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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Blooming Wonderful!


In my last post, I mentioned that the Achillea beside the Vitex tree had made it through the winter and I pondered whether or not it would bloom this year.

Well today I got my answer!


I was out taking photos and noticed it's covered in tiny flowers. They haven't quite opened yet, but it's going to be lovely when they do.  There also seem to be quite a few seedlings around it and I'm wondering whether I should leave them where they are or move them and risk losing them.  This is my first time growing these delicate, feathery plants so I'm not sure how to treat them.


I've been watching the bulbine with interest too. It's another new plant to me, this is the only one I've ever had.  I really expected it to turn to mush over the winter and was pleasantly surprised when it stayed plump and green.  Now it's covered with these delightful little blooms.










 The Mars grape vines is leafing out nicely.  I wonder if we'll be lucky enough to actually harvest any grapes this year?  Last year, the local raccoons had a feast and left us with nothing.



 

 Here's a battle I chose not to fight.  Around the back side of the pine tree, a lot of very prickly green briar started popping out of the ground.  I had seen this around the gum tree on the lot next door before it was cleared and it's obvious the whole area was covered in it before they started building the subdivision.  Well when this started coming up, my first instinct was to yank it right out of the ground.


Easier said than done... even with gloves on it proved painful!  


So last summer I decided I'd let it grow and all I do with it now is to whack it back with the trimmer at the same time when I edge the grass around the garden.  It keeps it in bounds and now (for the first time) it's putting out flowers.  I think the birds might have a treat this year if it puts out berries.




I made a start this weekend, planting the island bed. It still looks pretty bare, but at least it's a start.  I put in a couple of pink muhly grass, some burgundy gaillardias, some bare root hollyhocks and some columbines. There are already some day lilies in the bed, as well as the river birch at one end and a Sam Houston peach tree sapling at the other end.




I love the columbines, but had the hardest time trying to photograph them because of the breeze.




While I was working on the island bed, Eric was planting some veggies and herbs in the veggie bed. We're starting easy, since this is the first time either of us have ever had a veggie garden.  We've got a couple of tomato plants, a bell pepper, and some parsley, basil and spearmint.  He also sowed seeds for some peas, cucumbers and carrots.



Wish us luck with our venture!






Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

11 comments:

BernieH said...

You've got a bit going on right now out in the garden. How wonderful to see both the Achellea and the Bulbine make it through your winter and start blooming. Fingers crossed you get a crop of grapes this year and those pesky raccoons move on somewhere else. I can't wait to see both the island bed and the new vegie bed take off.

Dorothy/Gardening with Nature said...

Your garden looks really good. Don't you just love that bulbine? It is one tough little plant and I find the blooms very attractive.

Good luck with your veggie garden. I hope it does well for you.

Anonymous said...

Jayne - you will have no problem with having a ton of achillea plant lets over the next few seasons. They spread like forget me nots and daffodils used to back 'home'.

A fellow ex Brit, now gardening in Texas.

Rock rose said...

I must have missed that you did the oval bed. Can't wait to see how it develops. I see Eric is the veggy gardener. You might want to use some gallon milk jugs as caps for your tomatoes if we get any more of this cold weather.
DId you really mean mint? A word of advice. Get it out of that bed right now and put it in a pot or somewhere where you don't care if it spreads otherwise it will just take over the bed. I speak from experience. I have mont growing along the wall and it just keeps trying to go elsewhere. I pull it out, I cut it back and still it manages to beat me at my game. Leave a little piece of root int he ground and in no time a new mint plant. Good luck.

Carol said...

Good luck! Our yard is 80% shade so last years veggie garden was an experiment to see if we could get enough sun. Our tomatoes did well. We had put in drip tape and weed fabric over that so its carefree after planting. The drip system is even on a timer so it get regular watering. (hubbie is a genius). We are on a quest for yummy tomatoes. We like big boy the best last year. Happy gardening! Carol

Jayne said...

Thanks Bernie - it was so disappointing last year. One day we had hundreds of bunches of tiny grapes, the next day the vine was completely void of anything remotely grape-like!

Jayne said...

Thanks Erika, that's good to know.

Jayne said...

Thanks for the warning Lancashire Rose. I'll get that mint out of there today! I know hubbie wants some mint, but we'll put it in a container instead.

Jayne said...

I'm glad you had success last year Carol. I'm looking forward to some home-grown tomatoes this year too. We placed our veggie bed where it will get watered when our main sprinklers run. Plus it's very close to the rain barrel if we need to supplement.

George said...

Hi Jayne,We love Eric's veggie plot,He's been hiding his talents
under a bushel.I think your friend
is right the mint will take over.
We prefer the small Tom Thumb tomatoes,they are so sweet.happy
gardening.Dad

Lynn said...

Good luck with your new beds. Isn't it exciting to have all that new planting space? I'm planting my first veg bed this spring too. Hopefully I'll have better luck with it than with herbs.