Make a beautiful bouquet from anything in your garden in 3 simple steps
3 Simple Steps: Snip, strip and stick!
Design definition and texture in new landscape garden bed
I’m on a roll. Gardening is good for the soul, and for the exercise and creative outlet it provides during this stressful time. My free time is often spent surfing the web for the perfect plant since I’ve been avoiding nurseries. As fast as they arrive in the mail, I’m expanding garden beds to contain them!
Since the move last summer, I’ve been lonely without my recommended daily allowance of blooms.
There were a handful of hastily pre-sale planted impatiens in the front of the house, but nary a flower anywhere else. I couldn’t even make a tiny posey for my desk.
It was sad.
Having filled the new beds that I created along the dry creek, I decided I needed some more plants.
I turned to my winter sources, searching for my favorite plants online. I’ve slowly been planting in front of the creek above of the sidewalk. I’ve been digging out multiple 6-inch circles to plant individual plants, leaving the grass right beyond that!
Having filled the new beds that I created along the dry creek, I decided I needed some more plants.
I turned to my winter sources, searching for my favorite plants online. I’ve slowly been planting in front of the creek above of the sidewalk. I’ve been digging out multiple 6-inch circles to plant individual plants, leaving the grass right beyond that!
Last week, I finally got help to get the whole bed dug out with room for a lot more plants!
Here’s the before photo. When we moved in, there was little to no grass because of dense shade of over gown trees.
We pruned the trees heavily last summer and watered the grass, but this area is still a little shady, so it would be perfect for the part-shade and part-sun plants I love.
In the new bed I added salvia, rose campion, datura, daisies, lantana, gomphrena, iochroma, and eryngium. When the universe opens back up again, I’ll be in search of a very large turquoise pot to put on top of the large rocks at the top of the hill before the oak tree.
I can’t wait until all of these lovelies are in full bloom. I’m hoping it will be a bouquet of color, texture and form every single day!
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.
Beautiful blooms for the first day of spring!
Happy First Day of Spring!
Since I’ve just posted about the few flowering things in my new garden, I decided to get some fresh air and walk around my cul de sac to see what my neighbors have blooming in their yards.
I used to grow tangerine crossvine in my previous garden. It’s lining the fence across the street, so I get to enjoy a whole swatch of it every time I look out front or work in my garden.
I’m a sucker for irises and my neighbor has a field of these wonderful, dark purple ones.
I think these are Indian Hawthorne blooms. In a more established neighborhood, I’m seeing a different plant palette.
As always – I love the reliable evergreen bi-color iris. Great structure in any landscape.
It’s an adventure creating a brand new garden.
Every little step is a lesson.
And, it’s fun getting to experience new neighborhood gardens as we walk with the bubbies every day.
Happy Spring!
It’s the little things…in life and in the garden…
With the arrival of spring and increasingly warmer temperatures, I’m seeing the fruits of my first projects in the new garden. All of the plants I brought with me from the last garden went in last summer. Almost all of them survived the interim neglect, and are starting to bloom now.
I put in some bulbs in the fall, and they’re up and at ’em now.
This Loropetalum seems very happy where I planted it last summer.
The garden did have a few bloomers in it when we moved in. 
I am enjoying the Bridal Wreath Spirea that’s in full bloom now.
I almost didn’t notice the grape blooms on the shaded Texas Mountain Laurel until my friend, Robin, discovered them last week. Because it’s in full shade, I was shocked to see the flowers.
Here are a few of the plants that went into the new bed about 2 weeks ago.
A handful of blooms make all the difference. I am seeing the garden glass as half full — full of the promise and possibility plants bring into our lives. Even with lots of projects on the horizon, knowing I’ll enjoy every little bloom along the way makes it all worth while.
Inspiration on a napkin turns ideas into reality in the new garden
I woke up at 5:15 Saturday morning, as excited to wake up and start the day as if it were Christmas morning. Saturday was planting day. I could hardly control myself as I tried to go back to sleep for at least a little longer.
When we moved last summer, I knew I would have a blank landscape canvas with which to work. Now on a large, shaded and very hilly corner lot, the conditions in this garden are dramatically different than our previous garden.
I’m reminded of the adage, “be careful what you wish for…” and smile when I think of my complaints that the other landscape was flat and boring. There’s nothing flat here! In fact, the only thing here is ivy. Lots and lots of ivy. I’ve found Jasmine, English ivy, trumpet vine and Virginia creeper, all intermingled in an incestuous mess, threatening to eat the trees and the house and everything else in its path.
Over the last few months, I’ve tried to focus on the area that runs along the lower side of the property.
One of our first projects when we moved in was intensive pruning of the wonderful, yet long-neglected heritage trees. We removed a few dead ones, and opened up the canopy of trees along that side of the property. Because of the overgrown trees, all that remained in the total shade was dead grass, soil and exposed tree roots. Now, the afternoon sun shines in this area, and I decided that it might be my best bet at creating a bed friendly to sun-loving plants.
I’ve scribbled on several napkins and I’ve had a few snippets of ideas about possible plant combinations. Luckily, I came to my senses and decided to take the time to assess the space, allow my vision to evolve, and focus on some of my favorite plants. The sketch of plants grew as I decided to intersect the long space with a dry creek, boulders and a large ceramic pot as the focal point.
Last week, I put the plan into motion as I drew out the creek outline with construction paint and got the crew digging and delivering rock.
Over the week, I finalized my plant choices and placed my order. Saturday was the day.
I lovingly placed every plant and every boulder, turning and adjusting and moving an inch to the left and then a half inch to the right and then another half inch back to the left!
At the top of the hill, I’ll add a very large ceramic pot, filled with a focal point plant and trailing potato vines or maybe silver pony foot. It will be nestled in the middle of these boulders at the headwaters of the creek.
Bordering the sidewalk entrance, a few dianella, a purple trailing lantana, a red salvia Greggii, blackfoot daisies and damianita surround a regal purple Amistad salvia. She’ll be the star of the show in short order with her almost foot-long plumes.
To create year-round interest, catmint is intermingled with the elegant and strappy leaves of Agapathus. I like the textural contrast between the delicate, gray-green catmint and the lime-y foliage of the agapanthus.
In mild winters like this one, catmint was evergreen in my previous garden.
It will be interesting to see how plants fare in this new garden.
At the other end of the bed and the creek, the shining star will be a deep magenta Maggie rose (which I haven’t found yet). She’ll be flanked by Dianella, a Mediterranean fan palm, trailing white lantana, purple skullcap and a Weberi agave. Just past the Weberi, another Dianella keeps an Indigo spires salvia company along with an artichoke and a scattering of sculptural foxtail ferns.
I didn’t realize how much I missed my other garden until I started to create a new one. It’s filled a void and I’m excited to be moving forward.
I have lots of other ideas swirling around in my head. And now that this bed is spiffy, neighboring areas definitely look shabby in comparison.
Now I’m dreaming about new stucco bed-bordering walls (to replace railroad ties), driveway flanking beds, and a possible new entrance from the street.
I’ve stocked up on napkins, there is plenty for me to do. I’ll keep you posted!