Herself’s Houston Garden

Any time after the last frost is good and the sooner the better.  Traditionally Valentine’s Day is considered the day to prune your roses.

{before pruning}

These are young roses. I planted them less than two years ago when we moved down here. They have done very well. I have not pruned them heavy. I wanted to give them a chance to settle in some first.

You need to cut off the dead branches first. Then starting at the bottom remove any branches growing in towards the center. Then the branches that are thin or weak. Then any branches crossing other branches. You should end up with a bowl shape to the plant.

{after pruning}

I also cut the tallest branches back by at least half each year.

If you prune your roses back to about a foot tall you will get fewer but larger roses. If you prune your roses back to about two feet, you’ll get more roses but they won’t be as large.

A good rule of thumb on how far back to cut your roses to cut as low as the first group of 5 leaves.  Roses grow out in groups of leaflets.  Find the lowest group of 5 and cut to about 6″ above that leaflet.

I’d never seen this plant before. I was wandering through HD looking for good loot in the garden section and there it was. I have it planted in the swale garden.

We are at the southern edge of where it will grow. It is rated for zones 4-8.

It is a bog plant, but will tolerate moist areas, which makes it perfect for Houston.

It wants sun to partial shade but it also listed as a good choice for shady areas on several gardening sites. This one is in light shade. It will grow to 12″ to 15″ tall.

This plant did not survive the summer in Houston. If the droughts don’t get it the heat does. I’ve tried them in several locations, sunny, shady, wet, damp and dry and it just can’t take the heat.

I’m told the best way to grow this in Houston is to put it in a pot, and put the pot about halfway down in a pond.  ( you want the water level about half way up the pot )

This is a smaller version of the traditional umbrella plant. It is in the papyrus family.

It is a bog plant. I have it in the swale garden. So it wants to be in wet or at the very least damp soil.

It has browned a bit over the winter here. I have not watered much in the cool weather. It could be that or it could be from the cooler weather I am not sure.

It will grow to about a foot and a half tall.

It wants full sun, but this one has light shade and has done well.

Cold is not a problem, we had many cold nights well below freezing last winter and it’s no better or worse than it was any other year.

It has less tendency to seed so it is not as likely to take over your garden as are other plants in this family. Notice there are no seeds at the top center of the umbrellas. The ones that are invasive are the ones with the tiny brown seed clusters onto of the umbrellas.

This plant has done well, stayed put, but filled out and required little from me.  Every spring I cut it to the ground as about half the stalks brown up and die each winter.

If you want an easy water plant consider this one.