Herself’s Houston Garden

I was reading a story on Life Hacker suggesting you use your cell phone camera to create a to-do list by photographing things you need at the store. It didn’t seem like a timesaver, I just type them into my to do list.

But it occurred to me that it is a great way to put together a list of plants to purchase a the local nursery. How many times have you walked by a garden or through a park and thought ‘That’s a really cool plant, I need one of those” and then promptly forgot to look up its name? Or you have gotten to a nursery, described a plant and gotten a blank stare from some high school kid who can’t believe you are bothering him? Now you can show your picture of the plant to someone at the nursery and get ‘oh yes, those are ***** and they are right over here.’

I can take pictures of my poor dying pittsoporum and ask what is this fungus that is destroying my plants and get an id as to whether it is angle or some other fungus. Then I can obtain the correct fungicide or what ever else it is I might need for the plant. Want to know what that insect is that is chowing down on your tomatoes? Same thing, get the critters mug shot on your camera, and take it to your nursery or extension office for an id.

Or you can go totally nerdy and do like Jack Bauer and email the photo to your local extension office with a description of the problem or plant and get an email back to your phone. Probably it won’t work as fast as it does for Jack but you’ll still be the coolest high tech gardener on your block.

This is a plant I lusted after up north and one of the first ones I planted down here. The first year it did nothing. So I moved it to a sunnier location. Late its fall it bloomed its first bloom and only bloom for the year. When the weather got cold I cut the bloom and kept it inside for several weeks. Again the next year one and only one bloom, but it arrived a bit earlier and the plant is spreading.

The first few years it would bloom in January, then the blooms would die from the cold. Last winter was much colder than normal and it was late July before the tuberose reappeared. Now it is early Aug and the tuberose has been up and blooming for a couple of weeks. It took almost 5 years for this plant to settle in and sync with the local seasons.

The bottom looks much like society garlic, just smooth, soft grass. The scent of the flower is why it is grown, it is used in Channel No. 5 and other perfumes. The scent is amazing.

Flowers are on tall stalks, I’ve had to stake them, reaching about 3′ tall they can reach 4′ if conditions are right. I’ve only had 1-3 flower stalks in any given year. It blooms in January and flowers are frequently damaged or drop if we get a cold spell.

Tuberose wants lots of sun to bloom which it will do very late summer, early fall.

I’m told it does not like to be too wet, so plant it somewhere it will get good drainage during our rainy times. It will need to be thinned out and divided every few years.

Tuberosa is native to Mexico, the Aztecs cultivated the plant. It is one of the first plants brought to Europe. Victorian gardeners loved them and no garden was complete without one.

Fall’s here and the leaves are falling. What to do with all the leaves?

20% of the waste dumped into Texas dumps is yard waste: grass clippings, leaves, pruning left overs. Half of that is leaves.

Leaves contain at least 50% of nutrients needed by plant life.

If your landscape style tends to natural, just leave the leaves where they fall. In time they will decompose into a rich soil. Leaves can be worked into the soil or left on top.

Leaves can be run over with your lawn mower, shredded and left on the lawn or tossed into garden beds. Leaves make a great mulch for your gardens, especially if they have been shredded first.

Compost your leaves

- place a layer of tree branches or other course material on the ground

- add 6″ to 8″ of leaves, grass clippings, etc

- add 1″ of soil or manure

- keep layering until you are out of leaves

- stir the pile monthly over the winter, and spread it in your gardens early summer

{ There is a free compost class held every first Saturday of the month Oct->March 11am-12am at 8203 Millennium Forest Drive ( off Research between Cochran’s Crossing and Shadow Bend ) }

If that all seems not to be your thing, you can at least bag your leaves in leaf bags and place them at the curb for pickup in The Woodlands.