Plant ABCs: P is for Photinia fraseri

I'm continuing my ABCs of plants in my garden series with Photinia fraseri.  You can view the others in the series on my sidebar or on the Plant ABCs tab at the top.  Plant ABCs is a series to document the plants in my garden.  I'm going through the alphabet in order and when it is completed I will add and update entries.

Photinia fraseri or Red-tip Photinia is one of the most common plants in my neighborhood.  Almost everyone used it for screening along their fences when the houses were built.  This non-native plant originated in New Zealand and has more recently been replaced in newer developments with native shrubs.  The photinia in my yard have been here for 18 years and along the fence line for even longer so they aren't going anywhere soon.

San Antonio Cactus & Xerophyte Society State Show & Sale

It's Fiesta San Antonio week so lets celebrate by heading to the San Antonio Cactus & Xerophyte Society State Show & Sale in the San Antonio Garden Center which shares a parking lot with the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.  This is an official Fiesta event and probably the only one I'll attend this year.

Both a show and sale are available so we'll visit the show section exhibits and displays around the sides of the room first.

Wildflower Wednesday: April Wildflowers

This week I'm joining Gail at Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday.  Wildflower Wednesday is a special opportunity to track the progress of the wildflowers I am establishing in my yard.

It's amazing what happens when you put out the welcome mat for native plants and flowers.  For example, these Indian Blanket flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) or Firewheel surprised me by blooming this week.

Nursery Visit: Hill Country Gardens

It's been a while since I've visited Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels and even longer since I posted about all the changes taking place there.  That it had been too long was confirmed last week when Andrea, the owner, commented "it's been a while since we've seen you" after I responded to her Facebook post on weekend sales and seminars.

Hill Country Gardens has been an important native plant resource for local gardeners for more than 20 years.  In 2011, Andrea Sanger acquired the nursery from the original owner and has made many improvements in the last two and a half years while maintaining the focus on native plants.  In October 2012, Andrea's first anniversary celebration event was one of my first posts on this blog.

Random Garden Bits for Friday

Today seems like a good day to post some random garden pictures and things that made me smile recently.

The claret cup cactus I received at the swap two weeks ago opened two blooms at once.  Like a cute little frog looking at you.  Claret cup blooms last about two days.

Foliage Follow-up April 2013: Black Mondo grass

Today I join Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-up with a couple of new plants this spring.  Like many of you I was preoccupied today, but reading the other posts gave me an idea.

I'm excited to have acquired a plant which has been on my list so long I almost forgot about it until the bright red containers caught my eye at Shades of Green nursery recently.  Black Mondo!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day: April 2013

It's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and time to see what's blooming this week in my south central Texas garden where the temperatures will soon reach into 90s.

First is a pretty coral cactus bloom on an unidentified barrel cactus in the front gravel garden.