End of Spring Tour

As spring turns to summer tomorrow and the weather becomes too hot to spend much time in the garden I enjoy taking a tour to review recent projects and changes.

A cooler wetter spring brought more flowers than usual and bright green foliage which are giving way to the tawny tones of summer.  Silvery agaves and yuccas now become the main focal points.

Flag-like chartreuse blooms are forming on Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' grasses.

The colors work in nicely with yuccas in the front bed.

Yucca gloriosa variegata is thriving where many other plants failed in the hottest spot of our property.



I gave up trying to grow flowers in front of the tilted flower pot and planted low-growing Agave leopoldi which will be much easier to manage.

Three Agave cornelius along the drive were spruced up with a rock planter and new coat of gravel.  We mound agaves, yuccas and cacti to allow drainage after major rain events.

Finally got a good photo of this area.  It looks so good in person but has always been hard to convey on the blog.  Woolly Stemodia with a backdrop of white Plumbago and silvery estafiate.  Plumbago usually takes much longer to reappear after a cold winter so this year I tried covering it during freezes.  Not the prettiest technique since I used cheap bedsheets from garage sales but the results are worth it.

Carex 'Evergold' (lower right) has been added to the collection of greenery in white pots.

White Caladiums and Aztec Grass carry the theme of white accents across the walk.

Sparkler Sedge (spiky variegated, front right) gets in the picture too.  I added five more this spring for a total of nine in this bed.  That might be enough, for now.

Solid white Caladiums brighten new window boxes.

We trimmed the hedge down and replaced low wood boxes with taller crib-style planters which show up well from the driveway.

After years of experiments with container plantings that turned out boring after a few weeks I stuck Agave vilmoriniana or Octopus Agave in the pot by the tree to fill it in for a visit by my garden club.  It was a hit so it stays unless the deer begin to bother it.

Agave stricta is blooming again for the second year in a row.  Unlike most agaves it does not die after blooming. 

It may act more like a yucca, but the small lily-like flowers are definitely agave.

Along the front fence I replaced boring green plants in the small tank with new Yucca filimentosa 'Golden Sword'.  This more upright version of Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard" works better in containers.

Sweet Autumn Clematis will soon cover the new trellis we built using salvaged fencing pieces.

Grapes are quickly climbing over the arbor in the fenced garden.



Blanc du Bois, I might need a few more to make wine.  They are there for the birds to enjoy.

The circle garden has bloomed out so the ornamental grasses take over adding texture and movement for the next two months.

One bright spot by the herb garden.

It's Moy Grande Hibiscus developed at The San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

Happy Summer!  Beautiful hibiscus for our climate which should bloom all summer with little care.

We'll end our tour as usual with a peek over the back gate as spring fades into the sunset.

And that's the tour as my garden and the gardener will weather the next few weeks in our own way.

Spring Projects 2018

Our mild winter and nice spring weather in San Antonio makes it the best time to complete big outdoor projects.  This year was no exception as we finished up several large projects and a few small ones.  Now with all that nice weather giving way to another hot summer I'll share some accomplishments.

By far our largest project this year was refurbishing the existing deck.  The before photo below shows our tired old deck with faded red stain, missing skirting and especially the deck surface needed serious attention.  Just one original criss-cross lath panel remained on the far right hand side after the rest fell apart.  Fortunately the deck structure was in good shape but did need to be leveled after 25 years in place on a slope.

After leveling and adding new supports we covered that dated red with gray opaque deck stain and it was ready for new skirting.

The finished deck looking much better with a horizontal skirting of cedar fence boards which will eventually fade to silvery gray.  These are standard dog-eared fence boards with the dog ears trimmed off.  We also added a hose bib and electrical outlet for convenience.



Topside we flipped existing deck boards over and stained them a lighter gray.  For another spring project Neal replaced the broken seat boards on this Texas star thrift shop bench then I compiled my collection of green pots and turned the bench into a plant stand.  The red wagon bed was a recent find at Yeya's and fits nicely under the bench to hold small terracotta pots.  Those cacti and succulents get plenty of afternoon sun under there.



A low tree branch interfered with access to these stairs so Neal moved the stairs out five feet and replaced the treads.  This corner faces southwest so we didn't want to remove any shade.



Currently with Turk's Cap filling in the bed.  We need to remove and stain the last few deck boards under the heavy planter this fall.



Neal did a great job on the stair skirting.  The left piece is removable for storage under the stairs.

The original deck was built around this tree.  A shelf will go in that niche as a potting area.

Our second big project was a brick walkway on the other side of the deck between the screen room and the house.  It was just a boring gravel path which needed work.  First we shored up the side with concrete block and used the opportunity to run a water line across the yard to the far fence.

This is the only part of the yard with soil so it wasn't as hard to dig as some places.  Still there was a lot of dirt to remove and backfill.

I'd been collecting locally made D'hanis bricks from Yeya's for while.  We combined those with bricks donated by our former neighbor who is a landscaping contractor.

After several test layouts we settled on a pattern.

And here is the finished pattern reminiscent of a bordered rug.

D'hanis has been making brick, roof tile, and pavers at their plant southwest of San Antonio since 1883 so they're a natural for San Antonio gardens.  

In this current view the grass grew back nicely over the water line.  The new brick path is on the right where the wheelbarrows are placed to catch expected rain this week.

The bed along the north wall (shown above) was the first area planted in the back yard about 10 years ago.  Even though the area presents a nice green stretch along the wall it lacked color and interest when perennials weren't in bloom.  This year I added colorful Talavera pots and other objects to make it more fun and interesting as this is a main path from front to back when I'm out working.

Potato vine nearly covers the bright Talavera now but there's still a nice shot of color near the gate.

My new hose bib against the fence at the end of the new water line.  Now I don't have to drag a 100' hose around and for some reason the hose pot makes me want to put the hose away.

And the third and final project completed this week just in time for summer is a natural rock fountain in the front garden.  If you think it blends in that's what we were going for.  We had a pond here originally but it turned out to attract deer and other animals to the yard plus the tree roots were growing in and pushing up the liner.  We converted it to a recirculating fountain and went through a number of different ideas before settling on a large karst stone from the back yard.

Most prefab fountains and ceramic pots would have looked too contrived here and stacked rocks didn't quite look intentional enough so we set the rock on a concrete base molded in an old plastic bucket.  

Simply nice and I enjoy watching the water run through all the holes in the rock and onto the darker stones below. 

Now as spring turns to summer and the days get shorter (yet hotter) we'll turn our attention to indoor projects for a while.

Happy Summer!