Spring pruning in Austin
Magenta cosmos in my daughter’s garden
With a record overnight low of 48 degrees F last night in central Austin, the morning dawned cool enough for a sweatshirt. Joy! after the humid 90s of last week. Lucking into a few free hours, I gathered my pruning tools to do some late-spring trimming.
Engelmann’s daisy, or cutleaf daisy ( Engelmannia peristenia)
Many of our summer- and fall-blooming perennials need a good haircut at this time of year to keep them from becoming leggy or floppy in summer. I’d already cut back the garden hard in mid-February, pruning evergreen Salvia greggii and the roses by half and dormant perennials to the ground. Now that the garden has filled out again (we’ve already had two and a half months of spring here in Austin), it was time to sharpen my clippers.
Winecup ( Callirhoe involucrata)
Of course, I did not cut the flowering plants shown in all these photos. Spring bloomers need no trim until after they’ve finished blooming. I started instead on the roses, which needed not just deadheading but a light pruning to keep them in bounds and rejuvenate them for a second flush. ‘Carefree Beauty’ was actually trying to form rose hips, so I cut those off as well. ‘Valentine,’ ‘Marie Pavie,’ ‘Belinda’s Dream,’ and ‘Radrazz’ Knockout all look nice and neat again, and I eagerly await their second bloom cycle.
Pink cosmos
Mexican oregano (Poliomintha longiflora ) benefits from a haircut in late spring too. I like to keep it small and rounded into a low hedge behind the ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave. This delays its bloom, but that’s OK, and it keeps the plant from getting tall and floppy in my small garden.
Engelmann’s daisy
Fall aster (Aster oblongifolius ) looked lush and lovely, but I know if I neglect to trim it now, it’ll repay me with floppy, flat flowering branches come fall. I cut it back by half with no regrets.
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’
Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana ) finished flowering a couple of weeks ago, so I gave its woody, evergreen branches a good trim too. But not too much—it’s pretty slow growing.
‘The Fairy’ rose—the only rose I didn’t prune today because it’s still in full bloom
Finally I trimmed the gallinita vine and sweet Autumn clematis that share a low trellis, giving them each a very light haircut to keep them in bounds. They’ll bloom later this summer and fall, respectively.
Amid all the fragrant cutting, I certainly took the time to enjoy the plants in full flower, which need no trimming right now: cosmos, coneflowers, Engelmann’s daisy, and star jasmine. Here’s a look at the star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides ), which adorns so many Southern gardens (and blogs).
If only this close-up could waft the incredible scent to you.
Look at this—the summer flowers are coming. The ‘Best of Friends’ daylily has sent up dozens of scapes and will be blooming in a week or so.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Love seeing all these new plants coming up in your garden. I’m loving the jasmine everywhere lately. Such a wonderful scent that can really take over an area. Some of my Daylilies have some scapes too. This will be the first time I get to see any of them!
I often travel in May, when my daylilies bloom. But I’ll be here this year too. —Pam
Pam, everything looks so pretty!
I had sweet autumn clematis climbing the 8′ tall fence around my side patio at my last house. It was so full and thick, and turned an open fence into a wall of green privacy, with the bonus of those delightful and fragrant September blossoms. I’d like to plant some here too, just haven’t gotten to it yet with all the other plants I have on my wish list. I like the way yours looks on the low trellis.
I love sweet Autumn clematis too. But that’s actually the star jasmine in the photo above. —Pam
Just looking at these flowers gives me hope for our spring flowers yet to come. We also had a cold snap last night.
It didn’t freeze as it could have but we had the dreaded WIND CHILL factor of 33. The poor houseplants that I
already set out do protest. I have a tiny piece of Jasmine growing in a pot. It hasn’t bloomed since I brought it
home from a Charleston garden tour a couple of years ago. It just sits in the pot. Maybe this year I will put it in
the ground and hope for the best. I know it won’t survive our winters which is why it is in a pot but it doesn’t like
it in there either so…
If it wants the ground, you’d better let it have it, even if it’ll just be for one glorious summer. I hope you get jasmine blooms this year, Lisa. —Pam
Time for pruning already? Do you prune the crossvine to keep it so lush and close to the trellis, ours wants to reach out and grab anything nearby, we are hoping it will fill the top of the new arbor which is sixteen feet long by seven feet wide. And daylily time, hooray. I will be watching carefully to see new varieties in your garden that we may have to seek out.
The crossvine clings well to the wooden fence, so I hardly ever have to trim it. I did have to pull it out of a small tree last year, but overall it is well behaved and content with the fence. As for the daylilies, I only have three varieties. They can be hard to keep alive here—so hot and dry. The evergreen ones perform best for me and require partial shade, while the deciduous ones die off rather quickly. —Pam
Pam, the photos were a welcome sight today, so pretty and fresh. The Fairy rose is such a sweetie. How much do you prune off of her? I do love the Autumn clematis,except it is a bit aggressive in my garden, I find the seedlings everywhere.
‘The Fairy’ is growing under ‘Belinda’s Dream,’ so I don’t let it get very high, not that it wants to grow tall. I keep the top trimmed back to about 2 feet. When it throws out a long cane or two, I trim those too. My garden is small, and trimming is essential to keeping it from turning into a jungle. —Pam
Its interesting that you consider some plants spring plants which I consider late summer flowers such as cosmos. My day lilies flower before the Cosmos. I am finding it very interesting reading gardening blogs from around the world as its made me realise that we all grow the same things (more or less) but they flower at completely different times.
That is interesting, isn’t it? Many flowering plants that also grow in cooler climates bloom early down here, trying to beat the heat. Cosmos, however, will bloom all summer, and it’s blooming now because we’ve had a good deal of warm weather already. The daylilies start in May and will be finished by June. Summer can be a less flowery time for Austin gardens as everything just tries to make it through the intense heat until fall, when we get a second spring. —Pam
Your garden is beautiful. It appears that you have a fair amount of shade, and I’d love to know what plants you’re having luck with in fairly shady areas. It looks like you have some unusual ones.
Hi, Mary. In my shady back garden I rely on Turk’s cap underplanted with native spiderwort and golden groundsel for spring color ; the Turk’s cap gives summer color. I also use heartleaf skullcap, Salvia guaranitica, Texas betony, purple heart, pale pavonia, sparkler sedge, mistflower, Southern wax myrtle, American beautyberry, inland sea oats, Katie dwarf ruellia, lyre-leaf sage, Texas dwarf palmetto, purple oxalis, green oxalis, and even daylilies in spots that get morning sun and afternoon shade. —Pam
It’s amazing to think you’ve had spring for so long when we’re just getting started here in Maryland!
I love your clematis. I believe it’s the same (or similar) to what I have growing over my arbor gate into the theme garden. Mine will be filled with blooms by the end of summer, but right now looks like just a dead stick!
Robin at Bumblebee
The photo of the vine (above) is not the sweet Autumn clematis I mentioned but the star jasmine. It is evergreen and blooms in the spring. The sweet Autumn clematis won’t be showy until late summer. Is there a photo of your vine on your blog? I’ll go look. —Pam
Another bunch of beautiful photos!!!! I checked on a bottle brush at the nursery. I only saw one in a 5 gallon tree form and it was 76.00 so I passed on it for now…lol(-: I didn’t have time to search around yesterday but I will go back and look for a 1 gallon size one later this week(-:
Yowza! That’s expensive. I just checked at Barton Springs Nursery, which is where I got the ‘Little John.’ They’re out right now but expect to get more, and the 1-gallons go for $13 while the 3-gallons go for $22, they told me. Road trip! —Pam
Thanks for the advice. I had no idea I should be pruning my fall aster. I was just so happy that it looked healthy. I pruned my red turk’s cap in the winter, but I just noticed a bloom on my white turk’s cap. Should I prune that to keep it ready for the big fall bloom?
No, I don’t prune Turk’s cap at this time of year. In fact, I don’t usually prune them at all until mid-February, just before spring growth, at which time I cut them to the ground. I am impressed that you already have a bloom on your white one, Vertie.
Your comment about Aster oblongifolius reminds me that I want to get one this year. But first I have to get planted everything I just bought. Enjoy the cool temps while you’ve got them.
First things first, right? I’m finished with spring planting unless I happen to get another extremely drought-tolerant plant like an agave. Hot weather is right around the corner here in Austin. But I’m enjoying the comfortable weather we’re having right now. —Pam
I’ll add my thanks to Vertie’s. If pruning my fall aster will keep it from flopping when it blooms, stand back and let me at it!
It definitely helps, Cindy. Linda says she prunes hers several times throughout the summer. I only do it once, and that works well enough for me. —Pam