Herself’s Houston Garden

Grapes grow very well here. The only problem we have had is keeping the birds from eating them all.

Grapes must be heavily pruned to fruit. Prune as soon as new leaves appear. Prune heavily, cutting back to the strongest branches on each plant. Train grapes along posts and strings. This allows air and light to get to all of the vine. These grapes were planted a year ago.

Grapes like most fruit plants want full sun. These are doing fine and receive sun all afternoon, but no morning sun.

Fertilizer is not recommended or needed for grapes. I put some worm castings down in the spring. I’m told fertilizers ruin the taste of the grapes so stay away from them.

Grapes want lots of water while getting established and should be fine after that. Grape roots will go as deep as 30′.

More information:
Royal Horticultural Society, Summer Grape Care

Last week I took my first class at Mercer Gardens I’ve been meaning to do that and am sorry I postponed it so long. Programs happen in the spring and the fall. I think the bromeliad class yesterday was the last for this year.

Some bromeliads do well as house plants in this area, some do well out in our gardens. Mercer’s bromeliad plant sale is Friday (1-5), Sat.(9-5) Sun.(11-4) of this week. There will also be a bromelaid show at Mercer Sat. (2-5) and Sun. (11-4 ).

More information:
2007 Mercer Garden Pictures
2003 Mercer Garden Pictures
Blushing Bromeliad
Pineapple

Houston Garden Events Calendar

I’m noticing more hummingbirds around the feeder than I did a month ago. The tufted titmice and black headed chickadees have been hanging out in groups of a half dozen or so as well.

I’ve two pairs of cardinals here. They and the cat spend most of the chatting to each other.

Last weekend we stumbled across a bunch of heron and egret rookeries. It’s amazing. They had about 30 nests spread between 3 pine trees most of them so close the birds could walk from one to another.

The local expert on hummingbirds has told me this is the book to get if you want to know more about Texas hummingbirds: Hummingbirds of Texas: With Their New Mexico And Arizona Ranges (Tam Nature Guides)

Tiger lily is a catch all for several types of lilies. The nicest display of tiger lilies I’ve seen is when they are planted in and among hostas. You see this frequently in Asian gardens up north. I’ve hostas and lilies planted in this bed and am hoping they will fill it in shortly. The problem with this is hostas prefer shade, lilies prefer sun. This combination works well in a lightly shaded area.

Lilies grow best with lots of sun. Otherwise they seem to have no needs or care needed. I’ve found ones I’ve planted in heavily shaded areas will spread faster than the ones planted in sun. They grow little bulbils in the corner of the leaf where it meets the main stem. However they will be much smaller and more prone to mold problems.