Glorious Fall

Fall is certainly a wonderful time for a Texas gardener.  And this Fall seems even better than  most. 

The heat left earlier than normal; we had a September full of rain, and while October proposes to be dry and clear with the cooler temps, watering is a manageable feat.  

And *everything* is in bloom!

When we first moved here, Dave threw a bunch of wildflower seeds on the ground. I honestly don't remember much coming up that first year, but now, every fall, for about two weeks, the whole area outside the fence explodes in yellow. I believe these are Maximilian Sunflowers.  For most fo the year, they are a sort of ugly weed, but ahhhh come October...

And the roses which have valiantly fought the heat all summer, are now showing their glory in the cooler temps!  Three weeks ago, this rose looks 95% dead, with only a few leaves left. 

Last fall, I planted this small little Lantana.  I honestly don't even remember where I got it from. It may have been the one that popped up in my asparagus bed that I transplanted.  It might have been one that I bought on clearance at Lowe's.  Where ever I got it from,  I know it was only a couple of inches tall.  

I planted it in an attempt to cover up a dead grass patch.  I added some Mexican feather grass and an Esperanza and then this spring added some Russian sage I had gotten on clearance.  Well, this Lantana has gotten *gigantic*.  It has swallowed the Esperanza and Feathergrass (I will need to transplant them further away next spring).  And it adds this great pop of color to what was a brown patch of dead grass.  Not to mention a wonderful home for lizards and feast for pollinators.

One of my favorite flowers this time of year is the Lion's Tail, they burst forth with firework-like orange bursts in the mid-fall. I have been working on this area for awhile.  I started with one bush, realized I wanted more for an impact, and have since purchased a number of others... that have all died.  Now, the one on the left is in its second (maybe third) year, and seems pretty established.  Last year, however, I had a white mist flower in front of it, and you couldn't even see the Lion Tail blooms.  So this spring, I moved the mist flower to a different bed, which gives these a lot more visibility.  Now I want to add some low flowers in front, to hide the stalky bottoms of this gorgeous bush... and I still want to add one more Lion's Tail next spring.  But for now, I am just happy to see the orange blooms!

View from my porch

Okay, so it is true, the morning glory has taken over, and i seriously need to get it under control, and ideally move it away from the garden.  But for now, i really love how it is climbing the light post.  The back porch has a very verdant feel, with the huge fire bush, even larger Esperanza and wall of leaning morning glory. A great place to enjoy the cool mornings!

And then there is, of course, my plumbago.  This is my all-time favorite plant. The one I have only been able to grow in this one spot. The dozen or so other plumbagos planted elsewhere have either perished in the hot summers, or frozen over the winter. But every fall, this guy shows his stuff.  My heart...

New Garden Bed

I planted a new garden bed where the old sandbox used to be.  I had some extra plants, and this area was another eye sore in the back yard. It isn't much to look at now, but I put the photo in, so I can compare how it grows over time.

It has some New Zealand flax, a Dwarf Pomegranate that I grew from a cutting, a Coralberry that I bought from Natural Gardener... a plant I have been wanting for awhile, some ruellia that had seeded in my asparagus garden, a Mexican bush sage cutting, a Rock Rose that I found on clearance and some lantana cuttings.  Not much to look at now, but all things start small :) I have the tomato cage on the Coralberry, because this sandy area was a favorite place for Domino to dig, and since the Coralberry is the one full price plant in the bed, I didn't want it to be dug up.