June 2010 – Page 2 – variegatagal

Texas summer months not for planting

Lessons learned about Texas gardening: don’t plant in June (through September) unless you want your new plants to fry. It’s generally good advice to refrain from summer plantings because the new plants rarely have had enough time to establish root systems to weather the scorching heat. It’s also not a good time to experiment unless one has disposable cash flow for it. So I’m skeptical that the impatiens we put out in the part shade front garden will survive the heat.

It is however a good time to get mulching. Any ground left bare should get a liberal cover of mulch to protect them from losing too much moisture this summer.

Meanwhile, it’s time to think about those fall plants by perusing the catalogs. The honey wants a new crape myrtle, and it appears that Petit Jean Foothills Nursery has a nice visual rundown of the most common cultivars available in the trade. There is of course crapemyrtles.com (supposedly the most popular site for such things) but the poorly-designed site gravitates toward selling dwarfs and provides little info on other cultivars. Another site provides a download of some of the newest cultivars out in the market. Of course, the most comprehensive site would be an agricultural database such as the Texas A&M archives or University of Arkansas Agricultural Division.

A resource for Texas-tested and approved plants is PlantsforTexas.com. Their plant list contains some very hardy plants that can weather the harsh climate. Most of these plants are recognizable and frequently used in Texas landscapes, so it’s a great site for shopping for future specimens.

For seasonal annual color, the A&M list found at this location provides some good recommendations for the Texas garden.

Rise of the summer-heat lovers

The spring show is wrapping up…the last Navona lily wears its white crown in a garden bed that is gathering itself for 100+ degree weather. We had made the mistake of laying out some pots of new impatiens that we purchased at Strong’s Nursery on Saturday only to discover that the sizzling heat had baked the flowers off by Sunday.

The plants that we had positioned in the newly prepped herb garden also suffered from the heat. I fear that the pineapple mint suffered the worst, perhaps irrecoverable. The rest perked back up, especially the ornamental peppers, after liberal watering. We also added a few more plants to the herb garden: 2 Thai basils, one Sweet Basil, another Lime Basil, three types of peppers (Fresno Chili, Bonnie Bell, and one whose name I forget at the moment). I also took two of the lemon thyme cuttings and transplanted it into the bed.

I also planted a recently acquired Mint Julep Calla lily under the shade of the burgeoning Hot Lips salvia sitting in the courtyard flower bed. What was once barely a foot high is now a rounded 3-foot specimen of green. It is currently in between flower displays, but I hope it will perk back up soon.

Lastly I planted the Imperial Dark Blue Plumbago by the fence, sharing the bed with the struggling Nepeta and the newly-budding yarrows. Time will tell if the plumbago can stand the partial shade conditions.

Speaking of shade, the crape myrtles providing most of the cover to our corner flower beds have started blooming. In the front yard is a light pink specimen. The myrtle in the courtyard, nearest the fence door, is a “lavender” or purple variety. The other myrtle hasn’t staged a reveal yet, but I’m betting it is purple as well. This revelation was a lot more pleasant than expected–I was dreading that the myrtles would be of the Pepto-Bismol pink shade. Lucky us!

Early June Colors

High maintenance

The Frostproof Gardenia has demonstrated to be a very sensitive lady. If it weren’t for the intoxicating fragrance perfuming our front doorstep, I would have voted this plant off the frontyard and into a more sheltered spot, perhaps even indoors. What appeared to be transplant shock or overwatering (yellowing leaves) shows evidence of slowing down to a halt. Perhaps the shrub has dropped all the leaves it plans to drop. We did begin watering every other day and the regular black mulch was replaced by pine bark mulch. However, the aftereffects of its displeasure still lingers…the gardenia has a host of blooms but more than 50% are yellowed or browned upon opening. As I suspected, most recommendations point the finger at overhead watering. Also, much has been published about the need for acidity in the water and soil, so acidifiers are always cited as an amendment (corn meal anyone?).

With temperatures hitting 100 degrees this weekend, we will need to keep a close eye on the gardenia to make sure it doesn’t dry out.

Worthwhile watching in the garden: the last Navona lilies are blooming, the first calla (a Picasso) put out a bloom, the only Fanal astilbe appears to put out sporadic blooms (though one Fanal I put into a pot, leafed out in the shade), the pruned yarrows are showing new buds, multiple coleus are also budding (need deadheading), the Dallas Stars daylilies are putting out their first buds, our lone Kangaroo Paw has put out some new “paws”.

Of concern: the Japanese painted ferns do not appear happy…something has changed their dispositions to where they are displaying some leaf curling/browning. They should be receiving a healthy amount of watering, but it may be that they dislike the Bayer systemic insecticide that was applied to them. The seedling dianthus may also be succumbing to excessive heat and sun. I am considering moving them to the corner garden for some part shade. The Hakonechloa in the front beds are showing some burning, which is likely to continue as the summer heats up.

Casualties: One lemon balm (potted), one dianthus. Both located in the patio garden.

The salvia bed has been planted. It’s just a matter of leveling the ground and perhaps getting them mulch (if/when funds permit). All cosmos seeds have been sown in the front yard tree ring. I need to get some vegetable and herb seeds started indoors asap!