Through the Garden Gate, Monday

Cindy, at My Corner of Katy, suggested to me that we start a tradition of posting a picture each Monday of a panoramic view of our garden, typically from the same vantage point each week. I love the idea, so I can see how my baby-garden progresses and grows. We would love for everyone to join in that wants to, so that we can all share in the seasonal changes and growth habits of our outdoor worlds.

Cindy has been doing this for several weeks now, and I’m just now joining in. And a day late, at that. I did take the photos Sunday evening, but didn’t get a chance to process pictures until Monday night. So here is my garden, standing at my gate, with my Path of Choices. You can see that it is filled in a bit more from when I did the hardscaping and added a new bed a month ago.

I’ve been wondering why my plants seem to be behind in growth compared to other Austin gardens. I know of one reason – lack of sunshine. Because of the nature of the trees and houses around me, my southside backyard doesn’t get much direct sun until the sun climbs higher into the sky nearer to summer. Usually in May I can claim one area of the yard to have almost 6 hours total sun off and on throughout the day, which qualifies as a sunny bed. Plants that really enjoy the sunshine just won’t work here, but I can coax blooms from Esperanza and Hibiscus, even if they aren’t as prolific as they might be in more sun. Other parts of my yard will get about 4 hours per day – qualifying as partial shade. But prior to May, I just don’t get that much direct sun, so the plants are slow to get started.

I also end up sometimes overwatering, despite my desire to conserve. Because so many of my plants are new and our drought is so severe, I have to water enough to keep those shallow baby roots growing. But then the clay underneath absorbs all that moisture, and my older plants with deeper roots don’t like the constant wetness. It’s a balancing act right now. And again with the drought, the plants are being watered with city water instead of rain, which doesn’t help the nutrition levels. Last year I lost several plants – some to drying out and some to drowning. You can tell I’m not so good with that balancing act just yet.

However, things are looking a bit chlorotic, so I decided to do a home soil test. Despite compost, seaweed and fish emulsion, my soil is nitrogen depleted. It is clay, after all, with lots of mulch. Both of these things suck the nitrogen out of the soil. And then suck the life out of the plants.

I went to Natural Gardener and picked up John’s Recipe in the liquid form. I’ll spray once a week until things get more established, then back off to every 2-3 weeks. Next season I’m going to have to break down and remove the mulch and put John’s Recipe in the pellet form directly into the soil to keep the soil fertile. And by then, hopefully the plants will have a bit better root system and I can water a bit less frequently.

It will be interesting for me to watch the progress as my soil improves, the sun gets higher in the sky and my plants get older. Won’t you join us?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day- April, 2009

Many thanks, as always, to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for creating and hosting this monthly event in the world of garden blogging.

Many of you read my recent whine about feeling like my yard  looks just like the local Whataburger, so I set out today to prove myself wrong. With this bloom from a passalong rose from Lori/Gardener of Good and Evil, I think I achieved that!

Double Delight Rose is gorgeous, with a scent to match.
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The Primrose Jasmine is at its peak.

The Mock Orange is just beginning. It will probably peak next week, especially if we get the “promised” rain in the forecast.

I didn’t even know that this recently planted Pittisporum bloomed, but it was covered with buds a week ago and these sweet, light yellow blooms have a fragrant scent to boot.

And I’m still loving my Double Ranunculus. It is going strong, with more buds to follow. These were bulbs picked up on a whim at Barton Springs Nursery last fall.

This most recent bloom on the same plant, though, is a single form.

This is my latest Ivy Geranium, a winter hardy geranium if I protect it from cold.

Another look at Double Delight from the front.

I finally got a decent photo of the bulbine.

The Abutilon is blooming. I love the variegated leaves with the busy, veined blooms.

And yet another Ivy Geranium. I love how you can see a bloom through the sheer curtains of the gazebo.

The Byzantine Gladiolus, an indulgence purchase from Southern Bulbs. Great color, aren’t they?

Coral Nymph Salvia Cocciniea. Molly Ivans is blooming in the front yard as well.

White Salvia Greggii, Pink Sunburst Canna, and The Flash peeking at me.

The Bottlebrush is just about to burst into blooms all over. I’m anxiously awaiting that, it’s a sight to see every spring.

Spotted Dead Nettle with Impatiens; a nice shade combo in a container.

A close-up of the Gladiolus.

Verbena is blooming in several colors now.

And this newly blooming plant just popped up as I was strolling through the garden taking pictures.

Other blooms are a kolanchoe, an aloe, ice plant, ajuga, red salvia, pink salvia, purple heart, and society garlic, bicolor Iris and butterfly Iris are just beginning.

Happy Dirt

Seratonin-booster Mock Orange is beginning to bloom.

My decades as an alternative health practitioner leads me to varying reading that might not be readily available, and sometimes I find priceless little tidbits. A study in the Neuroscience Journal from 2007 found that exposure to the bacteria found in dirt boosts Seratonin levels in the brain. Gardeners already know this, even if they don’t know the science behind it.

Seratonin is the neurotransmitter that boosts feelings of serenity, peace, joy and happiness. Seratonin also balances Dopamine, the excitability neurotransmitter that makes us nervous, edgy, irritable and sharp. Digging in the dirt literally is an anti-depressant. Studies also have shown that kids that dig in the dirt are exposed in a healthy way to bacteria that improve their immune systems. You don’t have to dig barehanded; sitting, kneeling, and as you know – scooting and crawling sometimes – will do it. Once you start digging and planting, the bacterium spores are available airborn as you breathe.

But no need to tell anyone reading this blog; if you are having a bad day, go out into the garden! No wonder sending kids outdoors to play helps so many things. And perhaps the dramatic rise in antidepressant medication prescriptions might have to do with the urbanization of our culture, travelling in vehicles, using electronics instead of playing outside, and the lack of connection to the earth. Many times I would ask a patient: “When was the last time you walked barefoot on the earth?”, and many times that person couldn’t remember. Amazing!

Even when I didn’t have time to “garden” and only planted annuals, containers or the occasional hardy evergreen, I couldn’t get through the day without sitting outdoors and breathing the plant-cleansed air. I think if I hadn’t been in the healthcare industry for so long, I would never have realized just how many people don’t do these basic things. People go on vacation to rejuvenate; oftentimes these vacations are the only connection people get to the earth and mother nature. I can’t imagine living in a city like New York or Hong Kong, where asphalt, conrete and dirty air is a way of life.

And though I haven’t yet seen a study on it, I’m convinced that water, especially ocean water, contains the same seratonin-boosting qualities. I’m never as happy as when I’ve spent a week on the ocean. I think I need a vacation!

it’s hard to be unique when everyone is hip

Pink Ranunculus (Double buttercup)

I love this bright pink flower of the Double Ranunculus bulbs I planted last fall. It began its bloom season a couple of weeks ago, as the Amethyst Flame Iris was winding down. It seems that everything else is in between cycles (okay, except for the sweet Primrose Jasmine, it’s going strong), so this has been the sole bloom of any drama over the past week. And even though I planted it in the “yellow” bed, I’m going to leave it just where it is, because it’s very happy in this spot. I have five more buds on the way, and hopefully they’ll open this week while I have company. And yes, there are more blooms in my yard, but this is the most unusual right now.

I’ve worked hard in my yard – ‘garden’, now; it used to be a yard, right? – to display my personality. Gregarious, simple lines, no clutter, a bit tropical. With the plant choice constraints that seem to exist in Central Texas due to alkaline soil, clay, rocks, extreme heat, no winter, lots of rain and then drought, and did I mention the heat? – I rely heavily on natives and adapted natives in order to hopefully get something that lives, or even thrives.

But you know what discouraged me today? I realized driving around that all the commercial areas near my home are hip to the native plantings, too. I’m sure the locally published Landscape Guide has created this monster, but even the Whataburger has some of the same plants that I’m growing. Everywhere I go, I see Esperanza, Plumbago, Bulbine, Knockout Roses, Mountain Laurels, Agaves, Grasses and Salvia Greggii. My health club has a gorgeous expanse of yellow daylilies and knockout roses together. Why am I complaining? It’s great to see beautiful blooms and not just Bermuda grass in commercial parking lots and medians.

It’s just that, I want my yard to be unique to me. I want it to be MY expression. I guess I just want more choices than what seems to work here, that I also like. There’s a lot of plants available that I could use, but they just don’t appeal to me. I like lush and bold, bright flowers. That’s pretty rare around here. Sigh. Maybe I’m just tired. Maybe I’m just annoyed cause Whataburger got my order wrong, yet again.

I love Austin, don’t get me wrong. I love keepin’ it weird. I love the whimsical attitude that permeates everything, from the Capitol 10k to the hubcabs and Velvet Elvis paintings at Chuy’s. But it’s hard to be hip, when everyone is cool.

If you build it, it will come

Previously, I mentioned this new bed that was calling out to be created once I moved my fenceline last year. As the vision came together finally this spring, the hardscape was completed with much digging of grass, removing of rocks, amending of dirt, and adding Benda-board edging.

I’m letting the bed tell me what it wants. I’ve done this same process with all my planting beds so far; each one has its own personality and color scheme, and each one was created as a blank canvas germinating inspiration.

While far from complete, the color scheme is underway with warm pinks and creams contrasting sweetly with the greens and purples of the leaves.

Warm pink is a color I adore but for some unknown reason haven’t yet put anywhere else in the yard. With the unexpected purchase of the Canna Lilly Pink Sunburst and a few gorgeous pink/cream Tropical Sage (Salvia Coccinea) for shade, I was off and running.

Canna Lily Pink Sunburst

Tropical Sage (Salvia Coccinea) Coral Nymph

I found this little Ivy Geranium (a tender perennial) with blooms that are cream with warm pink edges.  The purple in the leaves also echoes the color in the Canna leaves.

Since I’ve fallen in love with my other lavender Ivy Geranium, I thought this was a good addition that I will enjoy. However, I put this one in the ground while my lavender version is in a container that gets protected in the winter. Perhaps I’ll uproot this one and pot it for the cold weather as well.

Two white Salvia Greggii blend easily in the small part of the bed that gets a bit more sun. I’ll see as the year goes on if they get enough hours of sunshine to be happy or will need to be moved to a sunnier location.

A Mardi Gras dwarf Abelia was in another bed and not doing well, and I realized its pink-edged leaves would work in the new bed, so up it came and changed neighborhoods to the warm pink zone.

Pink Turk’s Cap went into the shady areas, of which there are many. An aggressive grower, it should flourish and cover many of the shady spots fairly quickly.

A few annual pink-blooming begonias fill in the bare spots while I wait for the perennials to grow. Bamboo Muhly is getting started in a part shade location for background interest.

Evergreen shrubs are next on my list, and again, I’m waiting for the bed to talk to me. So far, I’m loving this one a lot. It has been fun, and the color is soothing and exciting all at once.

What do you suggest adding to this bed? I need shade-loving evergreens of varying heights, and perhaps some new warm pink blooming plants that I don’t know about? I’m considering adding a Rose Mallow. What would you use for contrast? I would love some winter-blooming warm pinks, but I can’t think of any. This bed is under deciduous Cedar Elms, so winter plants would get full sun, while spring and summer plants are morning sun or shade only. Suggestions please, everyone?