Corncockle March 27, 2023

 What an easy flower to grow from seed.  For one thing, they are large seeds, easier to handle.  I sowed the seeds in October or November time frame.  They made it unscathed through the weird temperature drop (more of a plummet) in December.  Some of my seedlings of larkspur, as well as others, died in the freeze. I was so surprised about that.  But the Corncockle did fine.  All of it is in bud, and some of the plants have begun to bloom.  I think it's really pretty.  Corncockle seed is expensive (relatively speaking).  But leaving it to dry up and drop seed is too much of a wait for me.  Out with the old, in with the new.  I will end up pulling it up before it sets seed and sowing other seed.  This year it will be replaced with Lady Slippers, Zinnias and Cosmos.

Sedums and Succulents March 219, 2023

 Sedums and Stone Crops and succulents are all drought tolerant.  And there are so many shapes and colors.  Most of them bloom.  And most of them will tolerate freezes although that tolerance gets spotty if it drops too far below freezing.  It dropped to 10 degrees last winter and the sedum below is coming back just fine.

Below, this is variegated String of Pearls.  

String of Buttons March 19, 2023

 Is this the most adorable succulent in the world?  I put it in a pot in the Medicine Garden.  It needs very little water.  I've never grown it before.  It's not winter hardy, I will have to move it to the greenhouse at the end of autumn.  If it survives the growing season.  

Sunday at the Farm March 19, 2023

 

This is a leaf bud from a water oak.  It's so pretty.  The trees are so pretty when they just begin to leaf out.

I drove up on Sunday to piddle around.  The house has already been cleaned for our Airbnb guests, so I stayed outside.  It started out pretty cold but warmed up a bit when the sun came out.  One more near-dangerous night tonight because the temperature is dropping into the 30s, but I think it is not going to freeze.  All the seed sowing and planting I've done would all be for naught if it freezes.

I planted 5 green fennel in rose buckets in the Rose Garden.  The fennel is for the swallowtail butterflies.  They lay their eggs on fennel.  Last weekend I planted a couple of bronze fennel in the Rose Garden, but they aren't very showy, so I'm putting in some green ones.

I planted a White Star Creeper in one of the rose buckets.  It is a little perennial white flowering ground cover that will help keep the soil from drying out in the rose bucket.  Very sweet with teeny tiny leaves.  

And I planted 2 thyme along the edges of a couple beds, also in the Rose Garden. 

I decided to put a large plant in a bucket in the dry shady part of the Star Garden.  I bought a Split Leaf Philodendron and planted it in a half barrel.  It won't withstand a winter, I will have to over-winter it in the greenhouse.  It's easier to manage plants in pots in dry areas as opposed to dragging hoses around.  I went to Kraus Springs in the hill country last weekend.  We visited their garden, and I was inspired by all the plants that he had in pots.  

I bought 10 or so of my beloved sedums and planted them in the pots in the Medicine Garden.  I lost quite a few during the drought last summer.  They are all so adorable.  

I need to work on getting plants into the pots around the pool next time I'm here.  I have gotten very interested in the Mangave family of plants.  They are a cross between manfredas and agaves.  They are more vigorous than agaves and manfredas and, unlike a lot of agaves, they don't die after they bloom.  The colors and textures and shapes are wonderful.  And they cannot take over-watering, very drought tolerant.  They are perfect for around the pool because there is no irrigation.  Both of my Stonecrop came back beautifully from last year despite the drought.   Xeriscape plants are the way to go over there.

I watered all the spots where I sowed Hyacinth Bean seeds last weekend.

Walked and walked and looked at everything.  Spring will be beautiful (as long as it doesn't freeze!).

Mexican Buckeye March 13, 2023

 Mexican Buckeye looked very pretty this morning.  I actually have 3 of them spaced in a group, but this one must really love where it's planted, because it is three times the size of the others and blooms much more profusely.  Understory tree does not mean that they want to be planted directly under other trees.  I learned that lesson too late, and now my Eve's Necklace, two Mexican Buckeyes and one Red Buckeye languish half heartedly under large trees.  But one Red Buckeye and this Mexican Buckeye are thriving.  And I have some tall Eve's Necklace seedlings that found their way to a sunny spot, and they are doing very well.

Three Days at the Farm March 10 - 12, 2023

 

This is a little Johnny Jump Up.  They are already blooming.  I was hoping they would be blooming during the crawfish boil, but that's still a month away.  Best laid plans...

I took Friday as vacation and drove up early.  Bert was already here.  

I worked all day in the Orchard.  I weeded throughout.  I sowed zinnias and Cosmos in the Jujube bed and several other beds in the Orchard. 

Spot watered in the Rose Garden and the Long Border.  I watered the Witch Hazel and Parsley Hawthorn in the Rose Edge Border. 

Leaf cutter ants stripped one of my Ballerina roses.  There wasn't a single leaf on the plant.  I spread ant poison on the trail and around the rose box.

I stayed in the Rose Garden until dark pulling weeds, deadheading roses and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Saturday.  Up very early.  Planted 7 chili pequin in the Herb Garden.  They are native, perennial pepper plants.  They take shade very well, and the spot that I planted them gets a half day of shade.  Birds love the little peppers (apparently birds don't have taste buds - who knew?).  

I planted some Blue Grama grass plugs in the pool walkway bed (10 or so).  They are a native bunch grass.  I have had them since last season, and I finally put them somewhere. The seed heads on the grama grasses are horizontal which is really cute and different. 

I turned the soil in one of my 4 x 4 beds in the Vegetable Garden and planted 2 eggplants.  I planted several of my cockscomb seedlings in the garden that I started in peat pots.

Planted 3 Stevia in the Medicine Garden.  Cleo loves to nibble on the Stevia when she comes to visit.  Stevia is a tender perennial, my luck is spotty with getting it to return for a second year, and mine has never returned a third year. 

Bert and I met Mom, Dad, Nancy and Lisa in Brenham for lunch and them took a scenic drive through the countryside to our house.  Lots of bluebonnets and, my favorite, Indian Paintbrushes.  Coffee and cake and a walk through the garden and then they headed home.

I spent the rest of the late afternoon and into the evening walking and looking.  While it was still light, I watered in the Rose Garden.  I have to keep those seed beds from drying out.  Weeded here and there.  Planted several of the seedlings I have been growing in peat pots.  I got a flashlight and continued to walk around in the dark.  The coyotes were howling and yipping. These are the good days - March, April and the first part of May.  Then, it's so hot and humid, it's no fun to keep the day going into the darkness.  But right now, it's absolutely heaven.   

Sunday.  Up very early again, working at first light.

I spent the morning in the Star Garden pulling up Purple Phacelia.  I left a bunch to re-seed, but I pulled it up wherever it was crowding my new plants.  The whole morning I culled and un-crowded.  I dumped a wheelbarrow full of Purple Phacelia in the Meadow.   

I soaked some sphagnum moss in water.  Then I amended the soil with it and sowed Hyacinth Bean seeds (that I soaked for 2 nights) on the front arbor, the small trellis and the large trellis in the Star Garden, on the chain link fence in the Star Garden, and along one of the conveyor belts.   Since I was sowing seed in dry spots, I thought it might be a good idea to add sphagnum to the soil because it holds moisture so well.  It's an experiment.  

I sowed birds nest gourd seeds in several buckets in the Vegetable Garden.  I planted an Early Girl tomato in one of the beds.  Did some weeding.  Planted 3 marijuana plants that I started from seed.  And I sowed some cotton seeds that Bert collected from a cotton field he was passing by last year.  I thought the grandkids might get a kick out of it.  Sowed 2 rows of grey stripe sunflowers in the narrow 16 foot bed.  Picked lots of asparagus.  It's a bumper crop.  I filled in blank spots in the Lima Bean bed.  I sowed some hot pink Cleome seed in the potato bed.  Planted a pineapple sage in a bucket.  Planted a sweet basil in the tomato bed.  Sowed a packet of red lettuce. 

I spent more time in the Orchard.  I spread Cosmos and Polar Bear zinnias along the grape vine bed.  Pulled weeds.  I set up the sprinkler and watered my seed beds from today, yesterday and last week.

It's official.  I have gone organic.  No more Round Up.  I'm using 30% vinegar diluted with water by less than half, salt and dish soap.  More on that as time passes.  I sprayed the vinegar mix in the Water Garden, the Star Garden and the Rose Garden.  

Monday, Bert and I headed to the hill Country with Nancy and Lisa for 3 days.  

Colonial White Verbena March 13, 2023

 This verbena has been blooming since February.  The first year I grew it, it bloomed profusely all spring and summer.  Last year during the drought it did not do so well.  But this year it is having an outstanding beginning.  I have Colonial planted in the Star garden, the Rose Garden and the Water Garden.  I love the clear white color.  It is a standout.