Spring 2003—Vitex in full bloom

The second spring brought tremendous growth to the garden. The vitex, shown above, tripled in size and looked lovely with purple spires tipping each lush branch. The sign beneath it was given to me by the city of Austin’s Green Garden program, which recognizes Austin “water-wise” gardens.

Spring 2003—Desert willow underplanted with pavonia and coreopsis

The other side of the garden looked a bit sparse in comparison, thanks to my recent redesign and replanting of nearly every plant on that side. I moved the wrought-iron bench from the front to the rear of that area, with two paths leading to it. Now the bench is visible across the length of the garden from the driveway, which pulls visitors in. It is also a destination along the new, semicircular stepping-stone path, which adds another circular element and allows entry into that side of the garden.

Spring 2003—Redesigned side of front garden; existing weeping yaupon growing at corner of house

That fall the flowery senna looked as lovely in green and yellow as the vitex had looked in the spring. Unfortunately, Austin winters are not always kind to this South American tropical, and mine began to look rather withered by late winter of 2005. In February of that year, I decided the tree occupied too central a position in my garden to put up with several months of a ratty appearance, and I took it out, replacing it with a ‘Belinda’s Dream’ rose. I’ll miss the senna, but it’s more suited to a back corner or sheltered location.

October 2003—Flowery senna in full bloom

One of the silver cenizos is visible in this photo, but I ended up taking all four of them out in the fall of 2003. I had planted them for their winter structure and for screening the garden from the street, but they had already outgrown the space after just two years. Another mistake, another lesson learned. This is a lesson I have had to learn the hard way. I tend to want one—or four—of every plant I love, and I just don’t have the room for it. There are times I wish for a couple of acres in the country.

Meanwhile, the back yard had become a garden as well. In the fall of 2002 and into early 2003, I added several features to the back garden: a container pond and a new flower bed surrounding it, a granite path for the grill near the back porch, and a rain barrel with a dry streambed of New Mexico river rock for overflow. Finally, David and I laid a stone patio (gray and brown Oklahoma patio stone) where our last remaining patch of soggy, straggly St. Augustine lawn had been. Now we were lawn-free!

By fall of 2003, the new patio was surrounded by lush growth, much of it annual orange cosmos, which I’d seeded in 2001 to fill in the gaps. However, cosmos reseeds freely and tends to take over, and I finally eradicated it the next year by vigilantly pulling up seedlings all spring and summer.

October 2003—New patio and container pond

Container pond

I modeled my container pond on one I’d admired at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I bought the galvanized stock tank at a farm supply store and keep it filled with fresh rainwater from the rain barrel visible behind it. My pond plants include a yellow dwarf water lily (Helvola), a water hawthorn (winter bloomer), a horsetail, and a star grass (sedge). A pine muhly, purple coneflowers, daylilies, deep-blue agapanthus, and bicolor iris surround the pond.