Saturday, May 29, 2010

Apollo

A few years ago I saw picture of the Cranium family. I've been on the look-out for something similar ever since. Well, Apollo, has arrived. His hair is curly liriope. He may be the sun god, but this one will be relaxing in the shade.

While posting this, I did a little research to find the original link to the cranium family, looks like they are selling the heads now!

Monday, May 17, 2010

3 in 1 Peach finally in the ground

Sunday was a beautiful day in Houston. The Saturday rains refreshed the garden and dropped the temps a few degrees. I decided that the number one priority for the day was to get the 3-in-1 Peach I bought in February at the Harris County Precinct 2 Master Gardeners Fruit and Veggie Sale into the ground. We had an old pecan tree removed last month to make way for more fruit trees. The three peaches are Florida Prince, Mid-Pride, and Desert Gold. I have determined that my backyard qualifies as a wetland. We have a volunteer water oak that is thriving and palmettos that I did not plant nor do I care for, but they do just fine. As a result of the wetland, I raise my fruit trees up about 6 inches.

The edge of the old pecan is in the foreground of the picture. In the background you can see what's left of my attempts to protect my mango tree from the Houston freezes.  The structure continued to protect the mango while the pecan was being cut down. A limb fell on it and really bent it out of shape, but the mango is fine. Yay!

I purchased the peach tree bareroot, but I've had it in this pot since February. This was not an easy hole to dig, I had to cut through a lot of pecan roots. I've heard that pecan roots emit a toxic substance in an attempt to keep other plants away. Hopefully, the peach tree will be ok.

And, here's the finished product. I think it is getting off to a good start; we are getting more rain as I type this entry.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

May Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Well, I am a day late again. This is not unusual. I am late for practically everything I do. Everyone has a name for it, depending on where your family is from, my Mom's family calls it running on Indian time (Native American that is). Well, on to the flowers.

My fence of flowers is doing well, here are a few of the hanging pots with blooms.


Then there's the Iochroma cyanea, still in a pot, but it is destined for the new garden around the gazebo.

The lilies are lookin' good.


So, is this hanging basket I picked up at the grocery store. It requires a lot of water, but it sure is pretty.















A new addition to the garden is doing quite nicely, it is a variegated primrose.


 Right next to it is this cuphea.


The butterfly garden is full of color. The Texas Rock Rose, yarrow, butterfly weed, Hot Lips salvia, and Blue Queen salvia are still blooming from last month. This month, the Black Knight Butterfly Bush is getting started.





And a volunteer gomphrena.



















And, an extra special treat...a swallowtail butterfly on the butterfly weed.


If it wasn't for GBBD, I would have completely missed my gardenia blooming.


Then there's the canna that has migrated under the fence from the neighbors house. I don't mind, it picked a nice place to live.

Other plants still blooming from last month are ice plant, knockout roses, yellow cestrum, & variegated gaura. Thanks May Dreams Garden.
Happy Gardening Everyone!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I'm a Farmer

Yep, folks...I said it. I am a farmer. Not just a gardener, but a farmer. Well, that may be an overstatement, but I was so excited to pick my first crop of green beans this evening, I walked into the house and proudly showed my harvest to my husband and declared my new status as a FARMER. I also picked the remainder of the abnormally shaped radishes, a few Sweet Million tomatoes, 3 Big Bomb peppers (maybe too early, since they are still green, but I'll leave the others on until they turn red), some nice lookin' banana peppers and a few onions to go with those green beans.
We ate about half of the beans for dinner tonight. Cooked them with the onions and some garlic in the pressure cooker, mmm mmm good. Anyone have any ideas of what to do with all the banana peppers?

Saturday, May 1, 2010

The mystery of Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow

About 5 years ago I saw and smelled a wonderful new plant in my sister’s neighbor’s yard. I did a little research and it turns out it was Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow. A wonderful shrub-like plant with dark purple, light purple, and white blooms. The scent was heavenly. So, I kept an eye out for it at the garden centers. I bought a couple at one local garden center and planted them where I thought they would get full sun. However, there were a couple of banana trees nearby that quickly put them in the shade. I figured they were duds, but I left them there. The next summer, I was at another garden center and saw them again. I bought one for my Dad this time. His bloomed last year, but there was no scent. I couldn’t believe it! But, it looked like the same flowers I had seen a few years earlier.

This spring, I was at a charity bicycle ride sponsored by Brookwood Community Center. They have a garden center where they sell plants and garden art. Lo and behold, there it was, Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow in bloom, and yes it had a scent. OK, I thought to myself, finally I have the right plant. So I bought a couple.

You may remember from my earlier posts, that we had a harsh winter. The banana plants are still alive, but they are less than a foot tall right now. Remember, those plants I bought that never bloomed? Well, they are blooming now, but they have no scent.

So, what’s the deal?

After a little research, I have found that not all Brunsfelsias are scented, however it seems that most are marketed as Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. So, be careful when purchasing this plant, this is one of those times it pays to know the scientific names.

By the way, the one I have that is scented is Brunsfelsia pauciflora floribunda.