Week 40 Tips for the Zone 9 Garden

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Jay White

I spent last night with a 43 year old friend that just survived a massive heart attack! Things like this kind of stop me in my tracks and make me re-evaluate the important things in life. While I am definitely going to do some gardening this weekend, I think I will spend a lot more time than usual smelling the flowers! Our weather woman told me that this is going to be a great weekend to be outside. With highs in the low 80s it will be a great time to do some of the more labor intensive tasks that you have been putting off. Below are some of the things you can do in your garden this weekend.

Fava beans are a cool season crop that can be planted from now until around Thanksgiving.

VEGETABLES

Start preparing for spring – Traditional gardeners can plant all year round with little preparation. By applying commercial fertilizers they can give their plants whatever food they need whenever they need it. Organic gardeners don’t have it so easy. Rich organic soil takes time to build. I generally leave a few rows unplanted in the fall garden. I add compost and till it in just like usual, but I do not plant in it. Instead I cover with leaves and a heavy layer of mulch. The leaves attract the earth worms which will begin to turn the compost into a nutrient dense soil that will feed my spring garden.
Plant fava beans from seed –. One of my four son-in-laws is an Egyptian (and a very good gardener). A big part of his food culture includes fava beans. I had never eaten or grown a fava bean before he joined our family. Now they are one of my favorite things to grow. This is a good weekend to plant them. You can plant them now until about Thanksgiving to ensure a long harvest. Click here to read an article I did on them a few years ago: Succession Planting of Fava (Broad Beans) in the Potager.

Last week, Sally and I made this arrangement for her mother.

ORNAMENTALS

Enjoy those flowers – One of my favorite things about gardening is making cut flower arrangements. Sally and I grow lots of flowers and herbs that we use in arrangements for our house, our guest house and for friends. Cut flowers early in the morning and drop them immediately into cool water. To extend the time you get to enjoy your arrangements keep them away from windows and gas stoves
Mulch – While tough summer weeds like Bermuda, spurge and purslane are slowing down, fall broadleaves like pigweed are coming on. Give your beds a good weeding and then mulch, mulch, mulch! Mulch will suppress weed germination. Plus, a good thick layer of mulch will insulate the roots of your perennials and ensure they come back for you in the spring .

Right now my lycoris are stunninging. This lovely shot is of L. radiate and L. aurea.

Lawns

Plant rye grass now – September 15 used to be the date that landscapers put out rye grass. Thanks to climate change that date is no longer accurate. Plant rye grass when day time temperatures are in the 70s to low 80s and night time temperatures are 20 degrees cooler. For very detailed instructions on how to properly over seed with rye, check out my article entitled “Doing Rye Grass Right”.

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!

Slow Down!

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Jay White

“My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah my foes and oh my friends-It gives a lovely light!” –Edna St. Vincent Millay

A couple of times of year I know exactly how Edna St. Vincent Millay felt when she wrote those words. Lately my life has been a big mess of pressure and hurry up. I am glad to say that after today I can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Regardless of what happens at work tomorrow I am loading my sweetie into the car and heading off to The Southern Garden History Symposium in St. Francisville, LA tomorrow afternoon. While we look forward to all of our little get aways, this is one of those where we feel like we have actually earned it!

This latest bout of “busy-ness” has kind of robbed me of the best fall bulb season I have ever had. I have been propagating oxbloods (Rhodophiala bifida), spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) and yellow spider lilies (Lycoris aurea) for years. Over the past few weeks my bulbs have bloomed in record numbers and their petals have been bright and gloriously colorful. I have been planting and dividing these southern heirlooms for several years now and Mother Nature finally rewarded my efforts – and I was too busy to take the time to enjoy it!

I don’t want to sound like a whiner. As the old saying goes “You can curse the rose bush because it has thorns or you can thank God that the thorn bush gives us roses”. I am very thankful that God sent me the best bulb season ever. While I might not have been able to spend as much time with them as I wanted, I did get to see them and I am truly thankful for that.

This “missed” bulb season has me in a bit of a melancholy and reflective mood. One of the things that kept us busy this past month was the birth of our first grandchild. He was born to two exceptional young people. My daughter is working on her PhD and her husband is finishing his residency. THEY are extremely busy people. Looking back from where I am now I know that I did not take the time to truly slow down and observe the miracle of my own children’s new life. Now, I wish I had. My prayer for them is that they do not repeat my mistakes. Life is beautiful! Whether it comes in the form of a precious new baby or in the form of a beautiful new flower. It is beautiful and it is fleeting.

My friends, slow down!!!! Take time to watch the flowers bloom! Hold your children, and smell them! There is no better smell in the entire world than a new baby! It may be many, many years before you get to smell it again. Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori!!!!

P.S. If you have figured out how to actually take my advice, please leave me a comment here or on Facebook!

Celebrate the Bulbs of Fall!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Jay White

All across Central Texas, Oxblood lilies (Rhodophialia bifida) are at the peak of their season. For those of us that live in areas that were once part of Mr. Austin’s original colony, these red trumpet shaped flowers have announced the arrival of fall for generations.

Oxbloods in my front bed

Here in Central Texas, no other bulb is as loved or celebrated in the fall as these Argentinian imports. Sometime in the 1870’s the German immigrant/botanist/horticulturist Peter Oberwetter introduced these bulbs to the German speaking areas of the Texas Hill Country. These bulbs were so pretty and so reliable that they quickly spread throughout Texas. Now, thanks to the work of people like Chris Wiesinger and Dr. Bill Welch, oxbloods (and other heirloom bulbs) are becoming hugely popular throughout the entire Southern part of the U.S.

A mass of oxbloods on an abandoned homesite. Photo from The Southern Bulb Company

Even though oxbloods are the most common fall blooming bulb in Central Texas, they are not the only ones. Two members of the of the Lycoris genus (Lycoris radiata and Lycoris aurea) also produce prolific blooms during the early days of the fall season. Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) are my personal favorite of the fall blooming bulbs. All Lycoris bloom on top of a single, unadorned stalk after the first fall rains. Because of this they are often called “Naked Ladies” or the “Surprise Lily”. How can you not love their big, red, exotic looking heads? Their curly petals burst open and arch backward to release long, curved stamens that look like the most gorgeous eye lashes imaginable. I truly love these flowers!

These exotic looking Japanese beauties have also been popular here for a very long time. While they do not reproduce as rapidly as the oxbloods, Lycoris are tough and reliable. These flowers are beautiful in their own right, but a mass of them is truly stunning. If you want to see some of the best pictures of spider lilies that I have ever seen, be sure and catch this month’s issue of Southern Living. My friend Dr. Bill Welch has an excellent article about them and the supporting photography is exceptional.

A stunning mass of Spiderlilies. Photo from The Southern Bulb Company

The blooms of the fall blooming bulbs of Central Texas last for only a couple of very short weeks. Since they make terrible cut flowers and are almost impossible to dry, get outside in this amazing weather and enjoy them now. These flowers make these fleeting early days of the Texas autumn truly special.

Since these flowers last for such a short time, be sure to give them ample water while they bloom. This will extend their life by a few more precious hours. If you don’t currently have your own (or enough) fall blooming bulbs, contact my buddy Chris Wiesinger at The Southern Bulb Company. Chris knows more about these charming antiques than anyone I know. His bulbs are truly the best available anywhere.

This post has been shared on the Homestead Barn Hop and the HomeAcre Hop. Be sure to check in on other homesteaders and organic gardeners!

P.S. Bulb blooms aren’t the only way I know fall has finally come to my garden. Each year around this time I begin to see Green Tree Frogs all around the beds and borders of my property. I don’t know where these guys hide the rest of the year, but the cool fall weather seems to erase their shyness.

This cute little fellow thought the cushion of one of our rocking chairs was a great place to hide.