First Signs of Spring

When I see Texas Huisache trees beginning to bloom, I know Spring is right around the corner. Not only is the golden pom-pom pleasing to the eye, the aroma is sweet, sweet, sweet. This small-leafed tree is a member of the mimosa family. It's considered a large shrub or medium tree but my experience leads me to give it lots of room to spread. A word of warning - this is a thorned tree and around my yard the saw bugs LOVE it - thus I feel like I am forever dragging those thorny branches to the brush pile. Huisache is very drought tolerant making it beloved addition to an arid spot in my yard.

Up close, I think the buds are every bit as pretty as the blooms.

Huisache is a Valley native. If you observe a field that has been left fallow for a few years, it seems to be one of the first trees to sprout.

It is an important nesting site for white-wing - guess there's a reason for those thorns. We almost always have a nest in one of our Huisache trees. The day I took these pictures there was a Goldenfinch (American or Lesser, who knows) flitting from blossom to blossom. We've put out two thistle feeders for them - and have not seen a single one feeding there. Guess they're well fed by nature. According to the Native Plant Project, bees are attracted to the pollen of the Huisache tree, not the nectar. I wonder if it's the same for that Goldenfinch.

A Welcomed Intruder

I love to watch hawks hunt over the brushlines, pastures, and fields. Below is what I think is a juvenile Harris hawk. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Whatever he is, he spent a morning doing fly-bys of our back porch and patio. What a sight!. . . . and then we realized that he seemed to be "hunting" Red, our little cocker-weinie (cocker spaniel - daschund mix). The hawk perched in a mesquite tree watching Red, who was industriously working the bed of aloe vera below (she's quite the lizard hunter).

When Red tired of lizards and headed to the pasture, the Hawk took flight - at one point swooping down and hovering over Red for a closer look. Thankfully Hubby was right and Red was way too big for this hawk to mess with (thanks Aunt Coco and Grandma Dodie for all the treats).

It was a beautiful day for flying!

What's Old is New Again

Some of my favorite gardening activities are transplanting and re-potting. The succulent basket below had outgrown its pot and was looking pretty pathetic. What a difference a $3 basket and a little bit of potting soil can make! Before repotting, a little bit of thinning and trimming was in order. With the extras, I was able to put together some small pots for FREE! The plant below performs better in full sun. If you can only give it 1/2 day of sun, make it afternoon sun. Full sun help the rosettes stay compact and puts more red on the leaf edges

I'm not keeping anything in small pots anymore - they have to be watered too often. So these will be going to our church's bazaar, Treasures at FUMC, on February 7th.

It's been so warm the plants think it's springtime - lots of fresh new growth and bloom stems.

In a small pot, one plant shows better than a number of different plants. But when you've got a nice sized container, go wild and put a little bit of everything in!

The most important thing to remember with succulents is not to overwater! Maybe that's what I love most about them - very low maintanence. . . .

Pegging 'Adam'

An added benefit from some recent remodeling has been expanded garden beds! Of course, larger planting areas give us the work of amending the soil and the pressure of "designing" the plantings. Yesterday, as I was doing a bit of gardening housekeeping, I saw new options for the 'Adam' rose (pictured in the back, left of the photo below). Its new canes have stretched out across the newly enlarged bed. New growth at the leaf axils just seemed to say, "peg me". Pegging is a nearly forgotten method of training roses. I doubt I would have thought of it last year - but was lucky enough to hear Jennifer Wilson of Lucy's Garden speak about old garden roses. She grows and sells antique roses in the Rio Grande Valley AND has a pegged rose in her garden. If you have the opportunity to hear her speak, don't pass it up! Her knowledge and enthusiasm are a wonderful combination.

Small climbing roses are suitable for pegging - you need one with canes that grow between 5 and 7 feet. To peg a rose, fasten the canes to the ground by pinning them with a stake or "peg". According the The Guide to Old Roses by The Antique Rose Emporium, we should let our canes harden properly before they are bent down and pegged. My 'Adam' has canes that are growing fairly perpendicular to the ground so I think I may get to bypass this step. The Antique rose Emporium peg their roses twice a year, before the onset of new growth (late January and late August). The canes are usually arranged in a perfect wheel around the center of the plant. Since my rose is planted against the garage wall, I will have a semi-circle.



Adam has double blooms that are salmon and cream colored.

GBBD, January 2009

The story is that Crown of Thorn, Euphorbia splendens var. milii, blooms two times a year - at Christmas and again at Easter. Mine does bloom then - but it also blooms almost continually in deep South Texas. This succulent is related to the poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, and exudes sticky white sap from any cut surface. (Take care when working with sappy plants, as some people break out in blisters where this sap has touched their skin)The large thorns for which this plant is named is obvious on the stems. When I repot this plant, I fold a number of layers of newspaper to wrap around the stems and handle the plant with.

Not only is the white sap sticky, but the blooms on this variety are also sticky! The mottled color of the petals that you see in this close-up is not usual for this plant. Its blooms are usually a solid color. My pot of miniature Crown of Thorn, Euphorbia milii 'Mini-Bell', is also full of blooms. Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out of juice before I could get the shot.

Kalanchoe, Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, is beginning to bloom. The short days of winter tell this Madagascar native to bloom. In the Valley, they are easily propogated from cuttings (even a cutting as small as a single leaf!). Be sure to let your cuttings heal over a bit before you put them in the ground. No special rooting compound or potting soil is needed. Be careful not to overwater them as this will turn them to mush!

And since, it appears that reds are what's in bloom in my garden this month, here's a shot of a Jatropha, Jatropha integerrima.

Bougainvillea and Poinsettia are other plants that love the short days (or the long nights) of winter. Their bracts are becoming quite colorful right now.

To see what is blooming this week in gardens around the world, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens

Structure in the Garden

Garden designers often mention the "bones" of the garden. A garden's bones are both permanent and structural - walkways, pergolas, raised beds, fountains, statuary - Today we added some of my favorite garden bones back to our garden: trees (well, trees of a palm variety). A few months ago, a huge, old Ashe tree, Fraxinus velutina, stood here - Hurricane Dolly tore it past the point of recovery. I love the addition of these three Chinese Fan Palms, Livistonia chinesis. They add height, a focal point, and some much needed shade to the area.

The picture at the left was taken last April when we removed the Chinese Fans for a remodeling project. Like most palms, a small rootball was all that was needed. Because we were going to hang onto them for an extended period, we placed them in large pots. Don't you love how I use the term "we"? It's not like I'm in the picture doing any of the work. I do love most aspects of gardening BUT there are some projects that are best left to professionals - those who have both the knowledge and equipment to get the job done.

Nine months in pots didn't seem to harm these large palms at all. To help insure their health, we did place them on an automatic watering system.

Chinese Fan Palms are a slow growing, relatively short fan palm with very large leaves. The average mature height is listed as 25' - this makes it a nice size for single story homes. Chinese Fans are cold hardy, withstanding several degrees below freezing with no damage. They tolerate poor soils (these three have heavy Harlingen clay in their new home) but respond well to a fertility program. Give this palm plenty of room as it's canopy will measure about 12-14 feet wide.