A Corner Full of Foliage

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Tina

With the blossoms of blooms that spring inevitably gifts our gardens, it’s easy to overlook the foliage of spring. New foliage emerges from winter-dormant perennials, evergreen plants flush fresh foliage distinct from older leafy brethren, and gardeners take notice at the greening of their space. In one corner of my garden, there’s little floral interest at the moment, but plenty of foliage fanfare.

The focal point of this part-shade garden rests on a blue pot full of an eye-catching silver-green American century plant, Agave americana.

Garlic chives (bottom left), Pale-leaf yucca (center), and Autumn sage (bottom right) round out the perennial plants in this garden.

Hugging the fence line is a large clump of emerging-from-winter native Turkscap, Malvaviscus arboreus. I like the bright green leaves and softer form of Turkscap neighboring the spiky, silvery agave. Another North American green-grey foliaged native, Heartleaf skullcap, Scutellaria ovata, accompanies the agave and fronts the Turkscap, as well as filling in other spots of this garden.

The leaves of Turkscap are wide and mallow-like, which makes sense because Turkscap is in the mallow, Malvaceae, family.

A closer look at Heartleaf leaves and bloom spikes against the Turkscap leaves.

Heartleaf skullcap is an aggressive, but easily controllable perennial sporting beautiful, soft-to-touch foliage.

Heartleaf also flowers lovely blue/blue-violet bloom spikes from spring to early summer. The plant is at the beginning of its flowering season and in fact, there are some blooming in other parts of my garden.

Oops–I meant to talk only about foliage for this post!

Blue-grey in color and barb-sharp in form is this Pale-leaf yucca, Yucca pallida, sitting alongside the Heartleaf skullcap,

…and photobombed here by the same plant.

I like this yucca: tidy, hardy, and attractive year round, it’s also one of the few yucca plants that is happy growing in shade and part-shade–and that’s a win for my sun-limited garden.

An emerging Big muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri, just in front of the silly bird, tolerates the Heartleaf buddying-up to it.

The Big muhly complements both agave plants with its similar shape and slender, grass-like foliage. Unfortunately, this specimen struggles a bit and doesn’t grow as large or as full as it should; it would thrive with more sun.

Shy, retiring muhly is nearly hidden and definitely overshadowed by the garish Turkscap and the elegant Heartleaf skullcap and Pale-leaf yucca. The bird shows well though, don’t you think?

Like the juxtaposition of the the silver foliaged agave with the brilliant green Turkscap, Turkscap and Heartleaf (and Pale-leaf yucca!) are opposites which nicely pair with one another.

The Heartleaf continues–yes, there’s plenty of it in this garden– beyond the Turkscap and fronts yet one more yucca-type plant that’s actually another species of agave: Red yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora.

Garlic chives fill in the bottom right of the photo.

Red yucca’s graceful, slightly arching foliage is a genuine, deep green, rather than the silver/grey/blue greens of Heartleaf skullcap, Pale-leaf yucca, and American agave. It’s also a gentler plant: no sharp needles in which to poke the gardener when she’s bumbling around the garden!

Heartleaf drifts into and around three groups of Garlic chives, Allium tuberosum. The chives look spiky, but are soft and malleable. They’re a cheery green, harmonizing well with the Heartleaf, and fragrant too, when stepped on or handled.

At the end of this corner bed, one last vivid green foliage perennial partnering with Heartleaf is Fall aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium.

The new aster leaves trend chartreuse, which brightens this particular combination.

There are a few blooms happening in this garden–the large volunteer sunflower and a couple of red blooms on an Autumn sage, Salvia greggii, but right now this bed is all about foliage and structural plants–both valuable assets in a garden.

Whatever foliage is gracing your garden this April, please check out Christina’s lovely Creating my own garden of the Hesperides Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day. Also, happy Earth Day! Christina’s advice about planting a tree (or two or three!) is excellent; native trees are best, but trees are the life-blood of this planet. Additionally, funding for and promotion of science and research institutions will be this planet’s saving.

Bloom Day, December 2014

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Tina

Celebrating blooming things with Carol of May Dreams Gardens on this last Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day of 2014, I’d like to share some currently flourishing flowers from my gardens. It’s been mild here in Austin, Texas, though a few light frosts have come our way, none were significantly cold enough to dampen the blossoming spirit.

Wonderful native perennials continue strutting their blooming stuff late this growing season. Two native salvia species are providing nice nectar sources for passing bees and butterflies and a color show for the resident gardener. The Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea,

…brightens the garden with its scarlet blooms, while Henry Duelberg salvia, Salvia farinacea, ‘Henry Duelberg’ provides spikes of blue.

Planted near to those two perennials is a group of Texas Craglily, Echeandia texensis.

There are few blooms left, but many seed pods readying for future golden lily loveliness.

Some of my Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, still bloom.

I don’t really think I need to add anything to that! These individuals face west and receive the warmth of the afternoon autumn sun.

A few Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, flowers grace the gardens as well.

I don’t recall ever seeing this plant bloom so late before–I’m not complaining.

Native to areas west of Texas, but not specifically Austin, is the Globe Mallow , Sphaeralcea ambigua.

In my gardens it’s a reliable cool season bloomer–at least through the beginning of summer. The one mature Globe Mallow in my gardens is beginning a nice bloom production and that’s likely to happen throughout winter.

There are always a few Purple Coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, charming the gardens. This one is planted with an unknown variety of basil-in-bloom,

…which I’d know the name of if I’d bothered to keep the tag. Ahem.

And here, Coneflower is partnered with the equally sweet Four-nerve Daisy or Hymenoxys, Tetraneuris scaposa.

I love native Texas plants.

As for the non-natives, well, they’re pretty cool, too. The Firecracker or Coral Plant, Russelia equisetiformis, requires a hard freeze to knock it back.

Obviously that hasn’t happened yet.

I feel good about this plant–it has such a tropical look, but in reality it’s water-wise and tolerant of the cooler season.

Roses are responding in kind to our temperate December by blossoming again. Whoop!

Glorious in vibrant red are these blooms of the Old Gay Hill rose.

Finally, the Potato Vine, Solanum laxum, has entered its bloom time. This vine twines up one side of my swing beam and blossoms primarily in the cool months here in Austin. It’s a timid vine in my garden, never growing too large. I forget about it during our long, warm growing season–it’s there, but unimpressive. Once the temperatures cool, its lovely clusters of dainty, creamy-bell flowers provide interest for my honeybees, still foraging on warm afternoons.

Enjoy whatever blooms you have–indoors or out. Then check out the many bloom posts by visiting May Dreams Gardens.

Texas Native Plant Week-Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Tina

In keeping with my native plants manifesto, which you can read here, I’m celebrating Texas Native Plant Week by profiling some of the native plants in my own gardens. The information reflects what I’ve learned from the transformation of my traditional maintenance heavy “yard” to a no-lawn, water-wise garden, featuring beautiful Texas native plants– which were the drivers and are the stars of that metamorphosis.

Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, is another perennial in my gardens that I consider a “staple” plant.

Turk’s Cap was one of the first Texas natives that I loved and planted and I have it growing throughout my property–it serves an anchor perennial for most of my gardens.

The petite, scarlet and swirled hibiscus-like flowers, blooming May through October,

…herald the beginning of our long growing season here in Texas. Turk’s Cap is native to Texas and other parts of the Southeast, all the way to Mexico.

An excellent wildlife plant, it feeds bees (native and honey),

…hummingbirds, butterflies of all sorts, and birds favor the fruits in summer, fall and early winter.

The leaves are wide and tropical looking, giving plenty of room for bird poop to land on,

…and the flowers are showy and prolific.

Gosh, I love the look of this plant. But it’s huge. It can get so, so large, you’ll want to make room for it–so don’t squeeze it in. All of my established stands of Turk’s Cap are 8-10 feet across. Big ole thangs.

If you plant Turk’s Cap, you’d better like where you put it because after a few years, once it’s established, it’s hellacious (and back-breaking) to transplant. The bulbous and massive root (system) is the reason why Turk’s Cap is so hardy and drought tolerant. I don’t water several of my established groups of Turk’s Cap.

Turk’s Cap is best in shade, dappled shade, and part-shade. Yay! A beautiful perennial that is great in shade! It’s adaptable though and works in full sun–in fact, it blooms beautifully. However, the leaves flatten and darken in a way that I find unattractive, so I generally don’t plant mine in full sun–there are much better choices for planting in the blasting Texas sun. However, as a shade perennial? I just love it!

Turk’s Cap is a herbaceous perennial, meaning that it dies to the ground with a hard freeze. It will disappear in a cold winter after you’ve pruned it to the ground, so it’s a good idea to pair Turk’s Cap with evergreen growing companions. Some examples might be Columbine, Iris, holly shrubs (for example, the native Yaupon), Rock Rose, or even some of the more shade tolerant yucca plants, like this Paleleaf Yucca.

(Disclaimer: this particular part of my garden receives late morning to early afternoon summer sun, but is shaded for the remainder of the day.)

Don’t be dissuaded by Turk’s Cap going AWOL in winter. It will return quickly in early spring; tough, hardy and beautiful, Turk’s Cap will bloom and bloom during the long Texas growing season.

My Gardener Says…

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Category Archives: Malvaviscus arboreus

A Corner Full of Foliage

Bloom Day, December 2014

Texas Native Plant Week-Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus