Foliage Follow-up, June 2014

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As The Warm settles in for the duration here in Austin, Texas, interesting and lush foliage positions well alongside flowers in our early summer gardens.

Yes, summer in Texas is hot.  But here in Texas reside tough, tough plants that shrug off the heat and the dry and are magnificent to behold.  One such is the Retama, Parkinsonia aculeata.  Retama is a small, airy tree which grows along highways receiving no care and yet is stunning: in form, bloom and  foliage.

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The leaves are tiny, delicate and bright green. They form on a long leaf stalk and are paired opposite one another.

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The Retama is a Texas beauty.  I’m glad it graces my garden.

The pairing of a not-in-bloom Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata and Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, provides lots of lushness.

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The Mexican Orchid Tree, Bauhinia mexicana, returned after our cold winter.  It hasn’t bloomed yet, but the leaves on this little tree have always reminded me of ungulate hooves.

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Really, how often does one have an excuse to use that word??  Ungulate

The American Agave, Agave americana, in the container  provides a striking contrast with the Cast Iron Plant, Aspidistra elatior.

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If you look closely at the photo, top right, you can see The Husband’s bicycle, wheel a whirl, as he pedals to work. That’s a brave man in Austin’s traffic.

The unfurling of new Agave growth.

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Beautiful.

The Mexican Feathergrass, Nassella tenuissima, is lovely with the Yarrow,  Achillea millefolium, in the background.

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Both plants have delicate-looking foliage, but are hardy choices for our challenging soil and climate.

Another look at the Yarrow,  a summertime favorite of mine.

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I love this shot of the Sparkler Sedge, Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’, behind (and above!) the Uruguayan Firecracker Plant, Dicliptera suberecta.

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The spiky, variegated ‘Sparkler’ looms over the soft, gray-green Firecracker Plant–they are opposite in  the foliage spectrum, but a nice combination.  The Firecracker doesn’t  bloom often, though it’s pretty when it happens.  I chose this plant primarily for its lovely foliage.  The ‘Sparkler’ is relatively new for me and so far, I love it.  It was evergreen during the winter and seems like a winner for summer as well.

Thanks to Pam at Digging for hosting this festival of June foliage!

 

 

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, June 2014

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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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,

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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

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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.