Bulbs/Rhizomes

July 31, 2010 Looking out my living room window toward the stock-tank pond, this caught my eye: dozens of sugar-sweet rain lilies (Zephryanthes ‘Labuffarosea’) blooming with abandon after our recent rains. Because they celebrate the rain, I feel a kinship with them. Summer rain is always welcome here. I also ...

April 08, 2010 My back garden slopes down steeply from the house to the fence. Previous owners installed lovely rock retaining walls and beds, plus a stone stair that leads from the upper patio by the house to the mid-level patio around the pool. What I call the lower garden ...

April 07, 2010 When I’m not in the garden, I can’t stop looking out the window. So much is happening that I dare not look away lest I miss something, like the first Knock Out ‘Radsunny’ roses… …or the peak bloom of Shoshana’s irises… …or the raging orange ‘Tangerine Beauty’ ...

April 05, 2010 These beautiful but temperamental irises do not bloom every year. In times of drought, they dry up too and stubbornly refuse to set buds. But the rains this winter enticed them into glorious, ruffled bloom this spring, and I’m delighting in them again. If the friend who ...

March 31, 2010 ‘Amethyst Flame’ bearded iris, which I purchased on a whim from Barton Springs Nursery several years ago, produces a profusion of lovely purple flowers in early spring as reliably as clockwork. Bearded irises grow on practically every street corner in Austin, thriving in sun or part sun ...

March 25, 2010 Tender green leaves, new buds and flowers, balmy air, June bugs flying around crazily, rain dripping from the eaves—yup, it’s springtime. Join me for a twilight stroll around my garden. Pictured above, left to right: ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia); iris and dianthus foliage; potted ‘Angelina’ sedum, ...

March 18, 2010 A spectacular welcome-home sight greeted me today: dozens of red-and-purple poppies! When we left for a Florida road trip on March 6, these seedlings were just beginning to bud. Nearly two weeks of sun and a few rain showers work wonders when spring is at your doorstep ...

February 02, 2010 Six more weeks of winter? Say it ain’t so, Phil! Actually, it isn’t so—not in central Texas anyway. While Old Man Winter has overstayed his welcome this year, freeze-browning many of our plants during his tenure, cold is relative, and Austin winters are just not that bad ...

January 31, 2010 Ding-dong, amaryllis calling! OK, it’s official—the neighbors think I’m nuts. But don’t you agree that my new green door is a good backdrop for the red-and-white candy stripes? This is one of my bargain-sale amaryllis from Target, which has turned into a bodacious blooming beauty. Gorgeous color! ...

January 22, 2010 Pitied for trying to grow its way out of a box on the discount shelf at Target, this amaryllis bulb came home with me before Christmas, along with another. The other bloomed at New Year’s, a festive solid red, but I only got two flowers out of ...

December 10, 2009 Christmas is a-coming, and we’re decked out at home. I’m not a big seasonal decorator, but I always like to have a pot or two of amaryllis in addition to wreaths and a Christmas tree. Browsing in Target a few days ago, I found two silver tins ...

September 16, 2009 Our red-hot summer has faded into an unseasonably cool and, so far, rainy September. Now come the red-hot oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida). I wonder if MSS of Zanthan Gardens has any idea how much happiness she has sown among Austin gardeners who delight in seeing these bulbs ...

September 15, 2009 ‘Radsunny’ Knock Out rose is back. I love its lemony scent too. What a difference a month and several inches of rain make. Last Bloom Day there was a hint of desperation in my post, and I noticed that many of my fellow Austin garden bloggers didn’t ...

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 ...

September 08, 2009 My first oxblood lily (Rhodophiala bifida) opened this morning. They go so fast from sprout to bud to blazing bouquet of flowers. It’s fun to see the oxblood lilies, also called schoolhouse lilies, blooming on so many Austin garden blogs right now, thanks to the Johnny Appleseed ...

September 07, 2009 Hope falls eternal, rather than springs, in an Austin gardener’s heart. Fall as in autumn, that is. Labor Day signals a wistful end to summer for some, but for those of us in the hot zone it’s a welcome holiday indeed. Temperatures may still cook in the ...