tel: 512 280-1192 thursday, september 3, 2015
Nursery Notes: this weekend's sales include: 25% off all metal
art. 25% off Palm trees: Mediterranean Fan, Windmill, Mexican
Fan, Sago and Canary Island Date Palms. reg. price: 3 gal. $34.99;
7 gal. $80; 15 gal. $125; 30 gal. $250. / Professional grade Pro-
Mix BX potting soil 2.8 cubic feet. reg. $24.99, sale price $19.99.
Summer Fruit Pizza with Rosemary and Basil: a fun variation
on pizza offered by My Splendid Table (NPR) combines melons,
plums and berries with herbs and ricotta cheese to create the per-
fect summer party dish. Splendid Table
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The Story of Cherokee Purple: one of our favorite tomatoes is
the creation of 'tomatologist' Craig LeHoullier, and is the story of
'the little guy,' an amateur breeder, who convinces the huge seed
companies that 'the rest of the world will want to enjoy something
they've discovered.' NPR (Other feature The Daily Telegraph)
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Central Texas Gardener: Gardening by Color for Butterflies.
Learn how to get the right color palette to attract butterflies. Visit
a city hall where plants for drought and wildlife replace grass.
Sat., 4 p.m. & Sun. at 9 a.m. KLRU
Renters can be Gardeners Too!
by Amanda Moon
As gardeners we all know how plants can brighten up and magically
transform a space, whether it's inside or out. But I have met people
who rent properties who are a little hesitant to take on any of these
'transformations' because the property belongs to someone else.
I understand their position, but I always reassure them that although
it's a little harder to do, you can still create an outdoor oasis that's
easy on the wallet, and also doesn't have the permanence of many
landscape designs – so that you can load up and take all of these
things with you when your lease is up.
First of all, if you're able to plant in the ground, annual flowers will
give your yard an instant boost at a reasonable price. They are avail-
able in 4” pots and 6-packs for much less than perennials, and come
in a range of colors and textures.
In addition to the summer standards like begonias and impatiens,
consider planting some edible annuals such as colorful peppers and
Bright Lights Swiss chard. You can switch these out in the winter
with violas, snapdragons and ornamental and edible kales.
Bearded Iris
Planting seeds is another way to create beauty in a place where
you don’t want to invest a lot of money. Many of these same
annuals come up without any difficulty from seed, as well as
some of our native and adapted perennials.
Easy annuals include herbs cilantro and basil, and morning glory
vine (see photo at top of article), impatiens and alyssum. Many of
our natives also come up readily from seed. These include tropical
sage, cedar sage, purple coneflower, 4-nerve daisy, gulf penstemon
and even red yuccas.
Pass-along plants and cuttings are another (completely free) way
of obtaining plants for your rental landscape. Many plants create
'pups' and offsets and can be divided without damaging the mother
plant.
Bearded irises and other bulbs are passed along for generations
using this method and agaves can also be divided this way (and
people are usually more than eager to share their extra agaves!).
Cuttings of succulents usually 'take' with little trouble, along with
many porch plants such as the old tried-and-true standbys hen and
chicks and pothos ivy. You can also grow shrubs and roses from
cuttings with a little extra time and attention.
Another effective way to dress up a flowerbed is to use sunken pots.
Simply dig a hole and put the plant – container and all – into it. It's
best to leave a lip above the ground, so that you can remove it easily
at a later date. This works especially well for cacti and succulents
in need of winter protection. It also works well for plumerias. . .
the plant Hawaiians use to create their pretty lei wreaths.
When you can’t plant anything in the yard (or don’t have one at all)
container plants and yard art can be your best friends. Plant pots
come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Look for the empty
spots around your yard or patio and find a beautiful pot (or group)
to set there to brighten up the space.
If the planter is in full sun, make sure that you plant it with some-
thing hardy and drought resistant. Choose the right size for the
plant so you don’t have to re-pot often. I always use high quality
potting soil and fertilize every month to keep the potted plants look-
ing their best.
You can also use yard art to add a touch of whimsy to an outdoor
space, especially when you'd like to dress up a difficult spot where
plants have a tough time growing. A splash of colorful metal art
can really make greenery on a patio pop!
Gardening in a space that’s not yours can sometimes be tough, but
with a little ingenuity, budgeting and planning even the smallest,
concreted space can be turned into a garden oasis.
Happy Gardening everyone!
Please contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers (pictured above)
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com
(hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)Visit the website: Its About Thyme facebook
Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748
