tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, July 21, 2016
Nursery Notes. massive buy-one-get-TWO-free sale on tob-
acco plants and moringa trees. Tobacco: 4" pots just $3.99,
1 gal. plants just $7.99. One gal. moringa trees also just $7.99
(reg. $12.99). / Repell mosquitoes with great-looking 1 gal lemon-
grass for $9.99. / Two gal. butterfly-attracting perennials on sale
for $12.99. Bougainvillea baskets $14.99; purslane baskets $9.99.
We're stocked with fall tomatoes. Please drop by for a visit! 🌷
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Update on the Nursery's New Home
In June of last year we shared first the sad news that the lease on
the nursery's current property was going to be terminated - and
then in October came the good news that we were going to be re-
locating to the Marbridge Foundation (just 10 mins from our pre-
sent nursery, at 2310 Bliss Spillar in Manchaca). We think readers
and fans of the nursery are due for an update!
The truth is that the process of receiving city permits, and funding,
has taken longer than anticipated. Far longer. The obstacles have
been substantial . . . but it's all going to work out ; - )
The masterplan for our new nursery at the Marbridge Foundation
Because of delays in the new development of our current location,
we're going to be able to keep our doors - and greenhouses - open
until the unveiling of our brand new nursery at Marbridge in the
spring of 2017. So everything has just been pushed back by a year.
A HUGE THANK YOU to you, our customers, for hanging in
there with us during this lengthy period of change. Though we're
in the doldrums of the hot summer months at present, we had a
fantastic spring, and we really appreciate your continuing support
for our horticultural enterprise! - Diane and Chris Winslow 🌷
Milkweed cordial, summer in a glass: 'If you have ever sniffed
the summer fragrance of the nectar-rich flowers (of milkweed) you
will understand why I was enchanted at the idea of capturing it and
translating it into a drink,' writes Marie Viljoen. A guide to making
to making this fermented summer drink in Gardenista 🌷
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Create your own fancy tiered herb planter with 5 pots: this
inexpensive and creative idea comes from Bless My Weeds. You
can also plant flowers or grasses in it. Bless My Weeds 🌷
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Central Texas Gardener: meet Bill Adams, author of The Texas
Tomato Lover's Handbook. On tour, Jay Carpenter and his wicking
beds. Learn from Trisha how to harvest wild purslane, and how to
protect you plants from sunburn. Saturday: 4 p.m. Sunday at 9 a.m.
or on-line. KLRU. 🌷
Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers
by Darrel Mayers
Most of us struggle as designers… and when faced with a terra
cotta pot or half a whiskey barrel by the front door to fill with
plants, for me there's quite a lot of guesswork involved.
Luckily over the past few years a design secret has been leaking
out into popular garden magazines, giving us non-designers a use-
ful handle: 'thriller, filler, spiller.' It rhymes, it's easy to remem-
ber… and it works like this.
All you need is three different types of plants. Oh . . . and there's
a bit of show-business involved!
For the centerpiece of your pot, you choose a 'thriller.' This is the
star that needs to catch everyone's eye. It works well if it has some
height to it – and maybe also sways attractively in the wind. Your
star can be a flower, grass or an ornamental.
For the filler, think of it as a 'supporting actor' that complements
rather than competes with the star. (Remember you've got to keep
the star happy, and un-threatened!) It should be of medium height,
and you can plant it all around your thriller. Begonias, vincas, zinn-
ias and marigolds are all good candidates for this role.
Finally, the spiller, which could be thought of as 'the extras,' or
even the movie set. It should grow low to the ground, and drape
over the pot, softening the rim of the container, and helping to
bind the design together. Good spillers include: moss rose, pur-
slane, silver ponyfoot, cora cascade vinca.
Be sure that you take into account where they're all going to reside.
Your trio of plants should all flourish in full sun, or all flourish in
dappled shade etc.
A few weeks ago I asked some of the gardeners who work here to
put together some plants in a container that followed this design
idea, and was delighted when Jerry Hinton and David Sargert
stepped up to the challenge.
Jerry created a very pretty arrangement using skyflower / durantia
as the thriller, santolina as the filler and blackfoot daisy as the spiller.
(See photo at the top of the article.)
David also created this lovely design, using Persian shield as the
thriller, and a combo of silver ponyfoot and wandering Jew as the
spiller and filler. (All the plants that David and Jerry used are in
stock at the nursery.)
It can be fun activity to put the four elements of the pot and the
three plants together at your local nursery. Good luck, and happy
gardening everyone! 🌷
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
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme And here for facebook
