The Blooming First Year for White Lady Banksia March 26, 2016

Lady Banks gets huge.  It is one of the biggest climbing roses.  The white color has a very pretty violet scent, the yellow variety has no smell.  I planted it last year.  It is a spring bloomer, it only blooms once every year, and this is the first spring since I planted it.  It will get much, much bigger, and I am training it to be a cave-like entrance to my rose garden that I can play in with my grandchildren.

The First Ox Eye Daisies March 26, 2016

Some Poppies March 6, 2016

African Hosta March 25, 2016

These little bulbs are adorable.  They lose their spots as they mature.  The bulbs seem happiest when they rest above the ground  They pull themselves up even if you bury them.  They are vigorous multipliers.  I have given a fulle grocery sack to my sister and never missed them.  I have a large flower bed with nothing in it but these, and I have them planted in about 6 beds throughout my shady gardens.  The flowers are not significant.  Although they flower, you don't grow hostas for the flowers, you grow them for the interesting foliage.  These are some of the smallest hostas, but unlike most hostas, they do well in the Texas heat.

Iris March 26, 2016

 Above, this is Clyde Redmond.

 Above, Janine Snapp gave me these iris.  It is an old homestead iris.  The stalks are weak and cannot hold up the flowers, but they are so pretty!

 Above and below, this is Persian Berry.

Nicotiana March 26, 2016

This variety gets very large.  It comes back every year somewhere - you never know where it will show up.  The scent in the evenings is unforgettable.  It is similar to cinnamon.

Milk and Wine Crinum March 26, 2016

Janine Snapp gave me this crinum that she dug up from the side of the road.

Red Shrimp; Plant March 26, 2016

I am especially proud of this plant because I grew it from cuttings that I collected from the old house on Nixon Lake Rd.

Weekend at the Farm March 26-27, 2016

Arrived Friday evening with Bert.  Mark and Jere are staying here this week while they work at the Round Top Antique Sale.  Blake and Sammy came up for the day on Saturday.  He is so adorable!

Planted 6 Agastache Kudos Mandarin, one in the Star Garden and 5 in the Long Border.  They have masses of pastel orange tubular flowers.  Great for hummers and butterflies and bees.

Watered all my new plants by hand, the salvias, bee balm, self heal, and nicotiana.

My butter beans, pole beans, and squash are making good progress.  Looks like some of my anise hyssop is sprouting in the Long Border.

I haven't mentioned the weather lately, but it has been fantastic every weekend for a long time, cool and sunny.  It is great to be alive on cool sunny days.

Planted 5 Tansy in the Medicine Garden.  Tansy repels insects and was used to make a yellow dye.  It has a long history of medicinal uses which have since been debunked, but it was once considered to be a must-have herb in the garden.  Charlemagne had it growing in his garden.  I like it because it looks like a fern, and it has yellow flowers.  Very pretty.

Raked in the Medicine Garden, dumped all the leaves in the compost.  I spend all winter with fallen leaves raked in my beds to keep the winter weeds down.  In the spring I rake them out where I want to plant, I leave some in place around my large plants to make some good rot, and I put the rest in the compost pile.

Cleaned up the Aztec Sweet Herb and composted throughout.  Spread compost everywhere that I raked.

Composted here and there in the Medicine Garden.

Transplanted some thyme growing in a path in the Star Garden over to the Medicine Garden.

Watered the young trees in the Orchard.

Walked and walked.  The Orchard needs a lot of weeding.

Saturday morning, another beautiful day in the making.

Spent more time in the Medicine Garden laying down compost around the oregano, pineapple sage and rosemary.  Dug up oxalis that I suspect came in when a guest at our crawfish boil brought me some wild garlic as a gift.  It's turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Raked out the Thryallis bed and laid down mulch around the 3 Thryallis, impatiens (that survived the winter because it was so mild - lucky break), and blue mist flower.  The blue mist has almost disappeared over the years, too dry and too neglected, but I am making it my special mission to revive it.  

Spread 50 pounds of cottonseed meal in the Orchard around all the fruit trees and grapes and blackberries.  The blackberry bramble is loaded with blooms.  The bees were extremely active in the hive.  I think this is has been a good spring for them, it has rained but not so much that they can't forage.

Transplanted another patch of thyme from the path in the Star Garden over to the Medicine Garden.

Spent some time weeding in the Orchard and laid down some compost.

Fiddled around weeding, cutting back things, and day dreaming.  Left about four to get ready for Easter.

Catmint March 20, 2016

Catmint is an herb that is attractive to cats, but more ornamental than catnip.  Catmint is a perennial, catnip is a re-seeding annual.  Pretty blue flowers.  It can be used in tea or to flavor meat.  Interesting aroma.

Weekend at the Farm March 18 -19, 2016

Heritage Rose.

Arrived at the farm Friday about 9:30 after attending the Round Top annual herb sale.  I got some good treasures! Nathan and Jess arrived Friday evening and left the kids and dogs on Saturday to go to a party.

Planted some Saratoga Apple Blossom Nicotiana in the Shade Garden from a flat that I bought at Buchanan's.  Very pretty pale pink color which will show up well in the shade.  Nicotiana needs some shade or dappled sunlight.

Everything is starting to have that spring rush of growth.  Some of the daisies are blooming.  I see flower stalks forming on my amaryllis.  The double tiger lilies have sprouted.  The azaleas are in full bloom, gorgeous as only azaleas can be.  Old fashioned Clyde Redmond iris are really blooming in the Star Garden, but no where else yet.  The wisteria blooms are buzzing with bees.

Played with Wes and Oliver until their bed time, got them all stirred up and then let their folks deal with getting them to sleep.

Saturday morning, breakfast with the kids then their folks headed out.

I planted 3 Self Heal in The Long Border.  It is a mat forming medicinal herb that blooms blue flowers in the summer.  It is used to treat cuts and inflammation.

I planted all but two of the remaining Nicotiana in the Star Garden and the Medicine Garden.

I filled a green glazed pot with potting soil and compost and planted two Bi-Color Sedums.  This is a pretty little green and white sedum that I bought at the herb sale.  I just love sedums! I placed the pot in the Medicine Garden. 

I amended the soil in a pot in the Medicine Garden and planted a Clary Sage.  Clary Sage is a medicinal herb.  I re-positioned the other two pots and cleaned them up.  Unearthed a huge spider under one of the pots.  Biggest one I've ever seen.

Sprayed herbicide in the Rose Garden, Orchard, Star Garden, and driveway. 

Played trucks with Ollie.  Wandered around with Ollie and Wes.  Made mud pies. Played in the fort. Collected rocks in a bucket.

Planted 2 Peachie's Picks Stokes Asters in the Star Garden.   Fall bloomers, I need more fall bloomers.

Planted 2 Texas Betony and 3 Jacob Cline Bee Balm in the Star Garden.

Drove to a patch of bluebonnets and took pictures of the boys.

Weeded in the Vegetable Garden.  The squash, speckled butter beans, and pole beans have sprouted.

Sunday, played with the boys until they left about eleven.

Put cages around my tomatoes and set up cages for the cucumbers and pole beans that aren't next to the arbors.  Sowed a few seeds here and there where there were empty spots.  Weeded some more trying to get rid of the last of the Elbon Rye - that may have been more trouble than it was worth.  Time will tell. Filled all the empty black buckets with compost, mixed it in with the soil and seeded them.  I seeded one with Borage, two with Anise Hyssop, one with Crimson Red Amaranth (my mom ready an article to me over the phone about amaranth.  I was intrigued.), and one with Valerian. Seeded my last empty bed with Opopeo Amaranth.

Watered in the Rose Garden for a couple of hours.

Adjusted all the sprinklers.

Planted the last two Nicotiana and one Self Heal in the Medicine Garden.

Headed home about five.

One More Look at Chinese Snowball Bush March 19, 2016

Springin' the Blues March 19-20, 2016

There are lots of beautiful blue flower blooming right now.  Spring is the time for blue colors, the hot hot days of summer aren't kind to blue flowers.  Summer is when the reds, oranges, and yellows thrive.

Moss Verbena March 12, 2016

I have moss verbena growing everywhere.  I love it.  This is a particularly pretty stand of it, growing under my apple tree.