Penstemon and passionflower
Spring bounds ahead as we confine ourselves at home, waiting for the corona specter to pass us by. I spent an unproductive couple of hours late last night googling how to cut my own hair and watching makeup tutorials promising to make me look 10 years younger. So that’s where I am mentally on Week 4 of sheltering-at-home. How about you?
How much more pleasant — and less risky, tonsorially — to work on a garden makeover instead. My old stock-tank pond garden is filling in quickly with lavender-flowered Gulf Coast penstemon (Penstemon tenuis) and airy Verbena bonariensis blooming inside a circle of ‘Micron’ yaupon hollies. A few yellow columbines and a transplanted iris or two are struggling to bloom despite the high temperature of 95 F that blasted Austin yesterday.
Gulf Coast penstemon is buzzing with bees, which makes me happy.
The tall verbena is soaring skyward and approaching 5 feet. I’ve ordered some ‘Fireworks’ gomphrena from Burpee (I couldn’t find it locally before the nurseries shut down) and look forward to adding it to the mix for summer color.
Native spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis) has self-seeded into niches throughout the garden, including alongside a boxwood ball. I pull out some but always leave plenty for the pretty purple flowers that feed the bees before closing up in the afternoon.
In the lower garden, where shade gives way to sun for a few midday hours, ‘Sizzling Pink’ loropetalum harmonizes with the rich pink of a ‘Peggy Martin’ rose clambering along the coyote fence. Blue Koosh-ball heads of Yucca rostrata add spherical form and shimmery movement.
In a shadier spot, blue bottles gleam on a rebar “tree,” accompanied by a rambling ‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine (Bignonia capreolata). ‘Soft Caress’ mahonia adds fringey evergreen foliage below.
In a hot, sunny spot against the house, a trio of soap aloes (Aloe maculata) are flowering, attracting bees that spelunk into the dangling, tubular blooms. I’m also loving the metal wall art I found on Etsy by CoastalMetalArt. Over the past few months it’s patinaed to the rusty look I love. Metal spacers keep rust from staining the brick chimney wall.
Burnt-gold spuria irises are in full bloom by the deck stairs.
One more look. These make me so happy every spring!
This also sparked joy this week: my two-year-old ‘Lavender Lady’ passionflower vine bloomed for the first time. Since the first flower opened I’ve had several more. I’ve also spotted a few Gulf fritillary butterflies hovering around, no doubt laying their eggs on the vine, which is a favorite food for their caterpillars. I’ll leave them to grow into more beautiful butterflies, but before the munching begins I’ll enjoy these frilly, outrageous flowers.
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Digging Deeper
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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Pam,
Love your opening. We will all be one shaggy nation soon. I spent some time yesterday wondering what I could do with my hair, then realized I wouldn’t be seeing anyone anyway so why bother?! And thanks for the visit to your garden. It’s always a delight.
Shaggy and grayer than usual! 🙂
By mistake I got a white passion flower, but it turns out to be also beautiful and attracts butterflies and some little birds. Don’t like its relentless trying to get into my olive tree and other climbers nearby.
Vines — they’re a love/hate plant. Your white passionflower sounds lovely though.
So pretty, Pam! Your former tank pond area turned out perfect! I’m not so worried about my hair, nails, or even going to the grocery store. Our HEB here in Brenham that serves all of Washington county is doing a great job keeping up with curbside pickup and front porch delivery. What I’m having trouble with is not being able to shop for flowers and shrubs. I found an online plant nursery in Oklahoma that ships. Please tell us if you know of one here in Texas. Desperate times, desperate measures!
For sure. We gardeners need our spring plants. 🙂 I don’t know of any local nurseries that ship, but if that changes I’ll be sure to advertise it.
Congratulations on the passionflower bloom! Your whole garden is dressed in its colorful Spring finest.
I’ve yet to face the hair problem – the idea of turning scissors over to my spouse is a bit scary but it may come to that (and we won’t even talk about what happens when my sunny blonde highlights are engulfed by the dishwater blonde color rapidly moving in). I’ve got a LOT of garden projects in the works, although any plant specimens beyond what I can grow from seed, cuttings or divisions will probably come by mail order as my local garden center has shut down in-store traffic. You can order by phone for pickup or delivery but, unable to see what they have in inventory, that kind of shopping is hit-or-miss.
Best wishes Pam!
We have some local nurseries opening back up for curbside pickup or delivery only, which, yes, is better than nothing but prevents just browsing. No impulse purchases — we’ll all save a lot of money! But I do worry for our nurseries and hope they can make it through this challenging time.
Anyway, I hope your spring garden is bringing you lots of enjoyment too, Kris!
Everything is looking so great Pam! It’s incredible how your new circle garden has filled in so quickly. Looks AMAZING! I have been weeding my prairie in the back like crazy. Its THE year I think – the established areas have really taken hold! And in another I am battling bindweed – urgh. I cracked up with your tutorials…I wish I could weed my face! Of course my threading place is closed and I have a full on mustachio….wondering if I should take up shaving or not! Lol
Embrace the Frida look! 😉 It’s a weird time, and I’m grateful for the garden…most days. Other days I look at all the oak pollen and weeds and think, “Why did I sign on for this?” Ha! But that’s usually short lived. Good luck with that bindweed!
I guess that is one thing I don’t have to worry about-cutting my hair! But I do need to worry about how the plants are turning into monsters with all this rain. I think your circle bed has grown in leaps and bounds since we were over just a few weeks ago. Those spuria iris really are a treat. I don’t think I have ever seen them for sale at the nursery.
I never divide them, per instructions from Lauren Springer Ogden, who told me they hate being dug up or moved. But I’ll dig out an edge piece for you, the next time we’re able to meet up again.
Pam, your garden looks so peaceful, you’d never guess that the world around us is chaos. Our nurseries here in San Antonio are open and they encourage you to order ahead and pickup. On another note, I chop on my hair every day; that’s my nail biting sub……no tutorial used.
Every day? Watch out, Pam, or you won’t have any hair left to chop. 😉 But better than taking it out on your trees and shrubs, I bet. 🙂 Stay well.
Your garden is always a treat to see Pam. I love that passionflower. I have our native one but the flowers on it are so tiny and a yawn of a color compared to the one you have. The butterflies don’t mind though. Have a blessed weekend.
We should be more like the butterflies, I suspect. Enjoy your garden’s spring awakening, Lisa!
I’ve now moved into uncharted territory as far as color and cut are concerned. As I’ve been toying with growing out the natural color (grey) for sometime, this may just be the beginning of the new me. Ugh.
I started Gomphrena ‘Fireworks’ seeds a few weeks ago. They’re moving very slowly and I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll make it. Fingers crossed.
I suspect a lot of people are going to be experimenting with growing out their natural hair color. The shorter the haircut, the easier that will be to do.
I’ve never grown this gomphrena before and am eager to see how it performs. Good luck with your seeds!
Ha, I have never colored my hair (except for spraying Sun In before going to the beach in the late 60’s (I was 2) so at least I don’t have to worry about that. And I got a haircut about 3 days before everything shut down. I had to dig out m Passion Vine last fall-it was waaaay to happy. I replaced it with Cobea scandens. I miss your pond, but the new garden is looking quite fine!
I hope you and your family are well. I am so grateful to be in a state that has a competent pro-active governor. Also grateful to be able to work from home.
There is much to be grateful for here too. Not least the garden, which is a refuge in so many ways right now. Thanks for popping by, KS. Stay well.
It’s all beautiful Pam. I like your new, former stock tank garden. Two of my favorite plants. Stay well.~~Dee
Thanks, Dee. Wishing the same to you, and happy Easter!
Do you miss the pond? Your new area is very nice though, I did my landscape from scratch last fall and a stock tank pond was put in, I don’t have fish or plants yet. I so enjoyed your posting about your tank and was looking forward to your spring ideas . I hope I havnt made a mistake putting it in !
I don’t miss the pond yet, but I may feel differently in midsummer through fall. That was its best season. However, don’t take that to mean that I didn’t love my pond. I did! I had a small stock-tank pond in my former garden for about 5 years and then a large one here for 12 years. I love a stock-tank pond and am always excited to hear about someone putting one in for the first time. I think you’ll love it! For me, it was just time for a change. I could even see having a small one again one day. But for now I’m enjoying — and the finches are enjoying — the bubbling water in my disappearing fountain.