tel: 512 280-1192 thursday, november 5, 2015
Nursery Notes: 2 gal salvias and esperanzas on sale for $9.99
(reg. $14.99). Fruit trees are in stock: apples, peaches, pears,
and plums: 5 gal. trees for $34.99. We know it's early, but. . . the
living Christmas trees have just arrived! Leyland cypress, Italian
stone pine, and Aleppo pines for $39.99 (1 gal.), $59.99 (2 gal.)
and $79.99 (5 gal.). Rosemary-shaped trees: $19.99 - $59.99.
We have lots of oaks in stock: red oaks, Monterrey oaks, live oaks,
burr and chinquapin oaks. 5 gal - $35, 15 gal $125, 30 gal $250.
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Provençal Sage & Garlic Soup: This old French recipe has been
considered 'a healing soup for generations,' writes Chef Alain Braux.
'It is a good soup to have after too many libations, or when you're
feeling a cold coming on.' Edible Austin
Skip the Bird Feeder: studies show that birds prefer native species
to birdfeeders, writes Barbra A Rodriguez in a recent feature from
our neighbors at the Wildflower Center. Goldenrod, frostweed, big
muhly grass and redbuds are some of the bird-friendly plants sugg-
ested. 'If you plan your space with birds in mind,' says Sierra
DaSilva, 'you can easily offer them something for every season.'
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How to Design a Shared Backyard: everyone always wants more
garden, more space... and a creative idea to double the size of your
yard might be to buddy-up with a neighbor. 'Perhaps your neighbor
has a sandbox and a trampoline, but lacks the sunshine to grow vege-
tables.' It's time to explore these possibilities and ideas of exchange,
urges writer Virginia C. McGuire in Modern Farmer
When hackberries attack: while rains are always welcome, we
don't always welcome some of the consequences - such as the
massive hackberry that came crashing down near our cashier shed
on Friday morning (writes Chris Winslow). After lots of hard work
by our staff we cleaned it up - but the lesson we're reminded of is
to keep hackberries away from our homes or any structures. They
grow tall fast, have shallow roots, only live for an average of 20
years, and in the presence of wind and rain, they simply fall over.
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Central Texas Gardener: How to avoid mistakes that harm your
trees. And a visit a healing garden for wounded warriors. On Sat.
4 p.m., Sun. at 9 a.m. KLRU
Ten Activities for this Month
by Chris Winslow
1. Plant a tree: now is still a perfect time to get that shade or orna-
mental tree in the ground.
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2. Plant flowering perennials: it’s never too late. Even though
their tops will be burned back with the first hard freeze, their roots
will be hardy. During the cool days of winter, they will establish a
healthy root system for a show in the spring.
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3. Plant some winter blooming annuals: in central Texas, we can
grow pansies, snapdragons, violas, stock, cyclamen, flowering
cabbage and kale. Remember to work in some organic plant food
such as blood and bone meal. These slow release plant foods will
feed your plants throughout the winter and into the spring. Pansies
love blood meal.
4. Plant fall bulbs: there is still plenty of time. There is a great
selection of late winter to early spring flowering bulbs to choose
from. Look for tulips, narcissus, jonquils, muscari, daffodils, ran-
unculus, and anemones. Bulbs benefit from the slow release phos-
phorus found in bone meal. Mix a tablespoon in the root zone
when planting.
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5. Force some bulbs indoors: this is a fun activity for Thanks-
giving and Christmas time. The easiest are paperwhite narcissus.
Add some potting mix to a clay or plastic 6” bulb pan (fill about
½ way). Place 3 to 5 bulbs on top of the soil and add some decor-
ative gravel to keep them upright and firm. All you need to do
now is water the bulbs in and place the pot in a sunny location.
It takes around 3 weeks for the bulbs to force out their foliage
and open their flowers. Easy and decorative.
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6. Winterize your lawn with a slow release organic lawn food.
This will give nutrition and strength to your lawn for the coming
cold months.
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7. Cutback your perennials after the first frost, and mulch your
beds with compost and mulch mixed together. This combination
will feed the roots while conserving water and warming the bed.
(Average day for first fall frost: November 28)
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8. Onions, scallions, garlic: November is onion, scallion, and
garlic month. To be successful with these vegetable gems, don’t
wait until the days get long again. Success requires growing in
the short days of winter. You too can grow an onion 6” across!
Timing is most important.
9. Keep on the lookout for a world of fall bedding (annual)
plants. As temperatures cool, we can begin to plant dianthus,
snapdragons (above) and petunias.
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10. Watch for black spot and mildew on roses. With our cooler
weather, these pesky rose diseases will begin to show up. An or-
ganic spray of Neem oil or wettable sulfur should help in keeping
it at bay.
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
