tel: 512 280-1192 thursday, august 6, 2015
Nursery Notes: the buy-one-get-one-free summer madness
sale continues... and is doubled in size this week! Apart from ex-
tending last week's offer for Prides of Barbados, Mexican Bush
Sage and Sweet Basil (all 4.5" rounds for $3.59), we are adding
Shasta Daisies, Indigo Spires Salvia and Candlestick Plant to
the list of buy-one-get-1-free. (All 1 gal. pots for $7.99.)
Indigo Spires Salvia (part of our buy-1-get-1-free offer) makes
a large, rounded bush with long spikes of flowers. (1 gal. $7.99)
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Watermelon Lemonade: 'A surefire way to make lemonade even
more refreshing is to pour it over watermelon ice cubes,' writes
Mark Bittman in the New York Times. A fun drink to make with
kids in mind - or change it up for grown-ups with a dash of vodka.
Find Mark's recipe at: T Cooking
Genesis Gardens: the charity Mobile Loaves & Fishes is current-
ly hard at work creating a village of RVs, caravans and tiny homes
for Austin's homeless. To have sustainable gardens on their 3-acre
site is a top priority, and they already have 200 fruit and nut trees,
and a huge vegetable garden. Read the complete story about this
miracle in Texas Gardener. (volunteer)
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Central Texas Gardener: What’s a Master Naturalist and how
can you do it at home? Tour a beautiful garden where a pond and
outdoor living space has replaced a lawn. Sat., 4 p.m. & Sun. at
9 a.m. KLRU
for Gardeners in the Heat of the Summer
1. Mulch & water: Your vegetable garden, landscape, flowerbeds
and trees need some help to make it through this torrid month.
Mulch, and water deeply. Potted plants need extra special care!
2. Lawn care: Your grass also needs deep, infrequent watering (5
day schedule) and keep the cutting height for your lawnmower as
high as possible. This will help shade the roots and conserve water.
3. Vegetables: This is the month to start sweet corn, okra, snap
beans, cream peas and black-eyed peas from seed. Because the first
frost (on average Nov. 27) is likely to occur within 120 days, use
transplants for your peppers and tomatoes. During the second half
of this month, plant your broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
4. Survive! While it is nice of you to nurse your plants through
this brutal month, it is perhaps even more important that you look
after yourself. Here are three gardening rules that you must follow!
a. Garden early in the morning. b. Wear effective sunscreen and
a large brimmed hat. c. Drink gallons of water!
to Help Birds in the Heat of the Summer
1. Water Set up a birdbath in your garden. Keep it topped up
every day, and clean once a week. Keep the area nearby clear, so
that predatory cats have nowhere to hide.
2. Food Because of the drought, our natural seed crop is very poor.
2. Food Because of the drought, our natural seed crop is very poor.
Buy good quality seeds in bulk from feed stores to save money.
3. Hummingbirds Mix 4 parts water to 1 part sugar and place in
a feeder, and enjoy the magic of the visiting hummers. Make sure
your feeder is red (their favorite color), and you can tie a red ribbon
nearby to help them find their way.
4. Brush piles While out in the yard, create little brush piles here
and there out of twigs and branches. This will protect the birds so
they can feed on the ground, and if a cat appears or a hawk swoops
down, they’ll have something to retreat into.
5 Native landscapes Our native birds grew up with native berries,
and they are the best form of nourishment. Keep this in mind when
shopping for plants. Sunflowers, salvias, yaupon holly, possumhaw
holly, agarita, coral berry, American beautyberry and Turks caps
are all good choices. (More details at www.travisaudubon.org)
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
Visit the nursery:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748
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