John Paul II Rose

Jackson & Perkins John Paul II Rose

In 2006, Jackson and Perkins released a variety of gorgeous white hybrid tea rose named for Pope John Paul II.

Often called John Paul The Great by his admirers, he was loved throughout the world by both Catholics and non-Catholics.  One of the distinctive features of his pontificate was his frequent travel throughout the world. He made more pastoral visits than any pope before him.  When totaled, the number of miles he traveled equal three trips to the moon and back! Along with President Ronald Reagan, he is largely credited with ending the cold war. He is also known for his humility and his gift for encouraging young people to live holier lives.

Pope John Paul II will be beatified this Sunday. (Click here for a definition of beatification.)

While I enjoy the many plants that grow well here on the Gulf Coast, I miss hybrid tea roses. They do quite well in gardens in California and the Pacific Northwest (Check out the rose gardens in Portland, OR).  But, in the subtropical humidity we have here, they quickly succumb to fungal disease.  That is why most rose lovers in this region are so fond of disease-resistant antique roses.

If you live in coastal California, bare-rooted hybrid tea roses are generally available at locally owned nurseries and garden centers in the fall.  In colder regions where there is danger of frost, late winter and spring are better times for planting roses, as new plants should not be allowed to freeze. 

Since this particular rose is owned by Jackson and Perkins, you will want to look for it at establishments that feature their products. If they do not carry it, ask! Small, locally owned nurseries are particularly likely to be willing to help you get your hands on what you want, even if they do not have it in stock at the moment.  Their employees are also most likely to know exactly how to care for hybrid tea roses in your particular climate.

If you live in a region that is friendly to hybrid tea roses, and want to commemorate the occasion of John Paul II's beatification in your garden, consider planting this rose.

What to do with Easter Lilies

(Source)

Every year toward the end of Lent, we start seeing Easter Lilies for sale outside of our churches and in stores, and their bright beauty graces our homes during the Easter season*.

The question is what to do with them once those lovely flowers drop off.


The short answer: Keep them!


Kathy Huber at the Houston Chronicle gives a brief answer for how to do this.


The Aggie Horticulture website gives a long answer. They include the history of the plant, tips for choosing a healthy specimen, and detailed instructions for transplanting.


According to Dave's Garden, these bulbs like neutral to slightly acidic soil and are able to survive  temperatures down to around five degrees Fahrenheit,  which is well below what we generally experience here on the Gulf coast.  Most people recommend transplanting these in a sunny location and insulating dormant bulbs during cold weather by mulching.  As these plants prefer good drainage, that means containers or raised beds for those of us with heavy, alkaline gumbo soil.

Though we call them "Easter Lilies", Lilium longiflorum is not gauranteed to bloom exactly at Easter Sunday. Very often the ones that we see in the stores have been forced by their growers to bloom at just the right time.  But their flowers are just as pretty, regardless of their timing!

 ____________________________________________________
*Keep your cats from eating your Easter Lilies, as they are toxic!

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New Template

Did a little blog redecorating today.  I have tabs now! Yay!

Off to do something really useful now...

Unwelcome Garden Guests

Every now and then when I was in my teens,  my family used to slather on the bug repellent and sunscreen and take our alaskan malamute with us for day hikes up in the hills around where we lived.   She loved it. So did the ticks.  Inevitably, within a day or two of our hikes I was helping my mother pull these little vermin off the dog.  I'd feel crawly for days afterwards.

In the region of California in which I was raised, deer ticks are very common in the grassy places where people often love to hike and camp. Learning to recognize ticks was just like learning to recognize poison oak.  They were a fact of life if one wanted to enjoy the great outdoors. Aside from dealing with the dog,  I never had any trouble with them on me. Probably because I made good use of bug repellent. That hasn't stopped me from being a little unnerved at the thought of encountering them on my person.

So, when I saw what looked suspiciously like a tick crawling around on a branch I had just pruned from a long-neglected shrubbery this morning, I got that old creepy-crawly feeling again.  Ewwww.  It's so easy to forget about such things in the supposed civilized safety of one's own backyard. Thank goodness I had been using the rake instead of my hands to load the pile of cuttings into the wheelbarrow.

American Dog Tick (Photo Source)

After a tick check and a run for the bug repellent, I finished my work (still using the rake of course), tossed my gardening clothes straight into the washing machine, checked myself again and ran for the shower. This time I appear to be unscathed, but I shall be more careful in the future.

In my transition to Texas from California, I have had to learn a few new things and re-learn a few old things. Fortunately, what I know about ticks applies in both places.

Ticks like wooded areas, thick shrubberies, and tall grass, so consider the following if you plan to be in such places:

• Wear light colored clothing, to make ticks easier to see.
• If you can, wear long pants and sleeves, and tuck them into your socks/gloves.   This can be difficult in hot regions.  If you are a "belts and suspenders" type of person, you can also use some old shoelaces to tie off the bottom part of your pants to make doubly sure. Just tie them too tight. You still need circulation in your feet!  
• Wear insect repellent that is labeled as effective for ticks. Treat clothes and exposed skin, following label directions. (I'm usually not crazy about chemical repellents such as DEET. If I'm just going to a barbecue, I usually wear a bug band to keep mosquitoes off, but for hiking or gardening in a tick-infested area, I make an exception.)
• Check yourself thoroughly for ticks upon coming indoors. Pay special attention to all cracks, crannies, and crevices, and places covered by hair or close-fitting parts of your clothing.  Use a mirror or a spouse to help you check hard to see places.
• Take a shower and wash your clothing as soon as possible. (CDC recommends within two hours.)  If you've been playing in the dirt or hiking, chances are you'll be hot and sweaty and will want to do this anyway.
• Keep pets indoors if you can, check them often if you can't. Give them flea/tick preventatives regularly either way.
• If you find one attached to you or your pet, see the links below for more information on removal and symptoms of tick-borne disease. If you develop such symptoms, seek medical care.

A few links:
Tickinfo.com
Texas A&M Tick Research Labaratory
The Gulf Coast Tick (TAMU profile)
UC Davis: Ticks of California
Control Biting Pests in the Organic Garden
Consumer Reports: Tick Control with Landscaping Techniques
Centers for Disease Control Tick Info Page
The Big Game Hunt: Preventing Tick-Borne Disease
P. Allen Smith: Tick Control
DogsAndTicks.com
ASPCA Tick Page
CatHealth.com: Tick Parasites of Cats

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.

Of Pecans, Allergies, Alligators and Groundhogs.

Whether we watch groundhogs, or we just feel it in our bones, we all have our ways of deciding when Spring is here.  (By the way, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this year.)

Since moving to this area, I have noticed that my allergies always pick  up when a new season arrives.  My nose is itchin', so I guess that means it agrees with old Phil the groundhog.

A year or two ago, someone told me to watch the native pecan trees to see when we were past all danger of winter freezes.  Trees seem to take seriously the Entish motto "Don't be hasty," however. They still have yet to leaf out in my neck of the woods.

If you are looking for another indicator, maybe one from the slightly more hasty animal kingdom,  there is a post over at the Lazy Gardener on the habits of alligators and what this means for gardeners.  Basically, when the alligators get hungry, spring is here.  Big Al, the 1,000 pound 'gator living in Gator Country near Beaumont is hungry, and he has a record for 100% accuracy.



As it seems unreasonable to argue with a hungry 1,000 pound animal with sharp teeth,  I suppose I'd better start planting.

Rasberry Crazy Ants: Not as delicious as they sound.

But they might drive you crazy!

To see the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/v/80UbzvlQB0U&hl=en_US&fs=1&


See the TAMU Agrilife Extension website for more:
http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm#identification



Update: Fox News has even covered these things:

Back in the Saddle Again...

Hello, there Houston Garden Blogging World!

After almost a year of neglecting my garden, followed by a couple of months of getting a bit ahead of myself when visiting nurseries, I'm getting the gardening gloves back on and having at it in a slightly more organized fashion.

Note to self: don't buy plants unless you have someplace to put them within the next two days.  Good intentions don't count! Must build beds first, no matter how cool those plants are.

The persimmon tree damaged in hurricane Ike has been replaced.  I am now keeping an eye on my fig, which was rather badly blitzed during our recent December freeze/snow episode.   My potted herb garden is being revived with new plants, and we'll see how tomatoes do when they are transplanted very very very much later than they really are supposed to be.

Gardening for your health:

Regular, moderate, sun exposure helps us avoid Vitamin D deficiency and is also useful for combating symptoms of anxiety and depression (seasonal and otherwise). Exercise is also beneficial for one's mental and physical well-being. Gardening provides some of both. How cool is that?

Budding hope, or wishful thinking?

Well, things have been so busy, it's been quite some time since I've had the opportunity to do much out in the garden. I finally got out there to water things today. I'm amazed at how many of my plants handled so much neglect. I've hardly touched them in about a month. The container plants sheltered in my greenhouse have done amazingly well with the exception of my air potato vine , which now appears completely deceased. Rosemary, it appears, also has its limits.We'll see if I can nurse that back to health.

Which reminds me, my persimmon tree did not fare well in hurricane Ike, being almost completely broken off just above the graft. I stood it back up and bound it with grafting tape, giving it additional support by tying it to several stakes. That's pretty much where I left it, having become so busy shortly after that I hardly had time to even think about doing anything else with it. I'm not sure, but I think I may have seen some new buds while I was inspecting it today. I could be completely wrong, of course, but I am curious to see what will happen in the spring. In the meantime, I still haven't ruled out trying to replace the tree entirely. I missed the Urban Harvest tree sale this year, and won't make the Fort Bend County one either, so it may be awhile before we see a new persimmon here!

At this point, I'll just be glad if I can clear the weeds from my unplanted beds and get my roses pruned next week!

Christmas lights

While I have yet to put any up for decorative purposes, I have them strung around the inside of my greenhouse to create a little extra warmth. I am also using them on some plants that are outside of the greenhouse. So far, they have proven to be both pretty and useful, especially during our recent and unexpected snow!

Brugmansia

Also known as Angel's Trumpet and (somewhat erroneously) Tree Datura.

There is a useful post about this plant over at Huntingwick Gardens. Check it out.

See my previous post on this plant.

Moderation in some (if not all) things.

Sorry, folks. I got two spam comments for that ubiquitous little blue pill today.

Looks like I'll have to turn on comment moderation.

For now, it's only on posts older than two weeks. Hopefully, that'll keep some of the riff-raff out of the comboxes.

I don't like it when people are annoying. It irritates me.

When Life gives you a lemon...

...You get out the cookbook and see what you can do with just one!

Yes, not much going on in the garden lately. Very busy times these days. Several potted things have dried up from neglect, but the strong are surviving, thanks to a few well-timed rain showers.

I got one meyer lemon off of the tree today. The other two aren't quite ripe yet. The little Miho Satsuma orange tree has six more this year. Last year it produced six as well, but three of them were stolen (I presume by hungry fruit-eating critters of the non-human variety), leaving us with very little. Better luck this year I hope.

What kind of flower are you?

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

Fort Bend County nurseries re-opening!

Enchanted Forest has been open since Tuesday.  When I went in earlier this week they were still without power, but they were still smiling and happy to help. 

Caldwell's is open as well. CayDee and her staff were also busy cleaning up, but still happy to help. I dropped by for some grafting tape and was quite happy to find that they stock it!

Calling your locally-owned nursery ahead of time can be a good idea, since some of them may be out of certain things that are in high demand after a storm. If they are still without electricity, cash is usually much appreciated. 

If the local places do not have what you need, the big box stores are also open.  If you need fencing material to stake your trees, Lowe's of Richmond/Rosenberg is well-stocked with u-posts.  Home Depot's selection is usually not as good as Lowe's anyway, and this week it has been even worse.  If you need anything sturdier than a bamboo stake for your trees, save yourself the trip.  

Posting Post-Ike

Looks like most of the other Houston area gardeners whose blogs I read have made it, even if some of their plants didn't!

Brenda Beust Smith
Nancy
Herself
Scott Head

Taking Stock after Ike: We're very fortunate.

Well, the important things came through fine (husband, house, cat, electricity, running water).

Some of the fun stuff, not so good. No cable. Which means no internet. Which means I had to find a public place to use the web and e-mail relatives to let them know we haven't been sent tumbling off to Oklahoma by any hurricane force winds.

Most of the damage in the garden was minor. Potted plants were all sheltered and/or turned on their sides, so nothing in containers blew away.

Treewise, things are a little more interesting. Our larger trees (the ones that would be really dangerous if they fell) appear fine, having only dropped a few small to medium-size branches. Amazingly, none of these damaged the house. Other people in our subdivision did not fare so well. Some have similar-sized trees that fell on their homes.

My little trees are interesting cases. The Methley Plum is still shorter than I am, and planted in a protected area, so it appears untouched. The fig and the pomegranate were slightly uprooted, so fixing them should not be too difficult.

The worst damage was to my Saigo (Saijo?) Persimmon tree, which was snapped like a toothpick just above the graft. It was not broken off entirely though. About half of the trunk is still attached. Even though it is nearly four days after the fact, it still looks alive. The rootstock appears fairly healthy, and (as I was told at the plant sale where I got it) has pretty good structure. I hate to let even part of a good plant go to waste.

I have no idea what to do about this. Stand it back up, and see if it heals? Take cuttings and re-graft? (Which means I have to learn how to graft, and fast.) Call a tree expert? Go back to the plant sales and replace?

Since the next major plant sale around here isn't till January (and will likely be very crowded, since I'm sure many people lost fruit trees to Ike), I figure I have nothing to lose by trying.

I just wish I knew what to try.

Ideas, anyone?

Preparing your landscape for a hurricane

Here is a useful article from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times with some advice that makes sense:

http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jul/19/have-a-landscape-plan-in-case-of-hurricane/

At this point, all of the potted plants that I can pick up and carry, along with several ornamental items have been moved into the garage. Those that cannot be moved easily are under our covered porch or in other sheltered areas.

Here in Fort Bend county, we are starting to see more cloud cover, and more breezes. Nothing major yet. I'm sure time will fix that.

Stay safe, everybody.

Y-Ike-s!

It looks to be headed straight for us:

Image source: Weather Underground

We shall see how it goes for those of us southwest of Houston.  Keep an eye on Nancy's blog for news of what's happening to the north.

Looks like I'll probably need to shelter some of my more delicate potted plants. Our more experienced neighbors are planning to ride it out, as are we, with a disaster supply kit for ourselves and our kitten at the ready, of course.

Do it yourself Rain Barrels?

It's getting tempting...



I have looked around for ideas for a do it yourself rain chain as well, but unfortunately tools I do not have, and some I'm not even sure I should use (blowtorch, anyone?) are usually involved. Rats. Gotta keep looking.

Sunny skies!

And a few (slightly curvy) wisps of cloud and a light breeze over here southwest of Houston. Our little kitten Chico is sitting on the windowsill by my desk as I type, birdwatching.

As predicted, Gustav is directing most of his fury at the residents of the Louisiana coastline. Keep them in your prayers!

Boston Ferns and your Cat

The Cat Fanciers association lists the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata--a.k.a. Sword Fern) as a non-toxic plant for cats.

Today, our little guy taught us differently by munching on my boston fern last night while we slept, and getting sick afterwards.

Non-toxic does not necessarily mean "edible". We all know what happens when cats eat things they aren't meant to swallow.
 

Yuck.

We took him to a veterinary ER, to make sure he would be OK.  Apparently Boston Fern can cause gastrointestinal upset, lethargy, vomiting, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. We've seen all but the last one in our cat.

Yummy.

Cat's not happy about it either, but he seems to be recovering, getting his appetite back late this afternoon. (Right after we got home from the vet hospital, of course.)

From now on, only "edible" plants in the house.

Good thing I live in a semi-tropical climate, because my ferns are about to be banished to the warm shadiness of my back porch, where they will probably be just as happy anyway.

For a longer list of plants poisonous to your cat, see this list from the Cat Fanciers Association.