Mexican oregano and a tall, dark, handsome partner

Mexican oregano and a tall, dark, handsome partner

July 10, 2015 Each year I replant a purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) next to the Mexican oregano (Poliomintha longiflora) in the streetside garden. I love the rich color echo between the Mexican oregano’s lilac flowers and the grass’s dark leaves, which look good late-spring through fall and even, bleached ...
Evergreen foundation garden for Foliage Follow-Up

Evergreen foundation garden for Foliage Follow-Up

November 16, 2014 What won’t block the windows and grows no taller than 3 feet? What remains evergreen? What can live in shade? What won’t the deer eat? These are the foundation-planting questions that haunt generations of gardeners (or me anyway), especially those in the South, where we expect the ...
Silver ironweed, west Texas cousin to native wooly ironweed

Silver ironweed, west Texas cousin to native wooly ironweed

September 03, 2013 Pretty, yes? This silver-leaved lovely with buttons of purple-pink flowers, growing in 4 or 5 inches of decomposed granite with no irrigation, has an interesting back story. In April 2012 David Salman of High Country Gardens (since closed and reopened under American Meadows’ ownership) sent me a ...
Drab fall? Not in this colorful streetside garden

Drab fall? Not in this colorful streetside garden

October 09, 2012 Cool weather might make some people think of brown leaves and shriveling plants, but not me. October is, I think, the best garden season—both for planting and photographing—in central Texas. Certainly my streetside garden is fuller and more flowery than at any other time of year. The ...
Manfreda and yucca in bloom, plus plants to trial

Manfreda and yucca in bloom, plus plants to trial

April 22, 2012 The xeric garden is eye-poppingly bold in bloom this week. The native wildflower winecup (Callirhoe involucrata) is sprawling through the agave bed with her stained chalices held up for refills. Purple skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii), native to the Hill Country, also thrives amid the spiky plants. Topping out ...
Mahonia adds evergreen texture for Foliage Follow Up

Mahonia adds evergreen texture for Foliage Follow Up

March 16, 2012 Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ is new to the nursery trade and beginning to pop up in local garden centers. I recently bought this big 7-gallon ‘Soft Caress’ on discount at Hill Country Water Gardens, where they gave me a deal so I could trial it in my ...
Plant This: Chrysocephalum apiculatum

Plant This: Chrysocephalum apiculatum

December 05, 2010 For those of you in warm climates like Austin, here’s a great little ground cover with everlasting, silvery green leaves and nearly nonstop yellow flowers. Australian native Chrysocephalum apiculatum ‘Flambe Yellow’ was sent to me for trial by Proven Winners in the spring of 2009, and it’s ...
Senorita Rosalita cleome mystery

Senorita Rosalita cleome mystery

July 28, 2010 I’ve been touting the delights of ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome since trialing two in my back garden last year. Through terrible drought and heat, those cleomes grew bushy and full and bloomed nonstop until fall. Last winter killed them off, but naturally I bought two replacements this spring ...
Make a plant support out of cattle panel wire

Make a plant support out of cattle panel wire

April 02, 2010 If recent tweets among Austin garden bloggers are any indication, we’ve snapped up pot after pot of ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome at the Natural Gardener and at Home Depots all over town this spring, and I made sure to grab two for myself in the buying frenzy. Last ...
King Tut papyrus & other November sparklers

King Tut papyrus & other November sparklers

November 23, 2009 When Proven Winners asked me last spring if I’d trial some of their plants, I requested they send me only xeric plants, explaining that I am not a zealous waterer. So imagine my surprise when, among a nice selection of drought-tolerant plants, this ‘King Tut’ papyrus arrived ...
King Tut papyrus & other November sparklers

King Tut papyrus & other November sparklers

November 23, 2009 When Proven Winners asked me last spring if I’d trial some of their plants, I requested they send me only xeric plants, explaining that I am not a zealous waterer. So imagine my surprise when, among a nice selection of drought-tolerant plants, this ‘King Tut’ papyrus arrived ...
Summer into fall flowers

Summer into fall flowers

November 03, 2009 I can’t say enough good things about orange narrowleaf zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia). It bloomed dependably all summer and is still holding its own, adding a pop of orange amid the silver and blue-green foliage of xeric plants in a sunny bed. Likewise, ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome, one of ...
Flowery Fall Friday

Flowery Fall Friday

October 02, 2009 ...
Agastache update

Agastache update

September 18, 2009 Agastache ‘Ava’ At the end April I was the happy recipient of a collection of Agastache, or hummingbird mint, from High Country Gardens. I planned to post regular updates as I trialed them in my garden, but the unspeakable conditions of our recently departed summer sapped my ...
Rain lilies rejoicing

Rain lilies rejoicing

September 10, 2009 The rain lilies are rejoicing, as I am, over the definite shift in our weather pattern. And I know you are too, dear reader, if you’ve stuck with me through this summer, after I’ve droned on and on about the tiresome Dr – – ght and H ...
Proven Winners plant trial, 5th month

Proven Winners plant trial, 5th month

August 13, 2009 Here we are, checking in on the Proven Winners plants that were sent to me in late March for a seasonal trial in my garden. Poor plants. This summer has been a trial by fire as Austin suffers under exceptional drought conditions and marks its 53rd day ...