Fool Proof Summer Color

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Jay White

Summer is a tough time for me. As someone that likes to be out doors, the oppressive summer heat makes it a whole lot less enjoyable for me to be outside. While the heat is a bit of a problem for me, I can adjust. I can always get up earlier or wait until the evening to do my gardening chores. My plants, on the other hand, are stuck wherever they are and they have to either adjust to the heat or die. Since our extreme climate makes it impossible for many of the beautiful flowering plants that we love to grow in the spring die by July, it can be a bit of a challenge for we Texas Gardeners to keep our beds and borders looking alive, vibrant and inviting.

A few years ago I was talking about my search for no fail summer color with my buddy Morgan McBride of Tree Town USA. Before he started selling trees, Morgan worked as a landscape maintenance supervisor for over 20 years in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. According to Morgan, the businesses he serviced wanted attractive landscapes at the lowest cost possible. To fill these requirements, he relied on three very common plants to ensure colorful commercial landscapes throughout the hottest parts of summer –sweet potato vine, purple fountain grass and lantana.

After my visit with Morgan I realized I was looking for color in all the wrong place. Instead of trying to brighten my beds with colorful annual flowers I should get my summer color from the many of the perennials that do well for us despite our oppressive summer heat. Thanks to his advice I have finally come up with my short list of Texas tough plants that will reliably provide tons of low maintenance and low water color in your summer landscape.

Foliage Plants

Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’) – Purple Fountain Grass is one of many grasses that do well in our climate. However, it is the only one that will add a lovely burgundy color to your landscape. Combine that striking color with the lovely and graceful flower spikes and you have a very showy and useful plant that can be used in mass, as a specimen and even in pots.

Purple Fountain grass is so versatile that i grow it in pots.

Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoae batatas) – With its rapid growth rate and varieties that come in colors that range from almost black to the brightest chartreuse, there is no better way to bring a lot of color to your summer landscape than with this cousin of the edible sweet potato. Sweet Potato Vine is incredibly easy to propagate and it tells you when it needs water. If you want more vines simply snip off a piece and root it in water and if you see your vines wilting, give them a little drink. Sweet potato vine is great as a ground cover, spilling over a wall or tumbling out of a pot. If you live where winters are cold and wet, you can dig up the tubers and store in saw dust for next year. Otherwise you can leave them in the ground for years of beautiful foliage.

Coleus (various species) – I love coleus and grow several varieties every year. Coleus are one of the few plants that you actually have to work very hard to kill. Coleus can take a lot of drying. If you forget to water your coleus they will wilt down pretty quickly. However, you can take some very wilted coleus, trim them up a bit, water them and watch them miraculously bounce right back. Coleus work as well in the ground as they do in pots. Group them together for a very colorful display.

Artemisia (var Powis Castle)- Artemisia is a woody perennial plant that is known for its gray, feathery foliage and its distinctive smell. There are many artemisias out there but the variety Powis Castle is the best one for most of Texas. Powis Castle loves full sun, high heat and well-draining soil. A single plant will create a silver mound that is three feet tall and five feet wide in a single season. With its lovely silver-gray color, Powis Castle is the perfect companion for plants in a variety of colors. It is lovely when paired with pink Knock Out roses or pink antique roses like “Old Blush

Powis Castle artemesia has lovely silver foliage that pairs well with a wide range of plants. Here is pairs nicely with “Hotlips” salvia

Setcreasea purpurea ‘Purple Heart’ – In my mind, Purple Heart is one of the most versatile, yet underutilized plants in the Texas landscape. Talk about color! This plant is all purple! While it does get lovely, small, pink flowers in the spring, Purple Heart is used for its lovely purple foliage. I love this plant and I grow it in mass as a ground cover. While it can get aphids and spider mites it is a mostly carefree plant that loves full sun and crowed conditions. Purple Heart will spread rapidly by sending out runners up to 3’ long. Plus, it is so easy to propagate. If you want more purple heart just break a piece off, stick it in moist soil and it will root. Truly an awesome plant for bringing lots of color to your landscape!

Nothing brings in more intense color to a summer landscape than a mass of Purple Heart

Flowering Plants

Lantana – There is really nothing bad to say about lantana. This mounding perennial starts blooming in the spring and blooms and blooms and blooms well into winter. Right now I grow a yellow variety called New Gold. However, I have grown many others through the years. One of my favorites is a red and yellow variety called “Dallas”. Lantana is the ultimate hands off plant. While I water, most varieties will survive on annual rainfall. If you water it occasionally, it will reward you with flowers for six to eight months of the year. Then, when the freeze does finally get it, just cut it back to about six inches and wait for spring.

If lantana can thrive in the middle of an HEB parking lot, it can certainly thrive in your yard. In my opinion lantana is the most versitile, tough and pest free color plant you can use in your Texas landscape.

Salvia greggii-There are many salvias that thrive in our climate. One of the more colorful and more reliable is Salvia greggii. Salvia greggii is a woody, bushy perennial that gets about three feet tall. Its upright braches are covered in little muted green leaves. However, the little flowers of this hardy plant are what make it a standout in the summer garden. Salvia greggii comes in many colors including red white and pink. However there are other variants available. A red variety called Cherry Chief is one of my favorites. However, I am also found of a variety called Hot Lips. Salvi greggii is a mannerly bush that stays where it is planted. Besides its almost year round flowering, the best thing about Salvia greggii is the fact that hummingbirds absolutely love it.

Salvias are great color plants for Texas. Many of them are native to the Southwestern United States so they bloom all summer long on annual rainfall.

Gomphrena (Bachelor’s Buttons)– Talk about a showy plant! Gomphrena grows into three foot mounds of foliage that are covered with round, button like flowers. You can find gomphrena in most colors. I have a lot of yellow flowering plants in my yard so I use two shades of purple. Gomphrena is a self-seeding annual. That means if you leave it alone the seeds from those hundreds of flowers will fall to the ground and remain dormant until spring. I like this plant because it does not really start blooming until most of my other flowers have faded. Look for blooms in June and enjoy them until the first good freeze.

I love gomphrena. This Texas Tough self-seeding annual blooms just as things begin to really heat up and then keeps blooming right up to the first freeze!

Celosia (Cock’s Comb) – When you are a gardener you just kind of assume that everyone knows as much about plants as you do. Each year, my celosia reminds me that this is not true. I guarantee that each time I use celosia in an arrangement someone is going to ask me what it is. Celosia comes in two types – the big velvety brain like varieties and the plume type. I love them both. I grow several colors and several varieties. These unusual flowers are also self-seeding and, like gomphrena, the start to bloom in June and then go all the way up to the first freeze.

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

Tips for Week 25 in the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Jay White

This past weekend I harvested my first crop of elephant garlic. This was a new plant for me and I thoroughly enjoyed growing it. While it is not technically garlic (it is more closely related to leeks) it was a beautiful plant that can be used ornamentally or for its fist sized, mild, garlic tasting bulbs. My elephant garlic was given to me by a man who has grown it in his garden for 47 years. He got it from his parents who grew it for years before sharing with him. I absolutely love plants like this. Whether they are called heirloom plants or pass a long plants, they are a living link to our horticultural past. I love finding, growing and preserving these living links to our southern heritage. If you have an heirloom plant that you love, leave me a comment. I would love to hear about it.

With it long curvy scapes and big flower heads, Elephant Garlic is a useful as as ornamental as it is as a food source.

Pest Control

Invest in a few select organic insecticides– Bt for caterpillars, insecticidal soap for soft-bodied aphids, neem oil for beetles and squash bugs, spinosad for caterpillars and stink bugs. Follow label instructions, and spray only as needed. Mark the purchase date on the product container and store in a protected location, preferably indoors.
When using any insecticide, mix up only what will be needed for the plants you are treating – I rarely mix up a gallon of anything, and often get by using a one pint or one quart squirt bottle, depending on the product and number of plants needing treatment. Once I determine how much a particular product is needed per pint, I write it directly on the pesticide container so I don’t have to scour the label and recalculate every time.
Protect bees by applying pesticides in the late afternoon or evening, when bees are less active.
Control Spurge and Puslane-These two plants are some of the most difficult to control. Both grow rapidly and produce thousands of seeds. Chemical control has little effect on mature purslane. Pull these weeds and place in a plastic trash bag. Do not compost! Apply heavy mulch or solarize if possible after you remove the plants.

When mixing herbicides or pesticides mix only what you need and clearly mark each container

Vegetables

Plant okra, sweet potatoes, winter squash and peppers-Realize this is the absolute end of the spring planting season. It may be too late to plant even these in southern parts of the state.
Water correctly- It is better for your plants, and your water bill, if you apply one inch of water every five days. Water slowly in the morning to reduce evaporation loss.
Remove spent plants like green beans to avoid attracting pests.
Top dress empty rows with compost and cover with a heavy layer of mulch to prepare them for fall planting in late July

Water deeply and less frequently to encourage deep root growth and conserve water

Ornamentals

Cut fresh flowers for the house-Cut your zinnia’s, sunflowers, gomphrena, celosia and other fresh cuts early in the morning. Cut stems on 45 degree angles, strip foliage and drop immediately into cool, clean water
Plant sweet potato vine from transplant-Sweet potato vine is a great way to add lots of low maintenance color to your pots and beds. With its bright chartreuse or purple-black foliage this drought and heat tolerant plant will add LOTS of color to your summer landscape. Sweet potato vine will provide you lots of color right up to the first freeze

Fruit Trees

Pick remaining plums-Plums will continue to ripen after they are picked. Pull when they have half color and allow them to ripen inside; especially if making jelly. Over ripe fruit left on the trees, or on the ground, invites in raccoons, possums and mocking birds
Pick Peaches-Pick peaches when they are slightly soft to the touch

I share these posts on Our SimpleHomestead Blog Hop. Be sure to stop by. The “hop” has tons of great information from gardeners and homesteaders all over the world!

My Daughter’s Wedding Flowers

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Jay White

My lovely daughter carried a bouquet that was in part grown by me

Recently, my daughter Jessie married her high school sweet heart. The wedding was OUTSTANDING! The Deacon that performed the ceremony is a close personal friend. He has known the bride and groom the entire 12 years that they have dated. He was their religion teacher in high school and a close, personal mentor as well. Because of this close relationship with the bride and groom, he was able to perform one of the most personal, spirtual and moving wedding ceremonies I have ever witnessed. I like to say that it is very good thing to be close to a preacher when you are getting married and buried, and Deacon’s ceremony was a perfect example of why I like to say that.

A beautiful wedding in a beautiful place – St. Louis Catholic Church Waco, Texas

Besides the 200+ friends and family members that helped us celebrate, the thing that made the wedding special was all of the help we recieved from family and friends. We could not have pulled this off without a ton of help from a ton of people. A very BIG THANKS to all of you!

Their theme was kind of homemade, rustic country with of touch of class. The wedding was a great example of what happens when many talented, loving people (that spend way too much time on Pintrest and ETSY) come together to create a wedding and reception that is truly special. The cake was made by one of the bridesmaids (thanks Lydia) and the cutomized cake toppers were made by an autistic artist from Wimberley. The advice tags were hand made on an authentic 1885 vintage letter press machine in Tulsa, Ok by our dear friends Kathleen and Margaret Hartley. The sign post was a gift from her brother Chris with help from the groom and their brother in law Moose. The groom and I built a menu board from an old sreen door and a bar sign that was finished off by an incredible chalk artist. And finally, our “Thank You” gifts to those in attendance were jars of homemade jalepeno jelly made by the bride, the MOTB (my wife) and the matron of honor (our oldest daughter).

While not exactly homemade, my main contribution to this homemade celebration were flowers. I grew zinnias, celosia (Cock’s Comb) and Maximillion sunflowers for her arrangements. I don’t want to over state my contribution; most of the wedding flowers were bought. However, I grew enough that our dear friend Carolyn Bruich (with the help of her lovely daughter Madeline and many other close friends) was able to use some of my flowers in each and every arrangement and bouquet. Growing these flowers was a labor of love and I love that my daughter wanted to include them in her special day.

Weddings are great. Not only are they a great way for two people to publicly express their love and committment, they are a great way for all of those who love the bride and groom to come together and create a truly and remarkable day for them. I am so happy for Cameron and Jessie and I wish them all of the best.

For all of you that are married or are planning on getting married, I leave you with some very wise words that were shared by the groom’s older brother and best man Colt Bell. “I hope each of you find, or have found what these two have; being a great person on your own but then finding that other great person that makes you truly amazing”.