Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, June 2014

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Tina

It’s June and that means warm and sticky, but full of blooms here in sunny Austin, Texas. Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting the June jubilation for blooms in the garden.

The pretty, small flowers of the ground cover Leadwort Plumbago, Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, lend a sprinkling of blue in my gardens.

I planted four-inch pots of these several years ago and they’ve been slow to develop and spread. I think this will be their year.

I’ve grown another ground cover, Pink Skullcap, Scutellaria suffrutescens, for several years as well.

A hardy, evergreen perennial, it’s unknown whether this plant is a native to Texas. It’s a great perennial in my gardens though as it sports its bright fuchsia blooms throughout our long, hot summers.

The native shrub Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii, is a staple in my gardens.

There are a variety of bloom colors for this perennial shrub, but the red is a favorite of mine–and of the hummingbirds as well.

The spring and early summer blooms of Zexmenia, Wedelia texana and Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, continue showing off–both have a long bloom cycles.

Another beautiful red-flowering perennial is the Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius.

There are several types of penstemons in my gardens, but the Rock is the only summer flowering penstemon that I grow.

The Mexican Honeysuckle, Justicia spicigera, died completely to the ground this past winter, but is resilient in foliage growth and blooms.

Finally, there’s nothing that shouts “summer!” like the common sunflower.

I don’t know which one this is and I don’t care. It grows from the sunflower seeds that I feed the birds throughout the growing season. As I’m weeding up the seemingly millions of spring seedlings in my pathways, I curse myself for setting out the sunflower seeds,

but I’m always glad that I allow a few seedlings to mature. Pollinators like the flowers and finches like the seeds.

Happy June Blooms! Pop over to May Dreams Gardens to see what gardeners around the world have blooming in their gardens.

A Camel Is A Horse Built By Committee

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Tina

It’s a truism that decisions by committee don’t always achieve the best solution, only the solution that everyone agrees on. On May 24th, I wrote this post about the City of Austin’s proposal to disallow personal grave memorials at Austin Memorial Park. I explained my stake in this cemetery and why I am against the new rules. Austin PARD (Parks and Recreation Department) provided a survey that well over 1000 people completed. Thank you to all who completed that survey–I know there were many who read this blog who participated. Your voices were heard.

Initially, PARD planned to completely remove all personal mementos from graves. After the results of the first survey, PARD has amended their initial proposed rules. The results of the survey suggested that most who completed the survey did not want the aesthetic of private, sometimes quirky, memorials changed. So, PARD compromised with new and improved rules.

Sort of.

What is now proposed is that there can be private memorials placed only within 36 inches of the head of the grave (this would include the headstone) and 10 inches from the sides.

While I appreciate PARD’s willingness to listen to taxpayers and stakeholders, I still have problems with the newest proposed rules. I will have to completely rip out the garden atop my daughter’s grave and there will be grass planted, against my wishes.

This “compromise” won’t improve maintenance, the mowers will still mow around graves and segments of graves. With the amended rules, PARD is still insisting upon a change of cemetery aesthetics away from what has naturally evolved in the cemetery.

PARD is asking for yet another survey on the new, proposed rules. If you believe that cemetery stakeholders who own plots should be allowed to place private memorials on the entirety of those plots, please take a few more moments to complete the new survey, here.

You will only have until Friday, June 13, 2014 to complete this survey. The City Council will decide this issue sometime in August.

Please remember:

The plots are owned in full by family members. We’re only asking allowance to memorialize our loved ones on land we own.

The garden and memorials on Shoshana’s grave have been there for over 7 years. There are other graves that have had gardens and memorials for much longer, even decades. There is a common understanding in law whereby unenforced rules and covenants become null and unenforceable over time. All we ask is that this cemetery and its graves be considered in the same way–that the new cemetery rules encapsulate the aesthetic which developed over time.

Reasonable people agree that nothing dangerous should be on graves.

The new proposal doesn’t decrease maintenance in any substantial way.

Big Muhly, Lindheimer’s Muhly (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri): A Seasonal Look

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Tina

This is the second post as part of the new and continuing series, A Seasonal Look. Today we’ll look at Lindheimer’s (Big) Muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri .

Be still my beating heart! THAT is a beautiful plant!

The slender, graceful foliage in spring and summer and the fall/winter inflorescence of the Lindheimer’s or Big Muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri, is eye-catching and always makes my heart skip a beat. My oh my!

Lindheimer’s Muhly is one of my favorite plants. (I know. I say that all the time.) I think it’s stunning year-round and a desirable garden addition–from its early spring-green strands of foliage growth,

through summer,

to the zenith of its beauty in fall.

Lindheimer’s Muhly is a native Texas grass. Endemic to Central Texas, it’s become a popular landscape plant for home and commercial gardens. L. Muhly is excellent in full sun and requires little water once established. It is a lovely ornamental grass and regionally appropriate for our gardens. Lindheimer’s Muhly is gorgeous when planted in pairs or groups,

or as a single specimen.

It’s a plant which adds structure, foliage interest and grace to any garden, whether in a mixed perennial bed or a desert-themed garden.

In most locally owned nurseries here in Central Texas, L. Muhly is available in four-inch, gallon and larger containers–depending upon the store and time of year. Lindheimer’s Muhly is an easy plant for the most neglectful gardener. The only maintenance is pruning the grass in late winter, preferably in February. Other than that, this plant requires little care. One other chore the gardener might undertake is to rake fallen leaves out of the grass after autumn leaf fall.

Personally, I don’t bother. But if you find fallen leaves tangled in the grass unattractive, it won’t hurt your Muhly to rake them out. Go for it!

As for pruning Lindheimer’s Muhly, all that’s required is pruning straight across in a “buzz” cut or pruning into a rounded shape. You can use hand pruners or larger lopping pruners. I have an old, electric pruner and I simply let’r rip–it takes about 30 seconds for me to prune a mature plant. That’s it!

Here are some examples of L. Muhly after winter “hair” cuts.

An advantage of pruning in late February versus early January ( well after the typical first hard freeze renders the plant dormant), is that pruning in February results in only days or weeks before new growth begins. A week or two after pruning, the new spring growth visibly arches up and over the pruned portion of the grass.

Also, it’s a good idea to plant L. Muhly with early to mid spring blooming perennials or native annual spring wildflowers. I’ve planted mine with Heartleaf Skullcap, Purple Coneflower and iris as neighboring companion plants. As the Muhly is growing from its winter prune, the blooming annuals and perennials can flower with abandon and strut their stuff. Later in summer and fall, when the Muhly is in its full glory, the earlier spring bloomers have exited center stage–either by complete dormancy (like Heartleaf Skullcap) or reverting to a less showy, non-blooming state.

It’s not necessary to prune Muhly–after all, in the wild they aren’t pruned. I experimented a couple of years ago with one of my Muhly grasses and didn’t prune in late winter. Here it is in spring:

and in the early summer:

I eventually selectively pruned the dead foliage out of the plant because I preferred the newer green growth to dominate and considering that my Muhlies are in a cultivated garden, it’s appropriate to “neaten” them with a late winter trim. Pruning isn’t necessary for the health of the plant–pruning is for aesthetics only.

Lindheimer’s Muhly is deer resistant and will get two to five feet tall and about three feet wide. L. Muhly prefers full sun, though it can take some shade. It can also grow in a variety of soil types, though as it’s native to the Edwards Plateau eco-region, it prefers a rockier soil. The two original Muhly plants in my gardens succumbed to increasing shade, plus the soil in my garden is somewhat heavy. My property lies along a junction of the Edwards Plateau and the Blackland Prairie eco-regions and is the heavier Blackland Prairie soil. The combination of increasing shade and clay soil is not ideal for L. Muhly. Last year, one Muhly rotted out completely and the other was well on its way. I removed both, but added two more L. Muhlies to the garden.

I replaced the two rotted Muhlies with new, one gallon-sized plants in fall 2013. Seedlings and newly purchased specimens are easy to plant–just water for the first few weeks, then back off of the irrigation. Mature L. Muhly require minimal irrigation. I water one or twice per month during the summer months. Also, I don’t mulch my Muhlies thickly–a thin covering is fine.

The replacement Muhly grasses receive more sun than the originals–they should be happier.