Debs' June Garden Round Up

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We started our summer with a bang on Memorial Day. A huge storm in the early hours of the morning brought down two limbs on our old elm, one on the power lines, one on our very old and decrepit fence. We spent the day without power, ugh. The humidity was close to 100%!

If we had been on the fence (sorry, couldn't help myself there) about replacing our old fence, that certainly decided us. We now have 206 linear feet of brand new cedar fence, and it's a good thing I wasn't planning a trip to London because I wouldn't have been able to afford it! 

You'd better believe I admire that fence every time I step out the back door! In spite of the heat, the garden is a little oasis, a tiny bastion against the ills of the world, and I do my best to remind myself of it daily.

Every day there is something beautiful. This morning I went out to find a lovely surprise, the first bloom on our perennial star hibiscus. 

So pretty!

Things are in full bloom in the front as well, although I'm sad that the coneflowers will be finished soon. The nice thing about a perennial garden, however, is that that means something else will be coming along to add some brightness--in this case, black-eyed Susans, flame acanthus, and Turk's cap, all the things the hummingbirds adore, and all those will last until autumn, when the native asters will bloom.

That's my David Austin Heathcliff rose adding a splash of red in the center!

Photos never convey how pretty this is.

We've had more things going on in the back, too. We have struggled mightily with grass here over the years, mostly due to the roots of the big trees, but last year we replaced some of it with zoysia and it did really well, so this year we've put down more in a couple of bare spots. (This means I am out watering sod twice a day.)

This is the grass we put in last year (photo bombed by dog.)

Here's one new section. Fingers crossed it does well, too. That's the big elm with a gap now in its center, and you can admire part of the new fence!

It's been too windy to put up the patio umbrella, but the pots on the patio are so cheerful.

We have tomatoes. too.

And our fig tree is covered with baby green figs. I check it every day, hoping to beat the birds and squirrels to them when they begin to ripen.

I love our outdoor mantel.

And I love this view of one of the front perennial beds through the gate.

Thank you, dear Reds, for indulging me, but it's cheered me up just to write about the garden and share the photos. 

Where do you find little bits of joy in your day?

Excavating My Garden History

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It is crazy gardening time of year in north Texas! Not to make you folks in cooler climes feel bad--spring will assuredly come for you on its own sweet schedule. Ours is actually arriving a bit late. We are usually setting out tender plants the last couple of weeks in March, but we've had a cool spell so I have delayed a bit (as in too lazy to cover things when it drops into the forties...)

But this weekend it's time to make lists, stock up on potting soil, and hit the garden center. All our roses are bursting into bloom as well, and it was as I was trying to find all the tags for my David Austin roses that I embarked on this little garden history journey. 

For years, I've stuffed the tags from the plants I buy (or at least the more interesting ones) into this ribbon-tie journal--

but I have to admit I hadn't actually looked very carefully at the book or its contents in ages. When I opened the book and sorted through it, I did find most of my David Austin tags (not all pictured!)

And so much more. I hadn't realized how long I'd had this book, but look at the opening page.

1997!!!! We moved into this house and its huge, hideous, neglected surrounding lot in August of 1995. It was a daunting prospect, I can tell you, but I was determined to landscape, and to do it with as many native, environmentally friendly plants as possible. By winter of '97 (according to the book!) we'd found a native-friendly landscaper and started a plan.

I found this very carefully labeled drawing I'd made of the front beds.

I've no idea what happened to the original landscaper's plan, but it's fascinating now to look back and see what's changed and what's survived in more than twenty-five years. 

Here's a peek at the second from right front bed on the plan, taken last June.

I think only yucca, yarrow, and skull cap have survived from the original plants in that bed, although we have Turk's Cap, echinacea, native asters, rudbeckia, pavonia, and flame acanthas galore in other beds.

And although I talk a pretty good "real gardener" game, I've realized that the truth is that I am actually a very haphazard one. "Oh, something died? Let's stick something else in and see what happens!"

But every year is a challenge and an adventure, the birds and insects love it, and we hope we encourage our neighbors to plant more interesting and climate friendly stuff.

How about it, readers? Any organized gardeners among you? (I know there are a few of you!) Or do you "garden creatively," like me?