Garden bed evolution and a newly named agave

August 21, 2021

It’s taken over a year, but this corner bed below the deck is finally moving in a good direction.

For several years this space was filled with a frothy cloud of bamboo muhly — fine for a hedge or background planting, but I didn’t want a monolithic swath of green for this space, especially after I took out the focal-point pond (nope, still no regrets, though I loved having it for many years).

For my first attempt, I envisioned something romantic, dare I say English? Something different for me! Funny, right? I gave it a try with ‘Icecap’ roses and ‘Midnight Candle’ mealy blue sage. Nope and nope. I knew the roses would want more sun, but dang it, I just had to try, didn’t I? They sulked, and even when they did bloom I hated the way the white flowers faded to tan and then hung on. The ‘Midnight Candle’ salvia was fine, but the epic February freeze took it out. And I’d always planned to replace the spindly golden thryallis (back-left corner) with a rose of Sharon, as soon as I could get the one I wanted.

So last fall I ripped out the roses and tried again with my patented move (not really) of multiple pots of a striking xeric plant. This not only showcases a cool plant and adds the power of repetition, it gives height to an otherwise low-growing plant. A xeric one, like ‘Color Guard’ yucca, won’t need watering all the time. I added dwarf ruellia ‘Southern Star Blue’ (practically identical to ‘Katie’) in front of the ‘Midnight Candle’ salvia, and when the latter died in the freeze I decided the ruellia was better without them anyway.

Recently I pulled out some underperforming iris and messy tall verbena and added Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) in back. I hope for flowers on those soon. And the baby ‘Purple Pillar’ rose of Sharon in the back-left corner is finally putting on some height, if the grasshoppers will just leave it alone. My blue tuteur from TerraTrellis adds complementary color and height, and the Orbit hanging planters from Potted are a dash of zany fun, spilling over with silver ponyfoot, topped with a scruff of ‘Frazzle Dazzle’ dyckia.

It’s looking lively and interesting but pulled together — I hope! I’m liking it more and more every day.

Speaking of ‘Purple Pillar’ rose of Sharon, here is my other one, a trial plant from Proven Winners, looking fab near the back gate. And look how well it’s playing with the lipstick-pink blossoms of pyramid bush (Melochia tomentosa). I saw this plant — a South Texas native — growing in my friend Cat’s garden and had to have one.

As soon as Barton Springs Nursery got more of it in stock last fall, I snagged one and then…I didn’t know what to do with it. I ended up sticking it here and kind of forgetting about it. But it not only established with minimal attention, it came through the February deep freeze like a boss. I need to try a few more in other sunny spots (if I can find any) in my garden.

While we’re here, let’s go through the gate and check out the eastern side garden, which I completely redesigned last fall-winter, replanting literally days before the February freeze. It’s filling in slowly but surely, which is especially good considering the freeze and the fact that after a month or two of regular watering on my part, it now gets watered just once a week via sprinkler system. I credit a wetter than normal summer for allowing me to slack off on my baby plants. Also deer, rabbits, and armadillos give everything out front a run for their money, so planting anything is a crapshoot.

While we’re meandering let’s stop to admire a few summer-happy plants, like this powder-blue Yucca pallida.

The sword-like but pliable leaves are so beautiful. They’ll poke the unwary, though.

The passalong crocosmia from my friend Melody’s garden in San Antonio bloomed better than ever this summer. I guess a deep freeze agrees with it — that and a wetter than normal summer.

And meet Ursula! Actually you’ve met her before. This is my variegated whale’s tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia), passed along to me by a friend moving overseas. It survived the freeze and has regained much of its freeze-bleached moonlight-yellow striping.

I recently asked my followers on Instagram for name suggestions for her. Ursula — suggested by two people referencing both Ursula from The Little Mermaid and beautiful Ursula Andress — seems like a perfect fit for this prickly, Rubenesque, sea-creature-named queen of the garden. My thanks to everyone who participated in the naming process, and especially to Phyllis Steury (@psteury) and @noochapalooza for suggesting Ursula!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

Subscribe to Digging and get updates delivered directly to your inbox. It’s easy! Just click over to follow.it (my subscription service), enter your email, and click Follow. An email confirmation will be sent, and click on that to confirm. You’re done! A head’s up: if you’re a longtime subscriber, I’ve had to switch services, and my updates now come from follow.it. You may find they’re going into your spam folder (ugh, sorry!). If so, add follow.it to your trusted contacts to keep receiving Digging. Thank you for reading!

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

25 responses to “Garden bed evolution and a newly named agave”

  1. Linda says:

    Ursula is fabulous! Great name suggestion, too. (Hi, Phyllis!)

  2. Tom says:

    Good show! Wonderful composition! Funny how we’re always working on making the picture more beautiful, more pleasing, more satisfying. Such is the gardening art.

  3. Kris P says:

    Everything looks great, Pam! I love the hanging pots with the silver Dichondra and the Dyckia. I wish the Rose of Sharon liked my garden more than it appears to.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      They do very well here in the sauna-summer. But I can’t have them out front without a fence because the deer love them.

  4. Laura says:

    The new bed by the deck pops. I could look at it all day long. Also like the Rose of Sharon juxtaposed against the gate. I love silver Dichondra. Mine died. I think we get too much rain for it to survive here.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Dichondra is very picky for me too. It does need excellent drainage. I find it does best for me in pots, and even accepts extra water as long as it drains fast. Gravel mulch is the way to go too.

      • Linda says:

        I’ve never figured out how the silver dichondra seems to grow everywhere in the same apparent soil conditions I have, but it dies out. Mine seems to do best when it gets more rain, but when I water it it must want it to be drier. The green “weed” dichondra has no problem growing anywhere it can get a foothold in my yard–guess I should beg it to move into my planting beds.

  5. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    I reallly like the redo of the bed in front of the deck. It is always a treat to see your garden happenings. Armadillo in the garden is a scary thing. They are such diggers. I looked out the kitchen door and saw a ground hog sitting on the patio the other day. I hope he was just passing through. Another big digger. ugh…

  6. Ellie says:

    Your garden looks amazing after the devastation it sustained in February. Hard work and your good eye for design has paid off!

  7. Love the changes. I never realized how close that water feature was to your deck. Ursula is a beauty and well-named. We are entering the home stretch of our garden re-do, inspired in part by your removal of your water feature. Am really excited to be making some major changes and it’s not anywhere near is scary as I thought it might be.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      That’s exciting, Linda! Your pond was wonderful, but you guys have such a great design eye that I know the next phase will be excellent too. And something new!

  8. Shelley says:

    Love those Color Guards!

  9. hb says:

    Bouncing back afresh from your state’s dreadful winter freeze. Hooray! It’s downright inspiring. The news from all over is so dreadful–this gives me a needed lift. Thanks!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Thanks, HB. The little things are what keep us going in these angsty times. Thank goodness for our gardens too.

  10. Gail says:

    I love the changes, especially the Color Guard planters. I need to make changes and hope to begin some this fall. xogail

  11. Nell says:

    Is Ursula the replacement focal point for the sunray paving that the water used to be? Worthy!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      The sunburst paving is still there, Nell. Where the stock-tank pond used to sit, at the center, Ursula now stands as a focal point, with a small garden bed around her.

  12. Ursula, the perfect name! I must admit that I’m surprised you even tried roses, you don’t strike me as a rose type of gardener! I’ve been admiring a drive-by Rose of Sharon for a few years now, it’s the most pleasing shade of blue/indigo. It just grabs my eyes. I suppose I’d better attempt to look it up.