A Fairy Tale

Fairy tales always have a princess.  A princess that is so fair, so beautiful, so lovely, and so charming that everyone immediately falls in love with her.  Gardenias are like that fairy princess.

They are beautiful.

And they smell like heaven.


And that combination is all it takes to weave a spell so powerful that most of us southerners fall deeply, madly in love.  Willing, even, to slay dragons in order to have this perfect princess continue to charm us with her looks, and enchant us with her fragrance.  Few can resist her charms.

Have you fallen under her spell?

Today I'm joining Tracie at Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursdays.

Then and Now

I used to plan my garden beds in great detail.  I would know exactly what plant I wanted to put where.  I researched every plant.  I knew how big the plant would get, which zones it would grow in, the type of soil it preferred, and the color of its blooms.

Then reality hit.

I found that I could not find a lot of plants that I wanted locally.  Which meant, I could change my plans or find these plants by mail.  I tried mail order for a while, and still do get my plants by mail order occasionally.  But the plants you get through the mail are quite small, need a little more care than the plants you can purchase that are larger, and sometimes the shipping costs can be quite high.

So, I plan my beds differently now.  I can't say it's better, but it's more exciting!

Now I go to the local plant stores with a general idea in my mind.  A general idea of the size of the bed, a general idea of the size of plants needed, a general idea of the bloom color desired.  Then I look at tags.  When I get home, I research the plants I don't know.  (I don't purchase my roses like this, but most other plants.)  Sometimes I'm disappointed.  But sometimes I'm very pleasantly surprised!

Such was the case for this plant:

indigofera decora

I had never heard of this plant before, but the tag stated that it was cold hardy to zone 6, and would grow 2 to 3 ft. high and wide.  Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  I purchased it on the spot.

I would have never planned this plant in my garden.  I had never heard of it before, and it looks quite delicate to me.  Like it might shrivel up and die in our heat.  Like it needs a lot of water.

But, no, it has thrived.  Thrived!  In extreme high heat, and through a lack of water.  A lot of the plants surrounding this one has expired.  But this one never skipped a beat.  It keeps blooming, no matter what is going on with the weather.

In researching this plant, I've learned that it will die back to the ground in colder zones, coming back from the roots in spring.  That it will sucker and form a dense planting, if allowed.  Commonly called "Pink Chinese Indigo".

I've found a new plant that I would plan into more beds - if I planned that way!

How do you plan a new bed?

What! Why?

There's something strange going on in my garden.  I noticed it yesterday.  It's a complete mystery, something I've never seen before.


It has to do with my crossvine.  A plant I've had for almost 10 years.  I love this plant, especially when it blooms.  Big, pretty, orange blooms that attract hummingbirds for miles around.  


But this year, something's different.  Odd.  Strange.  A mystery. 


My crossvine is blooming yellow!   It has never bloomed yellow before.  Ever.  Here's a picture of its normal color:

Crossvine - naturally orange

Just a touch of yellow in the throat.

And here it is in my garden now:

Yellow!

There is a variety of yellow crossvine, but this just the regular orange one!  Why did the blooms turn yellow?  I could not find anything about crossvine turning a different color!

Is it the heat?  In too much shade?  PH?  Something in the compost?  A deficiency?  Is it dying???

Just a slight shading of orange if you look closely.

This is a mystery to me.  Very odd.  Very odd indeed.  I'm hoping it's the heat, and that it'll return to orange when it cools down.  But I still wonder.  What would be your guess?

There for the Taking

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is walk around the garden, taking.  Taking note of the blooms, taking a few pictures, and taking joy in the beauty and life I find.  I also mentally take note of what chores need to be done, and if any plants are unhappy.

Today I found these beauties:

Dream Come True

Westerland

Carnival Glass (and friend)

Unknown, but still pretty!

This is just a small sampling of what I found on my daily walk.  There are a lot of chores I've added to my mental 'To Do' list.  Yes, the garden takes work.  Sweat.  Sometimes tears.  But what it gives back - oh, what it gives back! - is pure joy.

Hope Grows August 2011

It's Hope Grows Day again, and I had to look back to see what I could have hoped for in July!  I knew it would be hot.  I knew I would be unable to work in these extreme temperatures.  But, in reading that post, I had a lot of hope!

So, were my hopes achieved?  Yes!

Well, maybe not completely, but mostly.

I hoped that the well would be complete.  And it is!!!!  Thank goodness - my plants would not be making it without extra water right now.

I hoped to take joy in every bloom.  And I have.  It's amazing to me that anything is blooming, so it is especially wonderful to see a bloom.

I hoped to find bees, butterflies, and dragonflies carrying on their lives.  And I have.

I hoped that not too many plants would die, and if so, that I would replace them with something better.  And I think I have done that.  (fingers crossed)

And I hoped that I would have my fall garden started by now.  Whoops!  I should have done that, but I haven't yet.  Need to start working on that one!

So, what's my hope for August?

Rain would be nice.  Lower temps.  Wake me up - I'm dreaming again!

Ok, August.  Let's see...  How about getting that fall garden started?  That's something that must be done!!!!!  It's hard to think of a fall garden when it's so hot out, but I know I'll be so thrilled to have fresh vegetables this fall.

Hanni's right.  Even at the hottest time of the year, in one of the worst droughts, there is still something to hope for in the garden!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?

Well, I'm not Mary, but I am contrary!  You almost have to be to garden in Texas!  Why?  The heat!  Here's the scoop: 111 degrees F today is the prediction.  Temperatures have been ranging between 105 and 111 degrees for over a week, over 100 degrees for over a month, with no end in sight.  Lows in high 80's - last night's low was 88.

How does the garden stand it?  Is there anything alive out there?  Gardeners all over Texas are complaining.  So, I thought I needed to post how it's affecting my garden.  Let's take a tour:

The front looks good and green.  Dwarf Indian Hawthorns look remarkably well, Ebb Tide and Julia Child are blooming, although Julia has a case of rust (she's shaded until late in the day).  The jasmine on the arbor is growing like crazy, and I need to tie it up - it's just been too hot to work outside much!

James Galway resides behind Ebb Tide, and he's full of leaves:

Except his new growth is getting burned:

We walk around to the boxwood lined beds:

The boxwood is not fazed by the heat, and has new growth on it.  There are not a lot of plants in this area, as I'm in the middle of re-doing it.  The lantana has seen better days, but it looked this way last year, so I'm not concerned.

 
This bring us around to the walking garden.

Which is still inviting.

Even though this camellia's leaves are burned:

The south side looks pretty good:

Except I've had to replace a couple of plants that died due to drought.  (The cannas are the replacement.)

The north side is also holding up well:

In fact, this bed is surprising me with blooms.  I never expected anything to bloom in this heat!  Yes, I need to mow, but again - I can only do so much in this heat.

Some of the tender blooms are showing signs of burning:

But this bed still has the capacity to enchant:

Moving on, the pond garden is always refreshingly green, but the water plants don't like the excessive heat.  The lotus looks bad every year, and then usually makes a surprising come back when the weather cools a bit.  I hope this year will be no exception.

We're arriving now at main rose garden.  A lot of the companion plantings are cut down right now.

And most of the roses are resting, but there are still a few that continue to delight me with their capacity to bloom in this heat:

We walk east to a newly planted bed.  This bed has the most casualties.  I'm starting to pull them out and replace them.  These plants all died from the drought.

Not everything died, though, and there are parts that look pretty good.

Do you see the dead rose (below)?  Look closely - a new plant is coming up from its roots.  I have yet to cut down the dead parts, but I'll get to it eventually!  Something else to do on my ever-expanding list of garden chores, which is getting longer every day this heat wave continues.  I work outside in the morning, but only for an hour or two.  I want to work for many more years in the future, and am not willing to risk heat exhaustion.

Moving on, we pass by a few knockouts:

The only knockouts that are not doing well are the ones that were not getting sufficient water.  The flower carpet roses look fine.  Weeds always grow, no matter the weather.  Just something else to put on my list!

I've never posted a tour of my garden, and I didn't expect to do one under these types of circumstances.  But I am pleased with my garden.  Given the heat and stress it is undergoing right now, I think it looks pretty good.  No, make that - given the heat and stress, I think it looks great!  I have to thank my husband for working so hard to give it the water it needs.

That's my garden.  All these pictures were taken this morning.  In a couple of weeks, things may look worse.  Or better!  There's always hope that something will break this heat wave!

Caladiums!

I have a bed that is getting absolutely no attention from me this year.  This bed has slowly gone from full sun to shade as the trees that were planted there several years ago have grown and filled out.  Thus, I have been slowly replacing the plants that were originally planted there.

Gardenias and hydrangeas have replaced the roses.  Daylilies will soon be removed.  A few other shade loving plants will need to be selected.

On a whim, I decided to line one of the boxwood boxes in this bed with caladiums.  I didn't expect much, as caladiums have never done well for me.  I've always admired them in other people's gardens.  I love them, no matter what color or variety they are.  I think they are beautiful, refreshing, tropical, exotic, and a bit traditional, all rolled into one.

So, imagine my surprise when I walked past this bed the other day and the caladiums were big, fat, and gorgeous!  I am thrilled!

Is it the extra water they're getting?  Is it the compost I put in this bed?  What is the secret?  I don't know.  But I am thrilled, and now have a reason to walk past that bed with excitement and anticipation every morning!