tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, April 28, 2016
Nursery notes: a beautiful shipment of drift roses arrived this
week. These create a coral, pink or red groundcover, growing to a
height of 1 foot and a width of 2.5 feet: $19.99 and $24.99. | Dou-
ble knock-outs red and pink also $19.99 and $24.99. | Tree roses
grow up to 5 feet, and feature grafts of different plants. We have
an orange and yellow combo (Julia Child and Living Easy), and
and a pink and white combo (iceberg and brilliant pink) for $80.
Tropical canna lillies for $9.99. | Blackberries, blueberries and
goji berries all in stock. | Passionvine $9.99. | Non-aggressive
amethyst falls wisteria: $34.99 | Finally, lots of pretty hydran-
geas, caladiums and coleus in stock. Please drop by for a visit!
The golden ratio for gardeners: 'What if I told you that the success
of your garden had less to do with plants than with proportion,' asks
Lindsay Knapp in her blog. 'Or that a simple ratio, used by the
Hindus and Moors. . . could solve almost all of your design issues?'
Vegetable beds 5' x 8' and other 'golden tricks,' from Knapweed 🌷
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So you want to be a master-gardener? The first step is to attend
an info session at the A&M AgriLife office, 1600B Smith Road,
78721. Dates: 2 p.m. May | 6 p.m. May 10 |10 a.m May 13. For
complete details, visit Master Gardener🌷
Introducing Fox Farm: we are proud to be stocking some of the
finest garden products from this family-run business in California's
Humboldt County. All formulas are organic and hand-crafted in
small batches of soil mixes and fertilizers. We are big fans!
Happy frog potting soil: $24.99 Ocean forest protting soil: $19.99
Salamander soil water-holding potting mix: $19.99.🌷
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Free picnic concert celebrating farmers, gardens & nature
will be held at YardFarm (7204 Shelton Road, 78725) at 7:30 p.m.
this Saturday with Bucolics Anonymous and a variety of speakers.
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Central Texas Gardener: a visit to a 'pocket prairie' in Blanco;
Andrea DeLong-Amaya from the Wildflower Center offers advice
on watering; plant of the week - globe mallow; earn how to move
yuccas. Saturday at 4 p.m Sunday at 9 a.m. or on-line. KLRU 🌷
The Yellow Bells are Ringing! by Chris Winslow
One plant that's starting to blossom out nicely at the moment is
yellow bells.This beauty has many names. Officially they call it
Tecoma stans. It is also known as esperanza (Spanish for ‘hope’),
yellow trumpet, and ginger thomas.
Yellow bells have glossy-green, lance-like leaves, and large, showy
trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom continuously throughout summer
and fall. In warmer areas, it can reach a height of 8 to 10 feet. They
are native to South and Central America and our southwestern states.
The wood has been used by Native Americans to make bows, and
in Mexico the plant was used as a medicine to relieve symptoms of
diabetes and stomach cramps.
This is an herbaceous perennial. It freezes back when the first winter
cold snap arrives… to return triumphantly the following year as
the ground warms in early spring.
Not only is this popular with gardeners. If you put some in your
garden, you will have butterflies, hummingbirds and bees aplenty.
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Some recent introductions have increased the bloom time for this
perennial, and have made the plant more compact. Some new var-
ieties to look for:
Gold star esperanza blooms earlier than the rest of the species
and grows in a more compact form. While the standards grow to
8 feet or more, goldstar is a little shorter, at 4 - 5 feet.
Orange jubilee is an orange form of yellow bells with smaller,
more toothed leaves. Hummingbirds, I find, are more attracted to
the orange color of this cultivar.
Sunrise is another beautiful variety. Like gold star, this yellow-
flowering variety is a little shorter, and has a copper-bronze color
on the throat of each flower.
Whatever Tecoma stans you choose, you will find them dependable
perennials that put on a great show throughout spring, summer,
and fall. They are tops on my list of drought tolerant performers
at the moment, and everyone should have at least one.
Happy Gardening Everybody! 🌷
Please contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers 🌷🌲 🌿 🌵
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme And here for facebook 
