tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75670664980087760412026-05-10T17:04:41.023-05:00Stimulating growth, one seed at a timeCarolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.comBlogger292125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-6826064266366134942024-09-29T13:21:00.004-05:002024-09-29T14:01:27.167-05:00

On Wednesday, forecasters predicted a 40% chance of showers. I didn't think too much about it; nothing on the radar looked all that promising. I had carpal tunnel surgery that morning, and spent most of the afternoon sleeping off the general anesthesia. Miraculously, a big old raincloud popped up after dinner, directly over our neighborhood, and dumped nearly 2 inches of rain on our

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com0Austin, TX 78758, USA30.3870686 -97.7036560999999892.0737499766034979 -132.8599061 58.700387223396504 -62.547406099999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-73480696651301613772023-08-20T20:06:00.012-05:002023-08-22T12:56:28.904-05:00

The red oak in the front yard developed some sort of spreading branch rot that, unfortunately, necessitated its removal.This is the red oak tree that lost more than half its canopy in February 2021's Winter Storm Uri, a/k/a Snowpocalypse 2021. Lori recommended we take it out that summer, and replant another tree that fall. She hated its over-pruned lollipop look; she said if it were her yard, it

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com5Austin, TX 78758, USA30.3870686 -97.70365609999998914.191630554081645 -115.28178109999999 46.582506645918357 -80.125531099999989tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-67438819759613892102023-01-15T21:36:00.014-06:002023-01-16T19:08:21.184-06:00

Remember that time I wrote a New Year's post with my blogging intentions? Back then, I was going to post once a month. Alas, that didn't happen. I threw up a quick blog post last March, just before the cut-off to qualify to attend The Fling, which basically said, "Hey! I'm still here, still gardening, slow going - more soon!" Turns out, that was the last time I posted.Now I'm thinking a good goal

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com8Austin, TX, USA30.267153 -97.7430608-10.699290673629179 -168.0555608 71.233596673629179 -27.430560799999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-51102534799269291002022-03-03T22:47:00.077-06:002022-03-04T11:10:23.877-06:00

Making very slow progress on the garden.  Currently on a search for a bunch of oakleaf hydrangea to plant along the front border of the house. Took a look at Barton Springs Nursery last night before Pam Penick's Garden Spark event tonight, but didn't see any - will keep looking.  They take a couple of years to become fully established, but once they're settled, they require no pruning

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-63032220384141221582021-02-14T17:54:00.011-06:002021-02-16T10:52:33.709-06:00

Naturally, the year Austin experiences the most extreme winter weather in decades, with historic lows and blizzard conditions, is the year I install a brand new new garden and take the torn film off the greenhouse! The local meteorologists are predicting lows of around 9 tonight and 6 tomorrow night, which means we're gonna lose a lot of plants. Here's my new front yard plant list - let's see

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-85281413128250934062021-01-15T18:30:00.002-06:002021-01-15T18:38:41.629-06:00

The new front yard garden plants are in! All the new plants are shade-tolerant, drought-tolerant, frost-tolerant, evergreen and low-maintenance.Sweet new vignette pictured below, foreground to back: Webberville sedge (Carex perdentata), autumn crocus foliage (Sternbergia lutea), pale-leaf yucca (Y. pallida), sparkler sedge (Carex phyllocephala 'Sparkler'), giant leopard plant in bloom (

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-53258453192042318522020-12-05T14:28:00.001-06:002020-12-05T19:40:52.492-06:00

My garden-blogging friend Annemarie came over a few Saturdays ago to try to dig up my gigantic Caesalpinia mexicana to replant in her garden, and it was just impossible. We dug all around it and under it and could not budge the multi-trunked beast. It's a gorgeous drought-tolerant bee magnet that blooms all spring and summer, but it wants to be a thicket of full-grown trees and I thought I was

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com10Austin, TX, USA30.267153 -97.74306080.88129108155614944 -132.8993108 59.653014918443851 -62.586810799999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-44278368704485060652020-11-20T09:43:00.002-06:002020-11-20T09:43:46.713-06:00

Texas in Drought Again (Still, Always)It's mid-November and my garden is as dry as a tumbleweed rolling down 290 West toward Junction. My yard has received less than 3/4 inch of rain in the past two months. Nearly everyone in Austin got a good soaking in the second week of September. But my garden hasn’t seen much more than a brief shower or two since. Latest Texas map from the US Drought

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com0Austin, TX, USA30.267153 -97.7430608-27.538071043781542 121.6319392 88.072377043781543 42.881939200000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-52157247085134944232020-09-01T14:11:00.005-05:002020-09-01T16:27:52.568-05:00

Here's some dirty truth about composting. Composting is great for the environment as part of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle approach to sustainability.  However, recycling works best when seen as a last resort to the other two options, reducing and reusing. Meaning, if one throws out massive amounts of uneaten produce into one's compost bin each week, perhaps one might give some thought to

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-64827880563787325922020-01-26T21:50:00.002-06:002020-01-26T21:53:36.835-06:00

We're finishing the fence we started in 2016. The chain link fence and its accompanying English-ivy-choked hackberry thicket is GONE. The tree service brought in a backhoe to dig the trees out, and Jack and I are taking turns attacking the remaining English ivy vines and roots with a pickax. Soon there will be a wood privacy fence on both the back and the side of our yard. The old shed is

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-39713590220413123732020-01-25T06:00:00.000-06:002020-01-25T06:00:27.224-06:00

I attended the 2019 Garden Bloggers Fling this past June with nearly 80 garden bloggers. Someone (not me) dubbed the Fling "plant camp" and I think that's an apt description!  For three days and four nights we ate, drank, socialized, and ogled over plants and gardens, public and private. The days were quite long and very warm, as summer days are, and we did a lot of walking outside in the

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com0Denver, CO, USA39.7392358 -104.99025139.3486558 -105.635698 40.1298158 -104.344804tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-5225594941183017862020-01-19T15:53:00.000-06:002020-01-19T15:53:38.746-06:00

Texas citrus season is at its peak and we can't let any of it go to waste! My friend Connie brought me two big bags of lemons and oranges from her mother's trees in Ellinger, Texas. I decided to make marmalade from some of the bounty. I used Jenny's recipe - the one she posted on her Rock Rose blog - and followed it to a T. Looks promising! I'll give the marmalade a full 48 hours to

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-91010850137613026392020-01-17T20:55:00.000-06:002020-01-26T21:19:06.916-06:00

We're getting ready to tackle some long-awaited home and garden projects: finishing the backyard fence and gate, a new roof, and solar panels. I can't wait to show it all off. In the meantime, enjoy some winter photos from Central Texas. If you think our mild winter looks a lot like fall - it does! Backyard gazebo, roses and oak Bearss lime blossoms in the greenhouse 'Old Blush'

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-61563859151426120332019-01-27T17:09:00.000-06:002020-01-26T17:48:15.766-06:00

The Whale's Tongue agave in front of the house bloomed last spring, and has been slowly decomposing ever since. Bloom spike emerging in mid-April Bloom spike getting taller - end of April Dying back by September Because our biannual city brush pick-up is scheduled for Monday, the agave had to be removed this weekend, to avoid doing the job during a blazing hot summer, when the next

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-12139430793883617112018-10-16T07:00:00.000-05:002018-11-18T18:35:26.351-06:00

This basket plant (Callisia fragrans) has never looked so good. Normally by this time of year I only have a couple of good-looking sprigs to bring inside. This year - wowza! She is loving this week's warm drizzly mix of sun and rain, but she'll definitely want to come inside next week when temps drop into the 40s. She needs a better stylist, though I think I got most of the dead petunias

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-20407324216926598582018-10-14T19:10:00.001-05:002018-10-14T19:10:32.686-05:00

Fall green beans are in! I planted these the first week of September.  Some are bush beans and some are pole beans - all different varieties, whatever was left in the seed box. The lower leaves are a little yellow from all the rain but hopefully we'll get them all eaten before the diseases and frost kick into high gear. Words and photos © 2009-2018 Caroline Homer for "The

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-47520595052455790722017-09-16T20:13:00.000-05:002017-11-09T16:58:21.966-06:00

After sulking all summer, my Swiss chard has rebounded. Right before the rain, I had scattered some cottonseed meal in the bed and topped it off with some compost. Nitrogen, rainwater and a break from the heat and BOING! Chard's back on the menu. The new leaves are so baby-soft and fresh. What a treat! Words and photos © 2009-2017 Caroline Homer for "The Shovel-Ready Garden".

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-91042013178284256172017-08-20T19:03:00.000-05:002017-08-20T21:39:42.010-05:00

The American Beautyberry tells me that fall will be here in a few weeks, hooray! I'm so ready, and so is my garden. These are the sort of thoughts that run through my head every year around this time: If I plant corn/tomatoes/squash/cucumbers/snap beans now, can I still get a decent harvest before the first frost? Or should I save these seeds until spring, and plant fall veggies instead? How

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-47673783343297847952017-02-25T12:32:00.003-06:002017-02-25T12:32:49.214-06:00

I was going to skip planting veggies this spring, but I forgot I have this absurdly insatiable need to grow stuff. Plus, I have a big box of seeds left over from last year that are still good. So I planted bush beans in the bare spots around the spinach and carrots where the fall lettuce never came up. I planted chard seedlings in the bare spots between the carrots and multiplying onions,

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com3Austin, TX, USA30.267153 -97.74306079999996729.828484 -98.388507799999971 30.705822 -97.097613799999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-31452622138270366292016-07-30T17:29:00.000-05:002016-07-30T19:43:23.181-05:00

Earlier this month, I attended my third Garden Bloggers Fling in Minneapolis, MN. I and sixty-some-odd garden bloggers from all over the U.S. and Canada hopped charter buses and toured the city's best gardens, public and private, for three full days. The Garden Bloggers Fling is a fabulous way to see the lush green spirit of a city up close and in depth, and I was glad to be able to attend.

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-45996561515150845952016-05-29T18:01:00.001-05:002016-05-29T20:03:10.910-05:00

Looks like my corn patch may produce a few edible ears after all. In Central Texas, early April is the best time to plant sweet corn; our summers get too hot too quickly for that "knee high by the Fourth of July" business. I had to break down half my raised beds before the new fence was installed, and the raised beds I had left were already full of tomatoes and bush beans, so I decided to till

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-53609674861018094772016-05-22T18:25:00.001-05:002016-05-24T07:18:30.735-05:00

Months of moderate temperatures and El Niño's rains have brought forth an explosion of spring color in the garden. Bulbs, reseeding annuals and perennials burst into bloom in late February and early March, several weeks ahead of schedule. Despite all the rain, we got a couple of long-needed projects finished. We installed a 550-gallon rainwater harvesting tank ourselves, and

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-57251482428710911762016-01-20T18:14:00.000-06:002016-01-20T18:15:01.540-06:00

Surprise - the first iris of the year. A bedraggled coneflower. Mealy blue sage. Mexican bush sage. 'La Marne' rose. 'Old Blush' rose. Freshly mulched rosemary. As for foliage, we have - a sprout of Russian sage and a heartleaf skullcap seedling. Hiding under the santolina - tulip clusiana foliage. I expect the grape hyacinth, freesia, anemone and ranunculus flowers will bust

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-13234545671685807182016-01-10T17:51:00.001-06:002016-02-20T09:02:49.824-06:00

New potatoes and spinach I love fresh potatoes dug out of my backyard, with their silky smooth, slightly sweet flesh and baby-soft skins. Baked, pan-fried, mashed, au gratin, deep-fried -- it's all good! Mid-February is potato-planting time in Central Texas, which means mid-January is seed-potato-ordering time -- like, right now. If I wait too long, my favorite varieties from my favorite vendor

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7567066498008776041.post-45526053091103396322016-01-03T18:21:00.002-06:002016-01-06T10:52:17.239-06:00

Today I Learned about browser hijackers. Boo! Hiss! After writing my lengthy 2016 New Year's intention post, I posted a link to it on Facebook, in keeping with Intention bullet point 4. :) A few minutes later, my friend Robin (Getting Grounded) commented that when she clicked on my link, she was redirected to a completely different website, and wondered if my garden blog had been hacked. Aaugh!

Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12621220516578692069noreply@blogger.com7