Today: The Bulb Mart

That's right.  Today is the first of a three-day extravaganza, the Garden Club of Houston's 68th Annual Bulb and Plant Mart.  I go every year, in spite of myself.  I made myself a list.  Not a list of bulbs I need to buy, but bulbs I absolutely cannot come home with.

I can't buy any amaryllis.  I think I have approximately 150 plants, not counting little daughter bulbs that are ready to be divided.  I have plants that are descended from my great-grandmother's garden.  In my family, you take amaryllis with you whenever you move.  So I don't need any more.  None.  Not even Papillo, a single lime-green one with mahogany veining.  Not Wonderland, a blush-pink with white.  Or even Ice Queen, a double-white with a green eye.  No, I don't need any more amaryllis.

I can't buy any Louisiana irises.  The ones I have were beautiful this year (I attribute it to the cold winter).  They are rowdy though:  mine insist they would rather escape the flowerbed and grow in the lawn.  And every single plant in my back yard seems to have sword-shaped leaves.  So, no Louisiana irises.  Not Andy Dandy, which has orange-red selfs (selves?) with yellow signals.  Not Cherry Twist, a cerise-red with petals that have a lemon reverse.  Not even Eastman Winds, a fuchsia-pink with red veining and a yellow reverse.  Even though I don't have anything at all like those colors.  No, I don't need any more Louisiana irises.

I can't buy any leucojum, or summer snowflake.  Even though these are some of the easiest little bulbs to grow here.  They are all over the place, because I've planted them and forgotten where.  They faithfully come up each year, but sadly, there's no room for them.  So no leucojum this year!

I'd love a crinum 'Queen Emma.' I don't have that one and the Queen has lovely burgundy foliage.  But I don't need any more crinum and I don't think they are offering that one anyway.  So no crinum either!

I don't need a single thing this year!  But I must go now.  Have to transfer funds to my checking account before the Mart opens at 9:30 am!  I'll let you know what I bring home -- hope I have enough money!

Wordless Wednesday

What's In The Fall Garden?

We've been enjoying fall weather that's so beautiful, so perfect, it's hard to even concentrate in the garden.  But Sunday, I got our little fall vegetable patch in order.  You remember those tomatoes I planted in August under their little cabanas?  Well, it was extra-hot until the very last few days of September.  So the tomatoes are tall and a bit on the leggy side.  But I do have flowers on them, so I am holding onto a happy thought:  fresh tomatoes for Thanksgiving!

Skinny devils, aren't they?

I planted two kinds of lettuce from seed: a Valentine mix of red and green, and another mix of mostly romaines.  I planted yellow bulbing onions and a mix of red and green salad scallions.  Greens do well here in the fall, so we picked out two cabbages and two kales, plus a square of "Pot of Gold" chard. 

Pot of Gold Chard, photo: Renee's Garden

Even though I never do well with carrots (because I can't/won't thin them properly), we did plant a cute little round carrot called "Round Romeo."  I had been saving space for broccoli and cauliflower, but we didn't find them!  My daughter picked out snapdragons and calendulas instead.  We squeezed them in amongst the vegetables.

Jack & Jill Sweet Peas, photo: Renee's Garden

Finally, we planted "Knee-High Jack and Jill" sweetpeas and "Whirlybird Rainbow Mix" nasturtiums on the low vegetable cages.  I like vegetable-gardening in the fall.  It just feels so much better to be outside now.  All around town, you can hear people breathing a sigh of relief.  We are all now sure we've made it through the worst of summer!

Dwarf Barbados Cherry

This one's planted in a pot, really!

While I was out of town, my Dwarf Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra 'Nana') popped into flower.  This little trouper deserves extra credit, because it isn't even truly planted.  I knew I liked this Texas native shrub, but I never found a place for it in my garden.  So it sat in a white plastic pot so long that it rooted through the bottom of the pot and made itself at home.  Even the pot is now covered with creeping fig.

Barbados Cherry "tree" by the light post.

Barbados Cherry is evergreen, usually, in zone 9A and often as far north as Austin.  It doesn't get very tall -- maybe 5 feet tall -- and is easy to use in bonsai.  My daughter and I had a dollhouse-scale garden in the backyard, and Barbados Cherry makes a lovely little "tree."  It is easily pruned to any size whatsoever.  The dwarf variety is a little more cold-hardy than the regular-size shrub.  You sometimes see them available, too.  The larger Barbados Cherry is not native to the US, and gets between 10 and 12 feet tall.

Delicate pink flowers.

Barbados Cherry seems to grow well in sun or partial shade and isn't picky about soil conditions (obviously!).  It is very tolerant of drought, once established, and blooms periodically throughout the warmer months.  The blooms mature into tiny, tart "cherries," which are the source for a form of Vitamin C called acerola.  Mockingbirds love them too!

Cherries soon!

Garden & Gun?

This magazine surprised me so much I had to steal it from the dentist's office so I could get a better look at it and think about what this might mean.  It's a slick magazine, printed on high-quality paper with some high-quality insides too.  But Garden & Gun?  The "soul of the south?"

From the August/September issue: Teddy Roosevelt's Shotgun.  Photo: James D. Julia Auctioneers

I'm trying to figure out just who the target audience is here.  The cover of the October/November issue features a 12-gauge Watson Brothers shotgun that is truly beautiful simply as an object.  Inside is an interesting article about rescuing turtles after the BP oil disaster.  There's a feature on artist Jack Spencer, who's not exactly someone your old southern granny would hang in her parlor.  There's a humorous bit from Roy Blount, Jr. and a pretty swanky look at what all the best hunters are wearing this fall.

The March/April 2008 Cover

As for gardening, there's a short feature on a little "weekend place," situated on an old 100-acre horse farm.  There was a picture of a flower bed, at least.  And there was an ad for handmade ceramics, decorated with botanical motifs.  I quite liked the ceramics.

Ceramic vases by Laura Zindel Design

It's an intriguing magazine, in an odd way.  It's like one of those pizzas with the unusual gourmet ingredients that you never thought you'd eat together.  I'm not sure I like pizza that way, and I'm not sure I like the magazine, but it was different enough to make me take notice, which is something.  And they said publishing was dying!

A Visit To The Norfolk Botanical Garden

Last week, I was lucky enough to visit the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, VA.  It rained the entire day and I was still so entranced with the gardens.  Perhaps the trees were my favorite part -- the Botanical Garden is home to 23 Virginia State Champion Trees, and even trees that weren't champions were still lovely.  I saw an old crabapple that must be magnificent in the spring.  The Flowering Arboretum alone spreads over 17 acres and is home to 336 different flowering trees.  The rain seemed to make the trunks of the crapemyrtles even more striking:  below is the trunk of 'Natchez' crapemyrtle, shining in the rain.

Crapemyrtle 'Natchez'

I loved the Japanese Garden too.  Dedicated in 1962, this garden was designed in the traditional hill-and-pond style.  The cloud-pruned hollies were striking and I loved the bonsai of the Elephant Bush (or portulacaria.)  Since I couldn't be there at dusk or dawn, perhaps a rainy, overcast day was perfect.  It's a very muted, peaceful place.

Portulacaria Bonsai

Just outside the Japanese Garden

Inside the Japanese Garden

The tropical display house was steamy and quiet -- it reminded me of the conservatory in an old movie.  It's where I saw the beautiful 3-foot-long specimen of Southern Maidenhair Fern.  No more need be said on that subject!  But I was also quite taken with the zebrina and various begonias.

Inside the Tropical House

I love to visit botanical gardens, especially when I'm unaccompanied by minor children.  Norfolk Botanical Gardens was a special treat and I only wish I had been able to spend more time there.

Foliage Friday: Selaginella

Selaginella

 Selaginella belongs to a large family of plants known collectively as spikemoss.  They are rather fern-like in appearance but aren't really true ferns.  Most of them are tropical or subtropical, but some, like the Resurrection Plants, are native to deserts.  Resurrection Plants are dry and brown until it rains.  Then they quickly unfurl and are a beautiful bright green.

Some selaginella have dark leaves with a red reverse.

Selaginella, or Club Moss, can't really tolerate winter temperatures and even here, should probably be kept in a container.  It's a perfect terrarium plant and is easily divided if you're inclined to share.  Keep it in partial to mostly shade in a humid environment and you can enjoy Selaginella during the warm weather outdoors.  Then bring it inside for a winter break.  It might be helpful to place the container on a tray of pebbles that you water, to increase the humidity.

Perfect for fairy gardens or Wardian cases.

I can hardly believe I typed that.  We usually don't try to increase the humidity around here!