The impressive garden terraces designed and built by Jeff and Ray are the first feature to greet visitors, and lead down the hillside from the street to the house.
Showing posts with label hesperaloe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hesperaloe. Show all posts
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Open Days Garden Tour Austin: Jeff Pavlat and Ray Clayton Garden
The final garden on the Garden Conservancy Open Days Tour is the garden of Jeff Pavlat and Ray Clayton. A very special finale it was. Jeff is an avid collector of cactus and succulents and currently Vice President - Education for the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society where he has also served as president.
The impressive garden terraces designed and built by Jeff and Ray are the first feature to greet visitors, and lead down the hillside from the street to the house.
The impressive garden terraces designed and built by Jeff and Ray are the first feature to greet visitors, and lead down the hillside from the street to the house.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Cactus Flower Beauty
This beautiful red cactus flower opened Monday measuring four inches across and four inches tall. Quite a feat for a barrel cactus just over six inches tall.
Anticipation began a few days ago when this small barrel cactus produced a surprisingly large bud. On Sunday the bud began to show off a deep red color.
Monday morning it opened revealing a gorgeous dark coral flower with striking proportions.
The color and beauty of this bloom was a surprise since we had just recently planted this one. It was marked simply "cactus" at Walmart.
The color works beautifully with the Hesperaloe parviflora now blooming and the form plays nicely with the Agave Ovatifolia.
By evening the bud had begun to close up
I checked on it Tuesday morning and it had already started its decline. As with most cacti their blooms are short lived. But there are two buds showing so I will be anticipating more blossoms soon.
Anticipation began a few days ago when this small barrel cactus produced a surprisingly large bud. On Sunday the bud began to show off a deep red color.
Monday morning it opened revealing a gorgeous dark coral flower with striking proportions.
The color and beauty of this bloom was a surprise since we had just recently planted this one. It was marked simply "cactus" at Walmart.
The color works beautifully with the Hesperaloe parviflora now blooming and the form plays nicely with the Agave Ovatifolia.
By evening the bud had begun to close up
I checked on it Tuesday morning and it had already started its decline. As with most cacti their blooms are short lived. But there are two buds showing so I will be anticipating more blossoms soon.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Plant ABC's - H is for Hesperaloe Parviflora
I'm continuing my ABCs of plants in my garden series with Hesperaloe parviflora. You can view the others in the series on my sidebar.
This Texas native is one tough plant. These hesperaloes were here when we purchased the house in 1995. I wrote about reworking the original plants in this earlier post. They have survived in direct sun for up to 10 hours a day in summer without supplemental water for most of the 20 years in this spot. They are cold hardy in zone 8 and don't seem to mind our occasional torrential rains either.
Commonly called Red Yucca it is actually a member of the agave family. Soft arching leaves resemble ornamental grasses and are not as pointed or sharp as most agaves.
The plant spreads and is easy to divide and transplant, hardly missing a beat. When we recently planted them in the new landscaping along the driveway we simply divided the existing ones for free plants.
It's hard to see them here along the driveway because the deer have snapped off the blooms even though they don't eat them.
Although they do best in sun, Hesperaloes can take a little shade but will flop over toward the sun and not bloom as well.
Though it does take on a nice violet hue in winter, the summer bloom season is when this plant really shines. The coral flowers have a yellow edge and attract hummingbirds.
The flowers open in the sun and close in the evening
The green seedpods will turn to brown and are unattractive so I remove them by cutting the stalk.
The weather this year caused some of the dropped seeds to sprout along the edges of the bed. I haven't seen seedlings here before and I will dig them out to transplant or share.
Self-cleaning like many xeric plants, the dead leaves eventually fall or can be easily pulled from the plant when they turn brown.
Hesperaloes are available in at least two other colors-- yellow, which looks great against a wall and the bright red 'Brakelights'. Since we already had so many of the coral, I decided to stick with the same color across the front but might add the others in the back where I enjoy mixing it up a little more.
There's a Giant Hesperaloe available. You need a lot of room for it as here at The Antique Rose Emporium.
Several years ago I considered replacing them. That was before two years of drought changed my mind. Hesperaloe parviflora is a great landscape plant for those hot, dry spots.
This Texas native is one tough plant. These hesperaloes were here when we purchased the house in 1995. I wrote about reworking the original plants in this earlier post. They have survived in direct sun for up to 10 hours a day in summer without supplemental water for most of the 20 years in this spot. They are cold hardy in zone 8 and don't seem to mind our occasional torrential rains either.
Commonly called Red Yucca it is actually a member of the agave family. Soft arching leaves resemble ornamental grasses and are not as pointed or sharp as most agaves.
The plant spreads and is easy to divide and transplant, hardly missing a beat. When we recently planted them in the new landscaping along the driveway we simply divided the existing ones for free plants.
It's hard to see them here along the driveway because the deer have snapped off the blooms even though they don't eat them.
Although they do best in sun, Hesperaloes can take a little shade but will flop over toward the sun and not bloom as well.
Though it does take on a nice violet hue in winter, the summer bloom season is when this plant really shines. The coral flowers have a yellow edge and attract hummingbirds.
The flowers open in the sun and close in the evening
The green seedpods will turn to brown and are unattractive so I remove them by cutting the stalk.
The weather this year caused some of the dropped seeds to sprout along the edges of the bed. I haven't seen seedlings here before and I will dig them out to transplant or share.
Self-cleaning like many xeric plants, the dead leaves eventually fall or can be easily pulled from the plant when they turn brown.
Hesperaloes are available in at least two other colors-- yellow, which looks great against a wall and the bright red 'Brakelights'. Since we already had so many of the coral, I decided to stick with the same color across the front but might add the others in the back where I enjoy mixing it up a little more.
There's a Giant Hesperaloe available. You need a lot of room for it as here at The Antique Rose Emporium.
Several years ago I considered replacing them. That was before two years of drought changed my mind. Hesperaloe parviflora is a great landscape plant for those hot, dry spots.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Antique Rose Emporium: More Than Just Roses
A whimsical whirligig
These pink poppies by the entrance are attention grabbers every spring
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Work in Progress: The Hesperaloes
The issue on my mind today is planting diversity vs single variety plantings. This post showing changes we have been making to the front yard beds is prompted by inputs from David at The Desert Edge.
Six red flowering yuccas (hesperaloe parviflora) were planted near the garage nearly 20 years ago. They were definitely pretty when in bloom as shown here in Spring 2010
But the deer often snapped off the blooms and I thought they looked boring much of the year
Somewhat like the H-E-B parking lot
Not a bad choice for the local shopping center, but not so good for a color loving gardener like me. One of my favorite things about San Antonio is how colorful everything is and I enjoy bringing that home. Definitely time for some changes.
The south facing spot gets maximum sun exposure and plenty of reflected heat so anything here needs to be tough. In the spring of 2010 we planted gold lantana in front. Last fall we added Mexican Bird of Paradise (caeselpinia mexicana), Pride of Barbados (caeselpinia pulcherima) and a lantana camara found growing wild nearby
Inspired by the photos of Agave ovatifolia in Pam Penick's blog Digging, we removed the two large hesperaloe in front and installed the agave
A gardening friend shared a native Velvet pod mimosa (Mimosa dyscarpa) which will eventually grow up about six feet against the stone wall.
One of the large red yuccas has been transplanted to the back yard and the others will be divided and planted along side the driveway in the near future.
The early plan was to replace them all until David featured hesperaloe in some of his posts and, combined with the really hot, dry summer of 2011, I began to rethink the plan. Instead of removing the rest of them this fall, we have divided and relocated them around the bed to fill in the space. Three of the larger original ones remain in place. The tree form vitex remains and the Texas Mountain Laurel is kept full and shrub-like in front of the garage window.
As always around here there's more work to do. Two more gold lantanas will be added in front of the agave. The old landscaper's border will be pulled out.
The red yucca should bloom again next spring and the agave is growing well and looks good all year while adding interest that was lacking before. The Mexican Bird of Paradise should take off next year and really bloom. A more disciplined gardener might have left all the red yucca, but I enjoy seeing the new mix with the agave there whenever I pull into the driveway....and isn't that the purpose of a garden?
Six red flowering yuccas (hesperaloe parviflora) were planted near the garage nearly 20 years ago. They were definitely pretty when in bloom as shown here in Spring 2010
But the deer often snapped off the blooms and I thought they looked boring much of the year
Somewhat like the H-E-B parking lot
The south facing spot gets maximum sun exposure and plenty of reflected heat so anything here needs to be tough. In the spring of 2010 we planted gold lantana in front. Last fall we added Mexican Bird of Paradise (caeselpinia mexicana), Pride of Barbados (caeselpinia pulcherima) and a lantana camara found growing wild nearby
A gardening friend shared a native Velvet pod mimosa (Mimosa dyscarpa) which will eventually grow up about six feet against the stone wall.
One of the large red yuccas has been transplanted to the back yard and the others will be divided and planted along side the driveway in the near future.
As always around here there's more work to do. Two more gold lantanas will be added in front of the agave. The old landscaper's border will be pulled out.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Double Rainbow - Rainbow Gardens #1
As part of Support Your Independent Nursery Month hosted by Pam Penick at Digging I'm visiting some of my favorite San Antonio nurseries. This week brings a visit to Rainbow Gardens #1 at 2585 Thousand Oaks Drive in north central San Antonio. We're fortunate to have two Rainbow Gardens locations and last week I wrote about visiting Rainbow Gardens #3 on Bandera Road northwest of the city. It's interesting to note how different these two are.
Rainbow Gardens #1 has more appealing signage and entrance than Rainbow Gardens #3.
A geodesic dome houses the checkout and garden shop area
Rainbow Gardens is the San Antonio Express-News "Reader's Choice" gold winner for 2011.
Several small gardens such as this fountain display area greet customers
Autumn and cool weather annuals under a large oak create a bright welcome at the entrance to the nursery area
A big display of perennials nearby
Talavera Pottery and garden ornaments
Colorful glazed garden spheres
Love these terracotta spheres
Rainbow Gardens also has a huge selection of glazed and terracotta pottery as well as metal planters.
The main aisle is where most of the huge selection of native and xeric plants are displayed along with water garden plants. There's a greenhouse for shade plants and tropicals. On the left lots of trees, shrubs and roses are available.
This beautiful Bonsai display is the domain of Maria who has been a fixture here forever. She's semi-retired now and works only a few days a week.
Ornamental grasses are straight ahead down the main aisle and were on sale. The area was almost empty so no photo, but I did load up my wagon with some good buys.
Well, hello there Mr. Fox!
Now crossing to the other side of the garden we find Texas Mountain Laurel Sophora secudiflora 'Silver Peso' which I've been considering for a full sun area by my fence. These should be transplanted small unless you excavate the site.
Large size succulents on display
Giant hesperaloe, an option for along my driveway
Yes, I'm taking you along on a shopping trip. Back to the front through the metal arch planted with bright zinnias
A closer look at the zinnias, enjoying fall color where we find it here in south Texas
Out front to load up my purchases and explore the garden along the road. Lindheimer's senna has easily survived the drought and the ocotillo is sprouting along the stems.
Dahlberg daisies are looking good too
Agave and yucca anchor this west facing roadside garden, tough and durable in a harsh environment.
If you're interested in visiting a Rainbow Gardens location and live north of San Antonio, the Thousand Oaks Drive store is more convenient to downtown attractions. If your plans include Sea World or Fiesta Texas, then the Bandera Road store is easily accessed from FM 1604. While both locations have great plant selections and service, the Bandera Road location has been updated recently and is a nicer spot for families to explore.
You can also take a look back at my post on Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels from the first week in this series.
Rainbow Gardens #1 has more appealing signage and entrance than Rainbow Gardens #3.
A geodesic dome houses the checkout and garden shop area
Rainbow Gardens is the San Antonio Express-News "Reader's Choice" gold winner for 2011.
Several small gardens such as this fountain display area greet customers
Autumn and cool weather annuals under a large oak create a bright welcome at the entrance to the nursery area
A big display of perennials nearby
Talavera Pottery and garden ornaments
Colorful glazed garden spheres
Love these terracotta spheres
Rainbow Gardens also has a huge selection of glazed and terracotta pottery as well as metal planters.
The main aisle is where most of the huge selection of native and xeric plants are displayed along with water garden plants. There's a greenhouse for shade plants and tropicals. On the left lots of trees, shrubs and roses are available.
This beautiful Bonsai display is the domain of Maria who has been a fixture here forever. She's semi-retired now and works only a few days a week.
Ornamental grasses are straight ahead down the main aisle and were on sale. The area was almost empty so no photo, but I did load up my wagon with some good buys.
Well, hello there Mr. Fox!
Now crossing to the other side of the garden we find Texas Mountain Laurel Sophora secudiflora 'Silver Peso' which I've been considering for a full sun area by my fence. These should be transplanted small unless you excavate the site.
Large size succulents on display
Giant hesperaloe, an option for along my driveway
Yes, I'm taking you along on a shopping trip. Back to the front through the metal arch planted with bright zinnias
A closer look at the zinnias, enjoying fall color where we find it here in south Texas
Out front to load up my purchases and explore the garden along the road. Lindheimer's senna has easily survived the drought and the ocotillo is sprouting along the stems.
Dahlberg daisies are looking good too
Agave and yucca anchor this west facing roadside garden, tough and durable in a harsh environment.
If you're interested in visiting a Rainbow Gardens location and live north of San Antonio, the Thousand Oaks Drive store is more convenient to downtown attractions. If your plans include Sea World or Fiesta Texas, then the Bandera Road store is easily accessed from FM 1604. While both locations have great plant selections and service, the Bandera Road location has been updated recently and is a nicer spot for families to explore.
You can also take a look back at my post on Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels from the first week in this series.
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