Happy 2019

2019 could be "the year."  Meaning it looks like we'll be on bloom watch for the huge Agave ovatifolia which has anchored the front landscaping for nearly a decade, and presented an opportunity for decorating during the holiday season.

At 6' diameter this silvery agave has grown well past the advertised standard 4' range to reach its known maximum width.  The middle has noticeably thickened in the last year or so.  This spring will mark nine years in the garden and I'd estimate it was five years old when planted in 2010.  Agaves can live longer than 15 years but we've had a lot of rain recently which has forced blooms in many agaves around town.  

Shortly after beginning my blog in 2011 I had the bright idea to drape blue lights on the agave.  Two strands of 60 LED lights covered its three foot diameter and it made a nice photo.  

I've decorated it with blue lights every year since.  For several years I used blue and white snowflake lights for fun while thinking I would never see real snow in December.  The joke turned real in our bizarre early December 2017 snowfall.

The snowflake lights quit working shortly after the big snow so I switched to fairy lights.   This year I needed three 10m strands of 100 fairy lights which works out to over 90ft of lights!  Could it be the last year for this agave and that many lights?

Not to worry though, I have one in waiting, about three feet diameter.  Cue Lion King circle of life....

The original arrived with a rare pup tucked (the one shown above) down among the roots.  We carefully removed and nurtured it the last eight years or so.  A few years ago we moved it to full sun so it will be ready just in case.  Obviously smaller at this point, it is larger than the original when we planted it and I'm sure this baby will grow into the beauty its parent has been.

No point in being blue about it.  As disappointing as it will be, Agave bloom watch for 2019 (or hopefully later) is the realistic view.

Happy New Year!

Snow in South Texas!

Snow happens in San Antonio but it's pretty rare.  Even more rare is snow in December with just six November-December snowfalls recorded since 1895.  We've always thought wrapping snowflake lights on the big Agave ovatifolia was a bit of a joke.  Last night they were in their element.

The snow fell after dark making photography a challenge.  At least I'd already started putting out the lights and adding bright plastic Christmas balls to their tips.  Agave neomexicana in green and yellow lights.

We had fun walking around in the falling snow with holiday lights to help highlight the scene.

What about my plants?  Cold was predicted so I had already brought in the begonias and frost tender succulents and had time to cover most of the borderline hardy garden plants.

The fan palm next door is quite hardy.



Cycads are fairly hardy and it only went down to 34F last night.

Yuccas and Mexican Feather Grass are all hardy in near-freezing conditions.

 
Three well-established Golden Barrel cacti which can survive down to 15F if they are well-drained.

Snow slides right off flexible Yucca rostrata leaves.  Yucca rostrata is native to higher elevations in West Texas and quite cold hardy as well.

Native grasses can take whatever our weather throws at them.

Back out with the camera early this morning



Especially pretty view from the garage corner.



One frosty Agave ovatifolia in the back garden might show a few marks from the cold, wet weather.

Naturally silver Yucca rigida looks great in snow.

Buffalo grass with a nice coating still in place.



It 's been warmer than usual so the garden was still growing and blooming until this happened.

Rosemary in the holiday spirit.

Birds will show up as soon as this thaws.

Golden barrels shedding their snow covering.

That hardy fan palm next door.

Agave cornelius hardy to 20F except I recently planted two more which might not have established yet.



Hedgehog cactus might get a bit of scarring from the cold but it will come back.

Brave Maya still blooming this morning.

By mid-afternoon ice was pelting down from trees above and...

 ...there was still a bit of snow on the northside roof.

Usually these ornaments are the only frost on the agave during December.



We thought we'd left this and our snow shovel behind when we retired to Texas.

No snow shovel required.  It's all gone now.  Snow is fun once in a while but we don't miss shoveling and scraping just to get to work on a winter's morning.

First Anniversary for the New Garage - Part One

There are times when the best way to deal with a garden problem area is to build something, not just grow something.  Last year we went big on this concept by building a garage/workshop and also ended up with more usable gardening space.  Here's the new garage I've shown when posting about the new landscaping along the driveway.

A year ago we started with this

In January 2011 we began a long-planned project to construct a garage/workshop in an underutilized side yard.  In celebration of the first anniversary of completing the project I'm sharing some of the planning and construction process.

The original driveway ended at the double gate and the yard beyond was an eyesore.  Here's a view of the area from the roof of the house.

A rocky south-facing slope in direct sun most of the day, it was the least inviting spot in the yard making it the perfect spot to build a garage/workshop to handle the overflow from our ever growing list of DIY projects.

In addition to the functional requirements, a top priority was that the new construction should look like the house which is "Shed" style.  We based the plans on the New England saltbox because it provided flexible space and similar lines to the house.  We also decided to go with a wide one-car garage instead of a full two-car in order to leave some gardening space between the house and garage.

While most projects around here are DIY, a new garage is not something we would construct by ourselves.  We both have extensive experience in construction and project management so we acted as our own contractor on the project and subbed everything else out.

After developing our plans we hired an engineer to design the foundation as required by the city.  Once the engineering drawings were approved and the permits acquired, we were ready to go.  The foundation contractor dropped off really cool equipment the first day.

I watched the work from an upstairs window, best to stay safe when these guys are moving this equipment around

The crew unearthed this huge stone which they moved into place for us to use as a bench facing the creek.  It's roughly 4'x3' and we estimate it weighs at least 400 lbs.   We had about five minutes to decide and no changing our minds now.  The rock bench will be incorporated into a low wall and garden under the trees.  In the background you can see where some of that top soil ended up and the beginnings of a new garden between the house and garage.

    
After the forms were prepared, we had big cement trucks in the driveway too.  We did have to trim a few secondary tree limbs from the beautiful live oak to the right, fortunately the largest limb across the drive remained untouched.

It rained for the first time in months
 
 Rain is good for cement, it cures slowly and results in a stronger slab

 It was a big day when the frame began to go up

 
Finally the roof went up, the attic is large enough for lots of storage and we ran water lines if someone wants to convert it to living space in the future.

A view from the side, the building steps down the hill with the workshop on the the back separate from the garage.  The space on the second level can be used as a studio when I have messy projects.

It really started to look like a building once the sides were enclosed and the roof is decked

Standing seam roof to match the house

Wrapped and ready for the stone exterior, we had a rare snow delay.

It was cold too, the temperature stayed below freezing for three days.  The construction crews I worked with in Boston would have thought this was great weather to work in, here in San Antonio they took a few days off.

After the snow melted and the weather warmed up we were ready to get back on track.

Stay tuned for Part Two - The Stone Masons