Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

My husband and I have been talking about taking a trip to Austin for awhile now. Both of us briefly went to college there, before we knew each other, and we haven’t spent any significant amount of time there since. I strategically planned our trip for the weekend of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center fall plant sale in October. I have given the front yard flowerbeds a complete overhaul and my intention is to plant primarily natives in the new and improved beds. The only downside to my plan was that he is not a gardener, so my time to spend wandering around and taking pictures was limited.

This was my first trip to the Wildflower Center. The entire center covers almost 300 acres, but the display gardens are all pretty close to the main entrance. There are also trails representing different ecosystems, but I didn’t have a chance to explore those.

Here are some shots of the gardens from the top of the tower

I went directly to the plant sale after we arrived at the Wildflower Center. I already had a list of plants that I was looking for. After I scored my loot, I took a leisurely stroll through some of the gardens. I was on the look out for appealing shady scenes. After all, my small front yard is almost entirely shaded by three 30 year old live oaks.

Here are some of my inspiration photos.

This is our native red turk’s cap, blooming in the shade of an oak tree.

The fall blooming asters were electrifying the shade in every part of the gardens.

In the above photo, there is more of the red turk’s cap and something new that caught my attention…

Inland Sea Oats. After seeing these, I had to take another trip back through the plant sale to pick up some of these for the new front yard beds.

This is what I came home with:

For the front gardens:
Malpighia glabra, Barbados Cherry
Salvia Regla, Red Mountain Sage
Chasmanthium latifolium, Inland Sea Oats
Conoclinum coelestinum, Blue Mist Flower
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Fall Aster
Callirhoe involucrata, Winecup
Salvia arizonica, Arizona Sage
Chile Pequin

And for other parts of my garden:
Monarda Lindheimeri, Lindheimer’s Bee Balm
Monarda fistulosa, Wild Bergamot (I haven’t had much luck with Monarda since I moved back to Texas, so maybe these natives will succeed)
Sphaeralcea incana, Gray Globemallow
Passiflora incarnata, Maypop
Passiflora foetida, Scarlet Fruit Passionflower
Flame acanthus
Mexican Red Hat
Salvia gregii, Red Autumn Sage
Erythrina herbacea, Coralbean

Even though these are all Texas natives, Texas is a big state, which means these plants aren’t guaranteed to do well in Houston. So, this is my own little SW Houston experiment. Some might be too invasive, some may not be quite right for Houston, but that’s why gardening is so much fun! I can’t wait until next summer to see how these plants will handle the whims of Houston weather.

Wordless Wednesday

Forcing Bulbs by Accident

Forcing bulbs is so easy, you don’t even have to plan on doing it…

Another one of my annual plant sale traditions is the Houston Garden Club’s infamous Bulb and Plant Mart in October. I planned so far ahead, that I pre-ordered bulbs in August. They have a great selection of amaryllis, I bought a couple more varieties this year, despite the fact that I already have 5 different kinds and I’m not sure where in the garden these will end up. The two newbies this year are Pasadena and White Peacock.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. I went into my home office and decided to do some yoga to relax, hoping that it would help me get back to sleep. In the middle of my yoga session, as I moved into a standing forward bend, I noticed it. Peeping from a brown paper shopping bag. The light green leaves. Oh no! My amaryllis bulbs were starting to grow!

There went my concentration, all I could think about was getting those bulbs into pots. Pasadena was much farther ahead of White Peacock. Now, I have 7 beautiful Pasadena blossoms, all because I left the bulb in a brown paper shopping bag for a month.

So, you see folks, anyone can force bulbs indoors in the winter.

November Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

I love Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Lately, life has been so hectic, bloom day is the only excuse I have to spend some time roaming around my garden to see what it’s up to. Despite the fact that my bloom day post is late, my pictures are from the actual bloom day .

Finally, the first blooms of pink firespike. This was a new one this year, I’m glad to see the pink blooms as we head into fall. (Yes, I said fall. It is Texas after all)




OK, these aren’t blooms, but I think they are interesting. These are the fruit of a white turn’s cap.



Here’s one I have been wanting to post on a bloom day for quite awhile and this month it actually cooperated. It is iochroma cyanea.





Two of my new rose bushes are blooming. Hopefully they will stay happy in their new home.

Le Vesuve

White Heritage

And finally….the pink brugmansia that I received as a cutting is blooming. (thanks Elida). It had a tough time making it through last winter, but it has been persistent. Hopefully, it will make it through another weird weather year in Houston.


Thanks for checking out my November blooms. For more bloom day posts go to May Dreams Gardens.