Blazing oxblood lilies, new Moby, & cool bugs

September 29, 2016


Wow, what gorgeous weather we’ve been having: sunny, low humidity, and perfect for getting outside, whether to plant, doze in a chair, or just gaze at the garden as it moves into its second spring. The showiest plants in my garden this week are the oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) massed in the raised beds behind the house. They come up around the toothy, fleshy leaves of soap aloe (Aloe maculata).


Red against blue, with the early ripening red “berries” of native chile pequin (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) behind. Echoing the shape of the sun person’s head…


…predatory wheel bugs were mating among the Philippine violet leaves yesterday. I’d never encountered a wheel bug in my garden before, so this was a cool sighting!


Another buggy update: Shelob, the bigger of the garden spiders in the lower garden, is doing well, her web highlighted by the setting sun.


But Aragog, the slightly smaller sister, is nowhere to be seen, and her web is in tatters. I wonder if she got eaten?


Moving on…the Mexican weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata aztecorum) and bottle tree glow in late afternoon.


I planted Moby‘s replacement yesterday: another whale’s tongue agave (A. ovatifolia), a wavy-leaved cultivar called ‘Vanzie’, which was a gift from Nathan at Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery. Thanks, Nathan! ‘Vanzie’ looks tiny now (although it’s a bit bigger than Moby was when first planted), but it’ll grow quickly.

I’m filling in around it with silver ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea ‘Silver Falls’) — thanks for the suggestion, Bob Beyer — which may not make it through the winter if we have a sustained cold snap or two. But hopefully we’ll have another mild winter, and it’ll come back strong next spring.


Here’s another view of ‘Vanzie’ (in the background) but also the bloom spike of ‘Bloodspot’ mangave. I nearly cut the bloom spike down a few weeks ago, but I’m glad I left it because now bulbils (baby clones of the mother plant) are growing on it!


There are only three bulbils so far, but I’ll give it a few weeks to see if it makes more. And then I’ll harvest them as replacement plants for the mother plant, just as I did with Moby’s recently.


I was given a beautiful Mexican olive (Cordia boissieri) earlier this year from Betty Perez of McAllen, Texas. Betty and Colleen Hook of Quinta Mazatlan invited me to deliver the keynote presentation at Planta Nativa, McAllen’s native plant festival, this October. They were in Austin this spring and visited my garden, and that’s when Betty gifted me with this pretty little tree, native to South Texas, which she grew from seed at her ranch.


It recently suffered an unfortunate amputation of half its branches when my DH was trimming tree branches over the roof and one fell in just the wrong spot. It still looks pretty in a chartreuse plastic pot mulched with Mexican beach pebbles.


Thbbbbttt! That’s what’s happening in my garden this first true week of autumn. How about in yours?

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Digging Deeper: News and Upcoming Events

Austinites and native-plant shoppers, I’ll be at the member’s day Fall Plant Sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on Friday, October 14, and I hope to see you there! I’ll be signing books from 1 to 3 pm in the Wild Ideas gift shop. If you’re not a member, of course you can still come on out and see the gardens and stop in at Wild Ideas. Hope to see you there!

South Texans, come see me at the 2nd annual Planta Nativa festival in McAllen, Texas, on Saturday, October 22. I’ll be delivering the keynote talk, “Local Heroes: Designing with Native Plants for Water-Saving Gardens,” that evening. Tickets are on sale at Quinta Mazatlan. I hope to see you there!

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10 responses to “Blazing oxblood lilies, new Moby, & cool bugs”

  1. Laura Munoz says:

    That oxblood just pops. Wow. The spider’s web is also a thing of beauty. I was calmly reading your blog notes and looking at the photos until I got to the last one and for a split second thought that tongued piece of garden art was a plant. I’m thinkin’, “What the heck!!! What kind of agave is that?” Ha-ha!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      That’s a miniature Audrey, Laura — you know, like in Little Shop of Horrors? I’ve seen life-size ones offered in years past at The Great Outdoors, which would take a certain confidence to buy, don’t you think? —Pam

  2. Gerhard Bock says:

    Please to meet Moby II. Will he, she, it be known as Vanzie?

    Oxblood lilies are new to me. Stunning! Now I have to look for a source.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      No, I don’t think so. My husband has suggested Shamu, but he doesn’t feel like an orca to me. 🙂 Probably it’ll be a prosaic Moby II. The oxblood lilies are very common here in Austin, being one of those passalong bulbs that persist long after the original owner has left the garden. I divide them every few years, and if I can remember I’ll send you some one day. If you can’t wait, Southern Bulb Company often carries them. —Pam

  3. Margaret says:

    Those oxblood lilies make quite the statement – such a vibrant red! And that is some bloom spike – I love propagating plants but have not had the patience to do much of that after the kids came along. Just a few weeks ago, however, I did pot up a few succulent cuttings from plants that were getting very leggy. They haven’t died yet so I’m optimistic! And that is just so sweet, that you name your spiders – I’m wondering if I would be less scared of them if I did the same 🙂

  4. The oxblood lilies intermixed with the aloe is stunning!

  5. Mike Ratherson says:

    Ahh! I see you planted your Vanzie–looks nice. I also have oxblood lillies and several soap aloes. Do you cover up your soap aloes or any other plants with Plankets when it gets down to freezing here in Austin? I did last winter but it was a mild one. I also have 4 large A. angustifolias that lucked out last winter outside. They may not be so lucky this year. I have plenty of cold hardy Agaves to replace them if it’s a cold winter. We’ll see…

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I do not cover my soap aloes or winter-hardy agaves for just-at-freezing temps. But I will throw a sheet or blanket over the aloes if it’s going to get into the low 20s. It all depends on your conditions though. Mine grow against the house, with reflected heat from a brick wall, and I’m in a fairly warm part of town. If you live outside of the city’s heat island, or if your plants are more exposed, they might need more protection. The nice thing about the soap aloes is they’re prolific, so even if you lose a few you’ll likely still have some to spare. —Pam