Dynamite Red, Vinca White, and Plumbago Blue for the Fourth!

Red, White, and Blue posts for the Fourth of July have been a tradition at Rock-Oak-Deer--if three years can be considered a tradition.  A year ago this week I published my favorite posts about the gardens at The Warrior Family Support Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and I've been volunteering each week since then to help maintain the gardens.

The Red, White, and Blue garden has reached its peak bloom just in time for Fourth of July celebrations.

Big changes at Ragna's garden

Regular readers will remember Ragna's garden from my previous posts and its presentation on local PBS gardening show Central Texas Gardener (CTG).  Soon after the CTG crew finished, Ragna began making big changes to her back garden.  She spent most of the last six months working on this major makeover which surprised many of us who loved the garden as it was.  But her roses had been affected by chilli thrips and she did not want to go through the process of treating them with chemicals.  She was also ready to cut back on maintenance and add more waterwise plants.

Here's a photo from last fall before she began removing the roses and making changes.  My post from spring 2012 will show more of how the garden looked back then.