Asparagus Fern Update

It's been almost a year since I divided the Asparagus ferns, and they are doing quite nicely:

Small pot--it is broken, so this one will find a sturdier home soon.

This one is out by the garden in a clay pot that was spray-painted
black at one time. Funny!

This one is on the porch and is going crazy!!

The foliage is looking a little lime green, so I will probably ask Pat which fertilizer to use.  Maybe an Ironite, just to get it going green.  The one on the porch looks deep green, but that was the camera flash.

Here is the link to the previous post showing how to divide Asparagus fern.  Not for the faint of heart, but well worth it!

Here are some other ferns that Pat divided last year.  I'm sorry, but I don't know the name of the fern. Happily, new growth is emerging!

Dragon Wings and Such

Pat doesn't understand why I want to put tons of plants into one container.  I suppose I have Pinterest and other gardening blogs to blame for that!

Pinned on Pinterest--Photo Credit:  Daryl Mitchell

Combining plants in a planter adds interest and beauty.  Although, I admit I am still quite a novice at the art.  Last year I designed a container arrangement in a beautiful green bowl, shown below.  Unfortunately, the drought and heat got to the new plants, and only the spider plant survived.

Spider plant, Angel wing begonia and other plants
in green bowl--July 2011

Here is the 2012 version.  I've added a succulent and Dusty Miller to the spider plant.  I'm sorry, but I don't know the name of the succulent.  It's a little annoying when plants are not labeled at the garden store and no one knows what they are, but I'm willing to give just about anything a try.

The angle is a little off, but the spider plant is growing well, Dusty Miller
is in the background, and the succulent is doing well in the
foreground.  I already know I'll have to transplant the spider
at the end of summer.

Here is another container garden for 2012--and it's my pride and joy!  I have crammed this planter with Dragon wing begonias, money wort (I think), Dusty Miller, and two baby spider plants.  May the fittest survive...the rest will be plucked up and re-potted or composted!!

Dragon wing begonia container--2012

Finally, just so everyone knows I really do some gardening around the yard, I made Pat take a picture of me.  I'm laughing because I know it's a horrible picture!

Boneygirl--the Southwest Gardner!

A New Vision!

Pat moves the rock border back
to make it easier to get to the
carport.

Prior to visiting Zilker Botanical Gardens on Thursday, Pat and I had started a project near our driveway.  Previously, the rock border was about a foot farther out.  When I pulled my car into the carport, I often had to run over the border just to get back out again.  Pat had removed a tree and several saplings which made moving the wall back much easier. 



After our inspirational visit to Zilker, we see new potential in this area of the yard.  One of the plants that caught my eye was the Cast Iron plants at Zilker.  They look a lot like Cannas, but they have purple-brown blooms in the spring.  They love drought and are hardy to zone 6 (-10°)--yippee!!  They are shade tolerant and mix well with irises, hostas and other perennials.  We purchased our Cast Iron plants at Green 'n Growing Garden Center in Pflugerville.  This is a fantastic little nursery offering all sorts of native Texas plants, pottery, and yard art!

Other plants purchased at Green 'n Growing were Flame Acanthus, Sapphire Showers, and Mexican Oregano. I also bought a lovely green pot which you'll see in another post.

Our last staycation stop was at Bonnies Greenhouse today.  I bought some plants for my new pot, Mexican Honeysuckle, Mexican Sage, and a patio tomato plant to replace one of our spent tomato plant.  I just love buying new plants for the yard.  We don't quite know where we'll put all the new additions, but we'll have a blast trying to figure it out!!

Welcome home sweet plants!!

Repotting 101--Asparagus Fern

Asparagus fern about to be rescued by yours truly!

Pat and his mom have the same mantra:  Ferns love to be root bound.  That may be true, but root-bound plants get on my nerves!! I have been asking Pat to repot several of our ferns that Mom B gave us years ago!  To me they look like they are struggling.  However, if one is patient and picks the right time to re-pot--ferns can easily multiply! 

The asparagus fern that is about to do a multiplying act is actually sitting on the table without it's pot.  Yes folks, talk about root bound--I could probably leave the plant like it is for several months, water it, and it'd still be green and good to go!!  However, that might be border-line plant cruelty--so repotting, here we come!

Asparagus Fern

Before we get to the repotting portion of this post, a little bit about asparagus ferns.  In my brief research on this plant I learned quickly that it is not part of the asparagus family, nor a fern.  The foliage looks like asparagus plants, and the way the plant falls over the pot looks like a fern.  However, this plant is a part of the lily family because it flowers and produces berries.  Asparagus fern loves sun and drought!  That is a boost for this family's yard!  Allowing the plant to dry thoroughly between watering is highly recommended.  While it does like sun--in this Texas heat we're having the foliage will turn yellow if there is too much sun, so part shade is recommended.  We have ours in dappled shade, and I will be looking for other areas in the yard to give my newly repotted plants a little more sun so they can flourish.  The ferns can be planted in the soil and will die back due to freezing, but will rebound in the spring after the dead foliage is cut back.  I have not noticed asparagus fern in the ground in our area (8a/b), but apparently folks in Louisiana plant the fern in the ground all over the place. 

Prior to sawing, it's important to part the "hair." 
Okay, I was just messing around here!!

Repotting the root-bound fern

I must warn you the pictures your are about to see may shock and amaze you, but if repotting an asparagus fern is in your near future...reach for a hack-saw.  Yes, a saw.  After Pat had pulled one out and all the plants had been repotted, I actually read about it online.  These hearty plants can withstand it, and I promise--it's next to impossible to break the plant apart without a saw!



Here he goes!!  After the sawing, we had 4 plants to be potted!




This process will produce a lot of casualties, but the huge root system on this old plant (we can't remember how long we've had it, but we decided that it is at least 13 years old) will produce more foliage in no time at all.






Here's a shot of the root system--
This plant is here to stay!






I used my trusty wheelbarrow to mix the potting soil.  I used a mix of good potting soil and Lady Bug compost, plus just a little vermiculite to help with drainage.  I lightly wet the soil.  I wanted to be able to keep the soil loose around the roots in the new pots so the roots can quickly find their way to the nutrients and become root-bound in less than a year! (Just kidding about the root-bound part.)

Have fun repotting ferns---they are so lovely around the landscape and super easy to grow!!










The final product!!  Here are 3 of the 4 pots I was able to propagate.  Actually, I could have
split the plant in half--I didn't have large enough pots, and the pot the plant
was in originally was plastic and was not usable.



Broiling Hot! Garden Update

I cannot believe I have not posted regularly this month--but I suppose when it's nothing but 100+ outside, the tough stay inside!!  Actually, our gardening activities have come to only watering, picking veggies and mowing so there really isn't a lot to report.  Even with the high temperatures and the Extreme drought stage we're in right now, I'm so proud that Pat has been able to keep everything growing.  We've harvested lovely tomatoes over the past several weeks--enough for us to eat. We have squash and zucchini, and Pat made a lovely black-eyed pea salad...but I dumped it on the floor (an accident)!  Oh, well...the veggie crop is starting to play out--I'll post more about that later.  On to a few photos and part 1 of my summer garden update.

Now I know what my mother-in-law did all the
time in her yard--she tamed the forest along
the fence!!

Pat and I spent this weekend at my in-laws house cleaning up the yard.  It's on the market and the backyard was a mess for sure!  Pat is chopping weeds and overgrowth from the flower bed my mother-in-law had there.  We're hoping the grass will fill in quickly since we've started watering again.

The dead plants are gone--I'm sure that was
killing the curb appeal!!

I raked out flower beds, trimmed vines and mowed.  When we finished we had to piles of brush, a full trash can and countless lawn bags full of leaves, sticks and vines!










Mom's potting benches spruce up our
back porch!




As a reward for our hard work--we brought home Mom's potting bench.  It needed to be hauled off anyway.  It's rotting away, but still has a few good years left.  It's perfect on the back porch!

Since we needed to pick up some sunflower seeds for the birds, I couldn't resist buying another plant.  Pat reminded me of the drought, but I had gardening goals in mind.  I searched through the plants and all I found were plants I already had, or dying annuals.  I was about to give up until I saw this lovely portulaca wanting a new home!!  It's from Brazil, so it isn't cold hardy--but in my lovely shell planter, it'll look nice inside during the wintertime.  I also plucked a few baby hen-n-chicks.  I've heard all you do is pick them off and put them in dirt.  We'll see!! If that's the case, I'll have hundreds of those before too long!!  Here's another container planting for my gardening goals checked off!

In my gardening goals, I commented how I was determined to find something to grow in this little flowerbed by the house.  I'm still working on it, but earlier this spring I had planted some cold-hardy/shade tolerant Hostas.  I quickly discovered why nothing grows in this bed.  The water hose is right by the bed, so it stays pretty moist.  As soon as I'd planted the Hostas...here came the dogs to cool themselves.  The photo below shows how we've remidied this problem.  I've lost one of my Hosta plants...but two are hanging on.  If we're lucky enough to get a couple more rains this summer, they may take off!

May Blooms & Such--2011

May is turning out to be a better month than April--probably due to the rain and the winds calming down a little.  Among a few other gardening chores I turned the compost pile yesterday, and it is finally showing signs of decomposition--I started it in earnest at the end of February.  I'll update the progress next time I turn the pile. 

Because yesterday was most likely the most beautiful day yet of spring, I decided to take a few quick snaps.  Some of my pictures are probably bright because I still don't know what I'm doing with that fancy camera of mine, and I also experimented some.  Nevertheless...here's what the lens saw:

The spineless will bloom!!

I'll start with my favorite--our spineless cactus!  In an earlier post (don't remember when) I was fearful that the spineless wouldn't bloom because of the lack of rain and the setback it had suffered the winter of 2010. 

But happily I was wrong about that.  Our spineless is loaded with an amazing amount of blooms.  Updates will definitely follow!!

Oxalis--Granny's favorite

I think I was playing around with F-stops and such on the camera with this shot.  Seriously, I do not know what I was doing!  But despite my lack of knowledge, I think the picture turned out okay.  Or perhaps I should say...thank goodness for Picasa!!

Desert Willow in bloom

We'll need a little more rain to get more blooms on the Desert Willow, but it is looking lovely right now!

Easter Lily

When taking this picture, I was practicing resetting the white balance on my camera.  A friend of mine had taught me what to do this week.  I don't know if I got it right or not, but this shot was better than the auto shot I took previously!




Bee Station



When it occurred to us that the the drought was impacting our wildlife, I remembered an article I had read about bees.  It suggested putting out shallow water stations so they can get water.  Pat suggested I use pot saucers until I find something more decorative.  I put rocks in the saucers so the bees can ease in and get a sip.

Squash blossoms!!

Some kind of fly or hornet on the Kalanchoe



And finally, our tomatoes are doing so well this year.  Pat and I are so excited.  Today he plans to water them with compost tea again.  They are cracking a little around the top, but with our temps spiking up and down and everything else...we're not worried about that at all!



Tomatoes!!





Container Garden Update & Soil Recipe

Feeling successful!

Yellow bloom on the succulent!



I have throroughly enjoyed my succulent container garden!  I can't tell you how many times I walked past the empty strawberry pot and cursed it because no matter what I'd planted, it died!  

On my oriniginal post I thought I had given the soil recipe for this garden, but I didn't.  I was probably thinking at the time: It's probably a good idea to wait and see if this thing works!

Tons of blooms!

The plants in the
openings are secure!

Succulent Recipe

Most people probably use sand and such for their succulents.  Pat and I always use what we have, and we don't have any sand.  I think the success for this container was adding a good compost to the mix and wetting the mixture first before planting. 

About 50% potting soil and 50% compost.

I added about a handful of vermiculite which helps retain moisture in the mixture and aerates the soil.

Next I moistened the soil in a tub and mixed the ingredients well.

When I potted the succulents, I added soil to the bottom of the first row of openings and packed it lightly.  I think one of the tricks to a strawberry pot is making sure the soil doesn't compact after the plants are added.  The soil needs to be compacted prior to watering in the plants so it doesn't shift.  I think that's how I've lost plants before---they literally fell out of the hole, and I couldn't smash them back in again!

Next I added one plant at a time to each hole while adding more potting soil mix and packing it down.  I continued until I reached the top.  I still watered everything in, but I didn't have to water much since my soil was moist to begin with.

Pat is so pleased with the result, he says he's going to move my container to a "prominent" spot in the garden to show it off!   

That makes me smile!

Spring Blooms--March 2011



Mountain Laurel Bloom
almost spent



Newer Mountain Laurel Blooms--so fragrant!

The Mountain Laurel blooms are so beautiful and fragrant.  However, this year we did not get as many as we usually have.  It could be due to Pat's pruning efforts, but I wouldn't change a thing.  The tree is gorgeous--we should have more blooms next year!


First Bearded Iris



Another view





All of mom's Irises are doing beautifully at the west end of the house!  Pat was thinking we wouldn't get a show, but there are a ton of "wrinkled" leaves indicating future blooms.  That is how I can tell if an iris will bloom...the leaves get wrinkles in them, and sure enough, a few days later a bloom begins to emerge.

More Irises to follow!



Dianthus & Strawberry Begonias

I'm very proud of my efforts with the Dianthus and Strawberry Begonias.  I pinched back all of the frost-bitten leaves on the Dianthus instead of Pat.  He's more tender and gentle than I am...I'm pretty radical when I pinch back plants, and they usually do better when I do it!  Quite possibly the only thing I'm good at gardening-wise!  Pat also asked me to add more potting soil at the bottom of the Strawberry Begonia, and I managed that all by myself!  It's perking up nicely, although I do think I needed to divide it.  Pat said no.  Just wait until I have another day off---I think I'll do it anyway!!



Antique White Rose





This is the rose bush I blogged about having black spot so badly.  Well, the lack of rain has helped it recover.  Look at all the future blooms this baby has!



More blooms to come!







Circle Garden & Succulents!



Inspired by Digging--Pam Penick, I am going to try
growing some succulents!

On Thursday, Pat and I trekked out to Bonnie's Greenhouse to pick up plants for our circle garden.  When I turned a corner, there were all sorts of succulents wanting to be purchased.  Remembering posts from one of my favorite bloggers, Pam Penick, I decided to give them a try knowing I had an unused strawberry pot begging for some plants!  I am amazed that succulents do so well here. In Abilene, we had a terrible time keeping any sort of succulent growing--most likely due to the "real" winters there! 

Finished Succulent Garden

In our rock garden, we have had some sort of succulent growing at the base of our rose bush for years now.  I suppose that when the leaves fall and cover them up, they offer just the right protection during the winter.  This spring they are really taking off...so why not try a container of succulents!!

Update on Gardening Goals--Circle Garden

Pat and I worked Thursday and Friday--okay, maybe Pat worked harder than I did--cleaning out the circle garden and planting new plants.  Below is a picture with all the plants labeled except for the society garlic which you cannot see.  The society garlic has been nipped back quite a bit due to our hard freezes.  However, we do see sprigs coming up so we do have some hope!  Pat also dug up some Russian Sage and I potted those for transplanting later.  Finally, he relocated some Turk's Cap among our thicket to add a splash of color along the edge of our property.



Circle Garden--cleaned up and ready for Spring!

 I can hardly wait!!

Container Gardening--Part 2: Soil

Last week I had a post featuring an oustanding container garden with so many plants growing it seemed impossible.  Perhaps the secret to a great container garden is the foundation--the soil!  Pat and I are great at the one-plant-per-pot style of container gardening.  But as much as I've tried, I cannot seem to get several plants going at the same time in one container.

This is the basic potting soil recipe I found on Fine Gardening:

1 part peat moss
1 part perlite
1 part compost
1 part good garden soil

Optional:
A handful each of:
Garden lime
Soybean meal
Rock phosphate
Kelp meal

Moisten the ingredients to make mixing easier. Place a ½-inch mesh screen over a garden cart or other large container, and sift all ingredients to remove any large particles. Mix thoroughly.

The handfuls of garden lime, soybean meal, rock phosphate, and kelp meal (any of which can be omitted) provide extra nutrients that enable this mix to feed plants for a year or two without additional fertilization.

Go to this link, and there are several styles of potting mix for specific plants such as cacti and annuals. 

Another favorite gardener of mine is The Patient Gardener who lives in England.  She has a post on a simple container garden that can probably be planted right now!