Yellow salvia, variegated herbs & geraniums

4/20/2011 Basil PestoVisited NHG on Saturday…missed the daylily show but bought what I came for: a yellow salvia greggii, Moonglow. The specimen I purchased is laden with unopened buds, so I can’t wait to see it bloom!

I also spotted a variegated basil at NHG, named Pesto Perpetuo–awesome colors, but I wonder how I will propagate it. Internet reading indicates that this is a variant of Greek basil, suggested to be a perennial. Only time will tell if this basil will endure our extreme Texas climate. Thoughts of preserving it sends me on a hunt for seeds, but it’s one I’ve rarely seen available on my regular online seed retailers. I should buy some rooting hormone…

I’ve also purchased a 4″ pot of salvia officinalis Tricolor, another herb purportedly perennial, here in Texas. It’s another sage to add to my current catalog of salvias, one with more functionality than my other salvias. This will be the fifth type I am currently growing; the others being greggii, x jamensis, coccinea, farinacea, and sinaloensis. I am considering taking some cuttings for use as an ornamental plant.

Round out my variegated plant purchases is a scented geranium, Prince Rupert.  It’s listed as pelargonium crispum French Lace on Dave’s Garden. My first geranium specimen, Orange Fizz, reached a height of almost four feet before it perished during our fierce winter this past year. I should have kept the root stock to see if it might have come back, but unfortunately it was ill-placed in the purple bed. I am reading up on the care of this newest geranium in the hopes of propagating its return.

After the hail storm

We’ve had a spate of mild weather lately, until last night when a hail storm struck, damaging tender young plants. Some vinca seedlings I had sitting out suffered the most damage, but most other plants will recover. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of debris strewn about the yard caused by the hail storm, so a cleanup will be on the gardening agenda this weekend.

4/15/2011 This ain't no Diana Blueberry dianthus...is it?I have express my dismay upon discovering that the Diana Blueberry dianthus blooms weren’t even blue, lavender, or some shade reminiscent of blue. All the dianthus sitting in the blue bed are opening pink, or picoteed pink. I’m beginning to suspect that these Blueberry dianthus are the Super Parfait Red Peppermints that I thought perished last year, but those were supposed to be RED!

I am concerned with one of the variegated felicia specimens planted next to the fence. It appears to be dying; the honey says its probably due to lack of sun, but I can’t imagine that might be what’s ailing it. Another fence hugger, our Frostproof Gardenia, has been curling up and dropping nearly most of its leaves, and there’s been no sign yet of any new foliage. I’m sad to say that it is probably due for replacement or relocation.

There are few garden shows to see this weekend. Calloway’s is hosting their Rose Festival and sponsoring several garden tours this month and next–Southlake being the first of the series. NHG has their daylily sale, and Argyle Acres opens their Iris gardens to the public.

Speaking of roses, we’ve determined the yellowing on the nether parts of our Midnight Blue is attributable to too much watering. We’ve cut down on the moisture and it is retaining its blooms longer. The neighboring purple salvia greggii echo the colors of our Midnight Blue. And now the gauras planted next to the house are getting in the act, starting to put forth blooms. I need to plant the ornamental peppers in this purple bed to get them going.

I adopted out some herbs and pepper plants yesterday; and now I’m in the mood to plant more–even though I have zero room for them. I suppose I should try to coax more Lime Basil plants from seed–my first two attempts at early hardening seems to have killed the youngsters. I’d also like one regular basil plant, which I will perhaps keep potted. I’m also seriously considering onions and garlic, plus fostering some more hostas.

I will also need to start more vinca, since I find that I’m not producing enough.

Some interesting gardening reading that I’ve found recently:

And who knew that Coppell had its own nature park?

Herb garden work

Despite teeter-tottering temperatures this week, the weather proved mild enough to allow some work in the herb garden during the weekend. I successfully moved all of the herbs: oregano, thyme and pineapple mint into the cinder block border. Following that, the honey raised the bed by another 6 inches (with bought topsoil, compost and leftover Calloway’s shrub mix and Scott’s garden soil). Then we planted variegated society garlic and the lavender stoechas Bella which had been sitting in a pot for some time. Hopefully the lavender will flourish behind the rosemary. Since I first bought it, the lavender blooms have been long-lasting and have shown very little signs of fading.

I am crossing my fingers that the golden oregano and hot & spicy oregano divisions will survive; I was reluctant to move the herbs since they came back this spring so vigorously. My one herb disappointment is the coconut thyme, which appears to require more moisture than the other thymes. Because of its lighter texture and habit, I suspect it may not be able to withstand the coming summer heat.

I planted peppers in the front row, alongside the rosemary: four bell peppers and two chili peppers. I am hoping they will get more circulation and sun being out of the lee of the basil plants I plan on including.

As for the basil plants, I trimmed down the Thai basils to see if that will promote more leafing. Meanwhile, the lime basil that I seeded about a week ago sprouted but were very slow to take off under grow lights. I’m thinking I should try outdoor sowing the seeds since they tend to enjoy the heat and bright lights.

I’ve taken some extra oregano divisions for more baby plantings to give away. Also I’m hoping the garlic chives will do better outdoors, but with all this cool weather we’ve been having, it seems their growth has been slow to moderate. I expect them to take off when we see steady 80-90 degree temps.