tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, March 13 2014
Nursery Notes: new shipments in of modern and antique roses,
all sorts of wonderful tomatoes and peppers; new pottery; nice
selection of citrus including the new cold-hardy 'frost' satsumas
(see below). Chris reports the fruit trees are blooming - 'the best
we've ever had! - but late frosts and the winds on Wednesday are
making it hard for all nurseries and gardeners at the moment.
'We're trying to get spring to spring!' says Chris.
Orange Frost and Lemon Frost are two new satsumas arriving
at the nursery this afternoon. Orange Frost has been observed to
be cold hardy to at least 12 ºF , report the experts at Texas Agri-
Life Research. For sale in five gallon pots for $59.99.
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Edible Austin feature: nursery owners Diane and Chris Winslow
seem to be all over the media at the moment. Last month it was the
supper club in the Austin Chronicle, and now, in the most recent
issue of the Edible Austin, a beautiful feature story on the horti-
cultural couple by Meredith Bethune. Edible Austin
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Tickets for Gardeners: Gardeners caught with invasive species
such as rhododendrons could be 'criminalised' by new European
Union law, reports the Daily Telegraph. rhododendron crime
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Our star-studded line-up for our April Spring Speaker Series:
April 6, The Lighter Side of Gardening 2 p.m. with John Kelso.
April 13, The Mystery of Herbs 3 p.m. with Susan Wittig Albert.
April 27 Soil Amendments and Organic Gardening 2 p.m with
master gardener Amanda Moon.
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Anne Bellomy's Austin Garden: a profile from Organic Gardening
magazine of this gifted central Texas horticulturist. 'By day, birds
chatter, anoles silently skitter, and butterflies suck up nectar. At night,
moths hover over moonlit flowers.' Organic Gardening
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Central Texas Gardener: New lawn ideas with native Habiturf from
the Wildflower Center. On tour, a visit to the popular Commons Ford
Park. Sat. noon, 4 p.m. or Sun., 9 a.m. www.klru
Indigo spires will bloom the entire spring through fall season, and need lots of room.
The Magic of Salviasby Chris Winslow
Once a gardener has planted the evergreen backbone to a new land-
scape, there is a go-to family of plants that has just about all you
might need to add color and interest to your garden setting.
This family of plants is called Labiatae. It includes most of the cul-
inary herbs (rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, savory, and garden sage),
the mints (peppermint, apple mint, spearmint, orange mint, and
double mint), and a vast grouping of flowering annuals and peren-
nials known as the salvias.
All of the members of the Labiatae family have square stems, opp-
osite undivided leaves and fragrant foliage. Because of this fragrance,
deer won’t touch them. Their flowers are generally small and come
in a multitude of colors, which makes them very popular with honey-
bees, butterflies, birds, bumblebees, and hummingbirds.
The salvias make up over 500 species and are distributed throughout
the tropical and temperate world. Some are annuals, some are herb-
aceous perennials, and some are even evergreens. Here is a selection
of some of my favorites:
Annual salvias: Salvia coccinea is also known as tropical sage. This
red flowering sage does well in a shade to part-sun landscape and is
known to spread well from seed. In the nurseries, it is commonly
called ‘lady in red’ and new colors are showing up most every spring
in the local nurseries. Look for salmon, pink, and white.
Herbaceous perennial salvias (they freeze back in the fall and return
each spring): Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea) is a native that
blooms along side of the road from spring until the fall. Mealy Blue
can grow to a height of 3 to 4 feet and is a trouble-free plant in the
garden or tubs. Look for some new color varieties next spring. One
of the newest is called ‘blue and white:’ both colors on the same plant.
Indigo Spires is another blue flowering salvia if you have lots of
room. This salvia will grow to four feet by four feet and will bloom
the entire spring through fall season. If this color is what you want
but in a smaller plant, look for the latest hybrid called ‘mystic spires.’
It stays under 2 feet while blooming the entire season.
Salvia guaranitica is another blue flowering perennial that is extra-
ordinary in the landscape. The latest addition to this group is Salvia
“Black and Blue”. This plant has deep blue flowers which are carried
on black sepals. This plant can reach a height of four feet and is
totally outstanding.
Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) is another great sage that
blooms a bit in the early spring and saves its greatest display for late
summer and fall. This sage reaches a height of four feet and its indiv-
idual flowers are white with a purple calyx. The stems and flowers
have a velvety look and feel. Look for a dark violet variety also.
Evergreen Salvias: Autumn Sage (Salvia gregii) is one of our native
salvias that remains evergreen in our winters. They come in an array
of colors from white to red to pink to salmon to purple to blue to rasp-
berry and yellow. These plants are easy to grow, require some good
drainage, and at least a half a day of sun.
The mints are an important member of this family of plants. The most
popular one with customers at my nursery is spearmint, followed
closely by peppermint and chocolate mint. There are over 600
varieties of mint in the world and most are grown for their essential
oils and for ornament.
In Mexico, it is traditional for a pot of mint to be placed by the front
door for good luck and to welcome guests. Essential oils are either
carvols or menthols. Only double mint has both. The popularity of
the Cuban mojito drink has made spearmint really popular lately.
Happy gardening everyone!
Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748 Like us
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