The Wide Shot December 2013: Cold

The first of each month I join Heather at Xericstyle to post a wide shot of my garden.  While it's fun to focus on the prettiest flowers in the garden the overall impression is what makes a landscape.

The weather has been unseasonably cold here in South Texas with near freezing lows most nights and cloudy days for the past week.

The front view of the garden does not change much throughout the year and that is by design.  I planned and planted a scheme that would work with the house to present a consistent face to the street with minimal work.

The yellowing Callicarpa americana leaves are still holding on though the Mockingbirds have taken care of most of the berries.  These are among the very few non-evergreen shrubs in the front yard and they are set against the year round silvery green of Eleaegnus which needs a top trim soon.

The Wide Shot: November 2013

The first of each month I join Heather at Xericstyle for a wide shot of my garden.  In keeping the view and timing close to the same I can track the changes in my garden throughout the year.

Today's wide shot of the front yard shows an unnamed volunteer Pennisetum ornamental grass blooming  next to the yucca by the mailbox.  This plant seeded itself from my neighbor's yard and the bonus is learning this type of grass does very well in the front yard.  I've tried growing ornamental grasses in this spot with mixed results and with this volunteer doing so well here I might try others in the future.

Early summer blooms Part 1: Warm colors for hot weather

It's early summer and we're expected to have record heat today and tomorrow, possibly 105F/40.5C.     Before it gets too hot out there and some of the plants go dormant for the summer, I've collected photos of blooms throughout the garden to share.  Today I'm featuring the warm colors of yellow, orange, and pink.

Narrowleaf zinnia, which is a perennial in our zone, continues to bloom throughout the summer.

Visting Xericstyle Garden

"Have you two met before?"  asks a somewhat surprised David Cristiani of The Desert Edge just a few minutes after Heather and I began chatting about plants.  Well, no, we haven't actually met in person but we have been following each others' garden progress through our blogs for a while so we were already friends in a way.

And that's how I began my first visit with Heather of the San Antonio blog Xericstyle while David was in town a few days ago.  This is a modern and welcoming front porch.  Those are tiny succulent planters on the door.