Monday, April 30, 2018

End of Month View: Spring Garden Tour 2018

Those yucca blooms keep drawing me outside, even though I'm trying to blog more (by request).  But whenever I sit at my computer I see this view!


Silvery Yucca rupicola is blooming for the first time having been planted as a small pup about four years ago.  Sometimes yuccas go on the wane after blooming, fortunately it has produced a number of pups to keep going should the originals die out.


Gorgeous!


Since I'm already out here let's take a tour of the spring garden which I'm linking to End of Month View hosted by Helen at The Patient Gardener.  Helen and several other UK bloggers are making the trip to Austin for the annual Garden Blogger's Fling.  I look forward to meeting so many bloggers I know mainly from photos of their gardens.

It's been a good spring with cool to average temperatures featuring more than a few cloudy days.  Clouds are good because we will have endless sunny days all summer.  For now we can use the extended opportunity to get seedlings and transplants off to a good start without a pounding from hot sun.

Just enough sun breaking through momentarily to show off Mexican Feathergrass inflorescences with pink Salvia greggii.  This is the view we see most often when returning home and I love the way everything has worked out.  I'm pretty much done and any tweaks will be minor from now on.


More than one yucca bloom is on the way!  Yucca rostrata by the garage is happy enough to bloom during its first spring in the ground.


Straight on front view showing lots of green and silver.  Later in the year yellow and gold flowers fill in as the green of spring fades.


Experts advise against pruning up the Cycad.  But they don't have to get to the mailbox through all those prickles.  So prune we did.


Entering from the north end of the drive.  A little deer proofing to protect Agave cornelius planted to replace Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' which bloomed and died out.  The garden needs a spot of yellow and green color here and the agave fits the bill.


Pale yellow blooms on purple pads of Opuntia Santa-rita  creates a perfect complementary scheme.



The island bed in silver awaiting more gold flowers later in the summer.


Callistemon 'Little John' nearly froze to death in a rare snow fall last December.  I'm happy to see it has recovered well enough to bloom.



Down through the courtyard garden collection of vintage white clay pots which coordinate much better with Ilex vomitoria 'Grmicr" or "Micron Holly" instead of a random collection of plants.




Wildflowers have changed over from Bluebonnets to oranges and yellows of Greenthread, Firewheel, and Mexican Hats.




I've tidied up the "Flower Bed" and added Salvia guaranitica 'Amistad' in a pot to better watch hummingbirds from the porch.


The view from the porch where I spend a lot of evenings watching darkness cover the garden.


The beginnings of a wildflower meadow on a scruffy slope below the deck.  First task is to get native grasses going but Larkspur has other ideas.


And my tours always end with a peek over the south side fence where it seems that as soon as I clear out potted plants from under the trees, more take their place.


Now there you have it; a dual purpose spring tour of my gardens to both link up with The Patient Gardener and a place to point if someone at the Garden Blogger's Fling should ask how my garden is doing.  It is doing very well, and thank you for asking.

22 comments:

  1. Your spring garden looks so beautiful. I love the rock garden as much as the flower garden. I have never seen a yucca in bloom though we have a lot here in Malaysia. Gorgeous indeed.

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    1. It's very different from tropical Malaysia. A gravel garden by necessity, with a super hot south and west exposure surrounded by concrete only the toughest plants survive.

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  2. Your yucca blooms are gorgeous but why don’t the deer eat them? See you at the Fling.

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    1. For some reason they never bother the yucca stalks while snapping off every hesperaloe bloom that dares to emerge. Looking forward to seeing your garden Friday.

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  3. I so look forward to meeting you IRL at the Fling. I also wish I were going to get to tour your garden...

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    1. Looking forward to meeting you too Loree! Maybe on another trip to Texas. We're not that far from Austin.

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  4. Great to see a garden in a totally different climatic zone.The Opuntia Santa-rita looks great but maybe in our conservatory but never in our garden.

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    1. Opuntia is quite cold hardy but doesn't like damp at all. The garden tour at Hoby looks like such fun.

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  5. I so regret having to miss the Fling. I was looking forward to seeing some friends and to meeting lots of new ones. Another year, I hope. And if you ever find yourself in or near Montreal, do get in touch: pat@siteandinsight.com

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    1. Pat, oh no, I thought you would be there and was looking forward to seeing you. I have been to Montreal in the winter and it was beautiful but very very cold. I'll keep in mind a summer visit.

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    2. I registered but then had to cancel -- my husband is being honoured at a big event in Toronto on the weekend. I'm happy for him but sad to miss the Fling.

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    3. Congratulations to your husband and we will miss you!

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  6. With views like this drawing you outdoors, anyone would find it difficult to sit inside at the computer and blog but I'm sure glad that you did. Unfortunately, I won't be flinging this year and will miss meeting you. Your garden is so beautiful and it's amazing how much it's changed since you first started posting about it. Happy spring!

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    1. The same Peter, with our summer heat it would be so tough to wait until school is out to schedule a Fling. I am disappointed not to meet you this time. I hope there will be another opportunity.

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  7. I enjoyed seeing the wider views of your garden, which looks absolutely splendid! I'm impressed by all the Yucca blooms. Did your take their time before blooming for the first time? (Thus far, neither my 'Bright Stars' nor my 'Blue Boys' have produced a single bloom despite years in the ground.) I couldn't help noticing your wonderful whale's tongue agave either - it's huge!

    I look forward to meeting you in person at the Fling!

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  8. I'd say it's an average of 3-4 years for the small yucca and my trunking yuccas are faster because they are older when planted. Sometimes they skip a year or even die out. The agave ovatifolia looks ready to bloom. Could be another two years or so but I have a replacement growing on so the difference will not be too dramatic.

    Look forward to seeing you too!

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  9. Shirley your garden is just so beautiful and those views have always taken my breath away. I wish I was attending the Fling to meet everyone but I will have to try next year. Enjoy!

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    1. We'll miss you, it should be fun. I'm getting excited about it just two days away now. Next year is Denver, should be nice.

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  10. Your garden is looking amazing, Shirley!!!!! It was so great to see you the other day at Fanicks...had been too long. ����

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    1. Thank you, I'm enjoying it. Should have added that this post will give me something to look at if I miss my garden over the weekend.

      Definitely too long, it seems we pick different events or days. It was good to finally connect. I still have a baby Moby for you.

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  11. A little bit of the Salvia greggii that came from my mother is blooming. I need to encourage it into a nice clump like yours.

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    1. It's a wonderful plant for dry climates and will survive drought quite easily.

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