Summer garden stroll
Morning strolls are best during hot, sticky Austin summers. But the best light in my back garden comes in late afternoon. Luckily, for the virtual garden tour, you can have both—and stay in the comfort of your air-conditioning.
Pictured above, my new Agave stricta from the recent Oracle Gorge cactus sale. It is especially lovely in the evening light. That’s Sedum reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’ in front.
Looking down from the deck at the stock-tank pond and stone “sunburst” paving. I love the way the pond and paving turned out. But I’m struggling with the very shady, very dry, root-bound bed in the upper left. A trio of bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa) planted last year was doing great until the hard freeze early this year. I lost one, replaced it recently, and the other two are slowly recovering. A ‘Macho Mocha’ manfreda is growing well, as are lamb’s ear and ‘Winter Gem’ boxwood. But everything else is just kind of “meh.” I need to rethink this area this fall.
Different angle, same stock-tank pond visible on the right, with the edge of the deck seen at upper-left. The bed just below the deck has turned into a flower garden this year. Last year I created this bed to give my children a place to putter—they sowed some purple coneflower seeds from our former garden, among other things—and to house some of the Proven Winners plants I was trialing. This year, with the rains, everything took off, and now it’s a tumble of purple coneflowers, ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome, agastache, daylilies, strawflower, and phlox from Dee’s garden. Structural interest comes in the form of ‘Winter Gem’ boxwood, a concrete orb ornament, and a couple of tall potted plants. I also added ‘Black Pearl’ ornamental pepper for contrast, which I’m loving. This bed gets sun from morning until early afternoon.
Moving closer, I see the echinacea has fallen over in our recent rains. I should have cut this back a bit before it bloomed to keep it from getting so tall and top-heavy. The ‘Black Pearl’ pepper looks great with the pink of the coneflower and the cleome behind it. I intended to paint that lattice a dark forest-green to help it disappear into the background (that orange stain is not working for me), but I got busy this spring and ran out of time. Next year, before the vines get going.
Looking back at this bed from the other direction. Like I said, a cheerful jumble.
Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’ and ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia make a cool pair amid orange- and hot-pink flowering plants.
‘Apple Tart’ daylily, the last of my daylilies to bloom
‘Kent Beauty’ oregano sprawls across the top of a retaining wall.
And in the highest bed along the retaining wall, the ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia) holds court.
Another new agave from Oracle Gorge—A. leopoldii, potted up on the deck.
My succulent troughs are filling in nicely this year. I know Debra Lee Baldwin says to stuff your succulent containers absolutely full when you plant them (and she’s right; that looks better), but my budget didn’t allow it last year. This year I’ve added a few new plants, divided others to fill in some bare spots, and watched the plants grow. I hope it will be a thickly-woven tapestry by next summer.
I hope you enjoyed the virtual stroll. See? You didn’t even have to get sweaty.
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Hey Pam, Garden looks great! This must be a new addition to your backyard — I don’t remember seeing it when I visited. Those galvanized ponds can look fantastic with a little creative styling — which you have in spades!
Hey, Rob, thanks for dropping by! Actually, we’ve moved since you visited my former garden. I think you visited in early summer, and that fall we ended up moving to a house in the hills just a few miles northwest of our old one. So now I’m starting over on a hilly, live-oak shaded lot, and having a blast. This is my back-yard garden’s second summer, and I’m still whittling away on the lawn in front. —Pam
I love your succulent trough! I just got Debra’s book for my birthday so I’m having a succulent frenzy. Yours looks wonderful…I hope we get to see it when it fill in even more!
Thanks, Leslie. I never stop taking photos, it seems, so I’m sure I’ll be showing the succulent trough again sooner or later. Enjoy Debra’s book! —Pam
Oh I’m so glad the Kent Beauty oregano is doing well for you!
It does OK, Chris. This image is a bit misleading. The plant never gets full or blooms very much; it stays on the thin side atop one of my stone retaining walls. I’m guessing it’s a bit hot for it here. —Pam
I am delighted with your stroll through the garden. You are quite right it is nice not to get out and sweat up a storm. I really like the jumbled flower bed. It looks cool and friendly. Of course the star burst around the pond is marvelous.
Thanks for “strolling” with me, Lisa. —Pam
Your garden is looking just wonderful. It’s hard to believe you’ve been there such a short time. Lots of work, there.
The stroll was nice…and cool.
Virtual strolls have their advantages, don’t they? Thanks for your kind words, Linda. —Pam
That was a lovely stroll… I didn’t sweat a bit. I have that same ‘Blue Spruce’ sedum here and there in my garden. Yes, it is hardy this far north.
It’s wonderful to know how adaptable some of the succulents are, Carol. —Pam
It looks wonderful, Pam. I love the cheerful jumble effect 🙂 I also like not getting sweaty….
I hear you, Jayne. I’m the same way. Thanks for visiting. —Pam
Thanks for the tour Pam.
The surface design around the stock tank came out beautifully.
Are you using a 6 foot diameter stock tank ? The proportions look great.
I just used some stock tanks in a new installation as vegetable containers.
Didn’t know that they came is such a wide range of shapes and sizes.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Michelle
Thanks, Michelle. My stock tank is a whopping 8-footer. I wish I could take you over to Callahan’s General Store here in Austin. It’s a dose of old-fashioned, ranch-friendly retail, and they carry a large assortment of stock tanks. I’m like a kid in a candy shop there. —Pam
I have just planted some tropical containers this year with agave, sedum and croton. I am praying that they do well in our midwest climate. I love your pond, so natural.
Eileen
Thanks, Eileen. I hope your tropical containers do well too! —Pam
Very much enjoyed the tour — your garden looks lovely — nice and refreshing despite the heat.
Virtual tours are quite refreshing, I find. 😉 Thanks for visiting, Dreamfarmgirl. —Pam
Delightful! And no worries about the sweat. It’s been in the high seventies today, quite pleasant in the shade…We don’t really need air conditioning, except maybe 3 days a year. When that happens, we go to the library or see a movie.
Oh, TM, now you’re taunting us central Texans. Luckily, my plants love the heat, even if I don’t. —Pam
Hmm, dry shade… what would naturally grow under those trees, I wonder? Would those lovely sotols like the shade, or would they sulk? Succulents, or a groundcover, like that Silver Ponyfoot? In Sydney we tend to grow Cliveas in dry shade, but I don’t know if they’d like Austin.
Dry shade is eeeevil!
It is certainly challenging. Sotols and yuccas will take some shade, although I think this area is heavier shade than they prefer. They might still tolerate it, and it’s a good suggestion. I’m avoiding red in that area or I’d have already planted cedar sage, which does well in dry shade here. I think anything small, like succulents, will be lost because the lot slopes down from the path. Whatever is there needs to have presence or be well massed. Anyway, thanks for brainstorming with me across the miles! —Pam
Pam, Maybe you can try Chasmanthium latifolium ‘River Mist’ in your shade. It grows well in mine and the variegated foliage and seed heads are charming. Even the species is good looking. I do love the sunburst pattern and the lily pond! gail
Hi, Gail. I love that plant and finally found it locally at the Great Outdoors earlier this summer. I’ve planted it in a different shady spot in my garden (I have lots of shady spots!) and am watching to see how it does. Maybe next year I’ll move a clump of it into this area. Has it proved as aggressive in your garden as the non-variegated variety? —Pam
Wonderful tour. I do admire the structural qualities, both hardscape and soft, of your garden.
Thank so much, Birdwoman. —Pam
I’m glad the phlox is still hanging on. I hope it continues to do well for you Pam. The daylily ‘Best of Friends’ you gave me was blooming in the front garden the other day, and I thought of you. The Hollyhock seeds your mom gave me took off and made beautiful music in the spring this year. It’s lovely getting plants from friends.
Your sunburst paving made my heart stop with happiness BTW.~~Dee
The phlox is growing stronger than ever, Dee. No blooms yet, but I expect a nice show this year, especially compared with our drought year last summer. So glad to know ‘Best of Friends’ and mom’s hollyhocks are blooming well for you too! —Pam
Pam, No the River Mist hasn’t spread~but it is growing quite nicely. gail
Good to know. Thanks, Gail. —Pam
Fantastic view from up above. I love your water feature. Makes me want to redesign a section of our garden and add one in the same genera.
I borrowed the radiating, narrow stone paving idea from Chanticleer, CIMS, so feel free to carry it along! —Pam
Wow, Pam, you’ve come a long way in your new garden and it looks just wonderful. My garden has grown so lush since last May when I planted it and it doesn’t look like an infant at all now.
I’ve tried to plant as much sedum as I can and it does quite well here. Of course we don’t have the exotic varieties you do for outdoor plantings. I did manage to keep my succulents alive with the help of a grow light over winter.
Love your Apple Tart daylily. I just planted a red spider and can’t wait to see it bloom this year.
Thanks for the tour. Always a delight. Happy June.
Thanks for stopping by, Carolyn. Some of those succulents have an amazing range, don’t they? Such great plants. Enjoy your spider lily when it blooms! —Pam
You really have a beautiful place! I love that pond and paving, and all the plantings and art around. Thanks for the tour.
Thank you, Sue, for stopping by and for your kind words. —Pam
I haven’t been visiting many blogs lately, but the one advantage I see is that when I do stop by, the change is really evident – your garden looks just beautiful! I love the view-from-the-deck of the starburst paving – wow! And the agaves (always envious of those agaves – you’ll be proud to know that I now have three very small ones, in pots – and I have only you to blame). I’m seeing ‘Color Guard’ pop up at alot of places now for commercial landscaping here – in hot places – and it’s perfect I think. I have a hot corner where it might be a great addition so am tempted. Oh – and your cleome. What a beautiful flower. Haven’t kept track – but are you guys getting decent rain so far this year? We’re horribly dry along the coast – everybody is doing rain dances.
Hi, Pam. Thanks for stopping by. Yes, we got a lot of rain over the winter, breaking the drought we’d been under for almost 3 years. May was drier than normal, but we’ve been getting some good rain showers (including one right now as I type this) in June. I hope you get some rain soon. Drought sucks. —Pam
Love, love, loved the tour. I accidentally ran on to the post featuring the millstone fountain and it gave me an idea for your “problem patch”. Forgive me for being impertinent enough to tell you about it.
It just struck me that you could echo the circle of the stock tank pond with a circular raised bed back among the trees. You could even use another circular stock tank (a smaller one, so that it gives a sense of distance/perspective). Perhaps even two, with a smaller one tiered inside a bigger one. Then you could plant them up, or even have a cobblestone fountain. Perhaps you could edge them/it with rock, so that it echoes the pond and the pool. It looks like it’s difficult to dig in that bit, so it would be a way of providing planting space but without the back-breaking work? Just a thought.
Not impertinent at all, Victoria! I love the sharing of ideas that blogging allows us. I like your idea of continuing the circle theme. A small stock tank might be possible there, but the space is quite small before ledge stone begins a sharp tilt downhill to the lower garden. And I wouldn’t want to stress the trees by paving over much root zone. I intend to put a bubbling disappearing fountain elsewhere in the garden—closer to the poolside seating—so I’m already reserving that idea. Anyway, I love your outside-the-box thinking and will be mulling over your suggestions. —Pam
I wanted to thank you for your great blog. I’m a bit further south in San Antonio, but your blog is a great resource for ideas on plants for me and your gorgeous photographs are some of the best out there. I’ll be interested to see what you do with your dry shade spot. I’ve got a goodly bit of that myself — although fortunately it’s mostly dry part shade.
Btw, what kinds of light conditions do you grow your daylilies in?
Hi, Katie, and thanks for your kind comment. I should really blog more about my shade plants, as my lot is mostly shade, and the lower garden is planted heavily in the traditional dry-shade plants: purple heart, aspidistra (cast-iron plant), liriope, Turk’s cap, Texas dwarf palmetto, and plumbago. There are also several pineapple guavas and crossvine planted by previous owners that do fairly well in dry shade. I guess I’m looking for something different for my dry-shade area behind the stock-tank pond.
Across three gardens I’ve had in Austin, I’ve found that evergreen daylilies grow best in morning to midday sun, with afternoon shade. Morning shade and hot afternoon sun can crisp them up unless you water them all the time. And too much shade makes them straggle along without a good bloom show. I have ‘Apple Tart’ in too much shade right now and need to move it this fall. —Pam