PASSION FLOWER: Happy Macro Monday

Passiflora incarnata

(click on image for macro)

A native wildflower and vine here in Texas. I always think this would  be a great design for a space station.

For more, visit Lisa http://lisaschaos.com/

THE GREAT WESTWARD SHIFT: Saying Good-bye to Unsustainable Lawns

Dry landscape options abound for cities like Houston, Texas

Houston gardeners like myself are opting for a different look than the unsustainable St. Augustine lawn.  However, if you get around .50" of rainfall weekly in your area, then you can grow a lawn with very little supplemental watering. That has not been the case for Houston these last two summers.

 This is now the second summer of watering this part of my front lawn. For the past 7 years I've been shifting to plants you'd find further west. Drought and higher summer temperatures are the driving forces behind this decision. Plus, it feels good to have a garden that can take care of itself!

  Note: I'll keep the shadier areas of the lawn since they take much less water.

I really enjoy garden design and landscaping. Here's the original idea I presented to the people at San Jacinto Stone. They recommended Rio Grande Boulders rather than something smaller. The boulders were about $2.00 a piece.

 The red circles represent small boulders. Surrounding these will be gravel. The yellow areas will be coarse sand.  For plants, I'm going to use a very low growing Ruellia and the beautiful silver gray licorice plant in that top photo. Both grow well in full sun. I'm keeping the plantings sparse.

Here's a close up of the textures.

I looped out the area I'm working on with a garden hose. I layed down some sample gravel along with the stones. When finished, they'll be partially sunk into the ground for a natural look.

I'm leaving an path of green between the two areas. All of the grass in the stone area will be removed and replaced with sand.

I'm also going to use larger gravel along the street to stop the sand from washing out. I'll take some of the topsoil and us it for potting soil.

This is the ground hugging Ruellia I'll use along with the silvery licorice plant seen in the top photo. It will have a Japanese rock garden look.

PART II:

I start back to school next week and though I love my job as a teacher, I dream of gardening more and more.  Cramming so much landscaping into one month is difficult. Still, I'm thankful I have a bit of time to work on major projects.

Soon, I'll post three books for garden designers interested in THE GREAT WESTWARD SHIFT. This would apply to the Houston area. To see an excellent and inspirational Dallas version of lawnless gardening, visit Plano Prairie Garden at http://planobluestem.blogspot.com . You might be surprised at how many birds and butterflies suddenly start appearing!

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

WHEN FLOOD MEETS DROUGHT: A TROPICAL SYSTEM IS AIMED AT TEXAS!

Update: Our part of central Houston received .95" of rain on Friday and .35" on Saturday from TS Don. This brings the monthly total to 3.60"....a normal amount of rain for the first time since January. Sadly, we plunge back into the drought next week with a high pressure dome parked over us and temperatures near 100 degrees all week. Still, I'm happy to get any rain at all. For now, the rain barrels are all full.  updated 7/30/11 David/


All the tracking models are lining this one up for the TEXAS coast this FRIDAY. IF it comes in south of Houston, then we get the wonderful DIRTY side of the storm with boatloads of precious, lifegiving rain. If it tracks further south towards Corpus Christi, then another lucky part of TEXAS gets to dance in the thunderstorms. As long as the winds stay under 74mph, they'll be only joy and happiness for this parched land. Stay tuned!

Source: National Weather Service ~ Houston/Galveston Station

UPDATED THURSDAY NIGHT:

Houston has a 60% of rain tomorrow morning with the chance of some of Don's outer bands tracking across our area. Anything would be helpful during this drought. Hopefully much of South Texas will see heavy rains up to 4 inches in spots.

FUN GARDEN TOUR: My Blue Bottle Garden

The narrow space between houses is a challenging spot for garden design. My blue bottle tree is on hold for now because I'm using the bottles for bottle spikes and bottle pitchforks. I call this the Marfa Texas part of my garden since the town is known for its blend of West Texas Twang and Cutting Edge Art.

I'd like to think I invented this idea....a blue bottle tree, I mean a blue bottle fork! Isn't it fun?

I'm hard on garden tools, but now I know what to do with the metal leftovers. As the rest of the monkey grass dies, it will look like hay. I'm not watering this area anymore.

Here's one of the blue bottle spike bushes.

Here's a green and clear bottle spike bush.

Blue agaves, Blue bottles, Blue house paint...it's all sort of relaxing.

My last blue bottle spike bush.

I made the walkway out of salvaged brick and some pavers. Black star gravel adds the finishing touch.

Oh look, a chair!

Our teenage son loves to show his friends this part of the garden. Even the coolest of them say ..."Dude, this is nice."

Hope you like the Blue Bottle Garden. Maybe you can make your own!

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

MONTHLY GARDEN BOUQUET: THE LIVING BOUQUET

After a year of searching, my wife has taken a job. She comes home tired and needs some happiness. So I decided to make these living bouquets that greet her at the front door. I cut down to size a plastic pot to fit inside the clay pots. Otherwise, all the moisture would vanish by midday.
Visit my friend Noelle, for other Garden Bouquets and send some her way to post in August. She's at www.azplantlady.com

Mussaenda luteola

                                            Serena purple Angelonia

                                     Evolvulus nuttallianus ~ Blue Daze

Here are the tags if you want to track down the plants. I use the silver gray foliage of Berggarten Sage with blues and purples.

It was so much fun I went ahead and made three! Each pot has 4 plants.

It's hard to capture an image of plants in a circular container. One is always left out. This view shows how nicely the sage curves over the edge of the pottery. Aren't they beautiful leaves? Plus, they're a herb! These should bloom until frost.

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

Why I Garden: Reason #2: A Garden is Filled With Hope ~ Happy Macro Monday

My friend gave me a Kalanchoe baby this week. This little tyke is bursting with hope that the roots will touch soil. (They did)

Here's the macro of the unique silver gray 'skin' .

My wife has been discourged this week with some unsettling medical news.  She said for me to pray and look for signs of hope. So I made this little pond for her (plus I needed to look at some water during this seemingly endless drought). As I was arranging the rocks, I found this...

I had gathered these rocks from all over the yard and had picked up a plain white one (look back in the previous photo...it's the one directly below the white triangular stone ).

As I arranged the stones, you can imagine how startled I was to find a message under this rock! God works in mysterious ways. I told my wife I had found some hope while working in the garden.

Hope you find some hopeful signs in your garden this week. New flowers, new baby plants, new butterflies, and maybe the hope of precious rainfall here in the South.

David/:-)

Earlier Post on March 1, 2011... Why I Garden: Reason #1~ A Garden will Always Surprise You

DECISIONS, DECISIONS ~ HAVING FUN WITH GRAVEL

It's my last week before I have to start thinking about school again (I'm a teacher). That means all of my summer projects are in full swing. This week I am making decisions on gravel paths for our agave garden. I'm also lining our rustic brick path with gravel that has to match blue bottles. The blue bottle 'shrubs' are interspersed with blue agaves, so I want a gravel that's subtle and blends well, sort of an afterthought to the viewer. I really get into this kind of thing. My wife brings home paint samples; I bring home gravel samples. Funny, huh?

L to R: black star drain rock, medium bronze pebbles, light chert drain rock, playground brown pebbles

From bottom to top: chert drain rock, black star, basalt blocks, medium bronze pea gravel, black Rio Grande cobbles,  rainbow mix pea gravel, & mixed Rio Grande cobbles.

I've been getting stones from San Jacinto Stone since 1989. They are at 195 Yale Street in central Houston, Texas. They are open all week and on weekends from 9 to 3.

They have 26 kinds of sand, gravel, and cobbles. First, you drive into the place and park at the office. If you've never been to a rock yard, it can be a bit overwhelming. Don't panic.  Go in and look at the display case and get some prices. For small orders, they sell everything by the bag. After you pay the cashier, they will use a walkie-talkie and tell the guys to bag up your order. Drive to the gravel area and they will load it for you. I usually give them a dollar tip since I am so glad they load it for me. Then drive home. That's it!

Here are some of the bags. They can weigh from 70 to 80 lbs each, so get someone to load it for you.

This was last summer when it rained 12 inches in one month.

Each gravel is marked with a bag price and prices for larger amounts. The prices are very reasonable.

If you like to do your own landscaping, this is a very exciting place. It's usually not this wet...it was an unusually wet summer last year.

I'll post my finished landscaping projects by the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by. David/ :-)

SINGING IN THE RAIN

We woke up to overcast skies and a steady rain all morning. Temperatures were 79 instead of 97 and my son decided to sit on the porch and sing in the rain. I think my whole garden is singing as well.
Hope the rain keeps pouring all over those who need it. We got .35" and I collected almost 100 gallons of rainwater from the roof.

Crown of Thorns display intricate water patterns

Our son, the musician, "Singing in the Rain". Here are 3 of the 20 water containers we use to harvest rain water. Each hold 10 to 15 gallons of water when full.

This little guy came out to see the rare rainfall.

Rain drops on a Rain tree. :-)

Have I ever told you green is my favorite color?

Yeah! I don't have to water today. Only the second time in months.

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

MACRO MONDAY ~ THE BIRTH OF A BUTTERFLY

This morning our giant swallowtail emerged from its confines and went out to meet the garden. I hope to see it many times this summer. This is the first giant swallowtail we've taken from caterpillar to adulthood. I had such a small part in its life, but really felt I 'knew' this little guy as it sat on a leaf for the first time. For more macro stories, visit our host Lisa, at http://lisaschaos.com .

Giant swallowtail patterns

In the jar. Next time, I will place papertowels in the bottom for them to crawl on. It was one day earlier than I expected.

I've done this at the butterfly museum, but never in our garden. It's what wildlife gardening is all about.

Our butterfly, only an hour or two old and resting on a leaf. Hope to see you tomorrow.

David/ :-)

LANDSCAPING WITH ALOES: UNSUNG HEROES

As I face 90% of my plants under attack from drought this year, and another 9% recovering from an agave weevil outbreak (that is now over, thank God), the 1% left are ALOES and a few Opuntias oblivious to the conditions.
I don't have a large ALOE collection like some in frost free areas of South Africa, California, and Australia.  I find tree aloes particularly fascinating, but they don't grow here in Houston. What I do have are aloes suited for the Texas Gulf Coastal regions that are tough and carefree. I take some into the greenhouse during winter since I've lost many to our occasional severe freezes.

This is Aloe transvaalensis, or Aloe zebrina. The babies start off flat to the ground, then larger plants start to curl in this snake charmer shape. You MUST take this one in during a freeze.

This is my Aloe saponaria bed. This is the easiest aloe to grow and can take down to 25 degrees and return to full size. They bloom every year.

This is Aloe striata. It's a beautiful shade of sea foam green.

Aloe ciliaris with variegated Yucca. This aloe also is root hardy in a frost. It likes eastern sun with afternoon shade. It is also known as climbing aloe and it will artistically snake through other vegetation on its way to sunshine.

These short, plump aloes cling to the ground almost like Lithops. They are from a friend and all she would say is that people in Mexico grow them. It is almost as hardy as Aloe saponaria. Notice that one has turned brown. They do this during too much sun or during cold, dry winters.

This looks like Aloe saponaria, but it's not. It's a different species that blooms at a different time of year. It is shinier and has more striations in the leaves. It also lacks that classic recurved foliage of saponaria. I got it from Yucca Do nursery in Giddings, Texas. It is also frost tolerant to 25 degrees.

This is probably Aloe socotrina, but it came without a label. I love the teeth on this one.

This little aloe turns purple brown during winter. I don't know its name.

This is the front rock bed by the drive. Aloes really look good with the mellow, soft-leaved Agaves such as Agave celsii and Agave desmettiana (not shown).  Squid agave is in the background.

Did you know there are variegated aloes? It's rare and I only have this one to show you.

Thanks for stopping by Foliage Follow-up. Please visit our host, Pam at Digging to see more great foliage.  http://www.penick.net/digging

David/ :-)