tel: 512 280-1192                                      Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014

Nursery Notes: 50% off all metal art this weekend. Also. . . the
Great Palm Tree Sale continues! 25% off all palms all weekend
long. 1 gallon  bougainvilleas on sale reg $9.99 now $6.99.
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Fun Halloween Fact: The family of Gertrude Jekyll, famous 
English landscape designer, was good friends with Robert Louis
Stevenson. . . and the Scottish writer used the family name for
his famous Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). 
  
Free lecture 2 p.m. this Sunday: Learn how to Grow Green from
Denise Delaney, the first director of horticulture at the Lady Bird
Johnson Wildflower Center, and currently head of the Grow Green,
campaign. Find out about all the amazing free resources available
 from the City of Austin to assist you design, install and maintain 
your beautiful, sustainable landscapes.  Grow Green videos
Denise on Central Texas Gardener

Thanks to arborist Lisa Killander for her fascinating lecture on tree choices last Sunday.
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Bulb basics from the Victory Garden:  'It's hard to find another
plant type that can yield so much beauty in the garden from so little
work or worry on the part of the gardener . . .  gorgeous blooms are
a sure thing.'  Read more at the Victory Garden
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Piet Oudolf, landscape architect for New York City's High Line,
likes to let plants grow into a natural setting as much as possible.
'Structure  is the basis of all planting combinations, but traditional
gardening has a lot of dogmas. I prefer to let things go their own
way,' says Piet. You can enjoy  examples of his work in the Dutch
gardener' recent book 'Planting.' (Timber Press). Oudolf slideshow   
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Central Texas Gardener:  Herbs for What Ails You. Mingle herbs  
for food into your waterwise scheme. Visit a gardener who removed
grass for a menu that serves up art, food &  wildlife invites. Sat.,
4 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. www.klru      
  
 
The Windmill & the Fan Palms
by Chris Winslow 
 
One group of trees long associated with drought and desert con-
ditions is the palm tree. You can also find palms doing perfectly
well in equatorial rain forests.

Here in central Texas, we happen to have both of these climates.
Some years we have drought. Others we have rain aplenty. To com-
plicate this further, we have winters where temperatures fall into
the teens and single digits. Are any palm trees so incredibly versatile
and adaptable that they can handle such variations in temperature
and climate? Thankfully… yes! I can heartily recommend the Medi-
terranean Fan Palm, and the Windmill Palm.
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The Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis) is native
to the western Mediterranean region, growing along the coasts of
Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, and south along Africa's coastline. 
Chamearops is a clumping palm that grows very slowly.  In the
Austin area, it is rare to see one taller than 10 feet.

They do well in full to partly sunny locations, and once established,
need very little water to keep them happy. There is a beautiful spec-
imen of the Fan Palm at the southeast corner of Brodie and Capi-
strano (Shady Hollow).

Architecturally, the Mediterranean Fan palm makes a striking add-
ition to any landscape. You can prune the foliage to feature the main
and side trunks, or it can be left alone to form a dense bush or screen.
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The Windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), native to central
China, has just one trunk. This palm has been in cultivation for thou-
sands of years and can handle extremely cold weather.
Like the Mediterranean fan palm, the Windmill has palmate leaves,
and grows to an average height of 10 to 12 feet. It is shade and sun
tolerant, and is easily adaptable to our central Texas landscapes.
Look for some beautiful specimens at the far south end of Pinehurst
Drive in Onion Creek.

So, we have two palms that can take our summers and our winters.
(Many palm websites place their cold tolerance close to zero.)
Cold, heat, and drought tolerant, as well as being absolutely beauti-
ful. What more can we ask for? Happy gardening everyone! 
  
 
  Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com
 Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748  Like us
 
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