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CONTAINERS/ANNUALS - SPRING/SUMMER

 

Blooms & Beyond: Year-Round Color for Your Garden

Wondering how to have year-round color in your garden?   I recently gave a presentation to the Grapevine Garden Club on this topic and the video was posted to YouTube.   Click HERE to check it out!

The plants mentioned in this talk are geared toward the Dallas/Fort Worth area in hardiness Zone 7/8, but if you live in other parts of the country, maybe it will inspire you to think through the seasons and how you can add color to your garden with plants that are hardy in your area.    Click HERE to see the plant list.

Below I've listed the garden centers and resources I mentioned in the presentation.

Here's to hoping you have something colorful in your garden all year long!

Toni :-)

Grapevine Garden Club
grapevinegardenclub.com

Stegall's Nursery & Plant Farm
stegallsnursery.com

Metro Maples
metromaples.com

Neil Sperry
neilsperry.com

aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu

TCMGA
tarrantmg.org

Fort Worth Botanic Gardens
fwbg.org

Diggin' in the Dirt - Summer Newsletter 2016

If you garden in Zone 7/8, click the newsletter links below to get tips for your summer gardening...

Diggin' in the Dirt Summer Newsletter

Containers/Annuals Summer Newsletter 

Happy Gardening...

Toni :-)

August Fruits of my Labor

I didn't want August to just fade into the annals of photographic history, so on this Labor Day Holiday in September, I thought I'd take a look back at last month's progress in my redeemed hellstrip to see the fruits of my spring labor.

 Here is a picture of the "before" in January 

and the "after" right after planting was completed in late May.

And here's August...

 The Blackfoot Daisies have grown huge!   

And they have the most lovely fragrance :-) 

Sometimes they can be a little cold tender in North Texas, but I am hoping since they are surrounded by all that rock and concrete that they won't go on strike come winter.

The annual 'Cora' Vincas and Moss Roses have done a nice job of filling empty spaces until the perennials fill in.   They have not taken a day off from blooming all summer!

The 'Walker's Low' Catmint and Zexmenia have been working hard all summer in this strip too.   They have definitely earned their keep in my garden!

The driveway end of the strip is progressing a little slower than the rest of the bed because of drier conditions, but the Pink Skullcap and Sedums should be back in business next spring.

Here are some August photos from the other side of the walk, where my garden has performed well all summer even in hot and humid working conditions.

The 'Azure Skies' Heliotrope and Blackfoot Daisies have grown so much, they have almost completely blocked passage down the sidewalk.

Mexican Mikweed (Asclepias curassavica) is on the job, waiting for the Monarch butterflies to report for duty next month.

I hope you were able to take a break from work today to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

Gardens are so rewarding, aren't they?!!

Toni :-)

What's Bloomin' - July 2013

July is one of my favorite months in my garden.   The hard work of spring is over and I can just enjoy my garden and the wildlife it brings.   What better way to spend the day than strolling through my garden with no specific agenda, just deadheading perennials here and there, plucking a few weeds,  marveling at the bees and butterflies, and pausing to take a picture of the newest bloom on the scene (and yes, I must admit, dripping sweat and swatting mosquitoes -- this is Texas in July, after all).

So humor me with my delusions of garden grandeur and come stroll through my garden with me to see what's blooming...

The front perennial beds are full of color:   

Lantana, salvias, phlox, rudbeckia, loosestrife, daylilies, and more.

This swallowtail butterfly paused just long enough on the 'John Fanick' Phlox for a nice photo op.

 

Last month the swallowtails were partial to the bee balm

The fountain by the front walk bubbles away among 

the phlox, rudbeckia, and ferns

 

 

Unlike those pesky mosquitoes,
annual cosmos is always welcome wherever it lands.

The bold foliage of the 'King Humbert' Canna provides a beautiful backdrop for the orange cosmos and 'Karley Rose' fountain grass on one side, as well as the spikes of 'Morden's Pink' Loosestrife on the other side

The new hellstrip (a/k/a heavenly patch of perennials) along the street is starting to fill in nicely.

The crape myrtles are in full bloom

 Mosquitoes being the exception, good things can come in small packages.   

Katie's Ruellia is a faithful summer bloomer

I am starting to become a daylily addict, 

recently adding seven new varieties to my garden.

Here are a few still blooming this month.

Top Left:  Orange (unknown variety - gift from a friend)

Top Right:  Hawaiian Nights

Lower Left:  Persian Market

Lower Right:  Rosy Rhino

Moving to the backyard....

This pink water lily is new to my garden (also a gift from a friend)

After getting off to a very rocky start after being transplanted in 2011 (our worst summer on record!), the 'Endless Summer' Hydrangea proved to be a survivor and bloomed beautifully this year. 

 

And the Oakleaf Hydrangeas have faded to a lovely shade of pink.

 

Unlike my sweaty clothes after a day in the garden, 

the blooms of my 'Guacamole' Hosta have a gardenia-like fragrance :-)

Speaking of sweating, on a recent trip to Beaufort, South Carolina 

(it's just a wee bit humid there),

 I purchased this new hummingbird feeder.  

I hope the hummers like it as much as I do

All sweating and swatting aside,
I hope you've enjoyed July's blooms in my garden.

Join Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day
and a look at more gardens around the world.

And may your delusions of garden grandeur become reality

Toni :-)

What's Bloomin' - September 2012

We've had a few gloriously wet, dreary days here in north central Texas.  Glorious and dreary may seem to be a contradiction in terms, but after a hot, dry Texas summer, a few days of wet and dreary is pretty glorious :-)

Here's a look at what's blooming in my garden this month.

Against the bold backdrop of 'King Humbert' Canna, my favorite perennial Salvia greggii is starting to put on its autumn show.  'Karley Rose' Fountain Grass adds wispy texture.

The bright red color of a volunteer Salvia coccinea pops against the sea of blue 'Henry Duelberg' Salvia.   I love free plants, especially when they grow in just the right spot :-)  These red tubular blooms are hummer magnets, too (sorry I'm not quick enough to get a picture).

And more Salvia greggii, violet this time.   

The 'Regal Mist' Muhly Grass (lower left) is just starting to plume.

More free plants, 

the annual Melampodium reseeds here and there in my garden

 and is always welcome.

Here the Melampodium popped up near 'Helen von Stein' Lamb's Ear.   In the upper left side is a tiny remnant of 'Autumn Fire' Sedum trying to bloom.   Try as I might, 'Autumn Joy/Fire' Sedum just does not grow well in my garden.

The lone rose in my garden ('Knock-Out') does seem to be happy in this spot. 

It anchors the corner by the driveway.

Below the 'Knock-Out' Rose, I grow 'Azure Skies' Heliotrope and Zexmenia.  These two plants don't photograph very well, but they are two of the toughest plants I have in my garden, blooming nonstop even in the hottest of summers.

Rudbeckia 'Triloba' brightens up a partially shady spot under my 'Fire Dragon' Shantung Maple tree.   Another bulletproof plant, Purple Heart, sprawls below.

Here are some wider shots of the front perennial beds.

Moving to the backyard...

Garlic Chives are blooming along the flagstone walk to the backyard.    I am planning to transplant some of these to areas where I am currently growing daylilies.   Since the foliage looks similar, I am hoping it will blend in with the daylily fans and will add some fall blooms to areas where the daylilies only bloom spring and summer.   I'll let you know how it works out next fall.

One of the mainstays of my shady backyard is native, fall-blooming Turk's Cap.   I have Spanish Bluebell bulbs planted below for spring color.   In other areas, I inter-plant with 'Texas Gold' Columbine for spring blooms.

'African Blue' Basil.  If you plant it, they will come.    Bees, that is.

Hummingbirds love the tubular blooms of the 'Black & Blue' Salvia (Salvia guaranitica)

Annual Pentas are ready for the butterflies

Even the unassuming Variegated Liriope is getting in on the fall show

Fresh raindrops still on its petals, the Rain Lily lives up to its name :-)

And as we leave the backyard, you can see that the Hyacinth Bean Vine has completely covered the new arbors we had built this spring.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of September blooms in my garden.   

Want to see more blooms?  Visit May Dreams Gardens

Toni :-)