What's Happened to my Carolina Jessamine?

I was shocked today when I went out and noticed that the Carolina Jessamine was drooping!  It had a lot of new growth on it, but today, every new shoot looks like it's doing it's rendition of the dying swan from Swan Lake.

Any ideas what may be wrong with it?

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

Planting in the Island Bed, and a Welcome Visitor

I was having so much fun outdoors this weekend, either with the horses or in the garden, that I didn't get around to blogging at all!

I've been on the lookout for hummingbirds, as other Houston garden bloggers have reported. I haven't seen any yet, but I was thrilled to notice this little visitor in the garden.

I had a hard time getting a clear photo as it was flitting about and it was breezy too, so it seemed to be getting buffeted by the wind.  I remember verbally chastising it at the moment I snapped this photo. 

"You silly thing, there's all that milkweed blooming there, what are you doing on the Indian Hawthorn?"

It wasn't until I looked closely at this photo that I realized that it *was* on a milkweed, that was poking up through the shrubbery in the front border.  Perhaps I'll see some caterpillars this spring?

Most of my work this weekend was in the back garden.  I spent a few pleasant hours planting an array of flowering plants in the island bed.

 Of course, it still looks pretty sparse, but I hope when it fills in the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds will enjoy it.  

A quick list of ingredients:  Senecio cineraria (Dusty Miller), "Early Bird Frosty" Dianthus,  Salvia splendens, "May Night" Meadow sage, and Artemisia "Powis Castle".  So there's a sort of red, white and blue theme going on (if you don't count the daylilies I already put in there.)

Also in the island bed is the tiny Sam Houston peach tree we planted last year. We've been watching it closely because while other things in the garden have been leafing out, there wasn't anything happening with the peach.  This past weekend, we were excited to notice a couple of blossom buds and some leaves on it.

Around the corner in the veggie garden, things are starting to pop. This is our first experience with a veggie garden, so I'm sure it will be an adventure - hopefully not one of the nightmare variety.

Eric says he doesn't remember planting as many peas as have sprouted, (ditto the cucumbers) and he certainly doesn't remember dropping any on the lawn -- but there are two growing there next to the garden, so they must have jumped out! 

A couple of years ago, a friend was re-doing some of her garden beds and was moving some Brunfelsia - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow - and asked if I wanted some rooted cuttings.  Naturally I said yes!

However, of the two she gave me, one promptly died and the other just sort of sat there with no ambition. 

It didn't bloom last year, but at least it didn't die. 


As I looked around the garden on Saturday, I noticed it was blooming for the first time, a beautiful purple color.

I had heard about this plant's blooms changing color, but since it had never bloomed for me before I had never witnessed. But this evening, when I got home from work, I checked on them and they were definitely lighter in color.

 They should be white, or almost white, by tomorrow evening.  I'll have to remember to snap a photo.

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

Wordless Wednesday - Clouded Sulphur?

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

Gifts for Gardeners

Something a little different for my post today.

If you're looking for a gift for a gardening friend, or even as a treat for yourself, you might like some of these garden-themed gifts from Zazzle.com.

I should mention here that I recently opened my own store at Zazzle -- 3D Designs by Jayne, featuring my own artwork created in the 3D graphics programs Vue and DAZ 3D.

None of the items shown below are from my store. They are the work of other talented designers that appealed to me (I just purchased the first t-shirt shown below) so I felt other garden bloggers may like them too.

You can click on each image to view details of the item. Links underneath will take you to more items in each category.

Enjoy!

I'd Rather Be Gardening Tees and Gifts by naturetees
View more Gardening Shirts.

Master Gardener Hat by CowPieCreek
View more Gardening Hats

I'd Rather Be Gardening Tees and Gifts by naturetees
Browse Zazzle for more mugs.

Madam Monarch Butterfly Laptop Sleeve by Butterflysarebloomin
Browse Zazzle for a different laptop sleeve.

Gardening Planner and Journal Binder by lifethroughalens
See more Gardening and journal Binders

WhiteLilies, "Earth Laughs In Flowers " Mouse Mat by GardenAndGifts
View more gardening mousepads on Zazzle.

Blessed are the Gardeners by gardening
Browse Zazzle for more gardening bags

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

Nest Watch!

We have two small live oaks in our front garden.  One was planted as part of the landscape package when we moved in four years ago.  It's now about 15 feet tall and nice and full. The other is one that we planted to replace one of the originals that died a year after it was planted. It's much smaller than the first, but it's coming along.

Both of them seem to be bird magnets and last year we had Northern Mockingbirds nesting.  So last weekend, when we were being serenaded all afternoon by a mockingbird, we assumed they had taken up residence again.

However, when I zoomed my camera in to the higher of the two nests in that tree, I was surprised to see it wasn't a mockingbird sitting on the nest, but a Mourning Dove.

I've entered this year's first nest attempt report at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Watch web site, even though the nest is too high up for me to get details like the number of eggs etc. 

She's been sitting on the nest all week, and Eric, whose "man cave"/den looks out to the front garden told me that the mockingbird has been hanging around most of the week too.

We joke that the babies will be probably be some sort of mocking-dove hybrid.

Has anyone else seen this kind of camaraderie between bird species?


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

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.

Spring has Sprung!

I think I probably do a post with that title around this time every year! Even though I've spent over half my life here in Texas, it still excites me when I see the gardens coming back to life so much earlier than they did as I was growing up in England.


But looking around the gardens this week,  there's quite a bit going on (although admittedly, not nearly as much blooming as I've seen on the blogs of more experienced and organized gardeners than I).

In the front border, the Gazania or Treasure Flower has been blooming all winter.  The flowers were actually closed for much of the winter, but I learned they do that in damp and dull weather to protect the pollen.  The day I was out taking photos was dry and warm and the Gazania blooms were wide open.

In the back garden, I was surprised to see the Homestead Verbena blooming already.  This particular plant did nothing last year, but suddenly it's taking off this year.

The Achillea behind it made it safely through winter too, I hope I see some blooms on it this year.


I had mentioned before that my husband Eric and I were thinking of building a small vegetable garden. I'm happy to report that Eric took the reins on this one, and after a couple of weeks of hard work on his part, we now have a small veggie patch waiting to be planted.

The first job was to remove the grass around the outline of the bed, so that a concrete foundation for the brick border could be laid.  I think Eric gained a new respect for the tenacity of St. Augustine during this process.  He was considering how to employ a small thermo-nuclear device to shift it.

Then he had to build a wooden form for the concrete foundation...

He used some of the bricks that were leftover when the house was built, that had been taking up a corner of the garage.  Then he added a cap row to finish it off...


Once the borders were built, we used brown paper and newspaper to cover the grass inside and then made a trip to Lowe's for some bags of soil -- Scott's Miracle Gro Organic Choice in this instance...

We filled it up and Tada!!!  A small veggie bed ready for planting...

It measures 4 ft x 8 ft and is pretty shallow, only about 8 inches deep but we think it will work for us. 


Now we have to decide what we want to plant in it.
 

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