Dusty Miller
The weather lately, has been pretty hard on plants, here in Central Texas. We’ve had record lows. And, the highs have been a lot lower than normal…..for days.Where there aren’t many blooms around here, there is foliage, still hanging in there.
Above is Dusty Miller. It’s a good stand by, for this part of the country. No effects from the cold…held up in the drought and heat of the summer……and, the deer don’t like it.
Good old Texas Sage, cenizo. This is a small volunteer. I’ll be moving it somewhere else soon.
Jerusalem Sage, Phlomis fruticosa. This is another grayish leaf, with a fuzzy texture, so the deer don’t like it. It doesn’t seem to be fazed by the cold, and the heat didn’t hurt it, either. There will be more of this planted this spring.
Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora. This is another tough plant. The deer don’t like it, but they kept pulling these up. They finally took hold. I like the foliage….which is good. As I understand it, the deer will eat the red blooms.
The Nandina is about as tough as you can get. Some consider them invasive….but, as I’ve said before, I like them.
I think this is Vinca Major. It’s a ground cover that was here when we got here. I’m not wild about ground covers. They tend to take over. But, this one is green, even after our 8 degree temperature.
Out in the deer grove, the daffodils from last year are up and looking nice and green. No buds, no blooms. Well…there was one bloom, and a bud that froze. I’m actually surprised they lived through the drought last summer. Maybe I need to feed them, this year.
I may also try moving a prickly pear or two. They get covered with grass, too. And, they don’t get much sun out here. I can always use more plants.
Agarita, Mahonia trifoliolata, is another tough, native plant. I understand it doesn’t like to be transplanted. It makes a nice shrub, with yellow blooms in spring and red berries. These didn’t have either, this last year. Maybe not enough sun….or, too little rain. I might try moving a tiny one, and see what happens.
Over in the fenced veggie garden, the Swiss Chard is doing pretty well. I planted it too early. The very cold nights we’ve had set it back some. But, it’s coming along.
Daylilies are peeking up. This one is supposed to be evergreen. That might be in less frigid winters. All the daylilies will get moved to the fenced yard. That’ll leave more room for veggies.
Looking outside, there seems to be a lot of green. I know a lot of the country is under a layer of snow. In fact, I heard just the other day, there was snow in 49 of the 50 states.
The DFW storm dropped a record amount of snow….12.5 inches!! Our former neighbor up there, sent a picture of the view from her front yard, to our old house, in the snow. Thanks, Rose.
I would have loved to see it in person….but, this green is pretty nice.
Pam at Digging, is the inspiration for The Foliage Follow-Up. Go over to her place and see what other gardeners are showing.
Stay warm.
Great post. I am weary of nights below freezing and days with cold wind. Daffodil foliage is beginning to send up a bud here and there as if to promise that it will end soon. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good assortment of foliage for the winter. The twisted leaf yucca is cool. I used to grow dusty miller but it always died in the winter here in North Florida.
ReplyDeleteNellJean~~You have had more 'winter' weather than we have, I think. My friend in Thomasville is ready for winter to be over, too.
ReplyDeleteHi, Melody~~You may have been having the same weather as NellJean. We're all ready for spring, I think.
The Dusty Miller has always been a reliable plant for me. Anything the deer don't like, is one of my favorites, these days.
Evenwith all the cold and rain we have had you have lots of green. Let me know how you do with transplanting. I had a couple of volunteer Texas sage and I just never got round to moving them so they are in rather an odd place. I did move a tiny one and it had very long roots. I think that is the problem with moving these natives. They naturally put down very deep roots before they appear up top so it is hard to get them out. I would like to move a few twist leaf yuccas though. Didn't that snow look pretty. I wish we had had some as it really makes the landscape pop.
ReplyDeleteMoving a prickly pear is pretty easy, so long as you wear gloves and wrap the pads in newspaper or an old towel. Or you can just break off a few pads and stick them in the ground somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteJerusalem sage is a favorite of mine, as is agarita. Thanks for participating!
Hi Linda, I enjoyed your garden. I think we share similar ideas. I want to see foliage in winter so I have a lot of the same--lamb's ears, agarita, sages, yuccas.
ReplyDeleteI've transplanted twistleaf yuccas. They have tap roots that go miles down into the ground and have to be cut off. The small ones will adapt, don't know how well for larger ones. But this might be a good year to try when it warms some.
We live south of you but not that far. The bloomer that attracts b'flies in winter is rosemary. I'm sure it does well where you are. I'm partial to the prostrate variety. Seems more hardy in my thin clay. And the mature plants bloom from fall through spring.
I love the Dusty Miller and Hesperaloe, which we grow here as well. I am looking forward to seeing your Daylilies later this spring :^)
ReplyDelete