Digging

The many faces of Black Pearl pepper

Pam/Digging — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:02:27 +0000

‘Black Pearl’ ornamental pepper (Capsicum annuum) is intriguing in all its stages.

Papery, dainty, purple flowers appear before the black pearl-shaped fruit…

…which gives the plant its name.

The black peppers eventually ripen to red…

…and wrinkle up like prunes. The whole cycle is attractive and interesting. I’ll definitely be planting this annual again next spring.

Silver, gold & green ease summer’s heat

Pam/Digging — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:48:09 +0000

Awful August ends, and I always feel like dancing a celebratory jig. But in central Texas we know that summer doesn’t truly release its hot, sticky grip until about mid-October. No matter. The arrival of September brings psychological relief, and that’s better than nothing.

Certain plants help get me through summer simply by virtue of not wilting easily or by adding a cool, silver shimmer along their green leaves. Take Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa), for example. Its nubby, green leaves are edged with eye-cooling white. Minty fresh!

Or how about a frosty pairing of ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia and ‘Sapphire Skies’ Yucca rostrata? Brrr!

‘Powis Castle’ artemisia looks iced over by frost even in the depths of summer. Give it full sun and good drainage, and watch it shine.

Fall isn’t here yet, but it’s hiding just around the corner. ‘Adagio’ miscanthus grass is beginning its fall show by displaying the first toasty browns of autumn, making a silver-and-gold combo with the artemisia.

Another look

More “gold” in the form of empty seedpods on the lyre-leaf sage (Salvia lyrata). I bet I’ll see lots of baby lyrata next spring.

The lower garden in serene green, with a punch of purple heart, as August departs not a minute too soon.

Succulent fantasia of form and texture

Pam/Digging — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:13:49 +0000

Flowers have a youthful beauty, but agaves and other succulents are like living sculpture. I find them fascinating and irresistibly touchable, despite those fierce thorns. This is ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia), a giant, blue-green rose of a plant.

Its serrated leaves are defended by thorns that glow deep-red in afternoon light.

Ghostly imprints of the thorns remain long after a tightly furled new leaf has opened up. You can see imprints on the previous image as well. They add to the majestic beauty of this agave.

For Dr. Seussian interest, spineless prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) can’t be beat. Its leaves are oblong, green paddles.

Accidentally knock a paddle to the ground and it will root where it lies, growing into a new plant. Fascinating, no?

‘Bloodspot’ mangave is a beautiful, freckled hybrid of an agave and a manfreda. Mine likes bright shade and well-drained soil in a container, and it stayed outside all last winter, though covered by a sheet during our hard freezes.

Mother of Thousands (Kalanchoe daigremontiana) is not winter-hardy in Austin, which could be a blessing, as it can be invasive in zone 9 and higher (Florida, parts of California, Australia, etc.). The little plantlets growing along the edge of the leaves will drop off and root, giving you hundreds of new plants or a yard full of weeds, depending on your growing zone and feelings about it.

Mine is a passalong from Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden, and I think it’s an interesting plant to experiment with. I’m hoping it will bloom for me, but maybe it needs a warmer (i.e., frost-free) climate for that. At any rate, its form and texture, like so many succulents, is fantastical.

Grow a few succulents and you can’t help but have fun.

Mellow yellows in the late summer garden

Pam/Digging — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:01:05 +0000

Like the school bus in August, bright yellow usually indicates that summer is winding down and autumn is on the way. Around here, the hot yellows of Mexican mint marigold and copper canyon daisy will soon join summer’s sunny hymenoxys and black-eyed Susans.

I’m not afraid of hot yellows in the garden (in fact I rather like them), but mellow yellows and yellow greens are easier to blend with other plants. Take this variegated tapioca (Manihot esculenta ‘Variegata’), for instance.

It looks lovely paired with fine-textured Mexican weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata aztecorum). Not drought-tolerant, this South American tropical’s stunning foliage and hot-pink stems have tempted me for years. This year I broke down and bought one, which I’m keeping in a pot. It needs watering every day, which I swore I’d never do, but the desire for that foliage won out. I’m thinking of it as a beautiful bouquet—i.e., temporary—so that when I eventually forget to water or leave it out in a freeze I won’t feel too bad about its inevitable demise.

More mellow yellows mixed with green include Sparkler sedge (Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’)…

…and dwarf papyrus, a bog plant in my stock-tank pond. Both plants remind me of fireworks and do fine in part-shade. In fact, Sparkler sedge needs mostly shade to avoid burning in our climate.

Out in the sun, Agave americana mediopicta ‘Alba’ has really grown since I planted it as a passalong pup last year. It’s such a gorgeous agave, and I always admire those ivory-and-olive-striped leaves.

More wildlife in the garden

Pam/Digging — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:41:13 +0000

Since I wrote about inviting wildlife into the garden for Tuesday’s Garden Designers Roundtable, I’ve been looking more carefully to see who is visiting my garden. Lurking among the orange narrowleaf zinnias (Zinnia angustifolia), a tiny spider waits for lunch.

At the stock-tank pond, a scruffy (perhaps juvenile?) sparrow perches on the edge to get a drink.

Even your garden decor can express a welcoming attitude toward wildlife.

Of course, a garden should be welcoming to people too.

Garden Designers Roundtable: Gardening with Nature, Gardening for Wildlife

Pam/Digging — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:33:23 +0000

Just in from a morning stroll through my garden, and what delights I witnessed. A tiny, blurry-winged hummingbird making the rounds from Mexican oregano to flame-leaf acanthus to Turk’s cap to Agastache. Honeybees spelunking for pollen. A leggy, spotted fawn tucked into a stand of bamboo muhly in the unfenced front garden, who bolted skittishly because I unknowingly stood too long near his hiding place.

Had I a typical expanse of flat, featureless lawn (like this example on Watersaver Lane at San Antonio Botanical Garden), relieved only by a few shade trees and a line of evergreen foundation shrubs, devoid of insect- and bird-attracting flowers and seeds, empty of plants that provide shelter, nurseries, and food for wildlife, I would not see many such visitors. Why would they visit a virtual desert, particularly if it were sprayed regularly with pesticides? And if they wouldn’t, why would we want to?

So how does one go about inviting wildlife into the garden from a design perspective?

1. Plant a variety of plants that change with the seasons, offering flowers for nectar or pollen, foliage for food or nests, and seeds for late-season food supplies. Using a very limited palette of plants may provide that clean, contemporary look you see in certain design magazines, but it won’t be as attractive to wildlife.

2. Add a mid-level of plants that fill the niche between lawn and shade trees. These plants provide shelter and food for wildlife. Think small trees; small to medium-sized shrubs, particularly those with fall or winter berries; ornamental grasses; and flowering perennials.

3. Don’t be in a hurry to “clean up” the garden in winter. Seedheads left standing provide food for birds, and even shriveled foliage and leaf litter offer protection for beneficial insects, lizards, etc.

4. Be tolerant when a plant gets “attacked” by caterpillars. Without caterpillars we wouldn’t have butterflies—or sphinx moths in this case.

5. Add water to your garden. Birds and insects get thirsty and need a safe place to drink. Provide a bird bath or small pond, and they will come.

6. Add nesting boxes to your garden. They not only offer birds a safe place to raise chicks but provide hours of enjoyment for you as you watch them get fed and learn to fly.

Visit all the participants in this month’s Garden Designers Roundtable for more posts about Gardening with Nature:

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT
Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN
Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In the Garden : Los Altos, CA
Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Going out with a bang: Agave bloom spike with bulbils

Pam/Digging — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:41:52 +0000

At the Great Outdoors last week, I spotted this shriveled, dying agave holding up a 12-foot flower spike covered in bulbils, tiny clones of the mother plant. Most agaves bloom only once, after many years, and then die. Some, like this one, produce bulbils, which eventually fall to the ground. A few will take root and grow.

It’s a dramatic and fascinating reproduction process. For more images of bulbil-covered bloom spikes like this one, check out this post by The Germinatrix about her Agave wilmoriniana’s phallic flowering. Or follow ESP of East Side Patch as he obsessively pots up several hundred bulbils from his dying agave.

Watching an agave grow for years and years and then go out with a bang can engender some intense reactions among the gardeners who love them. I will no doubt throw a whale-watching party when my beloved ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia) finally goes. Which I hope won’t occur for many years. I’m not ready for the Whale to set sail.

Nursery tour: The Great Outdoors

Pam/Digging — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:28:26 +0000

For a nursery located within spitting distance of downtown, on South Congress Avenue, The Great Outdoors is surprisingly large, which befits a place featuring a nearly life-size topiary elephant as its mascot and another on its sign.

From the street you glimpse a colorful mural, a screen of ornamental grasses, cannas, Pride of Barbados…

…and a rainbow of flowering purslane.

The nursery is situated on a sloping, live oak-shaded property, with shady paths leading to well-marked plant sections.

The succulent and cactus area is always tempting.

Mmm, look at all that agave goodness.

They’re all so gorgeous.

This is one of my current faves: Agave americana mediopicta ‘Alba.’

Down the hill, a gift shop surprises with a green roof.

Smaller cacti and succulents are offered here.

A lot of these are tender in our climate, but they can be treated as annuals or brought inside for the winter.

Fun garden decor abounds.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Tempting displays of glazed pots. I like the way they mix them up with plants, although these African iris are not too inspiring.

Some of the pots have been made into fountains.

Here’s a nice combo: white echinacea and silver artemesia. This would be perfect for a moonlight garden, and it’s visually cooling during the day.

Now this is inspirational: silvery plants (acacia, silver ponyfoot, gopher plant) paired with white pots.

The sun-loving perennials and butterfly-attracting plants occupy the main part of the nursery, with a vegetable section under the pergola.

My daughter found a few queen butterflies sucking the dregs on a Mexican flame vine.

Pots for those hot-hued plants

And when the August sun is trying to kill your gardening joy, it’s time to display your grim reaper garden art.

More pots—there’s a rainbow of choices.

These metal roosters would be the perfect decor for all those Austin hen houses, and they’re quiet too.

Zebra plant (Aphelandra squarrosa) in lemon-yellow pots

An eye-catching wall display near the checkout counter

The Great Outdoors carries a good selection of natives and well-adapted perennials, as well as clumping bamboo, semi-hardy Australian acacias, tropicals, and agaves and other succulents. The garden art is fun and mostly of the kitschy variety, and you can find lots of glazed pots and a few water features for sale. A cafe with a shady deck sits at street level and overlooks the nursery, providing a great spot to take a break and ponder your plant list, which you’re about to deviate from with some impulse buys. And who can blame you?

Agave Addicts Anonymous

Pam/Digging — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:22:40 +0000

Hello, my name is Pam…

I spotted this T-shirt at the Great Outdoors Nursery’s gift shop. Perfect, eh?

No, I didn’t buy it. I saved my money for plants I shouldn’t have bought at this time of year. (Come on, autumn!) I also took a lot of pictures so that I could give you a tour of this excellent independent nursery located just south of downtown Austin. Coming soon…

Hot and steamy Foliage Follow-Up

Pam/Digging — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:24:19 +0000

It’s August. It’s Austin. It’s incredibly hot and humid. Flowers for Bloom Day were pretty scarce, but foliage is, as always, carrying the garden through the toughest months. My faves for Foliage Follow-Up this month are visually cooling, with variegated or glaucous leaves. But really, anything that doesn’t wilt by 4 pm is making me happy these days.

PIctured above, ‘Sparkler’ sedge (Carex phyllocephala), a hard-to-find but interesting plant for shade. Those creamy stripes really brighten up a shady bed.

Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) ‘Blue Ice,’ with wintry blue foliage and a Christmasy scent all year long.

The ubiquitous purple heart (Tradescantia pallida), growing out of cracks between limestone slabs in the nearly untended lower garden. This is one tough plant for sun or shade.

Queen Victoria agave (Agave victoriae-reginae), opening up like a striped artichoke.

Another image of the lower garden’s largely self-sufficient plants: giant liriope, purple heart, cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior), and Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa), with Texas nolina (Nolina texana) in the container at left. I didn’t plant a single one of these, with the exception of the potted nolina. Even though the liriope and purple heart are fairly prosaic, I’m happy to have their tough, ground-covering foliage in the neglected lower garden.

The agaves and aloes are always dependable in summer. This is the beautiful Agave americana mediopicta ‘Alba.’

Aloe saponaria

And my long-time favorite, ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia). If you stand in just the right spot and squint, the bottle tree behind it looks like an agave bloom spike.

Detail of the Whale. Aren’t those broad, blue-green leaves, shark-teeth thorns, and ghostly imprint patterns fantastic?

More succulent yumminess. From lower left, gopher plant (Euporbia rigida) and Yucca flaccida ‘Bright Edge.’ From upper left, santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus), Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies,’ ‘Alphonse Karr’ bamboo, and Agave americana ‘Variegata.’

Our native Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus drummondii) has surprisingly large leaves for such a xeric plant. They look beautiful when the morning light shines through them.

Pittosporum ‘Creme de Mint’

I’ll end with the ruffly, speckled leaves of Manfreda undulata ‘Chocolate Chips.’

I invite you to join me in celebrating non-blooming garden goodness for Foliage Follow-Up. It’s easy to participate. Simply post about your favorite foliage plants for August, and leave a link to your post in the comments below. I look forward to seeing your high-summer choices.