Motivation and Inspiration

I want this:

Hop on over to Parisienne Farmgirl to see more lovely pictures of Angela's garden.

It's kind of nice to see that someone else is accomplishing in her garden something very like what I want to do with mine. Helps me think that maybe it will all come together eventually.

Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations

While decorating books help you find inspiration for your home, Tony Lord's Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations is a guide to help you get ideas for aesthetically pleasing assortments of plants in your landscape. 

The book offers general advice on design, including varying color and texture in the garden, as well as  basic information on planting and establishing new items.  Chapters are arranged by types of plants, and offer profiles of specific plants, along with lists of species that make attractive companions for each.  It is fairly easy to use as a quick reference for finding plants that will look attractive together.  The book is loaded with beautiful photographs of a variety of plantings to help the reader visualize some of these planting combinations.

The author himself states that his book is meant only to be a general guide with suggestions, and that is exactly how it functions.  The gardener who uses is must have a workable understanding of her own local climate and soil conditions.   Many of the plants profiled in this work are popular in gardens across the country, and may or may not be suited to the tastes, needs, and time constraints of the individual gardener. 

While not an essential component of a Gulf Coast Gardener's personal reference library, it can be a handy resource when one needs ideas,  especially in combination with gardening books specific to one's own region.

There is a closet joke in here somewhere...

Those ubiquitous pocketed over-the-door shoe organizers can serve many purposes.

But I never thought of using one as a planter.

For people with limited space, here is an interesting idea involving a pocket shoe organizer similar to the one pictured below:

I'd probably pick one made out of darker fabric, as I expect the lighter-colored varieties will begin to look very stained from the water running through them and bringing soil particles along with it.  It would probably require frequent watering, too, depending on how breathable the fabric is.

Still, it is a great idea if you have limited space, and it's probably less expensive that anything at the garden centers that would serve a similar purpose.

I suppose one can always find another home for all of those shoes.

New idea for old jars

I grow some herbs in containers on my back porch, but it would be very convenient to keep some in the kitchen.  Some need to be replanted after they are zapped by winter freezes or fried by our summer heat.

The problem is,  my cat is an indiscriminate eater of houseplants, and I want indoor herbs for human consumption. I needed to find ideas to help me keep them out of reach of my curious kitty.  The internet seemed the natural place to look for catproof indoor gardening methods.

I found this idea posted by Tammy at CraftAwl.com (Complete with instructions):

It's a floating herb garden!

I've totally got to try this. 

I'm thinking I might use those water-absorbent polymer crystals instead of just filling the jars with water. I think they'd be more attractive than soil, and probably more convenient, since I'm pretty terrible at remembering to water things.  I haven't found any information on whether those are safe to use for culinary plants, though.

More Bauhinia Pictures

Here are some photos I took of the Bauhinia I saw last December:





I'm still determined to get one if I possibly can, once I get my new fruit trees in the ground.

For more info on these, see my other post.

Preparing for cooler weather:

As I have mentioned before, my grandfather is a tropcial plant lover. Even though he lives in Southern California, he still has to contend with temperatures that many tropical plants aren't too crazy about--even the occasional frost.

Here in Southeast Texas, we also have to shelter some of our more tender plants. As the nighttime temperatures start to cool down, we start to think about possible methods.

Here is a relatively inexpensive idea from my grandpa for how to do this:


I took this picture last June when we went out for a visit.

If you like to drink juice, save those big plastic jugs, wash them out, fill them with water, and use them to insulate smaller plants from frigid temperatures.

Elaeagnus Pungens

Light: Part to full sun.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 7-9.
Propagation: Propagated by softwood or hardwood cuttings and by seed.

This is one tough plant. There are a few on our property that came with the house. I don't do anything to them (in terms of water and fertilizer), and they grow just fine. It also appears that whoever planted the bed these plants are in did next to nothing to the native "gumbo" soil. This does not seem to prevent them from growing well.

This plant also appears to do well in the clay soils along the coast of Southern California. This is my grandfather's. He has allowed his to grow in its natural shape:


This one is mine.



When we moved into our house, it was shaped into a box hedge. This works ok, except in the summer, when the plant sends up long, vertical canes very rapidly. Last year, I pruned these off aggressively. Then I heard that these plants have fragrant flowers in the fall. Wondering if I had prevented it from blooming, I decided to let it go this year, and see what happens. So far, no blooming.

Cherry of the Rio Grande (Eugenia aggregata)

This Brazilian native is not named for the Rio Grande river in the United States. :)



It produces an attractive red fruit, which has a flavor resembling cherries and raspberries at the same time. When I tried them myself, I found that they are a little on the tart side, which I like, but if you are into really sweet stuff, these may not be your thing. According to several sources I have read, the fruit is also useful as an ingredient in homemade jams and jellies.

The specimen pictured here is growing happily in my grandfather's yard in Southern California. According to the profile at DavesGarden.com, it also has been known to grow in Arizona, attesting to its tolerance for drought, and in Florida. Given that its native country is known for its tropical climate, it seems very likely that this species would grow in Texas as well.


I will be acquiring seeds soon from my grandfather's plant. We'll see how that goes. It takes about five years for these things to produce fruit--assuming I don't kill them first. :) More on that as it happens.

Links for more Info:

TradewindsFruit.com
Quisqualis.com (Includes pest info)


Read the rest ofmy Eugenia Aggregata posts.

Seeking inspiration

My husband and I recently made a trip to the South and Central coasts of California. While there, I kept my eyes on the plants, to see what I could find that will grow in coastal Southern California, as well as the coasts of Texas.

One thing is certain: It is tough to be a plant in either place. In California, plants must be highly tolerant of drought, in Texas, they must be high ly tolerant of excess water. Snow is not a problem in either place, but the occasional nasty freeze during winter is an issue in both regions.

Fortunately for me, I have a grandfather whose backyard is practically his own private botanical garden, and he was happy to show me around and point out plants that have potential for a region like this one. The pictures in this post are ones that I took in his garden, which he planted entirely on his own steam, and grew over a period of almost 14 years now.


Over the next several days, I'll be posting pictures of some of the plants I saw on my trip, and information about them as well. Some of them will be no surprise to experience gulf-coast gardeners, but for a newbie like myself, this is all still fascinating.



I'll also do the occasional post on differences between the two regions in terms of the natural landscape. Just for the heck of it.