As seen on Pinterest: The Stock Tank Garden 2015

My Pinterest account has over 3,000 pins on 90 boards.  How many of those thousands of potential gardening projects have I put into action?  Several, including last year's crevice garden, an idea I originally pinned from other blogs like Danger Garden.  This year's stock tank garden was inspired by photos on Pinterest.  The results have exceeded expectations.

Last fall I decided to tackle an idea which kept turning up in my Pinterest boards--soft ornamental grasses mixed with violet-hued perennials.  If I pinned so many similar ideas then it's a concept I must like a lot.  That why I planted Verbena bonariensis and Mexican Feather Grass in my tank garden last fall.  A happy surprise is the appearance of Larkspur in analogous shades of violet to add an extra dimension of color.

Combining perennials and ornamental grasses isn't a new idea, it's been employed by the world's most celebrated landscape designers for years.  That's why my inspiration photos aren't in this post.  I hesitated to write Bury Court or Piet Ouldolf for permission to use their photos.  Instead my Pinterest board is linked for you.

What was my design approach?  With so many local variables it's best to adapt the concept instead of directly copying an idea.  Several of the photos showed allium which are not reliable in my climate and the short bloom season means the effect would be fleeting.  Verbena bonariensis grows well in my climate as does Mexican Feather Grass.  Even better, both were existing in my garden.  Verbena bonariensis had problems with powdery mildew in its previous shadier location and needed to be moved.  Now with all day sun it never wilts and didn't die back even after several light frosts this past winter.  It will bloom continuously all summer with occasional deadheading.

Before, this is how the garden looked in Fall 2014.  The grasses shown here are not in the stock tank. 

As a bonus, towering flowers and flowing grasses are mesmerizing in the wind.  We had wind gusts last week providing an opportunity to post another of those Awesome Motion photos.  I especially like how the Verbena bonariensis stays upright and sturdy in the wind.

Love the greens and violets together.

Larkspur is an annual and when it goes to seed, I'll probably move blue-violet Henry Duelberg Salvia over to keep the analogous color theme working.

Unless I decide the slightly red-violet of Salvia Amistad works better.  Then again, I could combine both colors with the verbena.

And to think this all happened because I needed to cover up a dead spot in the lawn.

I love it when a plan works, especially this well.

Walking in the rain

Hurricane Vance brought rain all the way over the Sierra Madre from the Pacific coast of Mexico.  We've had a lot of rain and it has been fun watching it pour down since Tuesday evening.  The rain gauge says 4" but it seemed like even more.  That wiped out half of our annual rainfall deficit in a couple days.  Thursday morning the rain stopped enough to head out with the camera and get rare shots of the garden all wet.  Plus it's been a while since I took you on a garden tour.

Peeking out the front door.  We don't see a lot of puddles since most rain either runs off into the creek or soaks in quickly.

Seasonal Celebrations: Spring to Summer with a look back in time

Most mornings I head out into the garden with my tea to check out this view just off the back deck.  What greets me is still a surprise.

Re-gardening: Tanking the Inner Circle

It seems we do a lot of re-gardening.  I just can't seem to leave well enough alone.  What fun would that be?  So after a garden area has settled in for a year or so it's time to make changes even before addressing other areas that have yet to be finished for the first time.  The circle garden was fully planted in 2012 and looked great for fall that same year.

Building a Cedar Post Arbor

The addition of a circle garden has made a huge difference in my back yard.  It has been the crowning achievement of my gardening activities since we retired and moved back into the house five years ago.  But as any good gardener, I am never satisfied, so I needed something to enhance my circle garden.  A cedar arbor was just the ticket to add a backdrop to the circle garden by providing context and vertical interest blah, blah blah...

Plant ABCs: R is for Rosemarinus

Plant ABCs is an ongoing series in which I am highlighting a plant from my garden for each letter of the alphabet.  I'm currently going through the entire alphabet A - Z, then will continue updating and adding plants to the list over time.  My previous posts in the series are on the "Plant ABCs" tab under the header.  Today's letter is "R" and Rosemary is the highlighted plant.  Rosemary plays a big role in my garden because it is easy to grow, very drought tolerant, and absolutely deer-proof.

Butterflies in motion

When I planned the circle garden in the back yard it wasn't with the specific intention of having a butterfly garden.  It just turned out that the best flowers for a hot, full Texas sun, low-water garden are also loved by our local butterfly population.

Over the last two summers I've shown plenty of butterfly photos like the one below.