variegatagal – Page 79 – gardening in zone 8a tx

Garlic and other herbs

My garlic is coming up! I planted them the day before Halloween and here they are, making a showing! I counted 4 of them!

Sage is looking good. Eggplant looking good…I can’t wait to pick it!

Red Rubin basil has turned all purple again due to the cooler weather. Despite some very low temps it seems to be doing quite well compared to other basils.

I don’t know what this seedling is, but I suspect it is pineapple mint. Sniff test has been inconclusive. Several of them are popping up in the herb garden.

Loropetalum blooms. It’s also worth noting that this loropetalum is changing color. Beautiful!

A look at the Coppell Community Gardens

Rounding out our Saturday afternoon, we took a trip to both Coppell community gardens just to see what was growing.

The Rose Gardens of Farmers Branch in November part 2

The All-America Rose Selection Test Garden is a short walk to the other side of the civic center. It marks the start of the Historical Park walking trail which runs alongside the creek, splits off into the bird sanctuary and historical building area and finishes at Gussie Field. The roses on display at the AARS Test Garden are complemented by a daylily display garden, which is remarkable to behold in spring and summer. Also at this test garden, the newest varieties are available on hand for viewing…some of which are stunners. One of my faves is the Silver Lavender rose, whose color approaches a very pale steel, almost grey-blue, color.

The great thing about these gardens is that it’s free and open to the public.

The Rose Gardens of Farmers Branch in November part 1

Perfectly mild autumn weather meant a walk around the area attractions. We started off our journey at the Coppell Farmer’s Market then headed over to Farmers Branch to take a look at the rose gardens. Our first stop was at Gussie Field Watterworth Park to view the National EarthKind Trial Rose Garden and Display Gardens. Roses here are left to their own devices: growing at will without any spraying, pruning or fertilizing. It is a perfect setting to view which varieties will grow and prosper with a minimum amount of tending in the landscape. Some of these like the Lady Banks series of roses can grow into monsters more than 8 ft tall and wide.

Spotting colors

Caught sight of these two bloomers in the blue bed. This is the most blooms I’ve seen out of the bicolor sage…and of course Oertel’s Rose yarrow is irrepressible in this mild weather.