What's Blooming Now - In The Ditch Iris 03/30/10

I call these irises In-the-Ditch Irises because I dug them up out of the ditch. They are in the yards of all the little houses and farmhouses in the town by my farm. I'm sure they were pass-along plants. The name of these pretty flowers was lost long ago.

What's Blooming Now - Jessie's Song Bearded Iris 03/30/10

Beautiful! Given to me by my mother.

A Day at the Farm 03/30/10

Close-up of a bluebonnet.

Today was one of the perfect Texas days.

• Planted two Artemisia 'Powis Castle' in the Infinity Garden. The Infinity Garden is my medicinal herb garden. Artemisia is wormwood. Although the type I have is not Artemisia absinthium which was the key ingredient in Absinthe until it was outlawed, it is fun to have some of it in the garden. Absinthe was thought to have hallucinogenic properties, whether that was true or not is debatable.
• Planted three Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) in the Long Border. Blackfoot Daisy is a Texas native. There is no room left for any plants in the Long Border as long as the seeds I planted prosper.
• I fertilized all the shrubs around the Greenhouse.
• I fertilized half the plants in the Star Garden.
• I sprayed herbicide on the grass where my husband expanded a flowerbed. I will fill the bed in with soil next time I go to the farm.
  

What's Blooming Now White Lace Flower (Orlaya Grandiflora) - 03/28/10

White Lace Flower just opening up.

I don't know much about this plant. I don't know if it will survive a south Texas summer. I saw a picture in a plant magazine, ordered some seeds, and sowed them in the fall. I had 6 beautiful plants until last week when two of them completely wilted and dead. I saw that the wilted plants were severed right where the stems met the ground. I noticed some ants, maybe there is an ant bed underneath them, I have no idea. But the plant in the picture looks very pretty, and there are still 3 others beginning to bloom. I forgot to put ant poison down before I left the farm yesterday. I hope they are all healthy and growing when I return!

Jessie's Song Bearded Iris Bud

Jessie's Song is a beautiful bearded iris. My mother gave me these irises. The next time I visit my farm this bud will be in full bloom.

Fascinating Shape of Sea Star Sedum

This is a new plant for me. I love the red and green colors of the fleshy growth. This is a low-growing, front-of-the-border, spreading perennial. I have not yet seen it bloom, but I know that it blooms pink.

What's Blooming Now - Peppermint Tulip (Tulipa clusiana) 03/27/10

This is the center of a Peppermint Tulip.

This tulip is sometimes referred to as Lady Tulip or Candy Tulip as well. These tulips will naturalize in the south as long as they are offered well-drained soil. According to Scott Ogden, an expert on bulbs for the south, this tulip excels in warm climates because it has an extra set of chromosomes. It sets viable seed and will also multiply by droopers.

It is considered one of the oldest tulips in recorded history. Its introduction to the gardens of Florence in 1606 was first reported by (and thus named after) Carolus Clusius.

What's Blooming Now - Baby Blue Eyes 03/27/10

Baby Blue Eyes are a good wildflower to encourage because they are very low growing. They get missed by the lawn mower. They like sandy soil and they like to be on the woodland edge so they can get a bit of relief from full sun. Order them by the ounce or the pound from Wildseed Farms and sow the seeds in November.

Being More Efficient in the Garden

A Weekend at the Farm 03/27-28/10

Intriguing new growth of a rose.

• I finished laying down the crushed granite in the Star Garden. It looks a lot better.



• I planted some medicinal herbs in the Infinity Garden. I planted some horehound and sowed some horehound seeds that I ordered months ago. Horehound is best known for being the main ingredient in Horehound cough drops much used by settlers of the Old West. I planted Gotu Kola. This herb is said to slow the aging process. I planted some Lamb's Ear 'Helene Von Stein' which has bigger leaves than the kind I have growing now. Lamb's Ear has styptic qualities and was once used to staunch the flow of blood of small wounds. It was also used as a bandage material when cloth was scarce. I planted Nigella which is thought to be the Black Fitches of the Bible. And I planted another scented geranium, Lady Plymouth, which has a rose scent. I also sowed some French Sorrel seed. I planted a Vick's Plant. The leaves have a strong menthol smell just like Vick's Vaporub. When boiling water is poured over the leaves and the steam is breathed in it will clear up nasal congestion. Lastly I planted a Stevia plant. Stevia is used as the main ingredient in some artificial sweeteners. The leaves are extremely sweet when chewed.



• I planted 3 Agastache 'Tutti Frutti' in the Long Border. They bloom a soft rose color and grow to about 2 feet tall and wide. They are attractive to hummingbirds and bees. The leaves have a bubble gum scent. Certain types of agastaches have medicinal uses, but I don't know if the leaves and flowers of this particular cultivar have such uses.



• In the Long Border I also planted "White Profusion' Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii). I now have this plant, white Salvia 'Snow Nymph', and Lamb's Ear in the Long Border. I was happy to find this Butterfly Bush, I needed more white in the Border.



• I sprayed herbicide in the paths throughout the Vegetable Garden. It was getting pretty weedy.


• I planted some White Wonder and some Lemon cucumber seeds that my son Josh gave me for Christmas.


• I planted three more Ruby Grass in the Wave Garden.


• I dug up 10 or so seedlings of Dahlberg Daisy that were growing in the paths in the Rose Garden and moved them to various flowerbeds.


• I made a small flowerbed under a goat wire arbor that my husband erected yesterday at the top of the Long Border. The arbor makes a nice entrance to the Long Border. I plan to plant various colors of Morning Glories and Moon Flower there, maybe other things. I'm not sure. Hyacinth Beans are very pretty. We'll see.


• I fertilized some of the fruit trees with Cottonseed Meal. I ran out of fertilizer before I finished.


• I planted two Shasta Daisies in the Star Garden to replace the ones that died last year. I thought I bought Crazy Daisy, but I ended up with Snowcap. The two of them must have been sitting next to eachother, and I picked up the wrong ones.


• I planted three Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'. This plant was the perennial plant of the year in 1999. I have a lot of it. I threw seeds down in the Star Garden last fall and I can see tiny little plants growing. I love it.


• I sowed some seeds of a white cultivar coneflower ( I was given the seeds, and I don't know what they are specifically) and some White Lace Flower (Orlaya Grandiflora)



• I had a great idea regarding the Orchard. But it is too large a project to do myself. I want to get rid of all grass / weeds in the Orchard and build paths through the fruit trees. I will have the entire area around the paths filled with good soil and mulched out. And then I will seed the area with wild flowers. Now that we have this wonderful boardwalk down to the Orchard we need the Orchard to become a destination. It isn't very attractive right now, pretty plain. This will require irrigation. The area will need a sprinkler system installed.
  

This is Donalena Deep Pink Verbena.

What's Blooming Now - Chorale Rose 03/25/10

I have lots of buds on all my roses, but this is the first bloom of the season. Chorale rose makes beautiful buds, very high and pointed. This is a Griffith Buck shrub rose that he introduced in 1978. It will grow between three and four feet tall and wide. There are between 40 and 50 petals in each flower. I love the pale pink color.

A Day at the Farm 03/25/10

This is a bud of Homestead Purple Verbena. Very pretty!

• I finished laying down crushed granite around the Greenhouse.
  
• I made a lot of progress laying down crushed granite in the Star Garden.
  
• I planted a flat of Ruby Grass (Melinis nerviglume) in the Wave Garden. This is the garden I am dedicating to my son Max. Ruby Grass gets about 2 feet tall. It flowers rosy pink seed heads in the summer. I'm short 3 plants. I will have to go back and buy some more.

This is a young Ruby Grass plant. The foliage is blue-greyand will turn golden in the fall. It will get about a foot wide and two feet tall.

What's Blooming Now - 'Winter Bee' Spanish Lavender 03/24/10

'Winter Bee' Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas 'Winter Bee') is blooming now. It is much loved by the bees and butterflies. These plants eventually get several feet wide and high, and they produce dark purple flowers. My plants are small, I just put them in the ground at the beginning of March.

This particular lavender is supposed to tolerate the Texas hot/humid and cold/wet weather better than many of the lavender species.

Structural Beauty of Bearded Irises

Irises are a great plant for the perennial garden. I particularly love the bearded irises, not only because the flowers are beautiful, but also because the foliage is is very sturdy (it doesn't flop over like some of the other irises), it is a pretty blue-grey color, it does not die back in the heat of summer, and it provides a great spiky texture to the flowerbed. I think bearded irises add a lot even when they are not in bloom. And they are not in bloom most of the year!

The irises in the pictures above are 'Persian Berry' Bearded Irises.

A Day at the Farm 03/23/10

These are buds of Sundown Big Sky Series Coneflower (Echinacea 'Evan Saul'). The petals will be orange.

Today was a beautiful day!

• Replanted the Tansy. An animal - I assume it was an armadillo - dug up all five of the plants. They were laying on their sides gasping for breathe. They will probably make it, they grow kind of like weeds.
• Planted horseradish in a #3 washtub. Shot 10 holes in the bottom for drain holes with my husband's 22 Ruger target pistol.
• Planted six Donalena Verbena Deep Pink in the Long Border.
• Planted three French Sorrel in the Infinity Garden which is where all my medicinal plants are located.
• Planted three Sweet Myrtle (Myrtus communis) around my Bay Laurel.
• Planted three Lambs Ear in the Long Border - I needed more white interest.
• Planted another flat of Impatiens Orange Dazzler in the Infinity Garden.
• Planted four Crinum procerum 'Splendens' - three in the Long Border and one in the Infinity Garden.
• Pulled weeds in the Rose Garden.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Infinity Garden.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Rose Garden.
• Sprayed herbicide in the Circle Drive.
• Picked some asparagus for dinner.
• Weeded in the Vegetable Garden.
• Threw down some weed and feed next to the Shade Garden where the oxalis was really taking over.
• Did some random watering.
• Fiddled with the sprinklers. They are always a problem.
• My husband finished the boardwalk down to the Orchard last weekend while I was in Indiana. It looks wonderful!

It was a good day!

What's Blooming Now - Bluebonnets 03/23/10

Beautiful Bluebonnets are blooming now. The true blue of the Bluebonnet is rarely duplicated in nature. The fabulous show, the one that slows down traffic from Houston to Austin has not yet begun in force. In a few more weeks it will be time for families to take a road trip with the camera in hand. Little girls and boys, puppies, and grandparents will be out in force kneeling in the bluebonnets by the side of the road getting their picture taken. I photgraphed this flower in my Rose Garden.

Medicinal Uses for Yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is beautiful in the landsacape. There are so many varieties now to choose from - flat topped clusters of flowers in pink, yellow, red, white - that one can find a place for this pretty plant somewhere. The ferny foliage is very pretty, however as a medicinal herb, be careful, because the leaves are toxic. The flowers can be harvested and prepared in teas to sooth cold and flus. Yarrow flowers are a blood-clotting agent and therefore reduce blood pressure. Yarrow is also an antiseptic and fights yeast infections. The leaves can be applied topically to stop bleeding.

Progress Around the Greenhouse

A Day at the Farm 03/18/10

This is my Lady Banks Rose in Houston, almost in full bloom. Lady Banks roses get huge. I use mine to cover up the air conditioning units in the backyard. It sprawls over an arbor that is built over the air conditioning units. The yellow variety, which I have, does not have a scent. The white variety has a nice smell. It is a very old fashioned plant and very long lived. A hundred year old plant is not unusual. It will do very well climbing into a tree or leaning over a building. The flowers are so beautiful.

What a perfect day. And I didn't do anything that required heavy lifting. I planted plants and just enjoyed the weather.

• I planted four kinds of cannas, three corms each. Dawn Pink and Tropical Sunrise (peach flowers) were planted in the Long Border. Striped Beauty (a yellow canna with variegated leaves) was planted around the pool. Scarlet Wave (pink flowers) was planted at the entrance to the Orchard.





• I planted 5 orange coneflowers Sundown Big Sky Series 'Evan Saul' in the Star Garden.





• I planted 5 Tansy Tanacetum vulgare in the Hot Border. Tansy is a medicinal herb that can become very invasive if you're not careful. The native Americans used to rub the crushed leaves on their skin to prevent insect bites. It is an excellent ant, flea, and fly repellent. A yellow dye can be made from the flowers and a green dye can be made from the rhizomes.





• I planted 9 Southern Wood Ferns in the Shade Garden.





• I planted 2 flats of orange Impatiens 'Orange Dazzle' in the Infinity Garden.





• I planted a flat of Forest Fire Salvia around the pool. This is a Salvia coccinea which is a heavy reseeder. That will be quite pretty.





• It took me all day to plant all those things. But I'm a careful planter. I prepare the soil when I build the beds and then I prepare the soil again when I plant. It's time consuming.





• Watered some areas. Lots more seeds sprouting!

Boardwalk Down to the Orchard

Medicinal Uses of Goldenrod

'Fireworks' Goldenrod blooms in the fall as does the wild goldenrod in the fields. People often mistake goldenrod as one of the scourges of the fall season because it blooms at the same time as ragweed. But goldenrod does not bother allergies.

Goldenrod is not only a beautiful flowering perennial, it has many medicinal uses as well making it a valuable addition to any medicinal herb garden.

Taken as a tea the leaves and flowers can be used as:

• an expectorant
• an anti-inflammatory
• a diuretic
• a mild sedative
• a treatment for kidney and bladder ailments
• a treatment for coughs, fevers, sore throats, and asthma
  

Uses for Chives Beyond Cooking

Everyone knows that chives are a great addition to the culinary herb garden. They are delicious eaten raw in salads, on baked potatoes, sprinkled across cooked vegetables or shrimp scampi. But chives have medicinal properties as well that make them a valuable addition to the "physics" (medicinal) herb garden.

• Chives have a mildly diuretic effect and antibacterial properties.
• Chives can be used as a laxative.
• They aid the digestion.
• They are very high in vitamin C and therefore are good for treating colds and respiratory problems.
• Chives are said to protect against heart disease.
• They help control cholesterol because they stimulate the digestion of fat.
  

Uses for Thyme Beyond Cooking

Thyme spreads quickly and makes a very fragrant ground cover. The thyme is this picture surrounds the base of a Butterfly Magnolia tree. Thyme blooms very sweet flowers in the spring which are much loved by the bees.

Everyone knows that thyme is an excellent herb stirred into soups, stews, and vegetables. But thyme has medicinal properties as well that make it a very useful herb to have on hand. Made into a tea, thyme relieves colds, flu, bronchial congestion, and stomach aches. If the tea is gargled it will relieve a sore throat. It's antiseptic properties make it an effective mouthwash when gargled as well.

Days at the Farm 03/12-16/10

Homestead Purple Verbena is one of the earliest spring blooming plants. It blooms well into the beginning of summer and sporadically through the heat of summer. It will put on a good fall show once the weather gets a bit less hot. It spreads quickly, taking root along the stems, and pieces of it can easily be lifted and planted in another part of the garden.

I spent several days here, a last hurrah before I go back to work. What a productive several days it has been!

• I finished laying down crushed granite in the Greenhouse Garden. It looks fantastic. It was a chore though.




• I made progress on laying down crushed granite in the Star Garden.




• My husband is building a boardwalk down to the Orchard that replaces a path lined with cedar logs. It now cries out for some flowering trees along the way down. But that is a next year activity. Trees should be planted in January so that they have time to get established before the searing Texas heat.




• I began repairing the area around the back porch that suffered from quite a bit of erosion during the recent heavy rains. My husband is going to install gutters along the back to prevent it from happening again (hopefully). I have begun installing some landscape edging in the back as well to keep the crushed granite paths looking presentable.




• I filled the second bed with soil and peat moss that my husband built in the Grass Garden.




• I worked in the Rose Garden weeding and spraying herbicide in the paths.




• I sowed lots of seeds - Cosmos, Asclepias Cinderella, Snow Nymph Salvia, white Cleome, and Fireworks Gomphrena.




• I planted the remainder of a flat of Verbena Bonariensis in the Long Border.




• I moved lots of Dahlberg Daisy into the Long Border that had sprung up all over the Rose Garden - it is a prolific reseeder. There is lots more to move.



• I planted some corn - sweet corn and black popcorn that my son gave me for Christmas.




• Walked around and observed the many, many things that are breaking dormancy. The Soloman's Seal, the hydrangeas, White Mist Flower, Joe Pye Weed, African Hostas, ferns, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Mexican Mint Marigolds, Veronica Speedwell - and on and on.




• There are many butterflies already, nothing like what it will be. I saw what looked like a Goatweed Leafwing, but it kept moving so quickly I couldn't get a picture.




• I planted some scented geraniums in the Infinity Garden. One of them has a sweet and nutty fragrance called Concolor Lace. Attar of Roses has a rose fragrance. Orange Fizz smells of citrus. Clorinda smells of cedar. Scented geraniums have uses beyond simply enjoying the fragrance when rubbed between your fingers. They have medicinal uses. The steam-distilled oil is used as an anti fungal, an anti-depressant, and an antiseptic.




• Tuesday brought a fine, steady rain that lasted all day. I worked in it until it became a little too steady then retreated inside to clean house.

What's Blooming Now - California Poppies 03/14/10

California Poppies are beginning to bloom. The flowers have a very shiny surface, and the foliage is very pretty - ferny and blue -grey in color. I'm being a bit eager, this is actually the first bloom I have seen. But many more will follow. I have these growing in many of the rose boxes in the Rose Garden.


California Poppies are very easy to grow from seed. You literally throw them on the ground and they will grow. They can be ordered from Wildseed Farms by the ounce or the pound. An ounce of poppy seeds is millions of seeds. Unless you have a big area an ounce is more than enough to get a good show as long as the area is irrigated. But they are very drought tolerant. This is important if you want to plant them in a field that doesn't get regular watering. It is not true that wildflowers need nothing. Most of them need steady water in order to bloom. If they don't get steady water then you will need to throw down a pound of seed and expect to get a minor show in the spring. If you continue to do it every year then eventually you will have a great spring show. Wildflowers aren't as care free as one would think. The stands of wildflowers on the sides of the roads in Texas have been building in strength for many years - since Lady Bird Johnson and before.




This photograph shows off the foliage to better advantage as well as a pretty little bud to the left in the picture.

What's Blooming Now - Carlton Daffodils 03/11/10

Seeing my daffodils bloom gives me the opportunity to write down the last verse of one of my favorite poems. In fact, the last sentence of this verse is my absolute favorite line of poetry ever. This famous poem is about a man that is taking a walk and comes across a field of daffodils. He is enchanted and describes their beautiful dance in the breeze. The last verse reads:

I gazed and gazed but little thought what wealth to me the show had brought.
For oft when on my couch I lie in vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude.
And then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.

What's Blooming Now - Red Baron Peach 03/10/10

My Red Baron Peach tree is blooming. Unfortunately, my Sam Houston Peach tree is not. Cross-pollination, it goes without saying, will not happen if they don't bloom at the same time. It's too soon to worry about it yet. Young fruit trees don't necessarily behave the same way mature trees do. The tree is very beautiful nevertheless.

A Day at the Farm 03/10/10

Gorgeous and huge "Sum and Substance" Hosta emerging from dormancy. Sum and Substance will ultimately grow up to five feet wide. It is one of the biggest hostas.

What a pretty day. It's already getting hot, though!

• I sprayed all my roses with a systemic fungicide to control black spot. I fertilized the roses that I did not fertilize on Monday.
  
• I pulled lots of weeds in the Rose Garden. The next time I go to the farm I will be spraying herbicide everywhere to get rid of weeds - the driveway, the paths, around the pool. Things are really weedy. But herbicides don't work when it's cold. Now that it's warm I'm going to zap everything. I'm also going to lay down a "weed and feed" in the yard everywhere.
  
• I planted tomatoes. I planted five Celebrity, a yellow tomato called Jubilee, a Grape tomato, a yellow and red striped tomato called Pineapple, and a Yellow Pear tomato (which is a mini tomato. I also planted two Ichibahn eggplants and some Ambrosia F1 Cantaloupe. I planted the cantaloupe in the bed just outside of the Vegetable Garden, and I will try to train it along the rabbit wire. Cantaloupe will climb. I will need to support the melons by tying them up in stockings. I also planted Burpless cucumbers to climb up the arbor. And along the arbor I also planted some Hyacinth Bean seeds - the beans are edible and the vines are very decorative with purple flowers and pods! The beans are beautiful - dark purple with a white strip on one side. Unusual. I also planted some marigolds throughout the Vegetable Garden in order to deter nematodes.
  
• I planted some "Limerock Dream" Coreopsis and "Strawberry Seduction" Yarrow around the pool. I love yarrow. It's very old fashioned and the leaves are very lacy-looking.
  
• In the Long Border I planted some Verbena Bonariensis, "Cerise Queen" Yarrow, and "Butterfly Blue" Scabiosa. The Cleome seeds I sowed are popping up. Yeah!
  
• In the Herb Garden I planted basil.
  
• In the Infinity Garden I planted some Hyssop.
  
• Vacuumed the house.
  
• Did some watering.

How to Grow Great Tomatoes

Gardeners are passionate about growing fresh tomatoes. Personally, I'm not extremely fond of tomatoes, but they are better home-grown than store bought. I had a wonderful tapa once that was made with a tomato sorbet topped with an anchovie on a thin cracker. I'll never forget the experience. Delicious. There are several rules for growing great tomatoes, some are obvious.

• Tomatoes like cool nights. If you live in Houston, transplants should already be in the ground (two weeks after the last average freeze - in Houston the last average freeze is February 15). In Zone 8B where I garden, I am planting transplants today - the last average freeze is March 1). Tomatoes will continue to produce flowers in the heat of the summer, but they will not set fruit. To find out your average last freeze date either google it or call your County Extension Office.


• Plant tomatoes deep. It would be certain death if most plants were planted with part of the stem buried, but tomatoes will develop a much more extensive root system if they are planted with the first or even the second set of leaves (pinched off) buried under the soil. They will form roots at these leaf joints.


• Throughout the growing season, pinch off all shoots that begin to grow in the leaf crotches (where the main stem and each branch meet). All that greenery takes energy away from fruit development. This is very important.


• Fertilize with fish emulsion. There is absolutely no getting around it. Vegetables must be fertilized every two weeks. Fish emulsion is organic with high nitrogen content. It's a good fertilizer for vegetables and flowers.


• Plant Marigolds with your tomatoes. They deter nematodes. Nematodes are microscopic worms that get into the roots of tomatoes and stunt their growth. They are bad and, unfortunately, not uncommon.


• To keep the birds away from your tomatoes place a birdbath nearby. Birds eat tomatoes for the water content. You can avoid at least some of the bird damage if you provide them with an alternative water source.


• Tomatoes need to be grown in at least 6 hours of full sun and they need regular water. Uneven watering will cause problems.

What's Blooming Now - Pinchushion Flower 03/08/10

Scabiosa columbaria 'Blue Butterfly' is blooming now. Its common name is Pincushion Flower. Next to the flowers are two button-like buds. Aren't they cute? There are many varieties of Scabiosa, but Butterfly Blue is one of the best. In fact, the Perennial Plant Association named it Perennial of the Year in 2000. I always collect plants that have been given this designation because they are very reliable.

In my garden it performed wonderfully this year. It was the coldest winter I can remember, and it stayed evergreen all year! There were blooms on mine all winter. It is a mounding plant, but it seems to stay under a foot tall. If you can find small ones then buy them. By the end of summer they will be a good size. The blooms are really pretty and complex. I use it for a front-of-the-border plant.