Protective Covering Not Enough I have a lot of Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia Spicigera) scattered around the front of my house. Too much, in fact that I couldn’t cover it all in anticipation of February’s storm. So, I chose to protect one of the largest patches near my front door. It was nearly four feet tall and six feet wide. I covered it with a tarp and weighted the corners down with large rocks. That turned out to be futile. When I uncovered it, the damage was evident. (Figure… Read More →

Learning to Garden In Texas In 2013, I moved to Round Rock. Texas, growing Zone 8B. I quickly learned that growing plants as a Master Gardener in Virginia required a whole new learning curve in Texas. I decided to plant Texas native and adaptive perennial plants along with a few annuals to keep the beds in my front and back yard in bloom from at least Spring through Fall each year.  Bulbs, perennial ground covers, and annual seeds round out the planting. How Did Lantana Weather the Storm?… Read More →

Impulse Buy Becomes One Tough Plant I have to admit it, I bought my Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica) off a discount shelf at a Houston big box store because I loved the shape of the leaves and it looked so healthy! It was the end of the summer season and they were clearing out their plants in favor of space for the upcoming Christmas trees – and my eyes always wonder toward any plant I’ve not seen before. The Aralia caught my eye, as the leaves were deep… Read More →

Micro-climate, Macro-effect The Snowmageddon of February 2021 totally wiped out 26 of my agaves. But a tender perennial, variegated ginger, made a surprising comeback. My Variegated Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) was a real specimen plant, anchoring one end of my front porch. It was ideally situated: sheltered by the house on one side and the porch on the other, next to an intake to a French drain. It got six hours or less of sun a day. Over the eight years it had been in place, it had grown… Read More →

The Right Plant for the Right Place Driving around the Austin area you see a lot of trees suffering winter storm damage from the February 2021 freeze. And while arborists have been busy cutting down trees, I have a great success story to share. In September of 2020, a Wax Myrtle across from my front door died inexplicably. I didn’t want such a prominent spot to be empty for long, so set to selecting a replacement. I wanted something showy, since it sits directly across from the front… Read More →