Garden Notes

It might seem unusual that my quest to better understand the concept of creating a sense of place for the Texas Panhandle would lead me to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Texas. Created during the Great Depression, expansion and development of the area fulfilled its “dream of an outdoor library of plants.” But it wasn't their Texas Native Forest Boardwalk, the Water Conservation Garden, Trinity Woodlands Area, Rock Springs, the Fuller, Fragrance, Cactus or Trial Gardens, but their Japanese Garden that led me to see how a garden style can so intimately be entwined...
Bulb catalogs have been arriving in my mailbox since the weather turned hot. I normally just stack them on a shelf until after Labor Day to work out my order. It seemed each year it would be later and later into the fall before I ordered, and the varieties I'd want were no longer available. I placed by bulb order nearly 3 weeks ago; everything I wanted was in stock. Well, not really. I wanted quite a few more than what I ordered, its always such a tough decision to pare it down to what garden space is available. This spring, after eliminating larkspur from my garden, I discovered I've opened...
They Do It in Provence Across the Atlantic Ocean areas throughout the Mediterranean region of southern France and northern Italy, gardeners are preparing vegetable beds and buying fresh seed in anticipation of planting their fall and winter vegetable gardens. From the 45 parallel N. latitude on down, for centuries, European gardeners have enjoyed cool season vegetables throughout the fall and winter months. U. S. gardeners, too, can enjoy their own home-grown cool season vegetables direct from their gardens during the fall and winter months, without the aid of a greenhouse. In southern...
It would be hard to miss the entrance to the Denver Botanic Gardens on York Street in the heart of Denver. Recently completed as part of Phase 2 in their $86 million Master Development Plan and Flourish Capital Campaign, the contemporary design of the parking lot and Bonfils-Stanton Visitor Center, along with the Welcome Garden, stands out among the older Victorian homes in this central neighborhood. Mark (my husband) and I arrived shortly after opening, hoping to take in the majority of the garden while it was still cool. Everything about Denver Botanic Gardens was a pleasure, much as one...
My whole interest in Monet's garden was piqued one day last July as I listened to an On Point program on my iPhone. Tom Ashbrooke, the host, interviewed Derek Fell, noted gardener and garden writer about a book he'd written in 2007, The Magic of Monet's Garden, His Planting, Plans and Color Harmonies. One of the aims of the program was to talk about the, then, special exhibit at the New York Botanical Gardens, Monet's Garden. The exhibit featured a re-creation of the plantings of the Grand Alleé, the Japanese bridge and pond, and a facade of Monet's pink home, two of Monet's paintings not...
One of the most beautiful and most visited gardens in the world is Claude Monet's garden at Giverny, fifty miles northwest of Paris, in Normandy, France. Forty years in the making and refining of Clos Normand, the Grand Alleé and the renowned water lily gardens at his Giverny home, Monet was known as much for his skill and artistry in gardening as in painting. Many of the color harmonies, color effects and design techniques Monet implemented were new to his day and still repeated in garden designs today. Brief History Passing by Giverny by train one day, Monet spotted an empty pink house in...
After the spring cleanup and all thoughts of frosts have passed (hopefully), gardeners perennially turn to annuals. Whether for a bed devoted to season long, non-stop color or to fill in vacancies until perennials spread and mature, annual flowers provide a spectacular service. There are annuals in just about every plant family and most genera, from all continents but the Antarctic, all the way up and down the alphabet from A to Z. Although many of the flowers favored by gardeners are exotic, that is, native to areas across the oceans, there are several New World perennials we have grown to...
A few Garden Notes for 2013 merit brief updates as more information became available. I'll start with the last post and work my way back. Dealing with Hail, posted May 30, 2013 One of the consequences of hail is the disruption of flower and subsequently, seed production. Several reseeding annuals and perennials were damaged, some beyond recovery for this year, preventing seed set and maturation. A few spring blooming plants that come to mind that I've come to depend on setting seed for next year's garden are California poppies, Oriental poppies, and larkspur in the annual category. If you've...
If you've gardened in the Texas Panhandle very long, you'll be faced with dealing with the aftermath of hail sooner or later. Some years, any location could get hailed on numerous times, at any time of the year; other years, not at all. Even dry, drought years will bring the rare thunderstorm with hail when it seems more hail than rain fell, leaving us thinking we would just as soon have passed up the opportunity for precipitation if given the choice. You will also come to know hail a little better as your garden through the years. All hail is not alike. Good hail (if one has to have hail)...
On May 21, at 8:00 a.m. GMT, the greatest and grandest flower show will open to the public, the Royal Horticultural Society's¹ Chelsea Flower Show, lovingly referred to as Chelsea. RHS Chelsea is an international gathering of plant people and a showcase for plants, inspiring people everywhere to garden better. It is one of the hottest tickets to obtain in the horticultural world. This year, Chelsea includes 15 outdoor show gardens, with 8 artisan and 11 fresh gardens with over a few hundred exhibits in the Great Pavilion. This year marks the centennial, or centenary, of the Great Spring...
Gardening with plants both locally native those native to the American Southwest is not just easy and fun, but showcases their beauty, resilience and adaptability to our home gardens. Soil and weather combine to make a trying environment for local gardening using traditional teachings and heat intolerant plants from northern regions much kinder to flowers and foliage. There are many reasons to garden using native plants. Besides their robust and floriferous response, providing habitats for local fauna, including the soil micro and macro organisms and insects, the use of natives in the...
Rounding Out Our Native Plant Gardens Yesterday, I posted information on my top local native wildflowers for the garden. Today, We'll top it off with shrubs, grasses and cacti to lend variety in shape, width and texture. Naturally, if you were planting and installing a garden, the trees and shrubs would go in first, before the herbaceous perennials and grasses. I'm only listing a few of the many local native and southwest native plants available. And don't forget several accent rocks. Accent rocks provide more than a visual element, but a vital part of the plant/garden community. Rocks and...
To celebrate our local botanic heritage, consider converting a bit of your landscape into a native plant garden. Not only will it look great from April through October with near continuous bloom, native plant gardens are eco-friendly. To sustain the robust bloom power, simply irrigating an inch of moisture a month during the growing season, if that amount isn't received normally, is all these plants require to perform superbly. Most people think the Texas Panhandle is a wasteland when it comes to wildflowers, or heaven forbid, plants one would not invite and nurture in one's garden. I...
While many of us will stop to smell the roses, how many of us will take the time and go to see the wildflowers? Sure, a trip to Brenham, TX along the bluebonnet trail is always a high, but what about seeking out our own Texas Panhandle native wildflowers? I hope you haven't become discouraged in wildflower viewing since 2011 because of the great heat and drought. I'll have to admit, the wildflower display was meager throughout 2011, but last year's early warmth and winter rains brought them back. This year, wildflowers have been blooming in fits and starts due to the month long, prolonged...
Nearly a month ago I posted a GardenNotes about neonicotinoids and pollinators, particularly bees. In the post was information about an initiative to ban neonicotinoids in Europe where the ban failed to garner a majority of votes in March of this year. Another vote was taken this Monday by the member states of the European Commission. Fifteen countries voted in favor of the ban, but failing to reach the required majority, the EU Commission stepped in, deciding to enforce the ban, expected to be implemented in December. Those voting in favor of the ban are Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia...
Today, April 22, is Earth Day. April 22 had been designated Earth Day on April 22, 1970, thought to be the beginning of the modern environmental movement. It was eight years since the publishing of Silent Spring, the landmark book by Rachel Carson in 1962, which brought national and international awareness to the disruption of ecosystems by pesticide and herbicide use. Before that time, the interconnectivity of life was rarely considered, and little understood. On December 2, 1970, President Nixon signed an executive order creating the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, charged with...
We'll soon be heading to the nurseries and home improvement centers in search of plants to fill the voids in new and existing beds. Sometimes, the experience can be daunting. Especially when encountering table after table, row upon row of fresh faced plants. Enticing as it is, not every cheery, blooming plant is suitable for one's garden. One feature that separates successful gardens from the spring fling wonders that barely make it into our hot dry summers is the suitability, or appropriateness, of the plants to the region. Each spring I find myself counting down the days in anticipation of...
USDA Celebrated 150th Anniversary The history of President Abraham Lincoln's administration has been in fashion lately. One of his achievements that affects gardeners was the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1862. Last year marked it's 150th anniversary. President Lincoln's purpose in establishing the USDA was for the protection of American ranchers and farmers, calling the USDA, the “People's Department”. Additionally, The Morrill Land Grant College Act and The Homestead Act were both passed in 1862. At a time when our nation was still mainly agrarian,...
Nearly every week, and sometimes daily, articles appear in the Environmental section of major newspapers about colony collapse disorder (CCD) and other pollinator and bird maladies. This year is no exception, continuing where it ended last year, with reports of massive bee disappearances and death, in some cases up to 40-50% of the bee hives used in agriculture pollination and production. Most studies about pollinator decline focus on the status and decline of bees. Bees are responsible for the majority of pollination, servicing nearly 70% of flowering plants, many of them supplying our...
April 2, 2013 Spring is the time of year many gardeners amend their soils to improve organic content and soil structure. Although composted animal manures and composted plant material is considered to be the best soil amendment for general improvement of soil tilth, the use of a group of synthetic chemicals referred to as persistent herbicides gives rise to caution when procuring organic amendments. In particular, adding herbicide-exposed composted manure and other products to vegetable and ornamental beds can be devastating. Farmers and home gardeners across the United States have reported...
March 25, 2013 In advance of the article in this Sunday's Amarillo Globe-News reporting on the forecast of a continued drought, the Prairie Water Film Festival was held this weekend at the Don Harrington Discovery Center, sponsored by the Amarillo League of Women Voters. And to further punctuate the ravages of climate, the festival ended as the wind speed outside gusted to 50 miles an hour or more. It is not through mystic powers of foretelling events, but by simple awareness of the global and local conditions involving water supplies and needs that compelled this group of concerned citizens...
We are already an hour into Spring, arrived at just after sunrise at 8:02 am this Wednesday, March 20, 2013. After realizing we've reached the long awaited vernal equinox, I ran outside, braving the chilly air and cut a small bouquet of hyacinth, a violet cultivar of the Dutch hyacinth, Hyacinthus orientalis. Once the hyacinths bloom, I feel the gloom of winter has been dispelled. Only into this second paragraph, the hyacinth's sweet fragrance has enveloped the room. Earlier in the week I brought a bouquet of daffodils, who's stems were broken by the weight of a snow drift, into the house...
/*-->*/ January 10, 2013, Updated March 5, 2013. Horticultural News of 2012 Horticultural news rarely makes our local papers. One nearly has to stumble across these humusy morsels of information much as one would in search of mushrooms in a woods, tripping over logs, slogging through swampy parts and sometimes going home empty handed. As my Dad told me long ago, you have to look where they are (supposed to be). The American Gardener Magazine has been my starting point for information for over a decade. One theme consistent within their section 'Horticultural News and Research Important to...
/*-->*/ January 2, 2013 Fitting In With Our Climate We are into another year and as in every year, we never quite know what we'll face. Plenty of sun and wind for sure, perhaps timely and average rainfall amounts. Possibly snow, hail, sudden temperature shifts, hopefully not anything worse. These are normal weather occurrences gardeners deal with nearly each and every year. If you haven't been as successful as you'd like when tackling the average conditions, your garden probably suffered under the more extreme heat and drought we've been under. I can't foretell the future, but most...
January 1, 2013 The Gardening Year 2012 Once again, rain was the topic that most dominated the gardening thought and conversation, and heat, coming in second place. Each year brings challenges, some new along with the old. With nearly twice the rainfall as in 2011, the Texas Panhandle was still far below our average. Luckily, sufficient, inexpensive supplementation of water is still available to help gardens survive during dry spells in Amarillo. Because of this, it was only at the end of the year, that I felt the impact of the drought crisis that affected the United States from the...

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