A Day at the Farm 02/10/10

Cold!

• Today I built the flowerbed in the back of the photograph to the left. I planted a Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) there. The Fringe Tree likes to be in shade or part shade. This Fringe Tree is a Texas native. There are only two species in this genus; the other tree is native to China - the Chinese Fringe tree (Chionanthus retusus). Imagine, there are only two species in this genus and one of them is a native of Texas, my state! Fringe trees are highly prized ornamental trees. They bloom in the spring, and they put on quite a show. The flowers are white and cover the tree just like fringe. Very pretty.
• I plan to plant Barbados Cherry shrubs (also Texas natives) in the three flowerbeds with the light colored mulch in the above photograph. These shrubs have shiny green leaves, and they are evergreen if the winter is mild. In the early fall these shrubs will be covered with little pink flowers which are followed by shiny red berries. These berries are edible but sour. They are much loved by the birds which is one of my motivations for planting them. Another motivation for planting these shrubs is so that I have some fall interest in my garden. Also, they will create a screen between the pool and the flowerbeds to the right of the three light-colored beds. To the right I plan to plant medicinal and other unusual herbs. And those kinds of plants are not always attractive. The Barbados Cherry shrubs will hide them from the pool's line of sight.
• I mulched the 20 foot area where I planted my Kiowa blackberries.
• Watched the birds.
• Pulled some weeds.
• The heavy rains earlier in the week caused a lot of erosion in the Rose Garden. There are deep ruts in the gravel paths. And a lot of the soil I just hauled into the Long Border that borders the Rose Garden was washed away. Very, very discouraging. All that work! My husband and I will have to figure something out so that does not happen again. The Rose Garden is on a slope and all the water wants to move that way.