Terrain Horticulture in Dallas

Quick Pics from Yesterday's Wedding Floral

So they're not the best pictures, but it will be a while before we get the shots from the professional photographer, so here goes! First of all, thank you Melissa for being the hand model!  We were thrilled to have a colorful, creative bride (thank you Kate!) who wanted rich, bright colors and lots of interesting flowers--so much fun to do. Here above is the throw bouquet--colorful and funky :)

And the bride's bouquet, with Dahlias, Callas, Roses, Celosia, Cymbidium Orchids, and others...again, not the best pic, but it has to do for now!

Yeah, photography isn't really my strong point...here's the big 4' x 4' altar urn--fall branches and all kinds of colorful goodies. Congratulations, Kate!

Fall Veggies and Herbs are Thriving

Our 25 raised herb and veggie beds are bursting right now--we have loads of sage, mint, basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon, and lots more. The fall squash is coming on beautifully from seed and the arugula, brussels sprouts and snap peas are looking fabulous. Thank you, Sally, for tending the beds with loving care! Everything looks beautiful!

October Asters

Native Aster, Aster oblongifolia, offers an avalanche of sparkling blue flowers each October. It's like a fall fireworks display. The shrubby green plants are extremely heat and drought tolerant, but otherwise unremarkable all year long--but in October, they really shine. They're another traffic-stopping plant, and shine next to poppies. We have a long bank of them along the driveway that's about 30' x 3', and they tumble among the fence posts for all to enjoy.

Fall Specimen Container for Stephens College Alumnae Club of Dallas Fundraiser

We created this container today to go into a silent auction raising money for the Stephens College Alumnae Fund of Dallas, which funds an endowed scholarship for a Texas woman to attend the college. A great event for a great cause! We found all kinds of creative goods at North Haven Gardens--the gorgeous glazed pot, the 'Purple Flash' Ornamental Peppers, the Ornamental Cabbage, pink Cyclamen, Lemon Cypress, and bronze mum. The whole thing is accented with chartreuse reindeer lichen and miniature pumpkins, and deep inside, lined with bulbs of Narcissus 'Jetfire' for a fun spring surprise. Let's hope it raises some money!

Gravel Project was just the beginning...

Then came the chimney flue fire pits, the window boxes, the flagstone grill pad, the armoir pad, the back fence, and just now, the stained brick patio....it's starting to come together! Back fence staining to follow!

Lots O' Lettuce

We're topdressing our beds with compost and preparing to plant our lettuce mixes for the fall--this one, from  last year, yielded loads and loads of tender leaves all season. We're also starting spinach, carrots, mustard greens, turnips and a giant kale that I'm excited to try in the kitchen. Not only are these mixes wonderful for the table, they're beautiful winter foliar color and very easy to grow in beds or containers. I'm evening adding them to our window boxes, so we can reach right outside the window for a fresh salad this winter!

Fall Containers Potting Workshop Tonight at Brookhaven!

Fall Containers Workshop tonight! I may even have some Iceland Poppies for the taking...see you all there! I'm off to North Haven Gardens today to get some top-notch garden goodies for door prizes!

Iceland Poppies for Glorious Spring Display

What could possibly give you the spring WOW of tulips, but with five times the strength, durability and duration? Iceland Poppies will! Give these beauties deep, rich soil in a bright sunny spot, plant them NOW, and leave them undisturbed all winter. You'll never forget the results--this large area we planted last year literally stopped traffic; about a dozen cars a day. I enjoyed watching people come back with cameras and pose in front of them, too. First described by botanists in the late 18th-century, Papaver nudicaule is native to subpolar regions of Europe and North America. While they're actually a hardy, but short-lived perennial, they're typically treated as biennials here. These performed beautifully all the way into June, when we were sad to see them go. We have two thousand arriving today, and everyone's excited to see them going in again! If you can find them--this hybrid is called 'Champagne Bubbles'--they're far worth the wait. Try North Haven Gardens, the best place in the Metroplex to find interesting, top-quality plants--it's a plant place for plant people, run by plant people: the best combination. And get your poppies in the ground now!

Seeding Wildflowers

Each October, we order more seed from the folks at Native American Seed to spread through our native areas on the golf courses. We're nearing three acres now that have been converted and receive no mechanical maintenance, artificial irrigation, or chemicals, and they're a glorious sight in spring and summer. We've used their Native Texas Mix and the Texas-Oklahoma Roadside Mix, and had wonderful results with each. The birds and insects that hum through the wildflowers will provide hours of entertainment. I prefer not to till before seeding--to prep, we scalp the ground once, scrape away any debris, and walk seed by hand--it's a Halloween day tradition for me. Above is the first installation from 2007, photographed in June. This is its first year! The wildflowers are something to look forward to every spring and summer, but now is the time to seed.

PANSY TIME!

 

We managed to get about two and half thousand pansies and violas in the ground last week, and we're going strong today with another four thousand arriving this week. Cheers to Mel at YC for all her help coordinating the deliveries and making sense of my orders! This pic is from February of 2007, but we're veering back to a blues-and-yellows color scheme this year after a hot reds-and-oranges scheme in 08 and pink and orange this summer. We're creating some interesting combinations of different shades of purple with our cabbage, kale and black ornamental peppers. Texturally, we combine large pansies with small-flowered violas to create a sparkle-like effect with the darker colors, tiny yellows and whites. We feed the heck out of everything with a mix of favorite organics: Milorganite, Lady Bug Fertilizer, and HuMax. Pansies have big appetites!