with the bright yellow makes a colorful display. I’ve taken to collecting different varieties of daffodils over the years. It’s fun to see who comes up each year.

These ice follies have naturalized and definitely need to be divided. Hmmm…a good opportunity to take some with me to a new garden once we find a house.

The flowering quince makes a lovely backdrop for these frilly, delicate daffodils, called double campernelle. She’s getting lost in the quince and the primrose jasmine beside her, so I may have to rescue her and bring her with me as well. (See how I keep adding to my list?)

The native Texas Mountain Laurels continue to bloom – only the open blooms succumbed to the cold.

Some of the trees hadn’t even produced buds yet, so I will get to enjoy the Kool-Aid, grapey-goodness scent of these beautiful evergreen trees for weeks to come. And, when brought into the house as part of a cut flower bouquet, I can continue to appreciate Mother Nature’s air freshener!

It was hard to cut back the roses when I had several blooms on Archduke Charles, but I brought them inside and pruned the rest.

The four roses in the new rose parterre aren’t all the same height at maturity, so keeping them similar requires careful pruning.

Livin’ easy, grandma’s yellow and ebb tide show no signs of emerging buds yet.

Catmint remains one of my garden favorites. Mostly evergreen with a compact, clearly defined form, it stays orderly in places where I want a small mounding plant.

‘Walkers low’ makes a pretty, reliable border plant, getting only about 12-14″ in my garden. Advertised as getting up to 24″ tall, that’s not my experience and I’ve had them for several years.

I’ve enjoyed them in the front bed and last year expanded their reach into a few other beds as well.

The Mexican honeysuckle on the trellis behind the green goblet agave is awash with coral-y/salmon-y blooms. They grow up into the air and over the fence, draping delicately onto the side of the greenhouse roof.

Hinkley’s columbine has started blooming and brightens up the woodland path garden.

The prairie verbena loves this spot by the street. Hot and dry, this bed bears the brunt of the full, scorching Texas sun. The perennial verbena provides a beautiful, soft contrast to the ginormous squid agave next to it.

I think we’re finished with freezes here in Central Texas.

I’m ready to start working in the garden and soaking up the spring sunshine.

How ’bout you?

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-03-15T12:51:34-05:00March 15th, 2019|bulbs, columbines, daffodils, double campernelle, green goblet agave, iris, irises, Mexican honeysuckle, mountain laurel, narcissus, passalongs, Prairie Verbena, rose, roses, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring, spring bloomers, squid agave, Uncategorized|2 Comments

A few new friends…

The rain must have made my Martha Gonzales rose happy as she is blooming a lot this week. Her open blooms are like little saucers, so I was surprised one evening to find this 1/2 closed bloom with its very different look.
The rain also made the window box happy as it erupted with various snapdragons and geraniums in front of Kallie’s window.
This is a salvia that Renee of Renee’s Roots passed along to me last weekend at our garden bloggers tour … I wish I could remember the exact name of it – Renee … help?
And this is the Engleman’s Daisy that I got from Pam, of Digging, at our gathering last weekend. It was in a BIG pot and took me 2 holes to get it into the ground — I ran into a rock when I was almost finished, and I had to start over 6 – 8 inches next to it. My tendonitis was screaming at me all week!

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:17-05:00May 1st, 2009|Blog, Engelman's daisy, Martha Gonzales, rose, salvia, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

True love…

This is what my pretty new bed looks like now that my dear husband spread all my mulch for me while I was lying in my bed this weekend recuperating.

Not only did he take care of kids and dogs and housekeeping and shopping and cooking, he gardened for me, too. He spread 6 bags of mulch and he pulled mutant malabar spinach and swiss chard and fed the deer, and then he planted new lettuce plants in their place. Lettuce plants I didn’t have time to get in before the surgery and would have just let die in the garage until I was up to gardening again.

I’m pretty darn lucky. I got fed great homemade food and pampered and got to check things off my list without even lifting a foot out of bed!

Here is a lousy picture of my new blooming rose, Maggie. It’s a couple of days old, so it’s sad, but I’m too proud of it not to post it! It might not hold up against all the beautiful photo-shopped professional quality pictures of bloggers who raise dozens of roses, but it makes me happy, so here it is!
And this is my first bloom on my Desert Rose. Which is odd, because it normally blooms all summer, but I moved it and that clearly wasn’t the right thing to do!

On the reovery front, thanks for all the good wishes. And thank goodness for laparopscopic surgery. I’m almost back to normal today with much less discomfort and only one nap! Might be gardening by next week, even!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:52-06:00October 13th, 2008|Blog, desert rose, new bed, rose, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Wow!

I have an iris, I have an iris! Planted two years ago, this is the first of a batch of irises I’ve been anxiously waiting to meet. And boy-oh-boy was I excited to see her arrival today. My DH took these amazing close-ups for me so I could share them with you. Thanks, sweetie!

I love these colors – they are so vibrant and unique. I can’t tell you what kind it is because this was planted before I kept any real records. If you know, feel free to tell me.

And here is one of our first roses from my spring bush plantings. This is Mrs. B.R. Cant, 1901. The deer did munch on it when it first went in, but I think it’s out of their main path and we’ll just keep trying. If she’s tough, she’ll survive…kinda heartless, but I have so few options in the sun due to the deer.