Rocking the foundation
Just a brief return to the blog before my trip. A beautiful, steady rain all morning long and temps still in the 80s roused me from the torpor of the summer doldrums this afternoon. When the rain let up, I stepped into the garden with my camera to see what caught my eye.
Glancing over at my neighbor’s yard, I was struck by her stunningly bold foundation planting. ‘Bengal Tiger’ cannas glow in front of purple-leaved Loropetalum chinense, also known as Chinese fringeflower or Chinese witch hazel. That orange. That purple. Those huge, striped, sunlit leaves like green flames. Shazam!
Cannas in close-up
My own foundation bed shake-up occurred last fall. A wet spring and summer (so far) has worked its magic, and the new and transplanted plants are growing quickly.
The pomegranate has only just stopped blooming, and the cigar plant has filled out in front of it to carry on the hot, orangey-red color. Below it, a succulent glows chartreuse tipped with rosy orange. The ‘Yaku Jima’ miscanthus has put out a few blooms, while the Salvia leucantha next to it looks lovely now that it has more elbow room. Behind it are the transplanted Lindheimer muhly grass, irises, a variegated agave, gray santolina, and white Salvia greggii.
I’m mostly pleased with my changes, but I realize now that I should have been even bolder. I shouldn’t have preserved that trio of dwarf yaupon hollies planted by the builder against the foundation (not visible in this photo). I thought I needed that evergreen structure, but the straight line of the yaupon balls just distracts me from the new arrangement. This winter, I plan to yank them out at last. The bed may look a little bare for a few weeks in late winter, when I cut back the perennials, but it will also look more natural.
The rest of the garden looks fresh and happy too, thanks to the half-inch of rain we received last night and this morning. Here’s a quick look.
The ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave’s leaves are tipped with red spines, which become more noticeable in the summer thanks to the fire-engine red of its neighbor, a rock penstemon.
From the opposite side of that bed, you see a sweep of small-leaved mounds, typical of a sunny, central-Texas garden. Clockwise from bottom: red-flowering rock penstemon, ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave, ‘Adagio’ miscanthus, hot-pink Salvia greggii (about to rebloom), tawny Mexican feathergrass by the curb, lamb’s ear, more Salvia greggii, sprawling purple coneflower, a potted Nolina texana, and a yellow-and-orange-flowering bulbine.
Cheerful Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ under the vitex
Nodding echinaceas after the rain
See you again soon!
This seems to be the year for tropicals but your xeriscape plants seem happy enough, too.
The 6PM news said Camp Mabry got only 1/2 an inch, whereas the ABIA set a record for the day at nearly 3 inches. Being about 1/3 of the way between the two, we got one inch plus. I’m so glad it didn’t clear off and get up in the 90s as predicted. When the storm started at 8:30 this morning, I opened my windows and the inside temperature dropped from 82 to 74 in less than half an hour.
Well, all this rain makes leaving the garden a little easier, doesn’t it? Or do you have a timed irrigation system.
Have a great trip. I’m looking forward to some fascinating photo-journalism.
Yes, the rain this morning seemed like a parting gift. I’ll worry less about the garden while I’m gone. And, no, I don’t have a timed irrigation system, alas. It would make summer travel easier.
Thanks for the bon voyage. 🙂 —Pam
Gee Pam, I thought you were back! Nice post and love the whale’s tongue which I, of course, cannot grow! Have a great time.
Now THAT’S a foundation planting I can get excited about! (yours! – the cannas are bold for sure but yours is gorgeous)
WOW! That canna is definitely eye-catching! And what a lovely setting for your agave.
Your agave is awesome–we can’t grow them where I am so I love seeing them online. And that lorapetalum/canna combo-WOW! I would never in a million years have thought of that and it’s brilliant. Plus since the lorapetalums are evergreen (at least, they are where I am), you still get that year-round coverage. Nice! ~A 🙂
Hi Pam – may you have a wonderful trip and see exciting things – I mean NEW exciting things – your own garden is pretty exciting for the rest of us. The agave is spectacular.
I have Bengal Tiger canna in 3 places – so it has less impact, but hopefully adds a little unity to my chaos. Should I put it on the “Passalong to Pam” list, along with the citrina?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I hope you are having a wonderful time on your trip and someone is tending to your garden while you are away, so you won’t be disappointed when you come home. I meant to ask you about your favorite Austin garden, as we will be there in a couple of weeks. If you come home before I leave, please do tell.
Pam…I’m late in commenting, by now you have “set sail”. It’s always a delight to visit and see what is growing around your house, and now your neighbors. Those cannas are stunning!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
What a wonderful blog. Your pictures are stunning, and your garden …so FULL. I’ll be back. Have a great trip.
Wow – you guys have had rain! (Too much in places, I know – but boy, the gardens look beautiful). I have the Bengal Tiger – and I’ve never been a fan of cannas but boy is that one striking. I used to cut the flowers off of it, but I don’t anymore – it is just outside my gate and boy you can see it from the end of the road. The leaves are just gorgeous! That Whale’s Tonque agave is just amazing.
Nice of you to leave us with such beautiful pictures!
Shazam is right! Those are quite the show stoppers. I realized I haven’t vistited your blog in awhile since I can’t get you on Google Reader for some reason. Hope you’re having a wonderful trip and I’ll look forward to some more fabulous photos when you return.
Beautiful! I can see why those cannas are called ‘Bengal Tiger’. I love the stripes!
Hope you have a safe & enjoyable vacation, Pam!
Dawn
BTW Pam,
I’d like to invite you to participate in a meme.
See “7 Random Things…†on my blog
http://tinyurl.com/2xx4tn
for more information.
Cheers!
Dawn
There is just one word for your fantastic garden – scrumptious. Echinacea are my favourite flowers.
Oh Cannas – how I would love to grow them in my garden the way they grow in yours.
Just on a quick visit from across the pond – off for breakfast now – but will return soon to catch up on all your archived posts
Hi, everyone,
I’m back from my big trip and working on a post of my favorite photos. It may take awhile, as I’m going through nearly 2,000 pictures! Thanks again for all the good wishes for my trip. They worked. It was a wonderful journey.
And welcome to new visitors Lottie, Chitweed, and Cottage Magpie. Thanks for stopping by.
Pam/Digging
I have rhodies and other shrubs as foundation plantings–blah–but I’d love to have canna or something more tropical and flamboyant. Great pics as always!
The nice thing, of course, about rhodies as foundation shrubs is that they don’t die back in the winter. That’s more of a concern where winters are longer. But here it’s only about 2 or 3 months after the first freeze until spring growth begins, so cannas can work in combination with other plants. I don’t have any in my garden because I’m not into the tropical look, but I do appreciate them in other people’s gardens.
Best wishes to you on the upcoming Buffalo Garden Walk. I’ll be there in spirit! —Pam
The agave in combination with the penstemon is really stunning. So are the Cannas with their striped leaves. Very cool.
I’m a huge fan of bold color contrasts, so these plant combinations speak to me too. Thanks for dropping by. —Pam