Does deer repellent actually work?

Deer can do a surprising amount of damage to the garden in a very short time.  For the most part I deal with the presence of deer in the garden by selecting plants they don't like.  That doesn't mean deer won't damage "deer resistant" plants--they just sustain less damage than other plants.

One "deer resistant" plant is Hesperaloe parviflora or red yucca.  Deer don't eat the leaves or blooms, but they seem to enjoy snapping the buds off.  It's annoying, especially since they drop the pieces on the ground and walk away.  What a waste!

Plant ABCs: S is for Sophora Secundiflora

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 "S" and Sophora Secundiflora is the highlighted plant. 

The Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora Secundiflora) was one of the first plants I learned to name.  Of course I knew only its common name for many years.  Texas Mountain Laurel was my father's favorite and whenever I'm asked to name my favorite plant this is the one I choose.

When a new landscape isn't enough

There are some things even the best landscape plan can't fix.  Sometimes the house just needs a makeover to improve curb appeal.  Since it's quite slow in the garden right now (shhhh, don't wake the dormant plants...) I'm going back in time to show the roofing project we completed three years ago this week which greatly improved the appeal of the entire house-scape.

The Wide Shot

When I began reading garden blogs for inspiration I noticed a focus on single flowers and plants.  Although closeup photos are beautiful and useful for learning about specific plants, I felt a larger context is sometimes needed to appreciate those details in the garden.  Like an Impressionist painting, things change quite a bit when you take a step or two back.  Fortunately there were blogs like Digging with a good combination of each to guide me and provide just what I was looking for at the time.  One of my goals when I decided to jump in with my own garden blog in October 2011 was to mix in plenty of wide shots so readers could follow along to see just how the details fit within my landscape as a whole.

When Heather at Xericstyle began blogging in January of 2012 I noted right away that she is also a fan of the wide shot.  Her photos often show the big picture so essential for understanding her garden design projects, providing more of a "tour" than simply looking at closeups.  Heather, who lives just a few minutes from me in San Antonio, is beginning a new blogger's meme today and encouraging bloggers to post a wide shot of our gardens on the first of each month.  A meme is a designated day when bloggers link together and post on the same subject.  Heather has posted the wide shot of her garden here.

Since I already post a lot of views from the left or south side I selected a straight-on view of the house this morning.  I love the shadow patterns on the stone walls just as the sun peeks over the hill.

Wildflower Wednesday August 2013: Xanthisma texanum

Meet Xanthisma texanum or Sleepy Daisy, a native Texas wildflower so pretty that it's considered a show stopper at Annie's Annuals all the way over in California.  If you are familiar with Annie's Annuals you'll know a plant has to be special to stand out in their beautiful displays.  It's Wildflower Wednesday and I'm joining Gail at Clay and Limestone where garden bloggers are invited to report on wildflowers in their gardens the fourth Wednesday of each month.

Visiting The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Back in the spring after touring gardens all around Austin for Gardens on Tour sponsored by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center I headed over to see the wildflower center gardens.  I hadn't been there for a while--since they first opened which was back in the mid-1990's and the admission to the gardens was included in the tour ticket.  I arrived with the heat turned up to high, the sun high in the sky, and facing a bit of garden tour fatigue with just about an hour and a half to go before closing time.  After a fairly quick tour with equally quick photos I headed home.  Over the next week I posted the five gardens from the tour and planned to get back to the wildflower center photos later.

Now is later isn't it?  It's fun to go back in time and see how pretty the gardens looked that day.  Perhaps it's the faded brown of late summer putting things in perspective but the gardens looked better than I thought at the time.  Wildflower Wednesday is this week and why not start the week off with a visit to the place which claims wildflower.org as its web address.

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.