Desert shrub with bright blue flowers ...
Comments (19)
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Desert Shrub fluourescent green "flowers"
Comments (3)Pretty ... and rare because it is REALLY picky about soil conditions....See MorePlant and Flowering Tree and Shrub Suggestions for Massachusetts
Comments (26)Labels for the photos of April 9: Photo 1 has 3 large shrubs, front to back: Fat Albert Blue Spruce, Coppertina ninebark, Shadbush of some type. Lower growing, back to front: Amsonia hubrichtii has the feathery leaves and very pale blue flowers; the bright pink flower on a low bush in front of the blue spruce is a rhododendron, I think Independence Day; The bright purple is a Salvia, but I don't remember the type, and the one sort of between the rhodie and the salvia is a Hellebore seedling. Photo 2 has two Rhododendron Olga Mezitt with a combination of green and bright red leaves, one on the far right in front of the dark green arborvitae Techny and one in front of the bright yellow spice bush. The yellow tinted arborvitae between the Rhodie Olga Mezitt is Sunkist. The red, yellow, green shrubby thin between the Sunkist arborvitae and the right side Rhodie is one of the same varieties in the first photos, Amsonia hubrichtii in all its fall glory. The blue-green low groundcover in front of the Sunkist arborvitae is Greystone dianthus AKA pinks (though it is white flowered) and the rambly out-of-control groundcover near the front left is Nepeta AKA catmint. There are a couple of the same Fat Albert blue spruces, one to the left of the yellow spicebush, and one just peaking out to the right of the Sunkist arborvitae. Here are some photos from earlier in the life of this bed when it was in its third growing season. I deliberately left lots of room for the shrubs to grow, so there is quite a bit of mulch showing. Since then I've also added a few plants here and there as I could shoehorn them in. From June 2010 This covers much of the same area as photo 2 above, and though the trellises shown here are still in the same place, they are not nearly as visible now as they were in 2010 when this photo was taken. The Techny and Sunkist arborvitae are smaller as are the Fat Albert blue spruce. The purple flowers are the Nepeta AKA catmint, and the white flowers are the Greystone dianthus AKA pinks. The feathery plant to the right and slightly behind Greystone is the Amsonia hubrichtii in its first season. To the right of that in front of the blue spruce and also in its first season is one of the Rhododendron Olga Mezitt. From June 2010 This is a close up including the blue spruce, Amsonia, and Coppertina ninebark (plus a tiny bit of the rhododendron's leaves at the bottom) from the first photo in my earlier post. And here is a photo looking down the bed to give an idea of how relatively sparse it was in its third season. From June 2010 I spent a bit more money than I often do on the evergreens to get reasonable sized plants, though I did buy them at the autumn sales in 2007, since I wanted medium-slow growing evergreens. Many of the rest of the plants have been added as quart pots, or in the case of the hydrangeas in this bed as, rooted cuttings in 4" pots. I knew that the hydrangeas, clematis and perennials would get larger faster than the evergreens so the smaller plants would catch up. Here's a photo (taken from a higher vantage point so things look a bit shorter than they are) of the whole bed from the end where photo 1 from April 9 was taken. This is one of the quietest times of year in this bed, after many of the spring and summer bloomers have stopped, but before the fall color erupts. There are still a couple of hydrangeas not very visible in this photo, some asters, colchicum bulbs blooming, and the white fluffy seedheads of clematis along with varied foliage texture and color....See MoreIdeas for desert flower beds
Comments (19)I love your cactus and succulents! I have horrible luck with them. Very pretty landscaping. I guess I am being unrealistic. I have looked over the internet over and over. I love flowers, I don't really care for the typical desert landscape. So I think I am going to stick to fall/spring flowers. and let the beds sit empty during summer. I have horrible luck with cacti. Oh well :-) ....See MoreBright bush or shrub for under our northeast-facing front windows?
Comments (18)To add height, you could always build a "raised bed" under window with cement pavers or blocks. The downside: cost and labor, but there is a a couple benefits. 1: it would give you a little more height to be closer to the 3' with shorter plants. 2: you can fill it with soil more suitable for growing plants than the hard clay we typically see on the front range (particularly in a residential neighborhood and right up against the house no less) 3. Since your yard is more "xeric," which also often means they prefer a lot more sun as well, the different soil type and a different watering regimen would allow you to create what is known in "xeriscaping" as an oasis zone of plants that prefer richer, wetter soil, which many of the shade tolerant/shade preferring plants do. Of course 2 and 3 can also be accomplished without building a raised bed, but from a landscaping perspective the hardscape of a decorative wall would give a definitive transition between the xeric yard and the mesic bed. Just some thoughts :)....See Morewantonamara Z8 CenTex
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years ago
ruthz
9 years ago
bostedo: 8a tx-bp-dfw
9 years agobjb817
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
9 years agolinda_tx8
9 years agoGuaiacum angustifoliums is native in Bexar Co. There's still some left, although development has wiped out most of what there once was. In certain parts of O. P. Schnabel Park along the upper creek areas, and also I've seen it in that natural area park that is on the Medina River on the southside. Lovely flowers and when the seeds turn red, it's really cool looking. The green foliage with the red seeds...kind of a christmas-like look! I don't have any growing here. It's a very slow-growing plant, I believe. And I'm surprised to hear it's at that Rainbow Gardens nursery!
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agoLinda, thanks for the information and the photo. I love the unusual leaves and the white knotty stems. The flowers are a plus.
I planted my little bush the day after buying it. All the sites said good drainage is key. I dug a large hole about a foot deeper than it needed to be (took out large rocks -- that workout was good for a couple less pounds on this body -- whew!) and filled the bottom foot with gravely soil to make sure it drained well even though I had filled the hole with water and it drained in 45 minutes. According to the internet a very fast draining hole is 12 inch deep and wide which drains in 3 to 5 hours!
So here's hoping it makes it through the winter. If it doesn't -- it doesn't. Any predictions yet of what to expect this coming winter?
This post was edited by roselee on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 20:56
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
9 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoI was keeping my fingers crossed that Guayacan guaiacum coulteri purchased at Rainbow Gardens almost two years ago would survive all the rain we had last winter and spring. It did and is thriving and bushy even though I had to cut back several hail damaged stems.
I was just thinking a couple of days ago that it's about time for it to bloom. Today the first flower was spotted. Yay!
Mara, did yours make it?
Eric give me the closer to home native variety that Linda pictured above, Guaiacum angustifoliums, I'm presuming. It's looking good albeit slow growing.
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoroselee z8b S.W. Texas
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Linda