Touring the Post-Winter Landscape Reveals Positive Changes

A frequent gardening question regards how to plan a landscape to look good year round. That's exactly what I had in mind when I planned our landscape nearly five years ago.  My landscape not only needed to look good in winter it also had to brave our brutal summers.  With an emphasis on native heat and drought tolerant plants the summer garden has been working well for a while.  That still leaves those winter freezes to figure out and with so many evergreen (or ever silver in my case) native plants to choose from it's pretty easy to put together an interesting winter landscape.  Over the years I've tweaked my original ideas to make it look even better.  Back in February, after a three-day freeze, I took a photo to document how the front landscaping looked after what passes for winter in South Central Texas.  As I was taking these photos a neighbor walked by and commented on how good my landscape looked.  Then she added that it looked the same as any other time of year.

I thought so too until I took at look at the same angle this week in mid-March.  What a difference.  Plants are greener and bright yellow Damianita blooms highlight the front beds.  Still I'm happy with the way things look in the first photo too.  It can't look like this every day even if I used fake flowers which would fade in our heat anyway.

Our average last freeze/frost date is March 2nd so we're well past the average danger zone though I remember losing some plants to a late March freeze just last year.  The safe date is March 20th and it looks like we'll make it without a late freeze this year.  That's also the first day of spring so it's time to take stock of the landscape before it arrives.

Damianita was a recent addition to the landscape and replaced existing Lantana 'New Gold' which looks terrible in the winter.

Lantana looked so awful during winter months that I couldn't find any photos to show.  The best I could do is that brown heap of sticks in front of the palm is how Lantana usually looks in winter.

I much prefer Damianita (those green shrubs in front of the agave) which remain green all winter and cycle their blooms from spring to fall.

Damianita also braves summer heat next to a south-facing driveway and only needs water once a month even in July and August.

Damianita also replaced lantana in the island bed.  Deep green foliage adds color in winter.

Damianita brightly blooming this week with Yucca Rostrata in the background.  I've been impressed with the quick growth of the yucca since I purchased it two years ago as a small one-gallon plant at the big blue home improvement store.

While we're at it we'll tour the rest of the garden since it's been a while.  I was surprised to see red barrel cactus blooming.  It's younger than my golden barrels which have not bloomed yet.  The orange flowers don't open wide, this is about the most they open even on a sunny day.  Each flower opens in succession around the ring.



Four-nerve Daisy sporadically blooms atop long stems.



Golden Barrel and Agave Cornelius picks up golden color echoes.  Agave Cornelius added just last fall produced a pup which will eventually be transplanted to replace Color Guard Yucca which looked great along the driveway but are short-lived.  Pups don't range far from the parent plant making this compact (3'-4' wide) variety of Agave Americana a good choice for landscapes.

Then there are those cute ruffly edges I carefully chose by looking through every plant the nursery had in stock.  Agave Cornelius has made it through with just a few spots due to a rainy winter.  I mounded it up slightly which worked out well for drainage which all agaves need and drainage has been a problem in this spot.  Native twist-spine barrel cactus in the background.

Dotty African Hosta foliage invites close inspection in the shady garden

Into the back yard where dormant Buffalo Grass is waking up.

Texas Bluebonnets are in full bloom along with Prairie Verbena.

I just love having wildflowers in the garden.



Bored yet?

Some are going to seed already.

Checking out the circle garden where native Muhly grasses stay green and soften rocky edges.

Tazetta 'Golden Dawn' narcissus planted in fall of 2015 have multiplied and returned much to my surprise, well not exactly a surprise since they are marketed for this climate where most bulbs tend not to make it through our summers.  Blackfoot Daisy on the left.

Another view from the tank garden.

Behind the deer fence Belinda's Dream Rose has been covered with blooms this spring.

Belinda's Dream in full bloom

Grandma's Yellow because every Texas garden should have a yellow rose, especially in San Antonio.

What's a yellow rose without a cactus near?  I planted spineless Opuntia around the base.

Painted Petals, shared by my friend Melody and blooming here for the first time.

Abutilon unknown variety.  One stem has variegated leaves and the other is solid.

Yucca Rigida planted just a year ago is blooming.

Bloom just emerging earlier in the week.

Just a few days later it's moving quickly to produce its stalk of bell-shaped flowers.

We're just getting over leaf drop season and the back yard remains buried in live oak leaves.  Eventually we'll get them all raked and moved behind the shed to compost.

That view of squiggly live oaks over the fence shows where I still have the most work to do sprucing up the container plants and moving them around to their summer spots.

That's the tour for late winter as we head into spring.  I'm happy with the changes made to brighten up the winter landscape and how the garden is shaping up all around.

New Plants!

What's even more fun than new plants?  Getting those plants for free!  These last of my spring plant acquisitions have found their place in the garden and, even better, they were all free of charge.

My haul across the top:  Bauhinia mexicana with unique pink bloom, chocolate plant (Pseudaranthemum alatum),  two native Salvia farinacea, Asclepia tuberosa milkweed, a very cute begonia with dotty leaves, and nicely variegated tradescantia.
Bottom row:  Native snapdragon vine (Maurandella antirrhiniflora),  a new larger blooming variety of pink turk's cap (Malvavicus arboreus),  cuban oregano,  native pink rock rose.

All for free?  Yes, most of the plants came from the City-Wide Plant Exchange at Festival of Flowers where just over 1,750 plants were exchanged during this year's event sponsored by Gardening Volunteers of South Texas (GVST) annually.

I simply took in a cart load of extra plants, turned them in for tickets, then exchanged my tickets for new plants brought to the exchange by someone else.  Just a little work on my part to dig and pot up extras from my own garden and I get to bring home new and different plants.  Each year I find a few special native plants on the tables and those are the ones I scoop up first.  This year I snagged a new variety of pink turk's cap, similar to Pam's Pink, except it has a larger bloom.  I'm giving away a secret here, but sometimes plants from the GVST plant sale booth end up mixed in with exchange plants.  GVST propagates plants for sale at gardening events throughout the year.  Their plant sales booth is just visible in the back right of the photo above.  The GVST propagation team works with Texas Agrilife extension service to introduce new varieties so most are plants you won't find at retail nurseries for a while.  That new variety of pink turk's cap was set out on the tables to help "seed" the exchange for early arrivals.  Best to arrive early anyway before the "cart park" fills up.  My cart is out there on the back left of the photo.  If you plan to participate next year, please read (and follow) the rules on the link.

While there is a $6 admission charge to Festival of Flowers, you will get back so much more than that in access to vendor specials and informative seminars.  My new native milkweed plant was free at the door as a giveaway from our San Antonio Water System (SAWS) so if you stop by their table you've already cut your admission in half.

I volunteer a few hours of my time answering questions at the show so my admission is free.  That's me on the left with Laura Rogers and between us we answered some tough questions from local gardeners.  The stumpers were descriptions of plants without photos.  Our advice is snap a photo and bring it with you--so much easier to ID a plant that way.

Photo courtesy of Anne Schiller, GVST

I was so excited to win a rare pink blooming Bauhinia mexicana or Mexican Orchid as a door prize at the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas meeting in April.  I can't wait to see those delicate pink blooms.  I know the bloom in the photo below looks white, that's because it's a young plant that's been in the shade.

Next up is Agave cornelius.  Just look at those ruffled edges and great color.  As a bonus, it's cold hardy and forms a neat rosette instead of throwing out pups on long runners like most Agave americana varieties.

That was free too?  Sure was, I used a gift certificate sent as a "thank you" from GVST for volunteering at the Watersaver Landscape Tour back in early April.

Did you notice a common thread with all my new plants?  It's Gardening Volunteers of South Texas (GVST).  If you've been thinking about getting more involved in San Antonio gardening, joining GVST is a great way to get started.  Gardening Volunteers of South Texas holds classes at The San Antonio Garden Center from noon to 3pm on the third Monday of each month.  For a five dollar donation you get lunch, a lot of great information on gardening in San Antonio from two knowledgeable speakers, and a chance to win great door prizes.  So come on out, I'll see you there.