Tag: oxalis

Hippeastrum and blue garden update

2/25/2011 Dallas Star Daylily end of winter shootsThe red garden amaryllis bulbs are planted! Yesterday morning, during a break in the late winter showers, the bulbs went into the lily bed in front of the Delaware White azalea. In the course of digging I hit a neighboring lily bulb, which I hope won’t be too badly damaged by the disturbance. In the process of cleaning up the bed this past weekend I’ve noticed that the Dallas Star daylilies have sent up green shoots. The Hyperion daylily only came to my notice about mid-week, so it is definitely slower to bolt than the Dallas Stars.

2/25/2011 Oxalis End of Winter LeavesMeanwhile, early this week I discovered a couple of interesting sights in the blue bed. First, I noticed that the yarrows had apparently spread underground and had begun sending up shoots about 6-8 inches from the mother plants. I had not known that yarrows were aggressive spreaders so these two specimens bear watching in the coming year.  Second, the oxalis have begun to leaf out. I have been thinking of relocating them in the lily bed to provide additional color throughout the year once the lilies have died back. Finally the violas in this bed have begun to ramp up flower production…though not as vigorously as the red and white violas in the lily bed.

One month later

The winter garden is finally shuttering up the show. The annual holdouts such as the angelonia and the ornamental peppers have given up their last seasonal colors. The man and I had done some diligent pruning and clean up of the front beds, such as shearing back the gaura, removing dead coleus and cutting back the salvias, including the Victoria Blues. I had planted some violas and ornamental cabbages/kale in the gardenia bed, which have been blanketed by fall debris. Too bad we didn’t have a way to compost all the autumn leaves; that’s a project for next year, hopefully. 

The purple garden has been cleaned of the dried out ornamental peppers. I’ve also removed as much of the bicolor salvia as I could. Here’s to hoping that my reseeding efforts will bear fruit in the spring. I’ve sprinkled as much of the seeds closer to the side of the house, where it’s been a challenge to grow anything. The only plant that’s managed to endure in the damp ground that killed off a lavender and a rosemary is the citronella plant  (Orange Fizz) which has soared to a whopping 3 feet high. Time will tell if it can survive the frost. Future plans: rearrange lorapetalum and purple salvias in a straight line, plant Picasso and Devils Wine callas.

I’ve gone ahead and planted the blueberry dianthus in the blue bed, after uprooting and repotting the plumbago and applying a generous layer of mulch. I’ve also taken some rooted bits of Wood’s Blue aster and replanted them. I finished off the bed with plantings of violas. It is perhaps the only color left…the oxalis top growth are turning an unflattering shade of brown.

I am happy to see that the herb garden is thriving, thanks to departure of the basil plants. The rosemary is enjoying good circulation, full sun and perhaps has grown more in the last few weeks than it has all summer. The oreganos, thyme and pineapple mint are sprawling happily…too happily in fact, since I’ve had to shear back the mint. I am hoping to clone the Hot & Spicy Oregano in the opposite corner of the bed, so that I can have a second specimen. The man and I have decided on two priorities for this herb garden in 2011: 1) plant only basil in this bed, and 2) purchase some fencing to keep the pups out. We might just pot up the pepper plants or set them up in a separate bed.

I’ve removed some of the Flame Callas from the courtyard flower bed. The bed is looking rather bare, especially with the annual azaleas dying off. I plan on moving the daylilies in this bed as well as transplanting the rest of the callas out. I hope to get some more red and white dianthus to completely border the bed. Some more of those chocolate ajuga might produce a red, white, and blue border in the spring. The question is: what shrubbery to plant for next year?

Shade garden: more ferns, caladiums and nandinas perhaps. I definitely want to look into variegated liriope as an option. I hope the hakonechloa come back.

Speaking of which, those dwarf mondo grasses bordering our gravel extension are doing quite well. I hope they will grow hardy in time for next summer’s drought and heat.

Fall blues

My last two plant purchases about a month ago involved two asters, a Days Aster and a mum-like button-headed aster that I still haven’t identified (possibly an annual type). All three asters in the blue bed have subsequently dropped their blooms, and as of this week look very scraggly. I suspect lack of watering and poor soil may have killed the aster centered in the bed; meanwhile the Days aster has retained its green foliage, perhaps because it has remained in the shadow of the angelonias still blooming rampantly in the bed. I also had to trim back the Wood’s Blue aster next to the fence since most of its foliage browned, leaving behind basal leaves.

I must mention that the scabiosa are long gone, as well as the white plumbago that must have died during the summer drought. Any traces of the phlox and dianthus planted in this bed have also disappeared, as well as the catmint that were huge disappointments. The surviving inhabitants of the blue bed include the two Oertel yarrows, the 2 clusters of Serena Whites and Blues (still blooming heavily now in mid-November), 2 Oxalis triangularis which have endured all summer, the imperial dark blue plumbago and the Wood’s Blue aster.

I have contemplated moving the Felicia daisy from its plant stand to take up central residence in the bed. I’m also considering moving my Tropical Breeze purple/white verbena also to the same bed in hopes that it will survive through the cold months with some proper mulching.

I do miss putting bulbs into the ground this time of year; I dream of the early perennial bloomers such as muscari and irises and lately have been serious considering purchasing some bulbs to drop into the blue bed. The bed of course will need amending before I proceed with this plan…luckily, I have a large bag of Miracle-Gro garden soil just waiting to be used. As soon as the weather becomes a bit milder, I plan on taking a shovel to the bed and dig out some good spots.

Reminder to self: take plumbago cuttings, bring the Diana blueberry dianthus indoors.