Wildflowers Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Diana's Designs Austin

Fall color in the Central Texas garden

The fall color in my garden this week isn’t from autumnal leaves on trees, it’s from a nice 1.5 inch rain last week and a few days and nights of cooler temperatures.

These zinnias have a whole fresh set of flowers.

All the perennials shrubs and wildflowers are flush with blooms. Not just fall colors – all colors.

The firecracker gomphrena I planted just a month ago is spreading and has made the transplant with flying colors.

I guess the change of seasons is making them happy and giving them some relief.

These wildflowers just popped up in my cutting garden. They reseeded from somewhere into a mass clump of perky yellow blooms.

My carefree beauty rose is dotted with pretty pink blooms and the deep purple indigo spires make a lovely contrast.

I was surprised to find the Japanese quince in bloom – it must have happened over night when I wasn’t paying attention.

The lackluster purple hyacinth bean vine, which has struggled all summer long – is finally showing off.

The change of seasons makes me happy, too.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:34-05:00October 7th, 2012|Blog, carefree beauty rose, fall, fall color, forecracker gomphrena, gomphrena, japanese quince, purple hyacinth bean vine, quince, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers, zinnia|0 Comments

More Texas wildflowers to enjoy…

The deer nibbled on some of these coreopsis tinctura when they first started growing in the spring, but they persevered and are now full of blooms.

I love how they look against the structure of the grey Gopher plant.

This is in the bed planted outside our back fence where there is no irrigation. Once or twice a month in the middle of the scorching summer heat and drought I drag an extra long hose out there and water a little. It’s my drought- tolerant test bed. These are REAL drought conditions.

We’ve had lots of fall and spring rain, so the plants are quite happy — for now!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:36-05:00May 14th, 2012|Blog, coreopsis, coreopsis tinctura, gopher plant, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers|0 Comments

Mother’s Day Flowers – in and out of the garden

Happy Mother’s Day.

It’s been a great Mother’s Day weekend for me.

First, my son graduated from college yesterday with two degrees and we spent the afternoon and evening celebrating with lots of family and friends in our garden.

Then today, my daughter presented me with her hand-painted poster of hand-painted Texas wildflowers, all created with meticulous detail.

How wonderful that the garden is the gathering place and inspiration for sharing love in our family.

I feel very blessed.

Can you name the wildflowers and 2 cutting flowers in the painting above? Let’s see how many you can identify!

Hope your Mother’s Day was as special as mine.

Have a wonderful week.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:17-06:00May 13th, 2012|Blog, Coneflower, daisies, Graduation, Mother's Day, quadricolor agave, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers|0 Comments

Wildflower Wow

Wildflowers along our highways and byways were few and far between this year thanks to the drought.

But one little plant seems to have taken off outside of my garden.

Thanks to a some dribbles of water coming from the cutting garden bed on the other side of the fence, this wildflower has exploded into bloom in the easement beyond our property. (Like my Wisteria vine, it seems to enjoy playing hide and seek with me.)

After some research, I believe I’ve identified it as Coreopsis tripteris, or Tall coreopsis/Tall tickseed.

In any case, it’s fabulous.

I know some of those seeds are going to find their way into my hands and then into an open area (more visible!) with some fresh soil and periodic gentle hand watering this fall.

This beautiful show of color is well worth a little starting TLC to help it along.

And here it is, sneaking through the spaces in the fence to show off to the other blooms in the cutting garden.

Although it’s a little sparse because of the drought, the cutting garden has perked up in the last few weeks thanks to cooler night temperatures and our recent restorative rain.

Speaking of wildflowers, today begins the amazing Fall Plant Sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Here’s the basic information from the Wildflower Center — you can find more at their website.

Plant Sale — Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 14 – 16.

Did the hottest, driest summer in Austin’s recorded history leave you looking for new garden solutions? We can help! At the Wildflower Center’s Fall Plant Sale and Gardening Festival you can choose from nearly 300 species of hardy Texas natives bred to deal with our Central Texas climate. Feel free to leave your plant purchases at the Holding Area while you finish enjoying your visit, or up until the Plant Sale closes Sunday at 5 p.m.

Admission: $8 adults, $7 seniors and students, $4 UT faculty, staff or students with identification, $3 children 5 through 12, members and children under 5 free.

If possible, bring your own wagon to haul your purchases
Plants may be purchased and held for pick-up
Recycle your reusable 4-inch and one gallon plastic pots, collection bin available at the front entrance.
Free cold filtered water, just bring your reusable water bottle, or buy one in the store.

Members Only Sale: Friday, October 14, 1 to 7 p.m. Friday’s sale is exclusively for members of the Wildflower Center. Become a member online or at the preview sale.

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-07-15T19:14:21-05:00October 14th, 2011|Blog, coreopsis, coreopsis tripteris, cutting garden, Sharing Nature's Garden, tall coreopsis, Wildflower Center, Wildflower Center plant sale, Wildflowers, wildlflower|0 Comments

Blue bonnets ablaze…

It’s not a great year for wildflowers in Central Texas. Our drought has affected this year’s crop.

Roadways normally awash in a sea of beautiful bluebonnet blue are sadly green.

Some other wildflowers are popping up, but the bluebonnets are either absent or very small and scattered about in sporadic patches.

But in my backyard, there is water. A few early spring sprinklings gave my bluebonnets just enough to put on a spectacular show.

Well, spectacular for me. With a thick layer of mulch in most of my other beds, I haven’t been able to get planted bluebonnets to reseed. But when I planted them and seeded them in the unmulched soil of the cutting garden, they rewarded me with a pretty palette of blue.

I’m missing them as I drive along the roads of Austin, but I’m so glad I can walk out back and enjoy a few of them this spring.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:09-05:00March 28th, 2011|Blog, blue bonnets, bluebonnet, cutting garden, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers|0 Comments

Wildflower Wednesday — Way out of control

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday, when we join Gail of Clay and Limestone to share our photos and stories of native wildflowers. My favorite today is in my own garden.

Golden Coreopsis has grown out of control in my garden. They were 1 foot tall when I put in the original plants 2 years ago. Last year I didn’t have any at all – some garden helpers pulled them out in early spring thinking they were weeds. But this year they are back with a vengeance – a towering 4 feet tall, growing over all my other perennials and shrubs. So I am enjoying the show they’re putting on, and then I plant to pull them and let them reseed in a more appropriate place where they can grow to their heart’s content!

Golden Coreopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria
This amazing wildflower gets 1-4 feet tall. The yellow and reddish/brown leaves are bright and bold, made even more so by the giant stems on which they rest.