Gardening - 2011

Happy 2011 everyone! I hope you enjoyed the holidays with family and friends like I did. Now that we are into a new year I guess we all are thinking about our gardening chores and goals for 2011. Here in Texas the weather people tell us we will have a "La Nina" winter this year. Typically that means warmer temperatures and less precipitation. So far, that has been true. We tend to get cold fronts come through which puts the lows in the 20's with highs in the upper 40's, then a few days later the highs will get back into the 50's or 60's. Back and forth, with not much rain. As you can see from this picture, it's cold enough to add winter brown to the garden.

However, our winters do allow us to have pansies blooming all the time. That is certainly a bright spot to a cold winter day. But...I do miss getting outside and digging in the dirt!

One thing to do on a cold winter day is think about what changes to make in the garden. My goal for the little backyard always seems to be "clean up that mess!" :) I tend to accumulate a few too many things out in my garden--or can one really ever have too many things? Well, that maybe the gardener's choice, but I will have some tiding up to do. Something that maybe a big project for hubby and I in front is that we (that would be ME) are wanting to enlarge our beds that run along the front of the house. We are also thinking about cutting down some of our shrubs that are not growing well and have gotten really too big. The problem is deciding what stays and what goes. And enlarging those beds will not be easy as we have a sprinkler system to deal with. But I really would like deeper beds so I will have more room for blooming things. Right now the beds are full of leaves. I need to get out there and hand pick the leaves out of the beds as they almost completely cover the pansies. I am having a hard time knowing exactly what to do, so this project may have to wait a bit, but winter sure would be a good time to start.

Of course this time of year we all think about seeds. My wildflower seeds are in the ground, but I am already thinking about what to plant in spring: ZINNIAS!! Last summer it seemed to take forever, but my zinnias finally grew and became beautiful. They were the focal point of the yard in hot August.

Lots to think about and plan. And I know you are all there with me, dreaming of that beautiful garden in 2011.

"If winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" Percy Bysshe Shelley

Weather in Texas!!

I am such a wimp when it comes to winter! I have always been so thankful I live in Texas where winters are mild. I can tolerate the summer heat just fine, but I don't like to be cold. I kept hearing we would have an unusually cold and wet winter..but in Texas? I was not a believer--until Christmas Eve. This is what my yard looked like on December 24th. And then, this past week..the Arctic front hit.
The garden section in the paper said to cover all you could, even pansies, violas and kale. I found all the sheets I could and started covering.
Depending on where you lived, the lows were between 8 and 12 with wind chills close to zero.

We have not had a winter with temps this low in about 11 or 12 years. The highs did not get out of the 20's for about 3 days. You can see the ice on the pond. It was about 2 inches thick! Luckily it did not stop the water from flowing from the old pump so part of the surface remained unfrozen. If you look, you can see one of the goldfish. They stay down at the bottom in a type of hibernation and seem to be fine.
This is the bed around the new tree. Under all those sheets are bluebonnets I called the Wildseed Farm in Fredericks-

burg and asked them what to do about my bluebonnet rosettes. They told me they normally tell people just to leave them alone as bluebonnets are pretty cold tolerant, but with this cold they are recommending covering them if you can. Not a problem for me to cover as I just grow them in a flower bed. I worked so hard to get these flowers going, I sure would be sad to lose them.
I get so depressed in winter. It's too cold, not enough sun, and nothing blooms. But today, the sun came out and it was above freezing. And today, I found my promise for better things to come..look what I see..
Through the leaves, even after the coldest weather, there is my hope!

How exciting it was to see some bulbs peeking through. I have no idea if all the bulbs I planted will make it, but I see that a few have.

I will never be a "winter person," but seeing these spring flowers coming up warmed my heart. I can take 2 more months of cold weather, right? (Hurry Spring, hurry!!)

"If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

Percy Bysshe Shelley