Terrain Horticulture in Dallas

Before-and-After, Lots of Tomatoes, and Boxes Everywhere...

We're underway on the 3-day workweek before a 14-day vacation (I'm tempted to use quotation marks for that term, as it will be LOTS of work, not so much leisure) as we move over to "The Farm". There...used them after all.

I'm trying to tie up an espalier design project for Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, and in going through my photos today in prep, came across some great "befores" of a space there I redesigned in May and was just able to get photos of as it's grown in:

 
Yeah, yuck. It was just a long-forgotten bed overgrown with variegated Vinca minor and sad Liriope. Not much of a first impression for pool guests.

And now:

 
Lots of color and texture, and a nice large jar to give it a central focal point. The planting is blended annual and perennial, so there will be room for seasonal adjustment and variety. It's been a well-recieved update to their pool complex.

Back at the old Alan Ave. house, the tomatoes are still going gangbusters. We planted mostly heirloom varieties that we and our garden volunteers started from seed for the Charity Classic Plant Sale at Brookhaven. In our garden, we had 'Dr. Wyche's Yellow', 'Cream Sausage', 'Beam's Yellow Pear', 'Black Krim', 'Cherokee Purple', 'Cupid', 'Italian Heirloom', 'Kolb', 'Sheboygan' and a few others. Oh, and a great 'Black Cherry' we got from North Haven Gardens. Some produced wonderfully, others, not so much. Some had great flavors, others, not so much. I've canned sweet tomato chutney, hot tomato chutney, and a curried salsa so far, but now that everything is in boxes, we just have piles of tomatoes laying about:

 
 
Everything in the house is in a loosely-organized state of bedlam, but the movers arrive Thursday and we've got plenty to do to keep us busy in the meantime. With our future 750 sq. ft. workshop, we were able to bid farewell to our business storage unit on Sunday...and were reminded that we need to do a serious glassware inventory! Boxes, boxes everywhere, and BIG ceramics that we've picked up here and there, along with bins and bins of wedding floral detritus. Needless to say, the little truck was well loaded down:

 
The back seat is also full-to-bursting. Oasis, Manzanita branches, tablecloths, and boxes, boxes, boxes. All the bubble wrap accumulated from three years' worth of wedding glassware sure has come in handy, though!

Last word for now: here's our gift to Kim Le-Henderson of Ebby Halliday (Lakewood Office) who has been our champion through this second real estate go-round. She may be petite and look delicate, but great things come in small packages, right? Leslie Halleck would certainly agree!

We knew Kim liked the succulent table piece collection sold through North Haven Gardens, so we thought she certainly deserved one, too:

 

Picture is from the greenhouse table, so not the lovliest staging...but the succulents speak for themselves.  Most importantly, she was delighted, and so are we. Thanks again, Kim!

Back to Espaliers for now...

Preparing for Fall at the Farm

Most of our family and friends are already aware that Robbie and I have been in the process of purchasing a 5-acre rural property that we hope to be moved into by the last part of July (or at least by the first week of August). We've gone through various versions of what to call it--'the Country House', 'the Quinlan House', by its postal address, 'Glen Macomber'--etc. and have settled on 'Farm.' Nice and tidy. Really, it's more of a "farmette" (actual term I've been seeing increasingly) but who's counting?

 

The farm will will give us a lot of new opportunities--the house more than doubles our current living space (ahhhh), it's made for entertaining (pool!), it has a workshop nearly as big as our current home, fantastic sandy loam soil, and of course the land to grow on. Most importantly, though, the shape and form of the acreage struck something in both of us--and in all of our driving and searching, we kept coming back to this specific place. It's a modest parcel of land, no doubt--but the harmony of the meadows and trees here is so special you can feel like you're in the middle of nowhere out there. To us, that's priceless.

 

There's loads of sunshine and prairie grasses and wildflowers, that deep sandy loam soil that has me so excited, a creek that runs through the property and will create a perfect pond garden just behind the house, and the perfect spaces for greenhouses, the chicken yard, composting, and a modest orchard.

 

While we'll be spending the fall and winter working on various projects to lay a strong foundation, we can't help but get a few  "Now we have the space to grow this" crops. Since early July is a great time to seed for a fall harvest, we've done just that. Yes, I'm aware that pumpkins, squash, and watermelon are best when direct-seeded into the garden (I had to confirm three times for Irma, my grounds crew forewoman, that I was aware of this basic gardening fact). However, since closing isn't until the 15th, I had to get a jump on things. So, among others, seeds are greenhouse-sown for:

'Cinderella' Pumpkin, or Rouge vif d'Etamps, a fantastic French heirloom variety first available in the U.S. in the 1880s. Known decoratively for it's fat, flat shape, rich ruddy red/orange color, and deep ribs; culinarily for being a richly-flavored variety excellent for baking and roasting. Behold:

 

'Connecticut Field' Pumpkin, a classic old staple that's the favorite for Halloween Jack-0-Lanterns, yielding heavy, 10-20 lb fruit:

 

'Jack-be-Little' Pumpkins, the favorite little teeny ones for decorating, votives, etc.

 

'Tigger' Melons, an old Armenian heirloom variety that produces 1-2 lb fruits with bright, jagged stripes on the husk and fragrant, white, cantaloupe-like flesh inside:

 

And several others. We won't have time to really build up a veg garden before these go in the ground; more than likely "till a quick row" will be the approach. They're just the beginning, though--more of a "we just can't wait" project. And then again, I have a thing for pumpkins.

Last but not least, as it's worth mentioning here: among our first marks to make will be the honoring of Betsy's Garden, the private courtyard garden off of the master bathroom. It's a cool space with lots of potential, but it's in need of some garden TLC. To mark the beginning of its transformation, it's been renamed for Betsy, the little one we lost in May. Here she is engaged in her favorite activity, back in 2010:

 

 

With some of her ashes, we'll plant a deciduous Magnolia, such as this one...

 

...and that will be the greatest start we could hope for.