Wildflower Wednesday March 2018: Damianita

Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana) has been blooming in the front garden this week and I've been going out there almost every day just to enjoy their golden beauty.  I'm joining Gail at Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday to take a closer look at a great native landscape plant for Central Texas.

Soft, daisy-like flowers on bright green foliage make it so attractive in the landscape.  Highly aromatic woody stems with the scent of camphor makes it icky to deer.  Not so much as a tiny nibble.

Great view from the street side.



A nice walk especially on a cloudy day.



This October 2017 photo shows Damianita remains evergreen when not in bloom which is why I chose it to replace the under-performing Lantana originally planted here.

Still back in October showing off a good landscape plant year round.  The green mound in the island bed is also Damianita.



Green even in the snow!

Damianita is a local native which survives on rocky outcroppings in the Texas Hill Country with no supplemental water so it stays happy with just an occasional deep drink during hot summer months.  The Lantana it replaced required a lot more water to look good in this hot spot.  Damianita thrives in the reflected heat from gravel mulch, the driveway and a full southern exposure with 10+ hours of direct sun in the summer.

They are picky about pruning.  When the blooms are done I will lightly shear the tops to encourage another round of blooms which will continue until fall.  Shearing keeps them from getting leggy and topping out around 12" high though I have seen them get closer to 3' in the wild.  Sometimes a few brown stems will show and I just use clippers to cut the stems back about halfway to green them up again.  Making sure not to cut the woody stems too far back is about the only concern with Damianita.

Damianita is polite enough to set out a seedling (left) exactly where I would have added one anyway.  I'd like more seedlings because I have a lot more places to add these little wonders.

Damianita is a great choice for the streetside bed too so I added another one recently.

No wonder I'm adding Damianita wherever I can find a sunny spot in need of year-round green and bright yellow flowers!

Join Gail at Clay and Limestone on the fourth Wednesday of each month for more ideas on native wildflowers for your landscape.

April Garden View

This past Saturday I volunteered at our local Watersaver Landscape Tour.  The gardens were exceptional and we had a great crowd.  I'll show you my view of the tour in future posts but first I like to tour my own gardens at the same time to see how it would go.  The landscape tour, usually held in October, was moved to April this year due to weather.  It's been a while since I took you on a walk around my own gardens, so let's see what visitors would see if they toured my garden over the weekend.

Bright yellow Damianita makes for a cheery welcome at the front walk.  Damianta blooms like this several times a year and is evergreen which is why we replaced 'New Gold' Lantana which fell short in both departments.  My new Yucca rigida is settling in nicely.



I'm adjusting my usual tour pattern and starting with the star of my front garden today in honor of Moby, Pam Penick's Agave ovatifolia, which has sadly begun to bloom.  Agaves bloom just once and die.  Following Pam's "Moby" posts on her blog Digging inspired my own interest in adding one to my garden.  You can follow Moby's bloom daily on Pam's Facebook page or see her post at Digging.

So here's to Moby going out in a spectacular way.

While most information on Agave ovatifolia states that it does not offset, I was surprised to find an offset in the nursery pot back in 2010 when I planted mine.  We carefully separated and nurtured that precious pup for five years before planting it out in the front gravel garden last year.  Now about six years old, it's to the left of the large white stone as a "spare" against the day when mine goes the way of all Agaves.

Look closely to see our neighbor's Agave americana is sending up an enormous bloom stalk.



Now we'll step back a bit to take the long view from the street where we usually begin our tours.



Moving across the front for a different view.  I think I should add a few Damianita to repeat the color across the landscape.

Yucca rupicola bloom stalk has emerged and is beginning to set blooms.

Jerusalem Sage in the island bed is producing multiple blooms for the first time.  Planted three years ago it seemed to take forever to grow into a mature plant.  It's sure to become a favorite since it needs zero attention to look like this most of the summer.

Yucca 'Color Guard' pups have replaced larger ones which died over the winter.  I'll have more on that story in another post.  Opuntia 'Santa Rita' blooms bright yellow against that gorgeous purple hue.

The shady front garden functions as a courtyard walled in by silvery shrubbery.

 Not many flowers here by design though there is a Canna blooming.  I've begun to bring out non-hardy plants in pots for summer display.



Through the fence to see the buffalo grass is greening up

The tank garden filled with Larkspur blooms.

The crevice/gravel garden fills with yellow Greenthread flowers each spring.

We've added a firepit in the only space with no tree canopy.

Rock-lined paths lead through a cactus garden in the sunniest part of the yard.  One of the new yuccas looks stressed but it's fine.  Some of the leaves were damaged in transporting and planting so they've turned brown and we'll cut those off as new ones grow in.

Looking through the gate on the south side of the house with those arching trees.  Sedge on both sides of the path beginning to fill in nicely.  I would tidy up the pot ghetto before a tour and clean out the dry creek which requires lifting all the rocks and raking out accumulated leaf litter.

That's the tour for April and it's good to see our hard work paying off now in our 6th year of gardening here.

Easter Egg Colors Abound

Easter weekend in San Antonio means local parks are filled to the brim with family campouts.  The tradition is generations old and families begin arriving on Thursday when park curfews are lifted to hold their regular Easter cookout spots.  A local website features a fun montage of photos on the techniques employed.  Saturday brings Easter Egg hunts taking place all over the city.   My own garden is bright with Easter Egg colors so let's see how many colors I can find blooming during Easter week.

We'll start out front with Claret Cup Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus), a native beauty which enjoys wide distribution in Southwestern states including Texas.

Planted several years ago as one tiny pup, it will eventually form a three-foot hedgehog mound covered with bright blossoms each spring.

Bright yellow Damianita at the foot of Agave ovatifolia.  I'm pleased with the performance of this evergreen native which replaced 'New Gold' Lantana last year.

Iris purple just says Easter.

Orange Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) brightens up a front corner with Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' in the background.

Deep pink Salvia Greggii in the streetside garden.

More golden color from Four-nerve Daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa) nested in fresh green Flax Lily.  Four-nerve Daisy is an evergreen repeat bloomer making the list of easiest plants to grow in my garden.



Red Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeana) blooms gradually turn from pink to red.

Yellow Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a bit hardier and blooms earlier than the red variety.

I've had a challenge keeping Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea munroana) alive in my garden.  With encouragement from gardening friends I planted another last fall and so far, so good!

Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) is another easy care native plant I'm trying in the sunny tank garden this summer.  Blackfoot Daisy blooms throughout our mild winters.



Typically an annual, the Hyacinth Bean Vine (Lablab purpureus) continued to bloom throughout our mild winter.  Planted by accident (I thought it was a different plant), I'm looking forward to seeing how it does in August heat on the full-sun arbor.

Larkspur with their upside down bunny ears.

Bright orange Nasturtium will be finished soon.

Bilbergia Nutans produces gorgeous, delicate blooms.

Now that's my kind of Easter Basket!

With all these blooms, no need to hide Easter Eggs to find bright colors in my garden.

Happy Easter!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day July 2014

It's been a surprising year in my gardens with a record cold winter slowing down the spring blooms to the point that we have a Bluebonnet in July.  No kidding, this early March bloomer has surprised with a bloom as we near the hottest time of year.  I'm joining Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and sharing blooms in my garden for July.

End of Month View: May 2014

I enjoy taking stock to see how much the garden has grown and the changes that have been made in the garden each month so I'm joining Helen at The Patient Gardener's Weblog in sharing views of the garden for May.

I usually begin with a view of the front garden where things don't seem to change much so we'll just skip to the driveway side where the yucca blooms have turned to skeleton forms.  I like the effect at least for a few more days.  The Texas Sage along the drive are just about to burst into bloom due to the recent rains.

End of Month View April 2014

I look forward to looking back.  What?  I mean looking back at changes in the garden over the past month which why I'm joining Helen at The Patient Gardener for the End of Month View for April.

We haven't had much rain yet this year but spring has brought a nice green-up and most plants have recovered from the exceptionally cold winter by now.

Early summer blooms Part 1: Warm colors for hot weather

It's early summer and we're expected to have record heat today and tomorrow, possibly 105F/40.5C.     Before it gets too hot out there and some of the plants go dormant for the summer, I've collected photos of blooms throughout the garden to share.  Today I'm featuring the warm colors of yellow, orange, and pink.

Narrowleaf zinnia, which is a perennial in our zone, continues to bloom throughout the summer.