Now that's better! Changing out the stock tank garden

Remember that mesmerizing spring display of Mexican Feather Grass from a few weeks ago?

By early June the grasses in the stock tank garden were a matted, unsightly mess.

Spring rains and good soil grew them into the biggest specimens I've seen.  But those same rains and "too good" soil led to an early demise plus they were smothering the rest of the plants anyway.  Not a good look.

Mexican Feather Grass (Nasella tenuissima) can usually be rejuvenated by grooming out the brown strands allowing the green to sprout again.  I gave it a try to no avail since all the plants were toasty brown through and through.  It was time to yank them all out and start over.

Much better already without the dead grasses

I could have left it like this for the summer but Mexican Feather Grass reseeds freely and I needed to thin them out from the front garden.  With a ready supply of new plants why not just put a few back to fill in the spaces.

The grasses won't grow nearly as fast the rest of the summer.

There, now that's so much better!  

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day May 2015

It's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and time to join bloggers from all over to share what's blooming in our gardens.  GBBD is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens on the 15th of each month.  If you've been reading Central Texas blogs you already know that it's been raining for weeks.  In San Antonio our rainfall for the year is seven inches above average and our nearly four years of drought are officially over as of this week.  Here's a look at what's blooming in my garden the last few days.

Indian Blanket or Firewheel.  I just love having wildflowers take over the back garden.  Most were not planted, they just seeded themselves in from a nearby field.

Mexican Hats

Greenthread or Navajo Tea

Native Monarda, Bee Balm or Lemon Mint is just beginning to bloom pale purple backed by those bright Indian Blanket flowers.

There are plenty of cool hues in the garden this week.  Purples in the form of Larkspur still blooming due to our cooler, cloudy spring.  The red accent is Gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields' which reseed every year and there's even a remaining Bluebonnet tucked in the mix.

Salvia Amistad which attracts hummingbirds

Verbena Bonariensis continues to hold up in the stock tank garden though it is listing a bit.  I've been trimming it back a bit at a time so as not to upset the butterflies.

Duranta 'Sapphire Showers' is almost eight feet tall since it didn't die back this year.

Pink phlox, no tag and I don't remember seeing it before.

Delicate pink canna bloom with an oddly colorless canna bloom.  These canna were grown from seed so just about anything can happen.

Clammyweed draped in Mexican Feather Grass



Bunny Ears cactus blooming bright yellow with Larkspur.  The silvery foliage is Wormwood started from a 4-inch pot several years ago.

Iris Dietes (left) and St. John's Wort (yellow), an invasive that I keep contained in a small area.

Heading back to the warmer side of the color wheel.  The flowers of St. John's Wort are so delicate.

Yellow Cestrum, another plant that did not die back so it's blooming much earlier.

Dyckia 'Frazzle Dazzle' with cute yellow blooms against silvery foliage.

Gray Santolina topped by yellow blooms.  Ruby Crystals grass in the background.

Reds supplied by Shrimp Plant

Yarrow 'Paprika'  with its gold centers fits right in to the spring garden.  It will retreat when the heat sets in.

Bat Faced Cuphea is both red and deep purple.  Can you see the little bat face?

Magenta Gomphrena 'Fireworks'.  Gomphrena will always have a place in my garden, it's so reliable and drought tolerant.

Coral blooms on the Hedgehog Cactus and ...

Hesperaloe which the deer are leaving alone this year.

Lantana 'Bandana' brings in the orange hues.

Lion's Tail, another plant that did not die back this past winter and is already blooming.

A very special pair of orange Zinnias.  Not only are the flowers a color I loved adding to the garden, they were gifts from our garden club president in recognition of my service in putting together several programs and field trips this past year.  Thank you Karen!

There are two Zinnia plants because I have volunteered to be club historian next year (or two).  I'll attend all the meetings, events and field trips to take photos.  It's something I look forward to and expect to enjoy since I blog about most of our trips anyway.  I just need to work on including more people in my shots.

See May Dreams Gardens for more from Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

As seen on Pinterest: The Stock Tank Garden 2015

My Pinterest account has over 3,000 pins on 90 boards.  How many of those thousands of potential gardening projects have I put into action?  Several, including last year's crevice garden, an idea I originally pinned from other blogs like Danger Garden.  This year's stock tank garden was inspired by photos on Pinterest.  The results have exceeded expectations.

Last fall I decided to tackle an idea which kept turning up in my Pinterest boards--soft ornamental grasses mixed with violet-hued perennials.  If I pinned so many similar ideas then it's a concept I must like a lot.  That why I planted Verbena bonariensis and Mexican Feather Grass in my tank garden last fall.  A happy surprise is the appearance of Larkspur in analogous shades of violet to add an extra dimension of color.

Combining perennials and ornamental grasses isn't a new idea, it's been employed by the world's most celebrated landscape designers for years.  That's why my inspiration photos aren't in this post.  I hesitated to write Bury Court or Piet Ouldolf for permission to use their photos.  Instead my Pinterest board is linked for you.

What was my design approach?  With so many local variables it's best to adapt the concept instead of directly copying an idea.  Several of the photos showed allium which are not reliable in my climate and the short bloom season means the effect would be fleeting.  Verbena bonariensis grows well in my climate as does Mexican Feather Grass.  Even better, both were existing in my garden.  Verbena bonariensis had problems with powdery mildew in its previous shadier location and needed to be moved.  Now with all day sun it never wilts and didn't die back even after several light frosts this past winter.  It will bloom continuously all summer with occasional deadheading.

Before, this is how the garden looked in Fall 2014.  The grasses shown here are not in the stock tank. 

As a bonus, towering flowers and flowing grasses are mesmerizing in the wind.  We had wind gusts last week providing an opportunity to post another of those Awesome Motion photos.  I especially like how the Verbena bonariensis stays upright and sturdy in the wind.

Love the greens and violets together.

Larkspur is an annual and when it goes to seed, I'll probably move blue-violet Henry Duelberg Salvia over to keep the analogous color theme working.

Unless I decide the slightly red-violet of Salvia Amistad works better.  Then again, I could combine both colors with the verbena.

And to think this all happened because I needed to cover up a dead spot in the lawn.

I love it when a plan works, especially this well.

Gardening on the Rocks: What's new in my own garden?

It's been a while since I posted about my own garden and there have been recent changes that are beginning to pay off.  The biggest change is the wheel garden, which is bigger and better.  We've had several good rains so it's also been a good spring generally for the garden.

We built the circle garden last year to cover a bare spot in the yard.  At the time I limited the size of each wedge for ease of working and the amount of soil and other materials available.