The Changing Prairie

May 26, 2012, 7:18 am

≫ Next: 2012 Water-Wise Landscape Tour

News Flash! Shirley and Neal of Rock-Oak-Deer in San Antonio were in town visiting relatives last weekend and asked if they could stop by for a tour of my prairie. Click here for their account of the visit. We now return to our irregularly scheduled blog post...

One of the best things about my prairie garden is that it is always changing. From season to season, month to month, week to week, and even day to day, there is always something new to see and discover. One of the most obvious changes is the change in colors as the native plants thrive and decline and their flowers open and fade.

At the end of March, the yellow flowers of Four Nerve Daisy, Tetraneuris scaposa, filled the prairie.

A couple of weeks later in mid-April, the Four Nerve Daisies continued to bloom and the purple flowers of Mealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, and the pale pink flowers of Husker Red Penstemon, Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red', began to join in the display.

Now, at the end of May, the Four Nerve Daisies are taking a break from blooming and the Echinacia flowers are quickly fading. Meanwhile, the reds of Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius, Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora, and Indian Blanket, Gaillardia pulchella, take over.

Here is a closer view of the Rock Penstemon that is growing near a Pale-Leaf Yucca, Yucca pallida. In front of the yucca are the dried flowers of Four Nerve Daisy and, in the right corner, a few stems of Liatris that will fill the prairie with purple spikes of flowers in the fall.

Near the sidewalk, Indian Blanket and Horsemint, Monarda citriodora?, are in full bloom. Horsemint is a native annual beebalm.

The winter and spring rains that "ended" our drought came to an end in April. Plants are beginning to show signs of stress due the dry soil and rising temperatures. The leaves of many plants are a noticeably duller green than they were a few weeks ago and some are beginning to wilt in the afternoon sun. According to yesterday's weather broadcast, we are over three inches below our normal rainfall for May, however we are still three inches above normal for the year, due to the rain that fell earlier in the year.

The next changes for my prairie will be a transition into a summer dormancy so the plants can survive the hot, dry weather. This is not the most attractive time for my prairie. If ever my prairie looks like a bunch of weeds, it is during the heat of the summer.

Maybe this weekend I will tidy up the prairie by deadheading spent flowers and removing the tall growth of the Mealycup Sage and other spring bloomers. It will not be long before I turn on the sprinklers for the first time since last September. (That's over 8 months with no supplemental watering other than hand watering of new transplants and veggies!) The goal is to provide the plants with just enough water to keep them on the green side of dormancy until the first rains of fall bring life and color to the prairie once again.

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2012 Water-Wise Landscape Tour

June 1, 2012, 4:58 am

≫ Next: Playing with Landscape Lighting

≪ Previous: The Changing Prairie

The 2012 Water-Wise Landscape Tour is Saturday, June 2 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This is an opportunity to see and gather ideas from 19 private gardens and 7 public demonstration gardens throughout the Dallas area that are landscaped to use less water than typical Dallas landscapes. There are also micro talks at various sites. Links to photos, videos and plant lists for each are available at the main link above.

The tour is free and self guided. Click here for a copy of the tour map.

And, no, the Plano Prairie Garden is not on the tour. I applied three years ago when I thought I was almost finished with my garden. The judges said my garden was not ready and turned me down. Since then, I have started more projects and made the garden less tour ready than I thought it was three years ago. Maybe one day I will try again. I just want to show my neighbors that I am not nuts for not having a lawn. Or at least show them that I am not the only nut out there that thinks there are alternatives to lawns.

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Playing with Landscape Lighting

June 11, 2012, 8:24 pm

≫ Next: National Pollinator Week 2012

≪ Previous: 2012 Water-Wise Landscape Tour

I have low voltage landscape lighting that illuminates the front of the house at night. I angled the lights to graze across the bricks and I am happy with the look. I hope it deters some of the mischief that often occurs at night. Unfortunately, some mischief still goes on.

My spineless prickly pear cactus is becoming a dominant architectural element in my front prairie, so I thought it might look nice if I illuminated it at night with a couple of additional lights. Here is the result.

It is not quite what I had in mind. All of the other plants around the cactus and the slope of the yard make placement of the lights difficult. It is also necessary to angle the lights so they do not blind anyone walking out of the house and down my sidewalk.

I will play with the lights a little more and see what I can come up with. I may decide to scrap the idea for now and try again later when the cactus gets larger.

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National Pollinator Week 2012

June 20, 2012, 9:06 pm

≫ Next: Perpetual Prairie Projects

≪ Previous: Playing with Landscape Lighting

I just found out that June 18-24 is National Pollinator Week. Pollinator Week was initiated by the Pollinator Partnership. According to their website, five years ago, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved and designated the last week in June as National Pollinator Week. Since then, it has grown into an international celebration of the important services that pollinators perform in the environment.

Most everyone recognizes that bees are pollinators. Not everyone realizes that butterflies, birds, wasps, flies, beetles and even bats are also pollinators too. Really, any critter that transfers pollen is a pollinator.

Back in the days when I had a lawn and fewer native plants, I was a pollinator out of necessity. I did not have many bees that came to my garden and my squash flowers were not getting pollinated. Since I wanted squash, I had to go out every morning and transfer the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers. I felt silly in that bee costume.

I finally wised up and planted more native flowering plants and now I don't have to do the pollination myself any longer. I have many different types of bees eager to do the job for me.

The bees usually move around too quickly for me to photograph. I got lucky with this native bee collecting pollen on the flowers of Clammyweed, Polanisia dodecandra, a couple of days ago. It was interesting watching it hover above the flowers and collect pollen from the stamens that extend above the flowers.

The Pollinator Partnership website is full of interesting and useful information about pollinators that I am still exploring. They even have pollinator plant guides that you can download for your specific ecoregion in the U.S. I was happy to see that my garden includes many of the plants recommended for my region, which happens to be called Prairie Parkland (subtropical) Province.

In 2010, I had a post called Bees on the Prairie. I posted several photos of bees and wasps in my garden and a list of some of the favorite bee plants in my garden. A companion post, Butterflies on the Prairie, has several butterfly photos. And if you do not want butterflies to invade your garden, my post, Prairie Invasion, includes a list of plants to avoid. If you want butterflies in your garden, then it would be a good list of plants that you would want to include in your garden.

In closing, I came across this video this week. It is a musical remix of the wisdom of Mr. Rogers from PBS. I know I watched the show as a kid and I suspect he contributed, in some part, to my curious nature. I pretty sure he is the reason I had fish aquariums for many years. Now, the ideas that grow in the garden of my mind also grow in my prairie gardens.

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Perpetual Prairie Projects

June 24, 2012, 5:34 am

≫ Next: A String of Pearls

≪ Previous: National Pollinator Week 2012

I have not had many posts lately because I have been busy trying to complete several projects before summer really heats up. Triple digit temperatures are expected this weekend, so my time may be up.

It is not easy to see my unfinished projects in pictures like this. (And I still have not run the sprinklers since last September.) It is more obvious when you zoom out and look at the edges of my prairie.

Last October, I removed the last strip of grass in the former front yard. I added some edging along the property line to keep the neighbor's grass out. The edging is actually two inches inside the property line. That means I have a two inch wide lawn that I trim along the edging. The plan is to create a decomposed granite pathway that will connect the public sidewalk with my existing decomposed granite pathway that runs across the front of the prairie. This area of decomposed granite will also serve as a buffer zone between my prairie plants and the neighbor's use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

This part of the project grew a little bit because I needed to relay the drainage line and relocate a few sprinkler heads. The drainage work is now complete. I have not added decomposed granite yet because I am making a similar pathway on the opposite side of the prairie and want to match the color of the decomposed granite.

I have a rain garden by the sidewalk on the opposite side of the prairie. This is a low spot on the prairie where I divert rain water from two gutter downspouts. The rain garden was nondescript, so I began adding large rocks around the edge a couple of weeks ago. The rocks help define the area and add a little structure. A couple of neighbors have already commented on how much they like the rocks. I am not sure if they really like the rocks or if they like that I removed my wildlife habitat signs so I could place the rocks.

This is the side yard of the vacant house next door and the rickety fence encloses my backyard. This house has been vacant for almost two years and was finally taken over by a bank a couple of months ago. I will be advertising for a prairie neighbor when the house goes on the market. My dream is to get a good neighbor that will maintain the house, remove all of the invasive plants in the yard, and build a native garden.

Now that the uncooperative woman that lived there is out of the picture, I am taking the opportunity to replace my fence. I usually like to perform any work that I am capable of doing myself, but this time I am going to pay a professional to install the fence. They will do in a week what would take months (years?) to do myself. The elevation of my property is over two feet higher than my neighbor's so in preparation for the fence work, I removed the slope and leveled the neighbor's property. This will improve drainage on the neighbor's property and allow my fence posts to be in more solid ground. The fence installers will include a wood retaining wall at the bottom of the fence to support the soil on my side of the fence. In this photo, I am about 1/3 of the way completed. I forgot to take a before picture.

It took a couple of weekends of hard labor to remove the dirt by hand. I piled up the excavated dirt near the alley and put "Free Dirt" posts on Craig's List. It was amazing how quickly the dirt disappeared. People will take almost anything if it is free.

I have some more work to do in the backyard before the fence is installed. Several plants are growing against the fence and they will need to be trimmed away from the fence to give the installers space to work.

There are also several small plants that will need protection from the workers. I have wire tomato cages and plant supports that should do the job. They can step on the horsemint if they need to. It should be finished blooming soon. I hope the workers are not afraid of bees because they love horsemint.

Speaking of tomato cages, I tried making tomato supports from rebar a couple of years ago. That idea did not work out well so I moved the structures to the center of the backyard prairie.

Since I call my garden a prairie, I refer to the three rebar structures as tipis (teepees). I used 15 pieces of 10 foot rebar to make three different sizes of tipis. I think I cut off about 12 inches for the medium tipi and 24 inches for the smaller tipi. The rebar was hammered into the soil and the top was wrapped with the wire that is used with rebar for concrete reinforcement. This project is not quite finished either because I am still working on the most aesthetic spacing of each leg of the tipi. I like the spacing of the pictured tipi. The other two are spaced a little too far apart.

More on tomato cages. I built these large cages from cattle panel. I cut sections of hog panel and assembled the sections using hog rings, which are used with chain link fencing. The hog ring construction allows the cages to be folded flat when they are no longer needed. I added another section to the top of the cage on the right and it is now over six feet tall. It looks like I need to add another section to the other cage.

One drawback of my design is that the plants slide down inside of the cage when they are weighed down with fruit. I added a couple of sections of rebar to support the vines and keep the fruit off the ground. Next year, I will try weaving a few vines in and out of the cage for support.

That is just the short list of projects that I worked on over the last few of months. There are several others, but I am tired just thinking about these. I also used up my 1GB of free photo storage space on my Google account with this post. I will have to figure out how to use Flikr for photo posting now. Well, that is another project for my list.

So many projects. So few weekends.

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A String of Pearls

July 18, 2012, 8:39 pm

≫ Next: West Nile Virus Hysteria

≪ Previous: Perpetual Prairie Projects

I uncovered a broken string of pearls while digging in the garden. Did June Cleaver lose them during a visit to Plano in the '50s?

No, these are the fleshy roots of Heartleaf Skullcap, Scutellaria ovata.

Heartleaf Skullcap is a Texas perennial (and also native to the eastern half of the U.S. according to USDA Plants Database) with heart shaped leaves. The leaves are a little fuzzy which gives them a slightly silver or blue-green appearance. In late spring and early summer, Heartleaf Skullcap is covered in purple flowers.

Most recommend growing Heartleaf Skullcap in part shade to full shade, but I have had seedlings sprout and grow in full sun with no problems. I assume the fleshy roots are good for water conservation as the plant does not seem to require any additional watering in my garden. Heartleaf Skullcap does spread by seed and roots. It is fairly easy to remove unwanted plants if they spread where they are not wanted.

The plants grow a couple of feet high and are not particularly attractive by mid-July. I have read that the plants go dormant in the summer and die to the ground. I have not noticed this with my plants because I normally cut the stems back to tidy the plants and remove the seeds before they fall to the ground.

And now, Glenn Miller's A String of Pearls from 1942.

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West Nile Virus Hysteria

August 13, 2012, 9:39 pm

≫ Next: Plano Environmental Education Center

≪ Previous: A String of Pearls

West Nile hysteria is running rampant in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It is the top news story these days. Sadly, a few deaths have been attributed to the virus.

The response from most municipalities is to spray chemical pesticides to kill the adult mosquitoes. Dallas may even begin aerial spraying later this week. I am only a couple of miles north of the Dallas border, so there is a possibility that southerly winds could blow the poison into my yard.

Plano has sprayed several of the neighborhoods around mine in the last few weeks and my neighborhood is scheduled for spraying tomorrow night. According to the Health Department website, I can call to opt out. I don't know exactly what that means, but I plan to do call first thing in the morning.

According to people that are supposed to be experts in this area, the widespread spraying of poison is safe. Just be sure you stay inside, bring your pets inside and cover your fish ponds when the spraying takes place. Interestingly, mosquitoes usually are not flying around late at night when the poison is being sprayed.

Personally, I would rather take my chances with West Nile than have my neighborhood sprayed. I do not want my property coated with poison. I have organic vegetables growing outside that I do not want covered in poison. I have bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects in my yard that I do not want to be harmed by the spray. I usually have a number of dragonflies in my garden. Dragonflies eat mosquitoes, but what kind of damage will the poison do to them?

The best way to solve the mosquito problem is to get rid of standing water. I have been more diligent about completely emptying my bird baths each day because I have noticed mosquito larva in the water when I just top off the evaporated water.

Probably the biggest mosquito breeding grounds in my neighborhood are stagnant swimming pools. I live in an older neighborhood that is in transition and several houses are vacant or have residents that do not take care of their pools. One look at aerial images on Google Maps and you can easily see several dark, swampy pools in backyards. One of these swampy pools is next door to me. The house been vacant for two years and neglected for several more. I report the pool to the Health Department every spring. The city drained the pool last year. Spring rains filled the pool this year and it was drained again a couple of weeks ago.

Enough of my ranting. Here is a link to a study indicating that spraying for West Nile may cause more harm than good. Below is a short piece by local organic expert and radio personality, Howard Garrett.

Mosquito Spraying & West Nile Virus

By Howard Garrett

West Nile Virus is the most overblown health threat since the “killer bees.” Yes, people have gotten sick and a few have even died from WNV, but people need to try to put things into perspective. Unfortunately, a few people have died this year from WNV, but thousands of people have died from asthma and other respiratory diseases.

The city of Fort Worth, TX has impressed me. They have done the right thing. They have realized that spraying does more harm than good and has spent their effort educating homeowners. The city of Dallas and other metropolitan areas across the country have been foolish. These cities have listened to the chemical pushers under the misconception that spraying toxic chemicals is helpful in controlling the mosquitoes.

Spraying toxic chemical pesticides, known generically as synthetic pyrethroids, has been the primary recommendation. Besides being toxic, this procedure doesn’t work. An adult mosquito spray program conducted late at night, as is usually done, misses the primary activity time of the pests. It also sprays or fogs down streets primarily affecting front yards of residential property. Most mosquito problems are in back yards. When these airborne toxins reach water features, ponds and creeks, a common result is the death of fish including goldfish and koi.

The risk of getting West Nile virus is remote. A very small percentage of mosquitoes have the virus, an even smaller percentage of people exposed to the virus develop symptoms and a minute percentage of those people even get sick. Deaths? Well, there are tremendously larger numbers of people who die from asthma and other respiratory diseases. Even the experts who push the toxic spraying admit that the pyrethrum and pyrethroid products adversely effect those with allergies and can actually cause those problems.

Spraying toxic chemicals for the control of mosquitoes is a waste of money, an unnecessary assault on people, pets and the environment – plus it simply doesn’t work. There are very few adult mosquitoes flying around early in the morning when the spraying is done plus there is a good argument that the spraying actually increases the mosquito problem by killing beneficial insects such as dragonflies that help control mosquitoes.

Synthetic pyrethroids like Scourge (resmethrin) are particularly hard on people with asthma and other allergies. These toxic products now contain piperonyl butoxide (PBO), a synthetic synergist that interferes with the insect’s system of neutralizing toxins. PBO makes the pesticide more effective at killing the targeted pest, but that override of the body’s detox system is also a concern for all other animals including birds, lizards, toads, frogs, beneficial insects, pets and humans. MSDS sheets (Material Safety Data Sheets) on these products available from pesticide manufactures point out that liver tumor increases in test animals has been significant. Of course, they claim that humans aren’t in danger.

Rational, effective control of mosquitoes results from removing or treating stagnant water with biological products, horticultural oils or gambusia fish and wearing non-toxic repellents on the skin.

If spraying the air to try to repel or kill adult biting mosquitoes is required, there are highly effective non-toxic alternatives. They include garlic oil, cedar oil, mint oil, orange oil, and cinnamon – just to mention a few. And yes, there is university research on these products and techniques.

Mosquitoes can be controlled and it doesn't have to be dangerous. The effective and non-toxic site management program for mosquito control that I recommend is as follows:

1. Empty standing water where possible. Even small containers such as pot saucers, old tires, soda bottles and cans hold enough water for mosquito breeding.

2. Treat water that cannot be emptied with gambusia fish or (Bti - Bacillus thuringiensis ‘Israelensis’) products such as Mosquito Dunks or Mosquito Bits.

3. Homeowners can spray to kill adult mosquitoes with plant oil pesticides such as Earth Harvest, Avenger and Eco-EXEMPT. Garlic sprays work well to repel the insects for up to 30 days. Even better, broadcast dry minced garlic to the site at 2 - 5 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. Bonide Mosquito Beater Granules is another good dry product.

4. Use organic landscape management to encourage birds, bats, fish, dragonflies and other beneficial insects.

5. Use skin repellents that contain natural repellent herbs such as aloe vera, eucalyptus, tea tree oil, lavender, vanilla, citronella and other helpful herbs. The Center for Disease Control now recommends lemon eucalyptus. DEET products should not be used, especially on children – as is stated on the label.

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Plano Environmental Education Center

August 23, 2012, 8:55 pm

≫ Next: My Not-As-Pathetic Prairie Garden

≪ Previous: West Nile Virus Hysteria

The Environmental Education Center, located at 4116 W. Plano Parkway, is a new educational facility in the city of Plano where residents of all ages can learn about sustainability and environmental stewardship. (Notice the decomposed granite parking lot.)

The EEC is the first -and only- building in Plano to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification.

Inside the building is a large meeting room where the city holds classes on a wide range of "green" topics. (Photo shot through a window.) Last year I attended a square foot gardening class and earlier this year I attended an energy efficiency class. Most of the programs are free, however, there may be a small fee for others. Click here for a list of upcoming programs.

While there is much to be learned inside the building, there is just as much to learn on the grounds of the EEC. For example, this 20,000 gallon cistern captures rainwater from the roof of the EEC. By touching the side of the cistern, I was able to determine that it was about half full of water. The captured rainwater is used to flush toilets in the restrooms and to irrigate the landscape. This information came from the round blue sign next to the cistern. Similar signs provide information about various features around the grounds.

This is a ground level demonstration of the living roof that tops the Center. The soil and plants help to insulate the building, which reduces energy consumption. Rainwater from the cistern is distributed on the roof top through drip irrigation.

The EEC produces 30% of its electrical needs with solar and wind power. A 60 foot wind turbine behind the building produces 3,000 kWh of power per year.

Water circulates through this thermal solar panel where it is heated by the sun and returned to a storage tank to provide hot water to the EEC. The panel is at ground level to allow visitors a close up view. Unfortunately, the panel is broken and covered with plastic. I suspect it was damaged by vandals.

Solar cells line the top of this covered walkway and parking area. The EEC's 54-panel photovoltaic array generates an estimated 17,909 kWh per year.

This open cistern collects rainwater from the walkway cover above.

Rocks and a metal cattail sculpture are inside the cistern. I think it is supposed to function as a fountain, but it is dry now.

This is the underside of the walkway cover. I believe this is reclaimed wood.

Reuse is a recurring theme at the ECC. The shingles for this passageway are made of old road signs.

Under the cover are some decorations that I believe are made with old fan blades.

More of the artwork is on the walls outside the restrooms.

You can see that this butterfly was made with an old license plate.

This kinetic sculpture, "Eco Sphere" is made with stainless steel serving ladles.

Here is a closer view. It was getting dark outside when I took this photo.

The main reason I came to the EEC on this evening was to see the new landscaping around the building. When I was last here in early February, the only plants on the grounds were a few remnants from the native plant display garden that used to be here. By February, we had received some good rains, but lakes were still pretty low in February and we were facing the possibility of Stage 4 watering restrictions. Landscaping plans for the EEC were on hold since it was not known if there would be sufficient water for the plants.The city did not want to landscape the site with that possibility looming. Fortunately, the rain kept falling and watering restrictions were relaxed. And so the gardens were planted this spring.

A sign welcomes visitors to the garden. Unfortunately, there were not any signs identifying the plants in the garden. I hope the city plans to add some. There were a couple of plants that I thought I recognized, but I was not 100% certain of the ID. Visitors would benefit from knowing the names of the plants that they like so they can obtain them for their own gardens.

Here are several clumps of little bluestem. These plants look considerably better than mine do this year.

Most of the pathways and even the parking area are composed of permeable materials, such as mulch, decomposed granite, and concrete pavers, to allow rainwater to soak into the ground rather than running off into the storm sewers.

This is a variety of Nolina. Other native plants on the grounds are rusty blackhaw viburnum, gulf muhly, sumac, cedar elm, Eve's necklace, rough leaf dogwood, palm (probably Sabal minor), agarita, lantana, big muhly, desert willow, red yucca, rock rose, Mexican buckeye, cenzio, Gregg's mistflower, and zexmenia.

The landscape also includes a few adapted non-natives like Vitex*, Russian sage*, Pennisetum fountain grass, and pink skullcap.

A planted and mulched swale runs around the EEC. I did not notice if the swale drains into a nearby creek bed or if it will hold some excess rainwater and allow it to soak into the soil.

Finally, there is a hands on educational play area that gives children several opportunities to learn about nature and sustainability.

There is a bird feeder on the other side of this bird blind to attract birds. If the children are quiet enough, they may be able to see a wild bird close up.

This butterfly garden teaches children about the butterfly life cycle, beginning with eggs laid on the leaf of a caterpillar host plant...

and ending with a butterfly ready to begin the cycle again.

There is much to be learned at the Environmental Education Center. There is a good chance that kids will come here and learn something and then go home to teach their parents a thing or two but there are plenty of educational opportunities for adults as well.

*I removed Vitex and Russian sage from my garden several years ago. These plants have appeared on invasive species lists and I was beginning to see why in my garden. On the positive side, they are both drought tolerant and attract bees.

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My Not-As-Pathetic Prairie Garden

September 14, 2012, 4:52 am

≫ Next: Fall Native Plant Sales 2012

≪ Previous: Plano Environmental Education Center

I did not have many posts this summer because I was busy with various projects and because my garden looked pretty sad. In fact, about a month ago, I started working on a post about the condition of the garden and I was planning to temporarily change the header of the blog to read Pathetic Prairie Garden. But then, out of nowhere, near the end of August, temperatures dropped from the plus 100s to the 80s and it rained. That change in weather, albeit temporary, was enough to bring the garden back to life and change my mood about the garden.

First I will share how the garden looked once it came into bloom again and then I will share some reasons that it looked so pathetic before the rain and cooler temperatures.

Beebrush, Aloysia gratissima, bursts into bloom with tiny white flowers after a rain (or irrigation). The plant was covered in bees, even after area wide pesticide spraying for mosquitoes. Red and purple Salvia greggii are at the foot of the beebrush. The orange flower is Zexmenia, Wedelia texana.

More Salvia greggii flowers coordinate with the purple berries of American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana.

Here is a close up of the American Beautyberry fruit. The berries don't last long after they turn purple because they are a favorite snack for mockingbirds.

I see at least five kinds of flowers in this photo. Salvia greggi, Scarlet Sage, Salvia cocciniea, Zexmenia, Wedelia texana, Chocolate Daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, and Prairie Verbena, Glandularia bipinnatifida.

The Pine Muhly grass, Muhlenbergia dubia, is in full spiky flower. More Scarlet Sage surround the Pine Muhly. The flower spikes of Liatris are all around and are just beginning to bloom.

Just a slight shift to the left brings a few more flowers into view.

The pathway running across the front yard prairie is lined by Salvia greggi, Zexmenia, and other flowers. Looks like I need to weed flowers out of the pathway.

Yellow Zinnia, Zinnia grandiflora, and Purple Skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii, grow in a couple of inches of decomposed granite in the parkway with minimal supplemental water. Yellow Zinnia is a slow spreading native groundcover.

Three salvias: Scarlet Sage in front, sky-blue Pitcher Sage, Salvia azurea 'grandiflora', in the middle and purple Mealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, in back.

The white flowers of Blackfoot Daisy, Melampodium leucanthum, glow (glare) in the morning sun.

The purple flowers of the spiny Eryngo, Eryngium leavenworthii, bloom in front of Goldenrod. The Goldenrod appeared on its own in the backyard prairie a couple of years ago. For the first couple of years, it was around two feet tall. This year it is over four feet tall and spreading by runners. Even without flowers, the plants are a nice vertical accent in the garden. The looked nice until the lower leaves started turning brown. Goldenrod is known for its ability to spread. I hope I have not allowed a monster to take root.

Now to explain my Pathetic Prairie Garden. The next two photos were taken in my front yard prairie on 07-18-10 - Just two years ago the prairie looked like this...

This was the second summer for my prairie. Four Nerve Daisy flowers filled the prairie and the Little Bluestem grass was tall and lush in the middle of July.

The Little Bluestem grass was the main reason I decided to call this a prairie garden, rather than a meadow or wildflower garden. But something has happened to the Little Bluestem over the last couple of years...

In this photo from 07-09-12, the cactus and yuccas have clearly grown, but where are the flowers and the Little Bluestem? This is the reason I felt that I had a Pathetic Prairie Garden. Without the flowers and the grass, it looks more like a patch of weeds than a prairie garden.

A couple of sad little clumps of Little Bluestem are visible at the base of the salvias. I have never had long term success with Little Bluestem. They always die out after a few years. Several internet references indicate that Little Bluestem requires periodic burning to thrive. I have tried burning a few plants with a blow torch in one hand and a water hose in the other. It seemed to help, but burning the entire prairie is not practical and probably not legal in a suburban neighborhood. I have been cutting back on water and eliminated fertilizer in an effort to have a more sustainable garden.

Another factor that will ultimately lead to the eradication of Little Bluestem in my prairie is that Little Bluestem is the first grass I have grown that has not spread by seed or rhizomes. There are no new plants to replace the dying plants.

Compare this photo from 03-31-12 to the one from 07-09-12 two photos above. What happened between March and July? Four Nerve Daisies filled the prairie in March after growing and blooming throughout the winter months because the temperatures were so warm. It was not long after this photo was taken that I started noticing that the Four Nerve Daisy plants were turning brown and crispy.

This Four Nerve Daisy is on its way to joining the many others that died this spring. Were the plants worn out from blooming all winter? Did they get too much water during the wet spring? Or was it these guys...

These are milkweed bugs and they are EVERYWHERE this year. I never noticed them in my garden before last year and this year there was a population explosion. I don't have enough milkweed plants to support the number of milkweed bugs that filled the garden this year, so they must be feeding on something else. Although I could not find any references that said milkweed bugs will attack plants besides milkweed, I suspect they may have contributed to the death of my Four Nerve Daisies because I found young milkweed bugs around the base of several dying plants.

So what's next? I am thinking of ways to organize and add structure to the garden as the Little Bluestem declines. Perhaps more pathways and more succulents. The garden's appearance during the summer months definitely needs help. I also think that Pine Muhly and, perhaps, Mexican Feather Grass will be the dominant grasses of the prairie once the Little Bluestem is gone.

The garden is ever changing. I hope I can come up with a plan that will keep the garden attractive most of the year and allow me a little time to relax and enjoy it.

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Fall Native Plant Sales 2012

September 21, 2012, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Wet Weekend

≪ Previous: My Not-As-Pathetic Prairie Garden

The Fall season starts today and there are a few native plant sales that I wanted to share.

The first two sales are on the western side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Not much notice on this sale. A native plant sale benefiting the Molly Hollar Wildscape is next Saturday, September 29 at the Randol Mill Park Greenhouse in Arlington from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. (Looks like I originally had the wrong date. Sorry if anyone when out on the wrong day.)

This sale includes a nice selection of 62 varieties of native perennials, annuals, vines, groundcovers, shrubs, trees and grasses. I have over half of these plants growing in my garden now and several came from this sale.

For more information about the Wildscape, the plant sale and a list of available plants, click here.

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden holds their annual Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, October 13 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

The Fall and Spring sales at the FWBG are some of my favorite plant sales. Native and adapted plants are available from several vendors. The North Central Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas will have several great varieties of native plants available for sale and member volunteers are always available to answer questions and help you with your selections.

For more information on the FWBG website, click here. For a list of native plants that the North Central Chapter will have available click here.

On the eastern side of the Metroplex, the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park in Dallas has their Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, November 10 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM with a member's preview the day before from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

This sale usually has a variety of native and adapted perennials, shrubs and trees. Many of the plants in this sale attract butterflies. There is no additional information is available about this sale at this time. Check back with the Texas Discovery Gardens website for plant lists and additional information.

Take advantage of these sales and get some native plants! Fall is a great time for planting because new plants will have several moist, cool months to establish a strong root system before the heat of Summer returns.

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Wet Weekend

September 30, 2012, 8:58 pm

≫ Next: Red and Purple

≪ Previous: Fall Native Plant Sales 2012

We received some much needed rain this weekend. There was a slow rain/drizzle all day Saturday and then a little sun Sunday afternoon. Here is a look at the wet garden on Sunday morning.

Liatris of a yet to be determined variety fill the prairie.

Pale-leaf Yucca

Although all of the Liatris plants are seedlings from two plants in the garden, they produce their flowers on a variety of different shaped stalks.

Thick clustering of flowers on a single stalk with leaves half way up the flowering portion.

Narrow clustering of flowers with long leaves all the way up the flower stalk.

Flowers clustered on the end of the stalk.

Widely spaced flowers.

Agave neomexicana

Pine Muhly

Possumhaw Holly

Flame Acanthus

Eryngo and Scarlet Sage

Eryngo

Zexmenia and Frogfruit

Frostweed

Asparagus

Next spring's bluebonnets are sprouting throughout the garden and pathways.

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Red and Purple

October 8, 2012, 8:26 pm

≫ Next: Texas Native Plant Week

≪ Previous: Wet Weekend

The cool temperatures and cloudy skies over the weekend seemed to bring out the colors in the garden and the dominant colors right now are shades of red and purple.

This color combination was not planned. It just seemed to happen on its own. I planted the Gayfeather, Liatris, in the front garden, but I had Scarlet Sage, Salvia coccinea, in the back garden and did not intend to have more in the front garden. A few plants found their way to the front garden some how and began to spread.

The Liatris spread too. I scattered seeds from two plants that I had in the garden and I think every one of the seeds sprouted.

In a couple of weeks, there will be more purple in the garden when the Aromatic Aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, in the lower center of this photo begins to bloom.

Scarlet Sage, Liatris, Mealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, and Eryngo, Eryngium leavenworthii, grow among the Pine Muhly grass, Muhlenbergia dubia.

The spiny purple flowers of Eryngo are beginning to fade and go to seed now, but look at this cute little one that grew in the decomposed granite between the sidewalk and street.

Adding to the red color scheme is Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius, to the left of the Pale-leaf Yucca, Yucca pallida.

The Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii, on the right side of the pathway blooms heavily in the spring, sporadically during the summer, and then heavily again in the fall. It is a favorite of hummingbirds.

Liatris grows among the Gregg's Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, in the rain garden. Gregg's Mistflower is also known as Blue Mistflower. The flowers are bluish purple and are a favorite of monarch and queen butterflies. In fact, all of the flowers mentioned above are popular with butterflies and bees. Saturday and Sunday were too cool for the butterflies to come out.

As soon as the sun came out on Monday and temperatures warmed, butterflies and bees filled the garden. There are at least six monarchs and one queen butterfly in this photo. The red and purple flowers in the garden will provide a welcome pit stop for the orange and black monarchs as they make their way to Mexico for the winter in the coming days.

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Texas Native Plant Week

October 18, 2012, 4:46 am

≫ Next: Butterflies Abound

≪ Previous: Red and Purple

October 14-20, 2012 is Texas Native Plant Week and I just happen to have a few Texas natives growing in my garden.

I try to focus on plants that are native to this immediate area, like the Snow on the Prairie, Euphorbia bicolor, and Mealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, above.

But I also add some variety by including plants native to other parts of the state, like the Pine Muhly, Muhlenbergia dubia, in the foreground. This grass naturally grows in the drier climate of far west Texas. (The Pink Skullcap, Scutellaria suffrutescens, in front of the Pine Muhly, is from Mexico.)

It is good to know what part of the state a native plant grows wild. Just because a plant is native to Texas does not mean it will grow and thrive anywhere in Texas. Texas is a big state and the climate and soil type can vary greatly. A plant that is native to Houston may not survive in El Paso or Plano and vice versa. The North American Plant Atlas on the Biota of North America Program's website is a great resource for determining where a plant grows naturally. And you can get this information down to the county level. I was surprised that almost every native plant I looked up was mapped.

Sometimes there are microclimates and soil variations on your own property that can mean the difference between a thriving plant and a struggling plant. For example, Pale-Leaf Yucca, Yucca pallida, is native to this area of the Blackland Prairie. The two plants above, were purchased and planted at the same time. The plant on the left is a little lower on a slope than the plant on the right. The plant on the left is smaller and looks yellow coming out of the wet winter months. I dug up the plant on the left last spring because I suspected poor drainage could be the issue. I found several rotted roots so I added more decomposed granite to the soil in hopes of improving the drainage. These plants are only three feet apart, but the condition of the soil makes a significant difference in the health of the plants.

This is a close up of the thriving plant on the right. The pale blue color is amazing.

At the lowest end of the front garden, I added a rain garden that holds water for a few hours after a rain. I am still experimenting with native plants that can take short periods of soggy soil and extended periods of dry soil. After almost four years, native plants like Gregg's Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, False Indigo, Amorpha fruticosa, Gayfeather, Liatris sp., and even Heartleaf Skullcap, Scutellaria ovata, are performing well under these conditions.

Skeleton-leaf Goldeneye, Viguiera stenoloba, grows in a patch of sandy fill dirt that somebody placed over the native Blackland clay at some point in the 39 year history of my home.

There are native plants for every location and condition. It just might take a little research or trial an error to find the right plants. I happen to use both methods.

Why native plants? Watch this short video (not mine) to find out why.

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Butterflies Abound

November 4, 2012, 6:09 am

≫ Next: Happy Thanksgiving 2012

≪ Previous: Texas Native Plant Week

Last week started with the threat of freezing temperatures and frost shutting down the garden for the season. Fortunately, the garden narrowly escaped the threat and there was no damage to the plants. It is a good thing because this is peak butterfly season and as each day passed and temperatures warmed, more and more butterflies filled the garden.

The plants getting the most attention from the butterflies are Gregg's Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, Fragrant Mistflower, Eupatorium havanense, Mealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, Zexmenia, Wedelia texana, and Mexican Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. Most of these plants should be available at the Texas Discovery Gardens Fall Plant Sale next weekend.

Here is a glimpse at the colorful show and at the end is an attempt to capture some of the action on video.

There are still a number of Monarchs lingering in the garden when they should be vacationing in Mexico for the winter. This one is feeding on Mexican Milkweed. Since many of the favorite butterfly plants mentioned above are native to southern areas of Texas, I have often wondered if the Monarchs are tricked into thinking they are closer to Mexico than they really are.

Queen butterflies also enjoy the Mexican Milkweed.

The Gregg's Mistflower is probably the favorite nectar source in my garden for the Monarch and Queen butterflies. This one is a Queen.

Here is a Queen with open wings. I sometimes have trouble telling a Queen from a Monarch when their wings are close, but I know for sure once they open their wings. Compare this Queen to the Monarch in the top photo.

Monarchs feasting on Gregg's Mistflower.

Painted Lady and Pearly Crescent butterflies, as well as bees, gather on the Gregg's Mistflower.

Here is a closer look at a Pearly Crescent.

Several American Snout butterflies made an appearance in the garden.

This American Snout has a different wing pattern than the previous one. It is clear how this butterfly got its name.

An American Snout catching some morning sun on its wings.

Common Buckeyes have always been a favorite butterfly for me. I think it is the eye spots that I find most interesting.

I know this is a Skipper, but that is as close to identifying this butterfly as I can get.

A Gray Hairstreak and bee share Gregg's Mistflower. There are several Hairstreak varieties and I may not be exact on this identification.

Another Common Buckeye on Fragrant Mistflower.

Still another Common Buckeye.

An American Snout and honey bee feeding on Fragrant Mistflower.

This Gulf Fritillary looked like it was trying to lay eggs on passion vine just before it settled on this Scarlet Sage, Salvia coccinea, flower. The Gulf Fritillary butterflies were also found feeding on the flowers of Flame Acanthus, Anisacanthus quadrifidus v. Wrightii.

A Gulf Fritillary warms its wings in the morning sun. This was a common sight on the cooler mornings.

A Painted Lady butterfly catches some sunlight while perched on Mealycup Sage.

Another view of a Painted Lady.

I think this is a Sulphur butterfly of some sort. It is feeding on Mealycup sage.

This yellow butterfly is probably in the Sulphur family too. It is much smaller than the one in the previous photo. The flower is Zexmenia.

This tiny butterfly is a Blue. Once again, I cannot determine the specific variety. It is feeding on the flowers of Gregg Dalea, Dalea greggii. I think they also lay their eggs on this plant.

In addition to butterflies, the fall flowers also attract many other pollinating insects. I think this is a Syrphid Hoverfly. It is resting on the leaves of Tall Boneset, Chromolaena odorata. The flowerbuds in the background are just about to open. This plant has been in the garden for two years and is probably marginally winter hardy this far north of its native range. The flowers are similar to Gregg's Mistflower and should be just as attractive to the butterflies and bees.

This is another fly on the flowers of Aromatic Aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolium.

The flowers of the annual Cowpen Daisy, Verbesina encelioides, attracts many bees. This plant is also known by the classier name, Golden Crownbeard.

Below is my first blog video attempt. The video is jerky and fast moving. My images of a peaceful meadow setting are belied by the sounds of city traffic in the background.

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Happy Thanksgiving 2012

November 22, 2012, 7:15 am

≫ Next: Another Mistflower

≪ Previous: Butterflies Abound

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It feels more like spring outside today than autumn, but autumn it is and very dry it is. Here are a few pictures of the autumn/drought colors in my garden.

Red Oak

Hercules Club

Eve's Necklace

Redbud

Mexican Plum

Smooth Sumac

Frostweed

Coral Honeysuckle

Little Bluestem

Bushy Bluestem

Pine Muhly

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Another Mistflower

December 2, 2012, 7:53 am

≫ Next: Merry Christmas!

≪ Previous: Happy Thanksgiving 2012

I frequently mention Gregg's Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, and Fragrant Mistflower, Ageratina havanensis. Both are great plants for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, particularly late in the season when many other plants are no longer blooming.

Although the garden has eluded serious injury from freezing temperatures and hard frosts, these two plants are now shutting down their flower production for the season.

Most of the flowers on the Gregg's Mistflower have gone to seed like this one. The puffy, purple tinged flowerheads are still interesting to insects like the twice-stabbed lady beetle (a good guy that eats aphids), but there is no nectar for the butterflies.

There is no nectar for the butterflies on the Fragrant Mistflower either. The leaves on the plants are turning a nice shade of burgundy but the flowers are brown and the seeds scatter with the slightest touch.

I have another mistflower that is still going strong and providing food to the butterflies and pollinator. This one is Blue Mistflower, Chromolaena odorata.

Blue Mistflower is the last flower in my garden to bloom. This year the flowers began to open during the first week of November. This is the first time I have mentioned the Blue Mistflower because its flowers are usually killed by a hard frost just as they start to open.

The bees and butterflies did not show much interest in the Blue Mistflower when it first started blooming because the Gregg's Mistflower and Fragrant Mistflower were still blooming and apparently have a better tasting nectar. Once the flowers on those two plants began to fade, everybody headed over to the Blue Mistflower. This photo shows the open form of the plant. In my garden, it reaches about four feet tall. If you look closely, you can see the plant is covered with butterflies.

Here is another closeup of the flowers with a Skipper butterfly.

There are a number of Queen and Monarch butterflies still in the garden. I counted 12 Queens in one area of the garden yesterday.

Common Buckeye

A Gulf Fritillary samples the nectar. I found some small GF caterpillars on the passionvine. I hope they can survive.

Painted Lady

Orange Sulphur

I have noticed several wooly caterpillars in the garden. I think they are the larva of the Giant Leopard Moth. This one appears to be eating the flowers of the Blue Mistflower.

Blue Mistflower survived the last two winters in my garden. The plant is native to the warmer regions in light green on this BONAP map. Our 2010-2011 winter was pretty cold, so it should survive most winters in Plano.

It is interesting to note that internet searches for Chromolaena odorata identify this as an invasive plant in many parts of the world. According to the Global Invasive Species Database, it is one of the 100 Worlds Worst Invaders and that list is not restricted to plants. As far as I know, Blue Mistflower is not a problem in its native range.

It is also interesting that all three of the Mistflowers mentioned were named Eupatorium at one time or another. All of these plants have several aliases. It is hard for me to know which name is correct so I try to go by the names used at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. As I was writing this post, I became aware that I have probably been using an outdated name for Fragrant Mistflower and made that correction above.

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Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2012, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Merry Christmas! Part 2

≪ Previous: Another Mistflower

Merry Christmas to all.

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Merry Christmas! Part 2

December 25, 2012, 2:29 pm

≫ Next: Christmas Snow and Native Plants

≪ Previous: Merry Christmas!

OK. Who's the wise guy that was dreaming of a white Christmas? More pictures tomorrow if it is too icy to go back to work.

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Christmas Snow and Native Plants

December 26, 2012, 8:19 pm

≫ Next: A Look Back at 2012

≪ Previous: Merry Christmas! Part 2

The Christmas snow is kind of old news by the end of the day on December 26. The roads were relatively clear this morning, so off to work I went. Before I left, I took a few quick photos of the snow on my native plants.

Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora

Pine Muhly, Muhlenbergia dubia

Closeup of Pine Muhly

Agave neomexicana

Spineless prickly pear

Possumhaw Holly, Ilex decidua

Tracks in the snow

Looks like rabbit tracks

Predator tracks? Probably free roaming house cat, although we have had some coyotes spotted in the neighborhood. Unlike my neighbors, I am OK with coyotes roaming in the streets. I won't share my reasons.

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A Look Back at 2012

January 4, 2013, 5:10 am

≫ Next: Intermission

≪ Previous: Christmas Snow and Native Plants

Here is a photographic journey through the seasons of 2012 in my front garden. Toward the end of the post are hints of changes that will be occurring in the new year.

The year started out with concerns that portions of my garden could be destroyed as the city replaced sewer connections throughout the neighborhood. Fortunately, the contractor was attentive to my concerns and only one plant did not survive being transplanted.

January 24. A worker is in a hole surrounded by four nerve daisies. The 2011-2012 winter was so warm that the four nerve daisies bloomed non-stop.

February 19. Pine muhly right before I trimmed all of the plants back to prepare for a new season's growth.

March 13. Four nerve daisies filled the garden.

March 24. Dew on the blades of Indian grass.

March 31. Temporarily coming out of a drought with a wet and early spring caused the flowers to explode with blooms. The four nerve daisy plants are huge! Bluebonnets, wine cup and mealycup sage are beginning to bloom.

March 31. This was certainly the best spring my garden had seen. Even neighbors that were not impressed with my lawnless garden were starting to change their minds and said the garden was beautiful. The dark leafed plant is Husker Red penstemon.

March 31. Gulf coast penstemon, bluebonnets, four nerve daisies, and Gregg's salvia are in full bloom.

April 7. Sunrise over the wildflowers.

April 7. The Hercules Club tree is in bloom and very popular with butterflies and bees.

April 22. Black Sampson coneflower blooms.

May 2. The four nerve daisies are taking a break after a long bloom period. Several of the plants began to die. After blooming all winter and spring, I think they bloomed their hearts out and could not go on any longer. The red yucca and mealycup sage are in bloom and the spineless prickly pear is adding a new layer of pads.

May 20. Rock penstemon is in bloom next to pale leaf yucca.

May 20. Annual wildflowers, horsemint and Indian blanket, sprouted everywhere.

June 17. The spring flowering season is about wrapped up.

July 9. The garden goes dormant to survive the hot, dry summer. Flowers are few. This is the most unattractive season for my garden. It was also about this time that I decided to stop referring to my garden as a prairie, although I did not change the blog name. A prairie is primarily composed of prairie grasses and mine were fizzling out. A couple of years ago this area was filled with little bluestem and now only a few remain. With all the dry years we have had lately, I am looking westward for plants that will look good during the dry seasons and still survive the rare wet seasons.

July 14. One successful grass is the west Texas native, pine muhly. This clump of plants is in bloom (the spikes) and is not fazed by heat and drought. It also reseeds, but not aggressively. My little bluestem has never reseeded so there are no new plants to replace the old plants.

August 26. The garden is pretty lush for late August thanks to rain 10 days earlier. It is amazing how quickly the native plants will rebound once they get some rain. Treated city water does not have the same effect.

September 12. The autumn flowers are blooming. The sky blue flowers in the center are pitcher sage. It is surrounded by mealycup sage, zexmenia, and scarlet sage.

September 30. Spikes of gayfeather bloom across the garden.

September 30. Gayfeather among scarlet sage, zexmenia, and the dried flowerheads of Black Sampson coneflower.

October 7. Gayfeather and scarlet sage make a nice combination.

October 14. Which is most attractive? The the powdery blue pale leaf yucca or the flower spikes of pine muhly?

October 14. On this day, I think the pale leaf yucca wins. It rained overnight and really seemed to enhance the blue coloring.

October 29. In an effort to add some structure and evergreen color to the front garden, I relocated a Nolina that had outgrown its spot in the back garden. This was the second time I moved the plant around the front garden in a 10 day period. I am not sure it works here, so it may have to go.

October 29. Looking to the left of the Nolina, I removed the pine muhly seedlings that were growing under this plant and spread them across the front garden. I can't say anything bad about pine muhly. It could be my new favorite plant.

November 22. And it is no wonder why I like this grass. Here are some of the relocated pine muhly. They are lit up by the late afternoon sunshine. Now notice the pathetic little bluestem in the lower right corner.

December 9. This is about the same shot as the November 22 photo. Still no killing frost, but most of the flowers are about finished blooming for the season.

December 9. There were several queen butterflies desperately seeking nectar on the dried flowers of Gregg's mistflower.

December 15. A view of pine muhly across the front garden.

December 26. Christmas snow on the pine muhly. I am sure this grass will be a dominant feature in the next phase of the garden.

Thanks to some end of season plant sales, I picked up several new plants at half price. I was blinded by the sale prices and now I am not really sure where these plants will go. At 11:00 in this photo is Yucca filamentosa. At 3:00 another plant that was labeled Yucca filamentosa and at 6:00 is a plant labeled Yucca pendula. I am sure the first yucca is as it was labeled because of the filaments on the leaves. I am not sure about the identity of the next two. They look alike to me. Both have a purplish cast and neither has filaments on the leaves. I hope both are not Yucca pendula. Once I looked up Yucca pendula, I realized it is the yucca that is very common in landscapes. I want less common plants in my landscape. Oh, over in the lower right corner is flame sumac, Rhus lanceolata.

This plant was labeled as "Giant". The nursery workers told me it was a giant red yucca. I knew it was a Hesperaloe but not Hesperaloe parviflora. I am pretty sure it is Hesperaloe funifera. I first noticed Hesperaloe funifera several years ago when they were grown in the raised medians between the north and south bound lanes of Central Expressway in Dallas. I hope it is as tolerant of clay soils as the red yucca.

This is a variegated Yucca gloriosa. I am not a huge fan of variegated plants, but I may be able to use this one.

I said I am not a fan of variegated so pay no attention to the Dianella in the background. The focus of this photo is the evergreen sumac, Rhus virens. Books from 10-15 years ago said it is a little winter tender in this area. Maybe not any longer.

So that is a look at 2012. It is fun to look back and see how the garden changes throughout the year. I am sure it will change some more in the new year as I move, remove, and add new plants.

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