Foliage Follow-Up-April 2012-Kitty Hiding Spot

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Tina

What is soft and feathery,

tough and hardy,

and a great place for the cat to hide in?

Mexican Feather Grass (Nassella tenuissima)!

Today is Foliage Follow-Up, hosted by Pam at Digging and my foliage plant-of-choice for today is an ornamental grass which is a beautiful addition to the perennial garden.

Native only to the mountains of far West Texas, New Mexico and southwards to central Mexico, it also has a native population in Argentina and Chile. Everywhere else, it’s an introduced species and for home gardeners and commercial landscapers, a welcomed one. Graceful and elegant,

and an unusual silvery-green color,

it’s xeric even though it looks delicate and beautiful.

While Mexican Feather Grass is stunning in full sun,

it is a plant that can take some shade. These two new ones receive only dappled light and I expect that they’ll grow well. I’ve seen Mexican Feather Grass in a in a variety of places as an understory ground cover and it works nicely.

These are a little over a year old, and get direct sun only during the summer. This is what they looked like about six weeks ago

and what they look like now.

The Mexican Feather grass normally blooms in late spring/summer, but mine have started a bit early this year (like so many other plants). These plants will seed out, though I’ve never had many seedlings develop–until recently. I was weeding one of my beds and discovered about 20 seedlings!! There are others elsewhere in my gardens, too. Wow! I’ll give them to my friends! I’ll give them to my enemies! I’ll buy a new house with a bigger lot and plant them there!

Well, maybe for now, I’ll just enjoy the ones that I have planted in the gardens.

Many people (myself included…) have made the mistake of pruning these lovely plants like other ornamental grasses are pruned, that is to say, snipped straight across, close to the ground. Don’t do that!! It takes forever for them to grow out and they just look stupid for a long time. The best thing to do when you notice that the Feather Grass seems to have more brown than green, is to gently run your hands through the plant and pull out the “dead” strands. They’ll come loose easily and this combing should leave your plant with green, healthy strands. I’ve done this at various times of the year, as needed.

What I’ve also found over time in my gardens is that sometimes Feather Grass rots out, especially if planted in heavy, clay soil.

The two above have been in the ground for 5-6 years and I believe the one on the left is declining. Is it the soil? Maybe, although the one to the right still looks good and has new, fresh growth. If you want this plant, I wouldn’t hesitate to plant in heavy soil-just be aware that it might not be a long-lived perennial.

Mexican Feather Grass also makes a great container plant, as well. It will need some supplemental water, but doesn’t require constant watering.

It’s a great plant to soften the edges of a garden,

or mix with spiky, more architectural plants.

Mexican Feather Grass is versatile, hardy, easy-to-care-for and beautiful–in short, a great addition to the home landscape. And, while it’s good for Kitty to hide behind,

it’s also great for silly, metal birds, too.

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day-April 2012-Too Many Blooms

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Tina

As if it’s possible to have too many blooms! With our mild, wet winter and spring here in Austin, Texas, it’s been such a treat to have the garden abloom after the hellish 2011 with its heat and drought. Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this April Bloggers’ Bloom Day.

Nice companions are the Yellow Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha) and Lyre-leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata). The Columbine is probably a hybrid cross between the A. chrysantha and A. canadensis. Note the blush of pink–the true Yellow Columbine wouldn’t have any pink.

New to my gardens this year is the Englemann’s Daisy (Engelmannia peristenia). Such a bright, cheery yellow and cool foliage to boot, it’s beloved by butterflies.

Along with the Englemann’s Daisy, the cultivar, Henry Duelberg Sage (Salvia farinacea ‘Henry Duelberg’) is tall and beautiful,

as is the original, more compact sage, the Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea). These Mealy Blue Sage are planted with red Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) and Zexmenia (Wedelia texana).

Another Zexmenia,

is beginning its long bloom cycle.

I need a friend for this one Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana)–one is just not enough.

With its scarlet blooms, the Cedar Sage (Salvia roemeriana) brightens shady spots in Central Texas gardens during spring.

Sometime in the last year or so, a nice bird planted this Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides) and these are its first blooms. These have a little pink in them, so I’m guessing they’re actually a hybrid.

My favorite flower, Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) signals for me the start of summer: warmth (lots of that, here in Texas) and butterflies.

I love the deep blue of the non-native Majestic Sage (Salvia guaranitica). For me, it blooms best in the spring.

The Gulf Coast Penstemon (Penstemon tenuis), with its dainty, lavender blooms, is lovely planted in groups of three or four. A favorite of the honeybee, it re-seeds with abandon!

Finally, a childhood favorite, the non-native Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). I grew up calling it Confederate Jasmine. My mother had it planted in her gardens, along with several kinds of passion-flower vine. Its beautiful fragrance fills the air–morning, noon and night for a month or so. Like my mother, I have a number of these lovelies throughout my gardens.

Take a deep breath…can you smell it? Aah, spring!

What beautiful blooms are in your garden?

Hill Country Beauty, Beard And All

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Tina

Hill Country Penstemon (Penstemon triflorus) is one of my favorite spring bloomers and every spring I eagerly anticipate the bloom cycle of this striking plant. This penstemon is one of the larger species and is a showy one indeed.

The blooms are fuchsia red and bloom in pairs and the leaves are lance-shaped and are opposite along the stem. A slender and elegant plant at bloom time, the flowers of the Hill Country Penstemon are borne on spikes 2-3 feet tall. Blooming “normally” in April and May, this year, my group of four began their bloom cycle in early March, about a month earlier than the normative time period.

Endemic to the Texas Hill Country, its native distribution is throughout the Edwards Plateau.

The penstemon genus is a large group of plants native to North America. The term penstemon means “five stamen” because of the five stamens in each flower, one of which is long and often fuzzy or hairy. The hairy stamen looks as if it’s a hairy tongue sticking out of an open mouth, giving rise to a common and old-fashioned name for many penstemon plants,”beardtongue.”

Another common name for Hill Country Penstemon is Heller’s Beardtongue. Most penstemon plants have tubular shaped flowers with lip-like petals, two at the “top” and three on the “bottom” of the flower.

A neighbor gave me my first Hill Country Penstemon years ago and it was a reliable bloomer. I’d forgotten about it because a larger shrub, Cenizo (Leucophyllum candidum), grew tall and shaded it to the point that it hadn’t bloomed in a couple of years. When I began a re-landscape of my back garden in 2010, I moved the two I had and added two more–one from Barton Springs Nursery and one from the fall Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s plant sale.

Interestingly, I noticed that the Penstemon from the Wildflower Center (left in the photo above) was generally larger and taller than the others I had. The stem was thicker and the leaves were definitely larger. Once it bloomed, the flower was also different: larger, lighter in color and with more variegation.

Surprise!! But a nice surprise! I thought that it looked a little like the Wild Foxglove or Prairie Penstemon (P. cobaea). After reading a bit, I discovered that these two penstemons commonly hybridze with one another. I assume that is what this different looking penstemon is.

So I seem to have two similar plants: a true P. triflorus and and a hybrid thereof.

I’ve planted this group of Hill Country Penstemon at the edge of a large mixed perennial garden beside a pathway, so that I could enjoy their beauty, up close, without traipsing into the garden itself. I love to see pollinators at work,

and observe the penstemon blooms sticking their hairy tongues out at me as I amble by, coffee cup in hand.

While I like where I have my Hill Country Penstemons planted, this is a plant more appropriately placed in the center or back of a large perennial bed. In spring, the Penstemon bloom spikes grow taller than surrounding shrubs and perennials that have been pruned during winter.

Once the bloom cycle is finished, the plant develops seeds for the next generation. Because my Penstemons are planted at the edge of the garden and the bloom stalks fade in attractiveness as the plant is developing its seeds, I prune them back well before the seeds are ready to disperse. If I had them planted in the center or back of the garden, I could let them develop seeds because the other perennials and shrubs would partially camouflage the unattractiveness of the spent bloom spikes. That way, I could allow the seeds to develop and disperse, thus ensuring the propagation of more Hill Country Penstemon without sacrificing attractiveness in the garden. It was a calculated decision on my part to have them at the edge of the bed, but I haven’t had any seedlings from this plant because I prune it down for neatness sake. Once the spent bloom stalks are pruned to the ground, there is a rosette which stays green throughout the remainder of summer and into the fall and winter.

That said, the Hill Country Penstemon can be separated at the roots, so it’s propagated that way as well.

In a mixed perennial garden like this one,

it’s good to arrange a mix of sizes, shapes and bloom times so that there is layering effect of blooms, foliage and form interest.

I planted the four Hill Country Penstemons along with Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) and Lyre-leaf Sage ( Salvia lyrata), which bloom in concert with the Penstemon. I’ve also planted some Iris (Shoshana’s Iris, I believe) next to the Penstemon to echo the spiky form. Unfortunately, the Iris didn’t bloom this year, but they are lovely with the Penstemon, blooms or not. I also have Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) planted in the same area, which will start blooming toward the end of the Penstemons’ bloom cycle and throughout the summer. Further behind and along either side of the Penstemon group, I’ve planted perennials with more shrub-like growth habits and (in general), longer bloom times. For example, just behind the Hill Country Penstemon are planted two Henri Duelberg Sage (Salvia farinacea ‘Henri Duelberg’), which will get 2 to 3 feet in height and width, several Rock Rose ( Pavonia lasiopetala), two white Autumn Sage (S. greggii) , two roses (Old Gay Hill and Martha Gonzales) and a Lindheimer’s (or Big) Muhly (Muhlenbergia lindeimeri).

The Hill Country Penstemon requires full sun and can tolerate rocky to heavy clay soils. It’s drought tolerant and a nectar source for bees and butterflies. In Austin, I’ve seen them for sale at Barton Springs Nursery and at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s spring/fall plant sale.

Hill Country Penstemon is tough and so, so pretty. Even with her hairy, bearded tongue.