Guest Posting at Garden Style San Antonio

When my friend Heather at San Antonio Water System (SAWS) contacted me about writing a guest post for their website Garden Style San Antonio I didn't hesitate to say yes.  Garden Style San Antonio has been an an excellent resource for watersaving garden ideas and I'm excited to have my first guest post published on the site today.  If you garden in San Antonio or Central Texas, you will enjoy browsing their extensive plant lists with photos, design ideas, seasonal reminders for tasks in the garden and the latest on SAWS watersaver coupons.

Another reason I was happy to guest post for SAWS is my article highlights the stars of my winter garden--agaves, cacti, and succulents.  Lawn is not the only welcoming option for a front yard, these plants have led to many compliments from passersby and opportunities to chat with neighbors over the years.  Planned about six years ago with the idea that our front landscape would look much the same year round with minimal maintenance, we've achieved our goal.  Mid-January is an excellent time to check out our plan.  With a silvery foundation of drought-tough agaves, grasses, and evergreens like Texas Mountain Laurel, all anchored by native Live Oaks, the front garden needs only a few tweaks each year to keep it looking great.



Any post highlighting agaves in my garden must begin with Agave Ovatifolia, the focal point of the front drive.  Heather knew I wouldn't turn down a chance to write about this beauty!  Damianita at its feet have just finished blooming.

Upright and comparatively small Agave neomexicana provides a focal point in the narrow island.  There are two offsets emerging and I can't wait to plant those out in the garden when they're ready.

Tough agaves and yucca add form and structure while echoing the silvery color theme throughout the front garden.  The narrow leaves in the middle belong to a small Yucca rostrata.

A special variety of native Yucca rupicola features gold-edged silvery leaves.  Color Guard Yucca in the right foreground picks up the the gold and green theme against a background of native Salvia greggii.

Golden Barrel cactus (foreground) needs little care to look its best in this tough spot along the driveway.

And here they are close up.



Fishhook barrel cactus continues to produce bright magenta blooms during our mild winter.

Another welcoming garden near the front walk is in the works.  Deer resistant Wooly Stemodia will eventually make a silvery carpet for small agaves placed here.

Agave Victoria-reginae grows slowly so it's a great choice for small spaces.

Opuntia Santa-Rita and Color Guard Yucca add winter color on the north side of the driveway.

Around back the crevice garden holds a sunny slope where little would grow previously.  

It's a perfect spot for more small agaves, grass-like nolina, yucca, and cacti nestled into pea gravel.  By the way, those low-growing green plants in the gravel are wildflowers, not weeds.

My favorite here is Agave 'Blue Glow' in the left hand corner (above).  Below it's shown with a backdrop of Texas Blubonnets from last spring.

Agave angustifolia picks up the silvery theme in the narrow side yard.

Agaves, cacti, and succulents keep my garden looking its best year round.  I'll have an opportunity to write more posts for Garden Style San Antonio this year and I'm looking forward to sharing my San Antonio garden adventures with you.  Be sure enter your email on the front page of the Garden Style San Antonio site to keep up with the best of San Antonio gardening.

Another Frosty Morning

A light freeze was predicted overnight for San Antonio.  There was a surprise waiting when I looked outside this morning.

State of the Agaves Report

One of the many fun things about reading blogs is stealing their ideas being inspired by other bloggers.  Loree at Danger Garden reports on the state of the agaves in her garden several times a year.  Loree lives in Portland, Oregon, which is not the most agave-friendly climate and in her latest report she wondered how much those same agaves might have grown in a southwestern climate for three years.  I took the challenge and decided to post about this even though I don't actually live in the southwest according to most regional guides.   I do live about 300 miles or so east of the line which is no distance at all in Texas and I own a copy of the Sunset Western Garden book so I figured it's close enough.  There's not a lot to post about in the heat of August and the agave is a plant that does well in our climate.

First up is the cornerstone of my front garden, the Agave ovatifolia.  Inspired by "Moby" on Pam Penick's blog Digging, it was planted spring of 2010 after we had finished our big construction projects--replacing the roof and building a new garage.  A very important point since it's a good idea to get big projects out of the way before adding specimen plants. 

The A. Ovatifolia in early October of 2010 newly planted and still showing the effects of the 3-gallon grower's pot.  I'd guess it was about 24 inches diameter at this point.  This was planted Before Blogging (BB) so you can tell it was a big event in the garden because I have photos.

White Rock East Garden Tour Dallas: The Wright Garden and neighbors

This is the second post in my series about the White Rock East Garden Tour in Dallas where nine gardens were featured in three neighborhoods near the Dallas Arboretum.  The gardens on tour ranged from new homes with very standard landscaping to older homes with lots of character and personal backyard retreats.  I'm featuring my favorites in individual posts and will combine highlights from the rest.  My first post in the series was the colorful and relaxing Collins/Spalding garden.

The Wright Garden in the Little Forest Hills neighborhood featured a modern home with a no-lawn front yard which included a stock tank vegetable garden. 

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.

Winter Walk-Off 2013

It's time for the Winter Walk-off sponsored by Les at A Tidewater Gardener.  Last year I gave the walk-off a try and the resulting photos were so boring I didn't even post them.  So you wanna see my neighborhood?  Yes? No?  Either way you're going to see it this year.

The Winter Walk-off 2013 rules are

On your own two feet, leave the house and share what can be seen within walking (or biking) distance of your home (if you want to drive to your walk that's OK too).  Your post does not have to be about gardening or a travelogue, unless you want it to be.  Maybe instead you will find some unusual patterns, interesting shadows, signs of spring, a favorite restaurant or shop, questionable landscaping or local eyesores.  Whatever, just keep your eyes and mind open, be creative and have fun, but don't show anything from your own garden.

I considered posting one of my River Walk adventures instead.  After all, Les said we could drive to our walk.  That's too easy though and I really want to show you my own neighborhood.  There are many special things that make it one of the more desirable areas of the city:  the live oak trees chief among them. They set the backdrop for a wide variety of gardening and landscaping options.  But among the challenges are the lack of sidewalks and deep set-backs for the houses mixed with a very laid-back approach to yard maintenance.

So here we go on a walk around the 'hood.  Of course I picked trash day and brush pick-up week to do this so the photography would be more fun!

Boorrring!  This isn't my street, but a nearby one just like it.  I actually forgot to get a picture of my street.



Let's keep going, there are some fun things to see along the way.  I promise.

First new plant of 2013!

In my last post I asked for recommendations to fill the spot in the front garden where two Texas sages had recently been removed.

The votes were cast by readers, tallied in a secret location, and delivered by computer. The unanimous choice of the Academy of Blog Comments (ABC) was......Envelope please! 

 The "New Mexico Agave" or Agave neomexicana!  Here it is just after I brought it home.  Isn't it cute?

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.

Open Days Garden Tour Austin: Jennifer and Fred Meyers Garden

The Garden Conservancy's Open Days tour is among the most anticipated since they try to feature the best gardens in the area.  The tour comes to our region every other year and 2012 is the year for garden tours in Texas including Houston, Dallas, and Austin.  Since there were no San Antonio gardens on tour and the Austin tour looked quite promising, I headed to Austin this past Saturday to join a group of garden bloggers, including Pam of Digging, who generously offered to drive.  Our group included Jean of Dig, Grow, Compost, Diana of Sharing Nature's Garden, and Catherine of The Whimsical Gardener.  I had so much fun meeting them for the first time and spending the day touring six special gardens in Austin.

We began our tour in central Austin at the Jennifer and Fred Myers garden along the banks of Shoal Creek.  This garden had me at the curb.  Visitors and passers-by are greeted with this inviting view of the garden through these old wood church windows. 

Like most gardens, this one is a work in progress and the owners show it that way for the tour.  I found this to be a refreshing approach.  You can see bricks from the unfinished wall project through the windows here.

Watersaver Landscape Tour 2012: Olla's well in this Community Garden

The Watersaver Landscape tour held in early October included the Olmos Park Terrace Community Garden which is part of the Green Space Alliance of South Texas.

Scene on the street: Gardens of Southtown

While in the Southtown area of San Antonio for a stop on the Herb Society Garden Tour last week, we took a little time to walk the block to check out neighboring houses and front gardens.  Southtown is a neighborhood of artists studios, local restaurants, and contemporary shops which are revitalizing the area.  It's very close to the popular King William Historic District and is a less expensive option for those who choose to live in town or establish a new business.

Next door on the west side of the "Urban Chic" house shown on tour is this charming cottage with a beautiful coral vine blooming along the fence and a contemporary kinetic sculpture in the yard.

Ragna's Garden Part Two: Xeriscape Front Yard

My friend Ragna's Texas style cottage garden back yard was the subject for a recent post and her garden has so many unique features that it could not be covered in one posting.  Many of you have commented about how much you enjoyed seeing her back yard garden, this time I'm showcasing the front yard which is xeriscape, San Antonio style.  

Ragna and her husband Bob replaced their lawn with gravel mulch a few years ago.  After fifteen years of water restrictions and the last two years of drought, more and more San Antonians are going with similar low water use alternatives to the traditional lawn.  I personally find these yards are so much prettier and more inspiring than the dead brown lawns they replace.  That's certainly the case with this inviting front yard.

The Antique Rose Emporium: More Than Just Roses

A few days ago I posted my most recent visit to The Antique Rose Emporium here in San Antonio.  On that post I focused on the beautiful array of roses in bloom.  There was a lot to see in addition to the roses that day so here's another post with photos of some of the many other sights in the garden.  I also found another clue in a plant mystery.

A whimsical whirligig

These pink poppies by the entrance are attention grabbers every spring

Scene on the Street - Sunset and Broadway

Some places make you want to slow down and take another look.  San Antonio has many such places and this is one of them.  Even in San Antonio, where the agave is a common landscape plant, this place stands out for its abundance of them.  I drive by here often and today became the day to stop for a few photos.  As impressive as this looked driving by, it's even more so from the sidewalk.

I don't know the origin of the buildings or if they are currently in use.  This is on a busy commercial street, but there are no signs to indicate it is currently occupied.  A quick check shows that it was an antique store for a while.  We'll walk along the sidewalk from west to east.  The Texas Mountain Laurel and other large plants offer a hint of the impressive view beyond.

Just on the other side the scene changes dramatically to agaves on a berm in front of the driveway.  The rocks, while looking random, are well placed.

Back along the sidewalk there's a great mailbox, agave, ocotillo, and a Retama tree.  The agaves were planted close to the sidewalk and the lower leaves are trimmed back.

Up above the plants include bear grass, yucca, and we get a glimpse of the buildings

Along the way there's enough of a clearing to get a good look at the front entry and the stonework around the door.

Matching stonework around the window on a small building to the right.

Back to the street, the agaves create quite a jumble at eye level



A look at the decorative painting around the windows to the left of the entry

An up close view of the agave jumble

 
Nearing the end, more agave and yucca

One last peek over the fence before I go on about my errands.

Those are our beautiful native Texas Mountain Laurel flowers to the right.  The flowers are intensely fragrant and smell like grape kool-aid. 

If this place ever re-opens as a business I would love to see inside.  Now on my way....

Plant ABC's - A is for Agave

Recently I noticed the range of plants in my yard just might cover the alphabet.  I'm only missing one and plan to add it before we get there. Agave begins my A-Z plant alphabet series.

There are several Agaves in the garden and it was hard to pick just one.  We just planted this Agave Lophantha 'Splendida' over the weekend giving it plenty of space to offset and spread.  Note the two little pups to the left.

It was tough not to choose the Abutilon because it looks so spectacular right now.  So here's the honorable mention from the A-list.

I'll continue posting the alphabet of plants in my garden throughout the year.