tel: 512 280-1192 Friday, Dec 6, 2013
It’s Thyme to Party! This Sunday, Dec. 8, 2 p.m. please join us
for a festive party for gardeners, with drinks, music and seasonal
sales. Celtic music by harpist Doc Grauzer. www.docgrauzer.com
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Nursery Notes: 10% off everything in the gift shop, this week-
end only. Protect your plants against the frost with row cover.
12' wide row cover on sale for $1 per foot (reg $1.50). Also,
mixed herb baskets for $14.99. 12" Planter bowls with culinary
herbs and seasonal edible flowers for $19.95. Current opening
hours: 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
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New roses for 2014: the company that brought us Knock-Outs
has four new releases set for next spring. Paul Zimmerman from
Fine Gardening introduces us to Popcorn Drift, Dee-lish, and
some other new varieties (with strange names). fine gardening
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Central Texas Gardener KLRU TV. Meet backyard butterflies
and how to keep them around with tips from Geyata Ajilvsgi,
author of Butterfly Gardening for Texas. On tour, see how Anne
Bellomy swapped lawn for wildlife habitat in a small in-town yard.
Sat. noon, 4 p.m. or Sun., 9 a.m. www.klru
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Ten Activties for December
by Chris Winslow
1. Replace summer annuals with winter bloomers if the frost has
burned them. Top performers are dianthus, flowering kale, flower-
ing cabbage, pansies, snapdragons, violas, and stock. Add some rich
compost and bone and blood meal to the soil to give the new plants
a boost.
2. Plant bulbs: Still plenty of time to plant those spring flowering
bulbs. Look for narcissus, daffodils, tulips, anemones, ranunculus,
jonquils, and muscari.
3. Cut back perennials: If the frost and freezing weather has
damaged the tops of your flowering perennials, cut them back to
just above ground level and mulch with a compost and pine-bark
mix. This will conserve soil moisture and keep roots healthy and
warm.
4. Choose a living Christmas tree: This is the season to bring a
tree indoors for the holidays. Why not choose one that’s alive…
one that you can add to your landscape in January. Some good
choices: Allepo pine, Arizona blue-ice cypress, deodar cedar, blue
point juniper, and Italian stone pine.
5. Rake leaves: Get outside, do some raking and inhale some of
that lovely chilly winter air. Remember if you leave leaves on your
lawn, they can damage grass, especially if they become wet.
6. Start a compost pile: Please don’t send those leaves (mentioned
in 5) to the landfill. Use them to build a great big compost heap.
7. Move tropical plants inside… or they will die. Mandevilla,
plumeria, philodendron, ficus, bougainvillea, and hibiscus will
all perish if allowed to freeze. Put them in a garage or a green-
house, and provide as much light and ventilation as possible; water
when dry throughout the winter. If you can’t carry them in, have
some row cover (freeze cloth) close at hand.
8. Care for fruit trees: Spray them and look after them. Rake all
leaves from around the base as this litter may carry over insects to
the spring. Spray with dormant oil to kill scale insects. This should
also be done on scale-infested shrubs. Inspect burford holly and
euonymous, as they are prone to this.
9. Buy a little rosemary tree (trimmed). They are a delight, and
make nice table decorations for Christmas. After the holidays, dig
it into your culinary herb garden as a center point.
10. Rest on your laurels: On those super cold days when garden-
ing outside is impossible, curl up by the fire and take stock of your
gardening accomplishments for the year… and start thinking of
some plans for the New Year. Warmer weather is just around the
corner.
Happy gardening everyone!
Visit the website: www.itsaboutthyme.com Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748 Like us
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