New goodies for the garden
With a strong north wind blowing yesterday, I was almost chilly at Barton Springs Nursery. What delight to be almost chilly! And to pick up a bunch of cool new plants to try in my garden! Here’s what I got.
In back, there’s ‘Don’s Dwarf’ wax myrtle, Acanthus mollis, a big ‘Bright Edge’ yucca, and a new-to-me salvia, Salvia mexicana. In front, our native fall aster.
Another look at the yucca and salvia.
Here’s another new plant in my garden: variegated Japanese sedge. I would love to have a whole swath of this beautiful ground cover, but it prefers moist conditions, so I’m going to try to keep just one alive in a pot. Yeah, well, we’ll see how that goes. I should at least be able to keep it alive through the winter.
So are you still doing fall planting, or is your garden tucked in for a long winter’s nap?
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Keep an eye on that salvia, Pam. Mine dies back in winter but comes back to about 6 ft. tall and easily 3 or 4 ft. wide each year AND wants to gradually expand its control of the landscape. Thought I’d dug it all up last year only to find it regenerating unfazed this spring.
Good to know. What sun conditions is yours in, Vicki, and do you prune it back in spring to control its size? —Pam
Good time of the year for the Acanthus mollis. Now is when my potted one starts taking off and looks good all winter long, with bloom spikes in spring. Nice winter plant (mine diminishes during summer’s heat). And if I can find the plants, I tend to plant all winter long (sales – woohoo!).
I remember reading on Zanthan Gardens that the Acanthus can be invasive in mild climates, but here the summer’s heat keeps it in check and it goes dormant then. Fine by me. I hope mine will bloom this winter. There are lots of plants coming in at BSN and other independent nurseries, and even the box stores have a good stock right now (though soon enough it’ll be all Xmas trees at the latter). —Pam
Mine grows in full sun – pruning keeps it blooming, bushy, and somewhat under control above ground, but also seems to encourage creeping, sprouting roots below. However, the bees seem to think the more the merrier. Your photos give me some ideas of better companion plants for it – you have such a gift with these things!
Thanks, Vicki, although I have to confess that this pretty grouping was accidental. I was buying plants for different areas of my garden. At check-out I looked at my cart and was delighted with the combination they made together. I even briefly considered planting them together, since they look so good. Take out the shade-loving Acanthus, and the yellow yucca, purple salvia, and tiny-leaved dwarf wax myrtle would make a fine combo for sun, wouldn’t they? —Pam
You know I was cleaning up my Hosta leaves (once they turn yellow and a little limp it’s time to pull them before they turn to mush and invite a slug party) and for the first time in months I could see bare ground. I resisted the urge to jump in the car and go to the nursery. Still I’m thinking about a couple nice short ferns or mosses…
Oh and as for that Acanthus I’m sure you will not have to deal with it’s invasive qualities in your climate BUT just be sure you plant it where you want it FOREVER. I moved 2 of them this spring and I am still pulling out starts that come up. They are tenacious little buggers!
Thanks for the heads-up, Loree. I hear the Acanthus can be quite the pest in certain climates. For those in central Texas, I advise reading Zanthan Gardens’ profile of Acanthus, including the many comments, to know how it will behave here. —Pam
The Acanthus is a stunner that looks great with the aster. Isn’t fall plant sales grand? You got a fine selection when the pickings are usually spare.
The pickings are grand in Austin at this time of year, Donna. Fall is a big (best, I think) planting season, and the independent nurseries are still getting truckloaks of new plants each week. Even the box stores have a good selection right now. We can plant all winter here because our soil never freezes. Unfortunately, that means I didn’t get any bargain-basement deals on these plants. —Pam
The Acanthus mollis can’t stand the heat. The second the thermometer hits 94, it’s out of here for the summer. However, it doesn’t die. It just dies back to the ground…just like some frost-sensitive plants in the winter. I’ve had mine over a dozen years and it’s always come back. In a mild winter it will get quite big. In fact it gets huge. However, it will also freeze.
A temperamental beauty, eh? That’s what I remembered from your plant profile about it. If we get the mild winter that’s predicted, I should be able to enjoy it for a good 5 or 6 months until its summer break. —Pam
Glad you got the chill, nice isn’t it? Funny how even chilly winds inspire you to get another plant or two! I hope to weed, edit out some plant clutter, and clean up thru the end of 2010…no new plants.
Does desert gardening incline you to spring, rather than fall/winter, planting? I know you get colder in the winter than we do, right? —Pam
I am actually considering one of those yuccas for the new scree garden. Not a yucca fan for this cold climate but those so at home there. Love ’em.
Ooh, a scree garden sounds interesting. I don’t know, Layanee, I saw plenty of yuccas and agaves (brought indoors for winter, I presume) at Chanticleer in PA. They looked pretty good up there! You may get converted yet. —Pam
Gorgeous plants Pam~They all look great together! I am especially curious about the dwarf wax myrtle….Great shape and form. I added Morella cerifera ‘Emperor'(lacy leaves)and M cerifera ‘Hiawasee’ to the garden this fall. Both will get tall! But, I’ve seen “Emperer’ in fairly dry soil and full sun and think it can survive here! gail
Hi, Gail. I’m excited to try the ‘Don’s Dwarf’ wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) too. Mine came from Greenleaf Nursery out of southeast Texas (sold at Barton Springs Nursery). Magnolia Gardens Nursery sells ‘Don’s Dwarf’ online and promises a naturally rounded, 4- to 6-foot shrub, with smaller leaves than the species. I’ll let you know how it works out. —Pam
Agree with Gail – those plants would make a superb container garden – they look great together. Envious that you can still plant this late…
We can plant all winter, Cyndy, but the trade-off is that summer is a rotten time to be outdoors unless submerged in a cool pool. —Pam
Seeing your haul makes me want to get out and plant something but it is still too dry here. I tried to plant a daylily someone gave me and had to use the shovel like an ax to get into the ground. It isn’t a good fall to be planting this year. Hopefully we will be out of the drought by next spring. I have had one of those sedges for years. It reverted back to a plain green grass. It has survived though.
I hope you get some good rain soon, Lisa. Drought is the worst when you’re a gardener. —Pam
Ooh, I love them all. I’ll vouch for the almost ineradicable taproot of acanthus. Love it but have pulled all mine out. Not much planting here, just a six-pack of Queen Anne’s Lace/Ammi majus, some small mail orders. Chilly would be nice! We had upper 90’s today.
Whew, so hot still. Hope you get cool fall weather soon, Denise. —Pam
I’m way overdue for a visit to Austin … a good selection of plants in the nurseries, you say? Hmmmmm …
Oh yes, Cindy. Yes indeed! —Pam
Boy Pam you made out like a bandit. Love those plants. That Salvia is my favorite.
Isn’t it a beauty? I’m going to get them all in the ground tomorrow, if the weather and my back cooperate. —Pam
I have both the Bright Edges Yucca and the Acanthus mollis. I love my yuccas, but I have had no luck whatsoever with any of my 3 acanthus mollis varieties, which I bought in the hopes that someday they would look like the larger-than-life giant acanthus mollis plant at BSN. I hope you have better luck with it than I do!
Bummer about your Acanthus, Lori. Yes, BSN’s monsters are enviable. I know MSS at Zanthan grows them easily in dry shade, so I’m hoping I can too. —Pam
I tend to collect plants and after accumulating all summer I finally got everything in the ground last week. Now I already have gotten 4 more that need to go in. Its like gardening with Sisyphus here.
Ha! Good luck rolling your wheelbarrow uphill this weekend, Les. —Pam
I’m almost done planting for the year – I have some bulbs to put in this weekend and three roses coming by mail next week to replace some boring (and dead) hedges along my fenceline (I guess this means I have to get that last stump out). I’m nervous about the roses – I keep getting told how hard they are to grow – but I ordered them from the Antique Rose Emporium, so I’m hoping they’re pretty hardy (they’re David Austin varieties though, not true antiques). I guess I’ll find out!
I’ve found hardy roses (antiques, Knock Outs, and whatever ‘Belinda’s Dream’ is) to be very easy to grow, Ann. The key is lots of sun. I hope you enjoy yours! —Pam
Here you are just getting going Pam while a lot of us are readying for hibernation! Usually I’d be jealous but we’ve had such a streak of great weather, I can’t complain (at least right now ~ maybe in Feb!) I love the Acanthus foliage. I’ve tried several times to get them going here but it’s never worked. Maybe I’m not trying the right variety? I also like any blue Salvia so I think your ‘mexicana’ is terrific. Will it bloom all winter?
I remember reading about your great fall weather, Kathleen. As for the Salvia mexicana, no, it will die back after a hard freeze, to return again in the spring.
Love that “Don’s Dwarf” wax myrtle. I too have Acanthus Mollis. It’s a winner in my little book. I companion planted it with Brugmansia (for summer), but lost the Brug to the freeze last winter. When I get the energy I will find a new companion plant. Am thinking of Justicia Carnea — It survived last winter.
Love that Salvia Mexicana. It’s new to me too! The yellow in the yucca really brings out the blue!!
I’m not familiar with the Justicia so looked it up online—pretty! —Pam
I absolutely drool over the Acanthus every time I’m at Barton Springs Nursery. I’ve been reluctant to try it after reading about its invasive nature, but after seeing the comments here it seems like that isn’t much of a problem in this part of the country. Maybe I’ll give it a shot. I will definitely be at BSN tomorrow to pick up that Salvia- beautiful!!
It sounds as if our heat keeps the Acanthus in bounds here in central Texas. But it also causes summer die-back. Still, if it comes back in the cooler months with little babying, that’ll work for me! —Pam
Those plants look great as a group. I think you should put them near each other. Think I may have just bought the same Jp. sedge. We grew acanthus in our old very hot and sunny garden and it actually bloomed one year. It was planted at the edge of a blacktop driveway and it really needed that reflected heat to be happy.
Our gardening conditions are so different. Your Acanthus needed reflected heat from the driveway; in Austin, Acanthus dies back in the summer because of the heat. You planted yours in full sun; I planted mine in shade. And yet we can still grow some of the same plants. —Pam
We are having a very wet spring. We held a barbecue yesterday and the ground was so wet that the only one who went outside was my husband (the cooker of sausages) while the nine adults and seven children stayed inside our rather small house. I have done very little summer planting because the ground is so soggy. Fortunately there are volunteer tomatoes coming up that might provide me with Christmas tomatoes. We shall see!
I love that salvia!
It seems to be either feast or famine with regard to rainfall, doesn’t it? But since I’ve heard what a terrible drought Australia has endured in recent years, I’m assuming a wet spring is overall a good thing? —Pam