Herself’s Houston Garden

Aztec Grass is grown as a ground cover. It has white bell shaped flowers. Blooming starts in July and continues through the summer.

If you are looking for a grass-like ground cover Aztec Grass is a good choice. Leaves are thin growing to about 18″ and variegated. It likes the shade and slightly dry soil. You can grow it in part sun and full sun. The more sun it receives the more water it requires.

Aztec grass will not grow as quickly as liriope so it is easier to keep where you want it to be.

Often this plant is confused with liriope, but it is not. Both are commonly referred to as ‘Mondo Grass’.

This was the first chance I had to get down to the zoo. It’s down in the south side of Hermann Park just under the Museum District and near Rice Village. ( So there are lots of good places to dine afterwards. )

I wouldn’t normally be talking about zoos and wild animals and strange critters on a garden blog but the grounds of the zoo are as amazing as the critters. Most of the walkways are covered in ancient live oaks. We don’t have them in New England. There are very few live oaks in The Woodlands even, but I’ve grown to love them.

There are a few topiaries at the beginning. Lots and lots of bamboo. Lots and lots of tropical plants scattered between animal exhibits and between all those wonderful live oaks. And ferns, oh the ferns! They had these enormous ferns, totally prehistoric looking. I loved them all.

For a while, while we were there it down poured as it can only do in a very warm climate. It felt like we were in a rain forest. More so than usual because of all the primate and bird noise. We had taken shelter by the tiger cage, he clearly wasn’t enjoying the rain as much as we were.

I’m sorry going through the photos today that I took as few as I did of the grounds and gardens. I’ll just have to make another trip.

I love this plant. So I planted him right outside my office window. However, it is far shadier than he would like. Indigo prefers part sun, but it can become invasive given too much sunlight. It will send out suckers and become very dense over time. It is often used as a ground cover in difficult forested areas.

Leaves fall off in the fall and return early to late spring depending on how much sun the indigo receives. It can die back to the ground in cold winters, but will return when the weather warms.

In time it will become a full bush with lots of flowers every summer. This indigo was planted last summer and is barely settled in this year.

It is not particular about the soil and is known as a good plant to try in difficult areas. It is a spreading shrub, so be sure to give it some room.

Once established it is heat and drought tolerant.

Indigo will reach about 3′ tall in full sun 1′-2′ otherwise with a 2′-3′ spread.

Flowering is on new branches.

In times of famine the seeds have been boiled and eaten or ground into flour.