Posts
This year a couple of Sweet Lavender plants lived over winter, then made enough long stems to make a sweet and simple Lavender Stick as described by Elizabeth Lawrence in Through The Garden Gate. You can find step-by-step instructions at my other blog, Annie's Addendum. A lot of stuff seems to end up over there lately! You might also enjoy old Illinois iris lists or the photo of a Cactus with daffodils.
About Me
- Annie in Austin
- Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
Showing posts with label Hail damage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hail damage. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Through the Garden Gate, Monday April 27, 2009
Cindy From My Corner of Katy had an interesting idea a few weeks ago, to take a look though her garden gate every Monday. When she asked her readers to share the views from their gates, Robin from Get Grounded joined in. I'm not organized enough to do this very often, Cindy, but I'd like to join in today.
If you've got time for a fast spin around the back yard, grab the handle and swing open the gate.
Look to the right, and the last flowers on the tall pink climbing rose lean down, tempting you to see if they have a scent. (They do!)
Look to the left and you see a long border along the fence, anchored by two 'Acoma' crepe myrtles. They're now fully leafed out but aren't showing buds yet. You can see a wooden framework in the vegetable patch along the back fence - those tomatoes and peppers better hurry and make fruit fast before the heat settles in and gets them.
Colors like yellows and violets and silvers and whites hang out along the fence on our left, punctuated by orange and purples. The creamy yellow Bicolor iris and buttery yellow 'Julia Child' rose both have flowers and this week we see another flower in a sharper yellow hue.
It's the small reblooming daylily 'Happy Returns', looking pretty bouncy, with 'Perfume Deep Purple' Nicotiana and Setcreasea/"Purple Heart" behind it.
Now pivot and turn right, and you'll see the long axis of the back garden. The two triangle beds cut across the axis at center left and the fountain, herb troughs, umbrella table and chairs cluster on the patio in the middle right. Look hard and you might see a bright spot of color way back past the garden shed under the partially leafed-out pecans.
Let's walk to that end to take a closer look - the red is in the bulb bed against the opposite fence. A few years ago I rounded up Amaryllis bulbs leftover from previous holidays, remnants of Easter lilies, stray oxalis, hitchhiking gladiolis and occasional bargain bulb 'rescues' and stuck them all into this well-drained, raised bed. Sometimes the bulbs just send up leaves, sometimes they disappear and sometimes they bloom. Four of the amaryllis have bloom stalks this week. 
We'll turn around and head back with the shady back fence on our right. Oh, look at the poor Michelia figo/Banana shrub, valiantly trying to recover from that fierce hailstorm on March 25th. Damaged leaves are dropping, but new ones are forming.
Just past the Michelia a passalong Siberian iris is in bloom. There are only a few flowers left today but I caught the clump at its peak last week.
This is not a large garden -just a 12-foot jog to the left can land you near the patio. A couple of flowers decorate the Pineapple guava in the terracotta pot. The hail drastically pruned the Coral honeysuckle, stripping off many leaves and all open flowers. Over the last month it's recovered well enough to lightly rebloom.
Oh, look! Down in the gravel at the base of the arch there are unexpected leaves and a flower. I was sure the squirrels ate the Tulipa clusiana bulbs when nothing appeared by mid-April. They're so late they should be Tulipa tarda, instead. But tardy does not mean unwelcome!
We're heading back now, past Philo's yellow chair, past the smaller triangle bed with those tenacious yellow snapdragons, past the Spanish lavender and the Sweet lavender, and past the larger triangle bed with the 'Little Gem' Magnolia.
Some buds are swelling on the magnolia now - with luck these remaining flowers can open normally. Although the hail didn't knock all leaves completely off the tree, it sure left them looking ragged.
Out the gate we go, past a hanging basket planted with a Calabrachoa in bright, desert-y colors.
Your car's in the drive, hidden around the corner on your left, past the Pink Entrance Garden. But do you really have to leave? A hummingbird zoomed next to my ear when I was snapping off spent blossoms from those fragrant purple iris. If we sit on the bench sipping coffee and tea, he might come back.
If you've got time for a fast spin around the back yard, grab the handle and swing open the gate.
Look to the right, and the last flowers on the tall pink climbing rose lean down, tempting you to see if they have a scent. (They do!)
Look to the left and you see a long border along the fence, anchored by two 'Acoma' crepe myrtles. They're now fully leafed out but aren't showing buds yet. You can see a wooden framework in the vegetable patch along the back fence - those tomatoes and peppers better hurry and make fruit fast before the heat settles in and gets them.
Colors like yellows and violets and silvers and whites hang out along the fence on our left, punctuated by orange and purples. The creamy yellow Bicolor iris and buttery yellow 'Julia Child' rose both have flowers and this week we see another flower in a sharper yellow hue.
It's the small reblooming daylily 'Happy Returns', looking pretty bouncy, with 'Perfume Deep Purple' Nicotiana and Setcreasea/"Purple Heart" behind it.
Now pivot and turn right, and you'll see the long axis of the back garden. The two triangle beds cut across the axis at center left and the fountain, herb troughs, umbrella table and chairs cluster on the patio in the middle right. Look hard and you might see a bright spot of color way back past the garden shed under the partially leafed-out pecans.
Let's walk to that end to take a closer look - the red is in the bulb bed against the opposite fence. A few years ago I rounded up Amaryllis bulbs leftover from previous holidays, remnants of Easter lilies, stray oxalis, hitchhiking gladiolis and occasional bargain bulb 'rescues' and stuck them all into this well-drained, raised bed. Sometimes the bulbs just send up leaves, sometimes they disappear and sometimes they bloom. Four of the amaryllis have bloom stalks this week. 
We'll turn around and head back with the shady back fence on our right. Oh, look at the poor Michelia figo/Banana shrub, valiantly trying to recover from that fierce hailstorm on March 25th. Damaged leaves are dropping, but new ones are forming.
Just past the Michelia a passalong Siberian iris is in bloom. There are only a few flowers left today but I caught the clump at its peak last week. 
This is not a large garden -just a 12-foot jog to the left can land you near the patio. A couple of flowers decorate the Pineapple guava in the terracotta pot. The hail drastically pruned the Coral honeysuckle, stripping off many leaves and all open flowers. Over the last month it's recovered well enough to lightly rebloom.
Oh, look! Down in the gravel at the base of the arch there are unexpected leaves and a flower. I was sure the squirrels ate the Tulipa clusiana bulbs when nothing appeared by mid-April. They're so late they should be Tulipa tarda, instead. But tardy does not mean unwelcome!
We're heading back now, past Philo's yellow chair, past the smaller triangle bed with those tenacious yellow snapdragons, past the Spanish lavender and the Sweet lavender, and past the larger triangle bed with the 'Little Gem' Magnolia.
Some buds are swelling on the magnolia now - with luck these remaining flowers can open normally. Although the hail didn't knock all leaves completely off the tree, it sure left them looking ragged.
Out the gate we go, past a hanging basket planted with a Calabrachoa in bright, desert-y colors.
Your car's in the drive, hidden around the corner on your left, past the Pink Entrance Garden. But do you really have to leave? A hummingbird zoomed next to my ear when I was snapping off spent blossoms from those fragrant purple iris. If we sit on the bench sipping coffee and tea, he might come back.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Hallelujah, Hail, & Hard Work
HALLELUJAH
On Thursday April 2nd, Philo & I saw Leonard Cohen live in downtown Austin, surrounded by some of the best musicians in the world playing together as the Unified Heart Touring Company (hear them play 'Hallelujah' on YouTube). We are both longtime fans, and it seemed miraculous when I got through to the website two minutes after the tickets went on sale. The show sold out within minutes and an added second show went even faster - we were very lucky! The Long Center is only a year old, a beautiful, comfortable, civilized venue and being there was wonderful, from strolling the courtyards with stunning views of downtown Austin after dark, to the interior spaces and the theater's lighting, accoustics and sightlines. Our seats were in the Mezzanine and this was a pretty expensive evening for us, but it was worth every penny. We couldn't linger in the emotional afterglow for very long - seeing Leonard Cohen would have been the biggest event of a normal April, but in this odd spring, he became the opening act.
HAIL DAMAGE
The more experienced among you who saw our hail video from March 25th probably guessed right away that it caused significant damage to our house. We knew the skylight was shattered, but last week we found out we'd also need a new roof and many other repairs. If you drive around our area you'll see similar marks on our neighbors' shingles. The ads and flyers began arriving the morning after the storm...now signs for roofing companies are popping up like rainlilies on the lawns. Here's an odd fact of life for gardeners - the insurance might pay for a hail-destroyed ceramic pot...but not the plant growing in it.
The hail that tried to smash the 'Ramona' clematis was buffered by the leaves and branches of an overhanging Saucer Magnolia - tough on the magnolia, but good for 'Ramona'!
HOWARD'S SOUVENIR
The tall metal obelisk in the garden came from Howard's nursery, once a favorite shopping place on Koenig Lane . This 2006 post mentioned the nursery closing, the obelisk, and a rescued one-gallon container of Weigelia 'Rumba'. Two rooted stems of the tiny shrub took hold and grew, made it through the heat and drought, and are now blooming beautifully in the Pink Entrance Garden.
HARD WORK
We spent Thursday with Leonard, met with insurance folks on Friday, and on Saturday April 4th the Divas of the Dirt met at Buffy's house for her annual project. Part of that day was spent cleaning up broken, dead, smashed foliage and branches from the hailstorm. I'd spent 10 days doing that in my own yard so was in practice! Photos from Buffy's April project won't be posted for awhile, but photos of the project we did for Mindy's garden day on March 21st are now up on the Divas of the Dirt blog. That's Buffy in the photo above - working in Mindy's garden.
I was at Buffy's from 8:30 AM to 7:15 PM - that takes us up to the night of Saturday April 4th. Two beloved, long-awaited out-of-state guests arrived on Sunday the 5th for a visit - a story for the next post.
On Thursday April 2nd, Philo & I saw Leonard Cohen live in downtown Austin, surrounded by some of the best musicians in the world playing together as the Unified Heart Touring Company (hear them play 'Hallelujah' on YouTube). We are both longtime fans, and it seemed miraculous when I got through to the website two minutes after the tickets went on sale. The show sold out within minutes and an added second show went even faster - we were very lucky! The Long Center is only a year old, a beautiful, comfortable, civilized venue and being there was wonderful, from strolling the courtyards with stunning views of downtown Austin after dark, to the interior spaces and the theater's lighting, accoustics and sightlines. Our seats were in the Mezzanine and this was a pretty expensive evening for us, but it was worth every penny. We couldn't linger in the emotional afterglow for very long - seeing Leonard Cohen would have been the biggest event of a normal April, but in this odd spring, he became the opening act. 
HAIL DAMAGE
The more experienced among you who saw our hail video from March 25th probably guessed right away that it caused significant damage to our house. We knew the skylight was shattered, but last week we found out we'd also need a new roof and many other repairs. If you drive around our area you'll see similar marks on our neighbors' shingles. The ads and flyers began arriving the morning after the storm...now signs for roofing companies are popping up like rainlilies on the lawns. Here's an odd fact of life for gardeners - the insurance might pay for a hail-destroyed ceramic pot...but not the plant growing in it.
The hail that tried to smash the 'Ramona' clematis was buffered by the leaves and branches of an overhanging Saucer Magnolia - tough on the magnolia, but good for 'Ramona'!HOWARD'S SOUVENIR
The tall metal obelisk in the garden came from Howard's nursery, once a favorite shopping place on Koenig Lane . This 2006 post mentioned the nursery closing, the obelisk, and a rescued one-gallon container of Weigelia 'Rumba'. Two rooted stems of the tiny shrub took hold and grew, made it through the heat and drought, and are now blooming beautifully in the Pink Entrance Garden.HARD WORK
We spent Thursday with Leonard, met with insurance folks on Friday, and on Saturday April 4th the Divas of the Dirt met at Buffy's house for her annual project. Part of that day was spent cleaning up broken, dead, smashed foliage and branches from the hailstorm. I'd spent 10 days doing that in my own yard so was in practice! Photos from Buffy's April project won't be posted for awhile, but photos of the project we did for Mindy's garden day on March 21st are now up on the Divas of the Dirt blog. That's Buffy in the photo above - working in Mindy's garden. I was at Buffy's from 8:30 AM to 7:15 PM - that takes us up to the night of Saturday April 4th. Two beloved, long-awaited out-of-state guests arrived on Sunday the 5th for a visit - a story for the next post.
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ROOTS
A WHOLE DECADE
LAVENDER STICKS