Gardening in Texas!

This blog is about how my ornamental and vegetable gardens grow — in Texas. So, I’ll be talking about plants and documenting environmental effects as they happen.

I have been an avid gardener my whole life, and can’t wait to share the things I’ve learned about plants and the influence of environment on the kinds of plants that will grow. I have 15 varieties of Rose, about 8 varieties of daylilies, and several kinds of trees. I do all of my own landscaping, and have grown plants from seed, bulb, and cuttings. The key to any gardening is understanding the extremes of weather that a plant can tolerate—then plant for success! So, I’ve learned a few things that I want to document and share, and hopefully help others to learn more about gardening ornamentals, vegetables, and fruits.

When considering what to plant, there are three basic things to consider:

FIRST learn more about whether or not your plants can survive in your environment. I cannot tell you how many gorgeous plants I’ve purchase that do just fine the first few weeks of spring, then rapidly die in the Texas summers! There are still some that I’d love to grow, but after years of trying have come to realize that there are so many beautiful plants that will grow — it’s not wise to pine for those that won’t! Hopefully this will come across in my blog entries over time! The USDA Hardiness Zone chart is a good place to start—I’ll talk more about that in future blogs, but for now — check out this site  http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

SECOND, identify how much care you are willing to provide the plants — I love roses but most hybrids are so persnickity that I rarely follow through with intensive care for more than a year or two. My favorite example is the rose “AngelFace” — wow! what a show stopper when it grows! Unfortunately, I cannot manage to keep them going long (my most recent purchase is in it’s third year, there won’t be a fourth!)

THIRD, how is the environment influenced by neighbors’ plants? If neighboring plants put a lot of shade in your yard–don’t try growing sun-loving plants, you’ll give a lot of care but the plant will not thrive in the end.

As you go along, there are more issues to consider — and I’ll share more in the upcoming blogs.