Filling the Frame

One of my favorite regular reads is Gardening Gone Wild. About each month they have a photo contest in which other bloggers are invited to share their best submissions. I tend to be contest-adverse (too much pressure!), but Saxon Holt, one of my favorite photographers/contributors, was judging and had a great theme: Fill The Frame. Here's my entry. Since I had such a difficult time selecting my entry, I though I would share the other images I was debating between:

Loved this use of these decorative pots and the play of texture in this south Dallas garden - from this year's Garden Conservancy Open Days tour.

Since I was constructing my kitchen garden just before this tour, I was paying close attention to everyone's paving materials.

Isn't this reclaimed brick great?

A very colorful play on a Dallas icon, especially when painted on an unusual garden material. This was a very Industrial Chic garden.

Lovely lotus leaves.

The plant combo of the dark purple coleus paired with ornamental millet and colocasia was captivating me. So I kept trying to find the best way to showcase these plants. Found this great planting in the gardens at Cantigny Park, Wheaton, Ill.

Might have to plant some ornamental millet next year. Reminds me of crazy cattails. This was a purple variety. I imagine it had much more color earlier in the season.

Strongly considered this one for the contest. There were lots of great entries, per usual on GGW. The results should be interesting and enlightening.

Strong and simple purple coneflower. Another contender.

Similar to the entry, but this one has harsher lighting.

I almost entered this one, but worried it was a bit too static and formal.

Gardening Gone Wild's Picture This Photo Contest: Fill The Frame

I'm so indecisive. I need to pick a photo for one of my fav garden blogs' photo contest and it's now down to the wire. Which image says "Fill The Frame" best? Argh!

What's blooming, August

I hope dragonflies (and damselflies) are good luck. It's been hot - of course, it is August in Texas. We got a good rain last week, but I'm hoping for more in the future. Keeping up with the watering gets old. But I am pleased to report the horticultural oil I sprayed on my trees had a greatly reduced my pests (scale, aphids & spider mites). I may have to do another application on two of my crepe myrtles, but the pest load was likely reduced by 90 percent.

Damsel fly resting on crepe myrtle 'Nachez.'

The dwarf wax myrtles have really taken off. A happy surprise.

Bloom on crepe myrtle 'Nachez.' These trees were slow to set flower, but it's still their first summer.

Pink 'Knock Out' rose. Still doesn't look like much, yet.

Butterfly bush 'White Profusion.' Starting to get big and fill up the empty fence line. Good.

'Caldwell Pink' rose. This is a compact and very tough little rose. I actually got this plant as a freebie when ordering climbers for my last garden. It had been living a very stressed life in a pot until last fall, until I finally got it in the ground. If a plant could have danced for joy, this would be the one. It's been blooming and healthy, despite the pest plagues around it.



The 'Teddy Bear' magnolias are still looking pretty decent, even when not in flower. The glossy effect of the horticultural oil made the leaves look very nice. Another benefit of spraying I never considered.



The grasses, 'Adagio' maiden grass, are starting to put out their plumes.



I'm loving this recent acquisition, humming bird mint 'Cana.' And I actually saw a little humming bird at it one afternoon last week! The leaves have a very lovely scent. A great, tough plant.

One of the many blue dragonflies. The frequent the back garden regularly, buzzing up and down the pathway. The boulder is a nice warm landing pad.

Garden tour

May has been an intensive month for gardening and garden touring, and we're only half-way through! I figured I'd better post my images from the Denton County Master Gardeners' tour (held every Mothers' Day weekend) before I hit the Garden Conservancy's Dallas tour tomorrow.

Many learning opportunities can be found on garden tours - how other gardeners create solutions to common problems, what plants are doing well or have become (too?) popular, etc. The Denton County Master Gardeners went the extra step to supply literature, experts and demonstration stations at each garden stop. My faves were square foot veggie garden (hello, raised beds) and the values of soil amendments, specifically compost and expanded shale. I use both of these products liberally when double-digging my new beds. Love 'em.

Here are a few more good ideas . . . .

Want a green roof without climbing a ladder and freaking out your spouse? Try birdhouse first!

Happy water lilies.

We all loved this huge white clematis, which we believe is Clematis 'Henryi.'

Another fave was this rose, 'Mermaid' I think it was. It was quite large, in shade and had super clean foliage and flowers. But the best scent of the day came from Rosa 'Veilchenblau' (not pictured).

Want an herb/veggie garden? Get a horse trough and plant away. Not everything has to be difficult. Really. I heard a lot of positive responses from touring gardeners about raised veggie beds constructed out of cinder blocks. Not the prettiest, but practical and economic. Not permanent either.

A lot of really lovely gardens have one thing in common, great vignettes. Makes for great pictures, especially if you keep it simple.

Happy koi.

Glad these bunnies haven't found my veggie starts yet. I'm sure this gardener and her grandchildren love their tea parties.

From the same beautiful garden as above. This lady has whimsy down pat.

And she probably hosts great parties. I know a few other gardeners who give Martha a run for her money. Of course I love going to their gatherings. One day (when the boy is older) I'll be a super hostess again.

Nothing says happy like a bed full of daisies!

Spring break at the Wildflower Center

A few pics of our spring break visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Spring comes a little earlier to south Austin than to Dallas. The bluebonnets were just starting to pop out down there. It snowed (!) the day we drove home to the Big D. The snow this year has been crazy!

Keeping busy

Nothing too exciting to report. Just keeping busy with the kiddos at VBS, chasing after the boy and waiting on servicemen to fix things at the house. The construction next door is in full swing. They're almost done framing the neighbor's house; wasn't it just a slab on Monday? 

A very helpful landscaper was out yesterday to fix a broken sprinkler head. It was a construction causality; probably the first of many. I'm now becoming very aware of how much light is going to be blocked by the new house. It's on our north side, where we did enjoy an unobstructed view, if only for a short time. But we knew it was coming. I predict we'll have a warmer and more shaded micro-climate between the houses. Hmmm, maybe this is where I can plant my camellia (currently pot-bound at a good friend's home)? Hubby wants a fence there, pronto. But that will just get damage by construction too.

Since I don't have anything in bloom here, I'm sharing eye-catching colors from the past. From my old garden and garden travels.