Giving our aging ranch house a facelift has been an ongoing project since we moved in four years ago. The house is comfortably proportioned and liveable on the inside, but the exterior is, well, homely, so we gave it a brow-lift earlier this year with a gabled porch roof. Also, the areas of wood siding were in desperate need of a fresh paint job (and repair of rotten trim here and there), so we just had the house painted as well. (Kimball Baker did the painting, and I can’t say enough good things about his work.) I really love the new color, a soft taupe that works well with the apricot brick.

Here’s how it looked before. You’ll notice I’ve since ripped out the little patch of grass at left and the traditional line of foundation plants, some of which I transplanted elsewhere. Instead I went with a few bold plants in steel containers, a colorful accent of purple-blooming Salvia leucantha, and a corner accent of ‘Alphonse Karr’ bamboo. Low-maintenance gravel now floors this space instead of fussy lawn grass (see top photo).

The freshly painted front porch. I think I need to clean and buff (or seal?) the tile. Any ideas on this?

Meanwhile, in the new garden bed my neighbor and I share between our driveways, which replaced drought-baked, struggling grass, the growth has been astonishing. Here’s how it looked right after planting in February.

And today, blowsy and relaxed in late fall. This is the view from my driveway.

Here’s the view from my neighbor’s driveway last February, newly planted.

And today. Poof! I love the texture, movement, and colors and hope she does too. One thing I know is that the deer do NOT love it. Yay!

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Copper canyon daisy, gopher plant, and ‘Color Guard’ yucca

Like warm sunshine on a chilly autumn day, copper canyon daisy (Tagetes lemmonii) brightens the garden in late fall, just before the first frost nips central Texas. In full sun the plant becomes a 4 to 6 foot mound of golden daisies, its feathery foliage nearly hidden by the profusion of flowers. In part sun, like mine, it still flowers well but with less of a Midas touch.

Copper canyon daisy also boasts extremely good deer resistance thanks to its fragrant—some say stinky, but not me—leaves, which will perfume you with their distinctive licorice-like smell after the most casual passing brush of the hand or leg.

Native to Mexico and Arizona, copper canyon daisy is a tough, drought-tolerant performer (although it did suffer all over town during the terrible drought of 2011). The first hard freeze will be the end of the show. I’ll leave the frost-burned foliage standing until mid-February, my cut-back date for most flowering perennials.

Note: My Plant This posts are written primarily for gardeners in central Texas. The plants I recommend are ones I’ve grown myself and have direct experience with. I wish I could provide more information about how these plants might perform in other parts of the country, but gardening knowledge is local. Consider checking your local online gardening forums to see if a particular plant might work in your region.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Southern gardeners, are you growing Gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris)? Autumn is its cotton-candy bloom time, and it’s an unforgettable sight.

From a distance you see a pinkish-purple haze floating above deep-green foliage. (That’s purple fountain grass in the foreground.)

Come closer and the splendor of this native Texas grass is revealed.

A small-to-medium-sized clumping grass at about 2 feet tall and wide (3 feet tall in bloom), it pairs well with the purple-tinged foliage of Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’ and the bright yellow-and-green stripes of ‘Color Guard’ yucca.

Or try it with Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha), orange lantana, and dwarf firebush (Hamelia Patens ‘Compacta’) for a spectacular fall display.

The fuchsia flowers of Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) also look great beside it.

Really, what doesn’t? Just give it plenty of sun and an occasional deep soaking in the summer.

I can’t resist showing this closeup of the inflorescence of Gulf muhly’s kissing cousin, ‘Pink Flamingos’ muhly—like a pink sparkler on the 4th of July.

Celebrate fall by planting a few pink muhly grasses. You can’t help but see the world through a rose-colored fog when these are blooming.

Note: My Plant This posts are written primarily for gardeners in central Texas. The plants I recommend are ones I’ve grown myself and have direct experience with. I wish I could provide more information about how these plants might perform in other parts of the country, but gardening knowledge is local. Consider checking your local online gardening forums to see if a particular plant might work in your region.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.