Fall 2011 Tour : Backyard

Two nights ago, San Antonio had its first freeze of the season - 31°F. All of my plants escaped unscathed, but I know it's only a matter of time before Jack Frost catches them so I wanted to take a minute to document my backyard in its fall glory.


The peak of the season was mid-October, and the profusion of flowers has lessened, but still, looking at these pictures, I'm very pleased with how the scene has developed over the past three years.


I have two water features in the backyard, and both were out of commission until about a month ago.

This bird bath's pump burned out when we were out of town for the weekend in the spring. Tip: Do not depend on your house sitter to fill your bird bath. Lucky me, I found new pump in an opened package on the clearance rack at Lowe's. Score! Now the bird bath is running again. (I always check the clearance rack, or as I call it, the Rack of Death.)


This fountain cracked when I left water in the basin last winter. I was so mad at myself for being careless with my gift, and I was bummed that after exhaustive Internet research and a call to a local water feature store, I could not turn up any recommendations for fixing it. That is until I called a kooky handyman show on a lesser-known radio station.

When I told the host my dilemma and how I wanted to at least try something before I turned my fountain into a planter, he didn't hesitate with his answer. "You need Through the Roof!" So that's what we drove to his store and bought the same day. I painted the entire fountain, inside and out and let it dry. Voilà! So far, so good.

This spring, when the nurseries are stocked again, I'd like to plant some coral bells or holly ferns to hide the brick risers. Have you had any experience with either plant in South or Central Texas? Any recommendations?


Back to the tour. Around the corner from the lawnette is No Man's Land. I've tried to spruce up this utilitarian space with a trumpet vine on the fence, firespike in the pocket and a second confederate jasmine.


A huge pot of the jasmine was on clearance at H-E-B for only $10 in early October. The vine was healthy and I know it normally sells for about $24 so I snagged it. I am training it to grow around the window. Won't it be great to open the window and smell jasmine in the spring!


Now, a U turn back toward the lawn.


A shot of Travis' veggie gardens filled leafy green sprouts (and my wildflowers mixed in). The arbor. And the patio.


And finally, if you stand at this juncture...


... you can see both the veggie beds and the path to the front yard.

I love long shots of landscapes especially when you can compare them to previous seasons and previous years and see the changes. Cheers!

Spring Tour - Front Yard

To go along with my Spring backyard tour, here's a quick look at the front yard. There aren't many blooms right now, just the tiny purple shamrock flowers and the potato vine along the fence.

Within a  few weeks, however, my root hardy perennials like lantern, turk's cap, shrimp plant and pride of Barbados will be up and blooming, adding their colors to the space.


I think the front yard needs a focal point somewhere between the path and the swath of liriope, perhaps a tall fountain, a unique pot, a tiny tree or an obelisk trellis? I'm not sure yet. If you have ideas or inspiration, I'd love to hear them.


I've added a few more river rocks to my creek beds. If the rains ever return, I'm ready.

Along the fence, I've added a trellis with potato vine. Usually this space is shady, but it gets hot sun late in the day so whatever I plant here has to be versatile. I hope potato vine is up for the challenge.


The right side of the driveway is much too sparse this season. Most of the year, the bed is full of lantana and butterflies. I probably need to redesign it and incorporate some late spring bloomers.

A gardeners work is never done... and thank goodness for that.

Spring Tour - Backyard

The earth is awake and alive for Spring. Before I get carried away with photos of individual plants, I want to orient you in my yard. I love wide shots of gardens. They give you a sense the space and help you picture how the plant combinations work together. Seeing plants from afar also helps me learn about their light and moisture requirements.

So join me on the tour... first up, the backyard.


When you open the side gate and step a few feet down that gravel path, you can see espaliered figs and coral honeysuckle on the left and veggie and herb beds ahead and on the right.


When you round the corner, another veggie bed and the arbor come into view.


Turn around and you will see the side bed veggies, the beginnings of our air conditioner screen and a rain barrel.

I'd love to have a bunch of sun-loving tall flowers along this wall (maybe roses), but veggies take priority. There are plenty of flowers that I can plant in part-sun, but veggies require full sun, which is in short supply, so this spot goes to them.


The view from the back corner looking toward the house. Note the beautiful Miss Bailey sitting pretty on the patio for the tour.


Our summer relief, the arbor.


The view from the back door toward the grassy area. As you can see my two-year-old xylosma hedge was hit very hard by the freeze. I hope this was an isolated incident because I am counting on those plants create some privacy from my neighbors' yards.


Along the side of the arbor is my part-sun, full-sun and even shady flower bed (depending on where you are relative to the rose bush) that eases the transition to Bailey's grass.

One more shot of the pillared rose since this is its big season and it's about to undergo a major pruning.


Bailey's grass and my slow-to-grow foundation plants.


Around the corner on the other side of the house is No Man's Land. This area used to have a horrible slope, but we added some railroad ties and leveled the ground with mulch. We also built a second compost bin out of pallets.

Every yard is entitled to its ugly area, but I'm trying make this space pretty by tucking some shade-lovers into the pocket between the railroad ties and the fence. (We left a gap so we wouldn't trap moisture or put weight against the fence.) I'm hoping that MomMom will give me some fire spike cuttings when we visit her soon. I might paint the new compost bin too. I found a can of dark blue outdoor grade paint in the garage. We shall see...


The last stop on today's tour, a view from the compost toward the xylosma.