Lamenting the First Generation of Indoor Children

This is just sad. And I think it's safe to assume there's a link between the facts in this story and the rising statistics of child obesity...

Getting Lost in the Great Outdoors
- Washington Post (may require registration)

Making the Cut

I am not a fan of cutting gardens. That is to say, I do not generally grow flowers for the sole purpose of cutting. Too lazy for that, you see; it's much easier to just let things bloom, watch them die on the stem and then say gosh, maybe it's time I dead-headed that thing...

The scissors come out when the gladiolus start to emerge in late May, however. They flower, they flop over...and they're just too beautiful to not be appreciated by somebody. The nature of their existence is that they're top-heavy and therefore perfect for snipping and sticking in a vase.

I've planted a few glads about my property since moving in a couple of years ago. Other strange glads have popped up in random places, though: along the alley side of our fence, behind the five-foot impassable sharp yucca...obviously, one of the former owners of our yard was a glad enthusiast, and the bulbs have lived on. I really need to dig them up and move them so they get the proper treatment for later years, out of simple respect for a past and fellow gardener.

Double Trouble

I apologize for my absence here. Job hunting has taken precedence over blogging and gardening, unfortunately. My goal is to be a paid gardening Web writer...so hey, online editors? Email me.

We are continuing to get more rain than usual here in DFW, which is keeping the mosquitoes fat and happy. I unwisely went out to the community garden unprotected after a recent rain and was mercilessly chewed. It was nearly as bad as September in Belize at dusk. And let me tell you, that's bad.

Lots of huge hummingbird moths are active at night now (think of Buffalo Bill's collection in Silence of the Lambs). However, I've only seen one actual hummingbird. A large female suddenly appeared over the patio a couple of weeks ago, alternately dive-bombing our bewildered collie and sniffing the hot pink Salvia Greggii.

The second Dracunculus Vulgaris is blooming in the backyard at present - and thankfully, it's not nearly as stinky as the first one was. Not quite as big either. The first quickly shriveled after blooming and now the entire plant is going. Someone asked if this plant dies back to the ground each year and I'm guessing the answer to that is yes. I do hope they return next season!



And here is a Double Tiger Lily (Lilium lancifolium 'Florepleno') that's going strong in the backyard now. Besides the gorgeous orange double flowers, this heirloom offers bulbils in the leaf axis along the stem. I'm going to try to harvest them and plant some for next year once these guys are done showing off.

Lord of the Flies

Isn't this spectacular? I don't know who's more agog, me or the flies. They are swarming around this thing, and it's no wonder. The stench is gag-inducing. Even my dogs won't go near it.

But my heavens, I've been waiting years for this. The flower itself is over 18" long.

I am squelching the urge to show it to my husband. He might get a complex.

Worshiping the Devil

Seems that the Louisiana Iris show is over for now. I expect more will bloom next spring, and I remain pleasantly surprised at how many emerged for me this year.

Pictured below is a plant I've been trying to grow for a long time without success, until now. It is Dracunculus vulgaris, commonly known as Devil's Tongue, Dragon Arum, Voodoo Lily, and a host of other colorful common names.

I estimate that the spathe is still about a week from opening. When it does unfurl, the first day's stench is supposed to be comparable to sewage...! (This flower is pollinated by flies rather than bees, so that makes sense.)

Unlike all the times I tried to grow it before, the two Dracunculus in this bed are getting complete shade and are in the richest of yummy, rich soils. And, like everything this spring, they're receiving plenty of rain.

More pics to come as the Grand Opening approachs...

More Louisianas

Are you sick of seeing these yet? :) We've still got a ways to go before all the different kinds have bloomed...stay tuned!


Louisiana Iris 'Creole Flame' (I think...or might be 'Frank Chowning')


Louisiana Iris 'Danza'


Louisiana Iris 'Festivals Acadian'


Louisiana Iris 'Fiesta Gal'


Louisiana Iris 'Sea Wisp'

Jack Attack

Louisiana Iris 'Jack Attack'

More, But Different

Thanks to everybody who wrote with photos and suggestions about the "mystery bearded iris". I'm still not positive what it is, but certainly enjoyed its huge and numerous blooms. I also enjoyed hearing from some of you readers out there. :)

The bearded irises are about finished blooming here now. I missed some of the show while vacationing in Florida for the past week. I also apparently missed more wild weather; DFW had some hellacious storms while we were gone. Evidence of hail remains in the form of ripped petals on a few things, but the damage isn't devastating, thank goodness.

I am now being rewarded with gorgeous Louisiana iris blooms. Again, I can't say enough about the fans I received from Iris City Gardens last September. A great company with good prices, great service and an incomparable selection of healthy plants.

Louisiana Iris 'Willow Mint'


Louisiana Iris 'Black Widow'


Louisiana Iris 'Our Dorothy'

Iris ID

Anybody know what the name of this iris (the big one on the left) is? It's not one I've ever ordered. At first I thought it was 'Starship Enterprise', which I do have.

The second photo below is my 'Starship Enterprise' blooming last year. However, the falls on this new one are much more burgundy than purple, the beards are more orange than yellow, and the standards are a definite peach, as opposed to white.

Thanks in advance!

A Little Birdie Told Me

I am not ashamed to admit that I'm a bigtime weather weenie. Indeed, most would consider my continual level of interest in the surrounding atmosphere to be borderline obsessive. I check temperature forecasts at least once a day. When it storms, I watch the online Doppler radar. (Although I don't think anybody anticipated the severity and duration of the hail we had a few nights ago...!)

So when I noticed recently that the Cedar Waxwings were still hanging around, making those sad peeping noises from their perch in some nearby treetops, I figured they knew something the rest of us didn't: it was gonna get cold again. And sure enough, we're looking at a slight chance of snow this weekend. That's right: snow.

I'm super-glad to have held off on planting my summer veggies, both at the house and in my Community Garden plot. Most of the tropicals on my patio are in pots and can be brought inside no problem. However, I did plant the beautiful 'Lady Margaret' passionflower (pictured here a few weeks ago) and that is a concern, although a layer of chopped leaves should protect her enough.

I guess it pays to be a weather weenie...and a birdwatcher too.

Great Timing...Sort Of

Ok, so...I got laid off from my job. Mixed feelings abound. But at least they let me go during the busiest part of the gardening season.

Truthfully, the time off has been glorious so far. I hope to really re-organize this site, but in the meantime, here are some more great pictures of what's happening around the yard.


This is Syringa 'Sensation'. I've been waiting two years for this gorgeous lilac to bloom...and it's been worth it. I wish you could smell it. Beyond divine.


Colorful Poppies


The Crossvine that I bought at last year's Texas SuperStar Plant Sale. It didn't bloom hardly at all last summer, but is covered with flowers now.


Tiarella 'Sugar and Spice'


Part of my shade garden, with various heucheras, toad lily and shredded umbrella plant.

Early Bloomers

I'll save the best for last...


This Louisiana Iris was blooming back in January, after we had a bunch of rain. I've no idea what cultivar it is - strange-looking, eh? (It may actually be a Siberian iris...if anybody can ID this, please let me know!)



This is Euphorbia 'Tasmanian Tiger' and it's been blooming for well over two weeks. Love the variegated foliage.



I mentioned in a previous post how Nature Hills Nursery accidentally sent me somebody else's order of crocus bulbs and then told me to just keep them...so I planted 'em. Not bad, although I'd probably never buy these.



Many daffodils don't naturalize here in Texas, especially the weirder kinds, but these double daffs I got from Bluestone back in late 2005 are even prettier this year.




Between the rain, a good trimming and some fertilizer, this Mexican plum tree is blooming like crazy, much more so than in previous years. The honeybees are all over it already, and the smell is divine.



Wow, wow, wow. Say hello to Passiflora 'Lady Margaret'. What a babe! I just received this plant from Zone 9 Tropicals about a month ago. Temps aren't quite high enough to put her outside yet, so she got potted up and kept in the sunroom...where she seems quite happy for the time being. Can't wait to see my back fence covered with this lovely lady later in the summer!

Speak Now, Or Forever Hold Your Trowel

I can say with relative confidence that Spring is here in North Central Texas. The forecast has us staying above freezing the next 10 nights at least, with daytime temps reaching into the 70s. Hallelujah - it's been a long winter, even for us Dallasites.

While the juncos and Cedar Waxwings are still here and busily stuffing themselves for their flights northward, the adorable little ruby-crowned kinglet and the pair of downy woodpeckers are gone. I'll miss them. Sitting by the kitchen window and birdwatching while enjoying a hot cup of coffee was a nice way to pass the colder days...when I wasn't stuck in a chilly office building, of course.

Several of my plant orders are starting to arrive. It's funny...I don't feel as giddy about gardening as I used to. In fact, I was thinking the other day that gardening has become a lot like my marriage.

Now hang on...before all of you divorce lawyers start writing to me, let me explain.

My feeling about gardening now is that, like my marriage, I'm comfortable. Content. I've been doing both for awhile. I'm familiar with them, and confident in the proven techniques that make each seem to work.

I've matured. I don't have heart palpitations when my husband calls me, or squeal like a teenager when a big box of plants arrives in the mail. (Well, ok, sometimes I still do.)

I miss both my husband and gardening when they're not around. Even during the doldrums of a regular day at work, I miss Mark, but not in stupid girlish way. It's like that with gardening too. I pined for better weather, and grumbled about the cold in polite conversation. Such complaining seems pointless anymore, though; like the warmth of my husbands arms awaiting me at the end of an arduous day, the sun always shows up before long.

Of course, over time, you also come to accept certain...shortcomings. I'll probably never be able to grow dinnerplate dahlias here in Texas, and my husband will probably never pick his clothes up off the bedroom floor without being told. But that's ok. You learn. You adapt. You grow.

Almost There...

Sorry for the long lull, everyone. We've been enduring an unusually cold and wet winter here in Dallas -- making NOAA's predictions half-right -- and I try to keep my whining to a minimum during such times, since it really isn't that bad here compared to where some of you are. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, so believe me when I say I know what a really shitty winter is like.

It's nice that we've gotten so much rain in DFW over the past couple of months, however, as some of the reservoirs have actually rebounded to acceptable levels. The Palmer Drought Severity Index for North Central Texas is even registering at "slightly wet". Wow!

I did manage to get to the Community Garden before some really nasty weather hit in January, and was shocked to find the huge purple broccoli pictured at right. The plant tag was gone, but I'm pretty sure it was a 'Violet Queen'. Really beautiful (and delicious...ahem), and nearly a foot across. I haven't been out to the plot since. I expect everything else is dead by now.

Online winter plant shopping has been kept to a minimum this year. I've really cut down on the number of retailers I use too. Annie's, Big Dipper, Burpee, and Bluestone will all get some of my money as a repeat customer this year, but few others will. I'm trying Zone 9 Tropicals for the first time, as they have great prices on a couple of passiflora I wanted. If you have a bad experience with an online nursery, let other gardeners know by leaving your opinion over at Garden Watchdog, a great site run by the folks at Dave's Garden.

It's already time to start tomato seeds here in Texas, but I haven't gotten around to it just yet. My enthusiasm for tomatoes seems to wan a little every year. The plants at the Comm. Garden got really big and did well for the most part, but the naughty mockingbirds love toms just as they're ripening....and when you're not monitoring the fruits every day, the birds tend to have a party in your absence. Also, tomato plants shut down here around July due to the heat, (but usually rebound in September for a weak second crop), so you spend a couple of months waiting for them to wake up. I guess some bird netting will be in order, at least. I'm not trying any new tomato types this year, though. I think I've learned my lesson in the "That's Really Cool, I Wonder If It'll Grow Here..." department.

Not much else is new plant-wise at this point. I've been running two humidifiers in the house almost constantly and have not seen one single spider mite on anything.

For reader "emmat" who commented on my last post about the ZZ Plant: I know ZZ's are supposed to be really difficult to kill, unless you overwater them. They are considered a tropical houseplant, very rubber/jade-like with a water-holding tuber. Mine actually didn't put up a spath (yet) but is sprouting new leaf stems like mad. I guess it really likes its spot next to Capt. Jack...who wouldn't? :)

In closing...I can't wait until Spring. There, I said it!

No ZZZzz's Here...

The ZZ plant I have on my desk at work (guarded by my 18" talking Capt. Jack Sparrow doll) is putting up a bloom, I think. Actually, Zamioculus Zamiofolia is an aroid, so the bloom may be more like a spath. Cool!

Blooming December

I seem to get more enamored with amaryllis every year. This one opened its first flowers the day after Christmas and is still going strong. It is a 'President Johnson' hybrid.



I bring my hibiscuses inside every year with varying degrees of success. They usually get spider mites something awful and then it takes them nearly all spring to recover. Well, not so with this beauty. This is 'Hurricane Lily,' and she really seems to like it in the sunroom (next to the cool mist humidifier, natch).



Happy New Year, everyone!

Bow to the Master

The Master Gardener, that is! Hehheh...not trying to get all imperial on y'all. But I am now officially a Master Gardener for Collin County. And it feels great.

Graduation last night was wonderful. We were treated to a great meal, an interesting speaker and several nice freebies. The best part was seeing my fellow classmates again, beaming from ear to ear, knowing that a year of hard work had finally paid off. There was a lot of pride in the room.

Speaking of guest speakers and freebies, Brice Creelman of local nursery Shades of Green talked about trees and trends, mostly, but also brought some plants for all of the graduates. And you can guess what happens when you offer free plants to a room full of Master Gardeners: mayhem ensues!

We each received a Zephranthes Labuffarosa (Blogger Matt Mattus has a gorgeous picture of one on his blog here) and an apparently very rare pink Turk's Cap (Malvaviscus) called 'Pam's Pink'.

We each also got a beautiful potted poinsettia and a cute Christmas tree ornament too, along with our requisite graduation certificate.

To top it all off, I was asked to take over the Webmaster duties at the CCMG website, and I quickly agreed. There is so much that needs done there, but it could be a phenomenal site.

What a great night. And what a great year 2007 is going to be!

December...the New January

I'm not sure what Al Gore would think of my theory, but it seems to me that over the past couple of years, the weather patterns have bumped up a whole month here in North Texas.

When I moved here in 1989, January and February used to be the really crappy months. December was always pretty decent. Well, not anymore. Nowadays, November remains mild, and as soon as December hits, the bad weather comes with it. And the springs are hotter now too. The past few Junes have been almost unbearably hot...like July usually is.

So yeah, it got down to 23° the other night. Nothing in my community garden veggie plot is flat-out dead, but there was significant leaf scorching. I shudder to think what would have happened if hubby and I hadn't covered the whole thing with frost cloth before the storm came.



The Purple Orach took a beating, as you can see here:



The Savoy Cabbage still looks glorious, though!



The Front Yard Garden Project stood up admirably to the ice and cold temperatures. It was my plan, of course, to only put in stuff that could take the rough Texas weather -- on both extremes -- and I'm happy everything has lived up to expectations so far.

I'm trying not to let the onset of winter depress me too much. The cold weather does bring unique pleasures. For instance, I could sit at the kitchen table for hours and watch the half dozen or so mostly female slate-colored juncos that congregate right outside the window. It is like having a bunch of miniature gray chickens in the yard, with all the pecking and soil-scratching. Adorable. They're an ornery bunch, though, and twitter at me angrily when I go outside for the mail and temporarily break up their little hen party.

Lastly, this week sees me finally, officially becoming a Master Gardener. Our graduation banquet is Thursday. Weeee!

Unlike Any Other

Well, we're being treated to a fabulous fall here in North Texas. The temperatures have remained mostly above freezing well after our expected first frost date (generally around 11/15) and the 10-day forecast continues in the same pattern. We'll get a slight morning frost on rooftops, but it warms so quickly that none of the plants really feel it. My coleus are pristine. One of the cannas by the swimming pool is in the process of blooming.

In my 17 years here, I don't remember it staying this nice for this long. I am grateful, as I still haven't moved most of my tropicals into the house yet. Or propagated any of the annuals. Or planted all the perennials lounging in pots on the patio.

Here's how the one backyard bed looked as of November 12. Pretty incredible.


Husband and I are taking the week after Thanksgiving off work, though, and with the weather being so cooperative, I hope to get caught up on everything indoors and out...including the many pictures I've promised to produce here, but haven't yet.

Things can change dramatically and quickly here, though, as I witnessed nearly a year ago. For now, it's wonderful.

Busy Bee

Well, it's been a whole lotta gardening for me the past couple of weeks. Let's review:

* The company I work for moved into a new building Friday. Prior to the move, I was asked by management to oversee the installation of some new landscaping, which thrilled me no end. My first landscaping job (sort of)! The hard part was finding somebody to do the work in such a short time; landscape companies are generally pretty busy this time of year.

I did the actual choosing, purchasing and arranging of the plants, and the crew simply came in and did what I told them; dig there, remove that, etc. It was great.

I'll post before and after pictures soon.

* Our Community Garden hosted a Fall Festival last weekend that turned out to be a really fun time. Nobody stepped in any of the fire ant hills that were rampant throughout the pumpkin patch, so that was good. I helped out at the Make Your Own Bird Feeder booth, where we smeared pinecones with peanut butter and then rolled them in birdseed. The kids really dug it.

My plot out there is really humming along, and I'll tell you what: putting hoops and bird netting over everything has made an amazing difference. Nothing has been munched on at all. I sprayed Bt on the curcurbits a couple of weeks ago, so the cabbage worms have been staying away too. My only wish is that I had planted more of the Purple Orach. It is gorgeous, but I only have one.

Pictures of the plot coming forthwith too...

* Today I spent the day outside in the glorious 60° weather doing various chores, like:

Pulling up three dead or mostly-dead nandinas and replacing them with two Texas sage.

Planting two five-gallon ornamental grasses that I got for $16 each at Lowe's. Really big and healthy plants too - not rootbound in the pots at all.

Planting 15 crocus bulbs (which I generally hate, but got by mistake from Nature Hills Nursery so I thought what-the-heck, I'll plant 'em) and six Allium Schubertii bulbs.

Planting various perennials that were lounging on the patio in pots.

Mulching the Louisiana iris bed.

Potting up three amaryllis bulbs. (I've placed a layer of sand on top of the soil to see if that technique really works in keeping the fungus gnats away.)

And now...drum roll please...photos of the Front Yard Garden as it stands right now (top) and as of October 2005 (bottom):