2nd garden–2010

May 23, 2010 Yesterday, at an Austin garden bloggers meet-up and plant exchange, I joked that we were all going to have the same plants eventually. We all like to share, and yet I suspect most of us also like to have some plants that are different from what everyone ...

May 22, 2010 Labeled as an orange globemallow, which I’ve coveted since seeing one in South of the River‘s garden years ago, my globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) surprised me by turning out to be red. It doesn’t bother me one bit. I love red. But now I need an orange one ...

May 21, 2010 The purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) I’m growing from seed collected from my former garden are starting to bloom. One by one, they unfurl their hot-pink petals… …and pop up their glowing orange coneheads. What an easy, simple, and yet beautiful flower. Time has lapsed on the building ...

May 20, 2010 Linda from Each Little World recently asked whether she’d missed a post about the paving around my stock-tank pond. I did post a few pics of my new sunburst path after I got the stone laid, but I decided to hold off on more until I’d finished ...

May 19, 2010 I bet there are a few of you reading right now, so I thought I’d post a couple of gratuitous screech owl photos from our owl box this evening. He’s such a cutie! All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited ...

May 19, 2010 Elephant ear (Colocasia), or taro, likes wet feet, and, boy, do I give it to them. With the hose? With the sprinkler system? Nope. I just stick ’em in the stock-tank pond, where they enjoy a cowboy bath all summer long. My newest, a red-stemmed variety, is ...

May 16, 2010 The day after Bloom Day means it’s Foliage Follow-Up, when we get to show off our favorite foliage plants for the month. Right now I’m loving the blond-and-chartreuse waves of Mexican feathergrass (Nassella tenuissima). I have an unidentified agave in the pot, a passalong from one of ...

May 15, 2010 Plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) grown from seed in the partly sunny side garden This Bloom Day post almost didn’t happen. I’ve been working in the garden every day this week despite muggy, hot weather—planting, transplanting, and putting in new paths—and feeling that things are coming together in ...

May 05, 2010 …you’d be mine! Our resident screech owl stared me down this afternoon as I watched it from the deck. We still don’t know whether it’s a male or female, but we’re hoping for the latter, as we’d love to see some fuzzy chicks peeking out soon. It ...

May 01, 2010 Variegated American agave, recovering from a winter freeze that claimed its lower leaves and reaching for the stars The month of May may bring spring flowers to more temperate climes in the Northern Hemisphere, but it brings hot, sticky summer to Austin. Many of our plants respond ...

April 30, 2010 It’s the perfect time of year for sitting on the upper patio, looking out over the raised beds as a succession of plants burst into bloom. Little details please me, like this bird in my succulent dish. Dianthus ‘Bath’s Pink’ perfumes the garden with a delicious clove-like ...

April 22, 2010 Flowers like exploding fireworks are blazing above the Aloe saponaria (aka A. maculata). The orange blossoms add sizzle and pop to the green and blue color scheme. When the bloom stalk appears and begins to soar skyward, the flower is green and pointed like this. And then…Ka-pow! ...

April 21, 2010 Purchased for its cool blue foliage, the pale pink flowers of ‘Bath’s Pink’ dianthus were unexpected. For some reason, I thought they’d be hot pink. But at twilight, paired with blue, pale pink is magical. ‘Bath’s Pink’ looks smashing with the Texas bluebonnets. Its icy blue foliage ...

April 21, 2010 Purchased for its cool blue foliage, the pale pink flowers of ‘Bath’s Pink’ dianthus were unexpected. For some reason, I thought they’d be hot pink. But at twilight, paired with blue, pale pink is magical. ‘Bath’s Pink’ looks smashing with the Texas bluebonnets. Its icy blue foliage ...

April 20, 2010 Yesterday I wrote about the rhythm of seasonal flowering, and I’m witnessing it this week in my raised beds. The Texas bluebonnets are slightly past peak bloom, and they’re about to be succeeded by sweet-scented ‘Bath’s Pink’ dianthus, the periwinkle flowers with blue-gray foliage. As these tightly ...

April 19, 2010 Gulf Coast penstemon (Penstemon tenuis) and Hinckley’s columbine One of the joys of a garden is observing its seasonal changes. Although evergreens are a necessary and beautiful way to ensure year-round structure, texture, and interest, the comings and goings of certain flowers, berries, leaves, and seedheads drum ...