tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9980702559998396142024-03-05T05:25:04.823-08:00Aurora PrimaveraLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-42615719024105907422012-07-01T17:07:00.000-07:002012-07-01T17:07:43.138-07:00Persian Shield
Just the name sounds exotic. I saw this purple show-off at Shoal Creek Nursery and thought hard about it. Then a day later I was in Boerne and saw it at the entrance to the Burlap Horse. The owner, Melissa Haberstroh told me it's very low maintenance, dies to ground in winter and comes back. It's almost irridescent. I tucked two into dead spots on either side of the front steps and they Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-35957886594198142592012-03-17T11:25:00.010-07:002012-03-17T12:30:19.376-07:00Hope Springs InfernalAfter last summer, I really thought I'd never garden or post on this blog again. A story in the Statesman real estate section mentioned a woman who was selling her house to move to North Carolina, because she wanted to be able to garden. I hear you, lady.But let's face it, gardening is an addiction. Five inches of rain and a flush of rosebuds, and I've got that monkey on my back all over again. Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-28349703613494119572011-06-07T15:54:00.000-07:002011-06-07T16:05:29.196-07:00Syca-lessBark, bark, bark! No, it’s not the baying of the yellow lab in the morning. It’s the pile of wood at the foot of every sycamore in town. The bumper crop of wood shavings is everywhere. I wondered if it might be drought related, but the experts apparently don’t know much about why some trees shed their bark or why some years they shed more than others. Meanwhile the bark-exfoliation Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-50102899628256626412011-06-04T13:19:00.000-07:002011-06-05T17:01:24.582-07:00Get any rain?I hope you did. Only thunder here. Still all plants in the new backyard are doing okay with one exception. The spireas had some kind of die-off, where they dropped their leaves, but they appear to be coming back. The Berkeley Sedge is not dead, but it’s also not doing anything. It was the one plant I had no experience with; it was recommended by a landscaper as a great groundcover for dry Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-78519887422632872172011-04-23T09:50:00.000-07:002011-04-23T10:57:58.638-07:00Doggone GardenWhen Zeke came to live with me in January 2010, I can't say the backyard was in great shape. I had kind of let it go au naturel. Except for a Knockout Red and a mutabilis rose, I've really never done much back there, preferring to focus my attention on the immediate area surrounding my deck where I spend most of my waking hours.Zeke and the drought wreaked such havoc on the lawn that it had Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-67664343362590223782010-06-12T12:03:00.000-07:002010-06-13T20:50:24.346-07:00Early Warning SignsWhat makes a gardener and why do some people make a garden and others not? When I walk around my neighborhood I admire the diversity of gardens and how variously people use their outdoor spaces. The ones that are most curious are the yards where no one has planted anything. It’s hard to imagine how this could occur over a 40-year span, the age of most Brentwood/Crestview homes. But you do Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-61633896617674100882010-06-12T11:47:00.001-07:002010-06-12T12:02:09.702-07:00Meet FeliciaShe may not look like much but she’s got two buds on her left and right canes, which since she’s only been in her spot less than a month, is very impressive. She comes from the Antique Rose Emporium in San Antonio and was chosen because the authorities say she tolerates a lot of shade and will still bloom. She is now queen of the remote side yard/gravel bed. Meanwhile Reve D’Or Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-90807242731401530702010-06-02T18:40:00.000-07:002010-06-02T19:13:21.460-07:00Gray GardensAre gray plants the bomb? Yes, they are and here’s why. They impart Visual Cool to our hot landscape and they totally rock the green-blues of agaves, opuntia ellisana, (thornless prickly pear), and yucca.In this picture from left are powis artemisia, Russian sage (with purple blooms), culinary sage, and bottom left, salvia apiana or white sage, and almost hidden, a santolina, which really Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-21752427075394139792010-05-31T16:07:00.001-07:002010-05-31T16:26:55.146-07:00Viva VitexThese shrubby trees are one of my favorites when their white or purple blossom sprays kick off the beginning of summer. They are heavily planted along I-35 due to their sturdy constitutions. Up close vitex foliage looks like marijuana, a pentagram of pointed leaves which have a spicy camphor/lavender smell when crushed. Also called chasteberry; due to its leaves once being thought to have Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-7816894013949734082010-05-28T06:23:00.001-07:002010-05-28T06:41:04.269-07:00Armadillo in the GrassJust the other day I noticed this on my walk. It’s quite remarkable, a rosemary bush clipped into a pretty damn perfect armadillo. I was surprised that I never seen this before since it’s on one of my regular walking routes. Thanks to Google’s street view cam I found that the topiary is in fact fairly recent. I hope to one day encounter the artist who created this tribute to ourLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-47645498221489287582010-05-19T16:31:00.000-07:002010-05-19T16:36:10.016-07:00Scent Notes from a Morning WalkMimosa: watermelon agua fresca, peachy baseHoneysuckle: warm and syrupy, with rosy top notesDesert Willow: complex, both sweet and astringent, lime and roses, with a pungent pinto bean baseRosemary: patchouli with a lemon finishNew wood fence: sweet and spicy, plus a splash of bourbonLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-80250994644970405262010-04-26T19:28:00.001-07:002010-04-26T19:47:37.201-07:00Austin, your sago palms called. They’d like you to cut them back.Okay, let’s review: if a frond is brown it’s not going to resurrect itself. Cut off all the dead stuff and let the heart send out some new shoots. It’ll look better and we can all get some relief from the fugly brown crap. Thanks. While you’re waiting for your sago palm to reboot, read Oliver Sack’s Island of the Color Blind, in which, among other things, he Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-31962358012310737302010-04-24T15:41:00.000-07:002010-04-24T16:12:22.558-07:00La Vie en RoseI am besotted with the performance of the roses this spring. Everywhere on my walks in Brentwood/Crestview the climbers and shrub roses are just wallpapered with blossoms. The iceberg roses in my front bed are so weighted with buds that I had to stake them today as they were sagging and in danger of collapse. A wonderful problem to have.This is a new rose I planted in a spot where previously a Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-78955231237088428022010-04-16T15:58:00.000-07:002010-04-16T16:38:16.297-07:00Purple RainThe notion of seeing blossoms from a window is an Ur-cottage desire that in reality is practically impossible to attain. But for a few weeks purple fills this window thanks to a mountain laurel.Fortunately you cannot see from this same window the desolation which is the front lawn. Today I broadcast 5 lbs. of La Prima XD Bermudagrass seed on this spot. On the other side of the sidewalk, also a Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-13123379927228441022010-04-14T16:28:00.000-07:002010-04-14T16:39:52.073-07:00Rite of SpringIn the Texas tradition of plunking one’s baby down in a field of bluebonnets for a photo op, I took my two babies on a roadtrip in search of a classic Texas landscape. While Zeke is a year old, in lab years this still qualifies as drooling infancy and since he’s only been in my care for two months, he definitely needed his Baby in Bluebonnets photo. Rachel of course will always be my baby no Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-23809563163223484782010-04-04T18:09:00.000-07:002010-04-05T16:49:52.997-07:00Ode to CrossvineI think that I will never seeA vine as lovely as theeWho climbs without inflicting doomOn masonry or marble tombOr even cheapo wooden fenceResistent to every pestilenceEach spring your royal flushOf flowers comes without a rushOf any kind of care or costly feedingJust abundance and homespun breedingThat on a trellis does so easily shineYour leaves hang down and twineA happy waterfall of Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-71189311862068927942010-04-04T14:03:00.001-07:002010-04-04T15:16:05.818-07:00Donax, don't tell.Arundo Donax Banned from sale by the USDA as a noxious weed, Arundo Donax (like any self-respecting outlaw, this plant has other coloful monikers such as Giant Reed and Carrizo Cane) can be seen growing in ditches throughout the US. And like most criminals, Donax has some redeeming qualities; it's used in making bagpipe reeds, fishing poles, and baskets. I took some rhizomes from a drainage ditchLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-68734613847673706252010-01-07T18:25:00.000-08:002010-01-08T06:19:00.232-08:00Shock The Monkey?There’s a 20’ x 10’ strip where the grass is completely dead in my front yard between sidewalk and driveway. I don’t want to replace with new turf. It’s in total shade under a mammoth liveoak. So I’m thinking maybe large pavers with monkey grass in the spaces. I think this is something I could pull off, if not totally by myself, with some labor assistance. I’ve foundLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-73386265689440314522010-01-07T10:29:00.000-08:002010-01-07T10:32:40.884-08:00I'll pray for your plants, if you'll pray for mine.Really? In this wind? I don't think so.Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-34147752620700127832009-12-28T11:42:00.000-08:002009-12-28T12:33:55.264-08:00A really good reason to get out of bed in the morning.Of the many food-related things to love about December (constant stream of desserts in the office breakroom, having to “use up” leftover eggnog as a coffee creamer) none can compare with the onset of grapefruit season. Texans take this treasure for granted since we enjoy low prices (3/$1 sometimes!) due to our proximity to the Valley. I have met many a Northerner who professes to hateLibby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-73816264643569710192009-12-24T18:32:00.000-08:002009-12-26T11:26:34.345-08:00Portraits: Shrimps and PansiesSurely there was never a plant so aptly named. I have waited two years for Justicia brandegeana to flower and for some reason only during the last month has it finally got up a head of steam. So assuming that the freeze will kill it off, I spent the last warm afternoon attempting to paint this complicated bloom. This particular variety even has whiskers like a shrimp. I have several terracotta Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-626355575067828952009-12-23T15:11:00.000-08:002009-12-25T11:20:09.175-08:00Merry Christmas Thoughts“It is only to the gardener that time is a friend, giving each year more than he steals.”Beverley Nichols, Merry Hall Just finished this famed garden memoir by Beverley Nichols, which falls on many people’s lists of favorite garden books of all time. This Zelig-like writer flitted in and out of politics, celebrity, and journalism during pre/postwar Great Britain, and somehow found Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-34755295629848837732009-12-23T07:27:00.000-08:002009-12-23T08:26:52.616-08:00Do NOT turn your back on that weeping willow!Fascinating story by the always-readable NYT science writer Natalie Angier on the consciousness of plants yesterday. As an unrecalcitrant meat-eater who can't understand this reductio ad absurdism of what to eat and not eat (how about air? can we eat air?), it just confirms my own suspicions that plants can and do scream when under attack by Woman-With-Shears or the hungry caterpillar. Some of Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-3525802271684193212009-11-29T15:46:00.000-08:002009-11-29T16:33:58.274-08:00So I'm not the only deranged espalier artiste on the planet.(Photograph by Francois Halard)Past madness here.Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-998070255999839614.post-35695309599870711902009-10-05T03:02:00.000-07:002009-10-05T03:22:27.900-07:00A Sod Site for Sore EyesThe before and after pictures of the great lawn in Zilker Park after this weekend’s ACL Festival here. The folks at Bermuda Tifway 419, the grass that was relentlessly flogged in on-air mentions leading up to and during the ACL Festival probably won’t be including this in their follow-up PR. Let’s hope the turf’s advertised “quick recovery from injury” is true.Libby at Aurora Primaverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15762964051049823160noreply@blogger.com0