Herself’s Houston Garden

I thought I’d have more cool things to talk about in November. I had some cool talks to attend in October and November but the speakers blew us off. That seems to be going around now. Then the usual Thanksgiving chaos hit with a bit more chaos than usual this year. And it got cold and I’m a wimp so I wasn’t out in the garden near as much as I’d like. I haven’t even covered any more grass lately.  ( But it has warmed up again so perhaps some progress can be made this weekend. )

Things go well in the garden. Some plants are not thrilled about the cold, but most of them are quite happy to be out of the summer heat and sun. I think the castor plant bought it, much to my great dismay. But I’ll leave it in the ground till spring. Many a plant I thought dead turned out to only be playing possum so I’m not so quick to remove plants. We’ll see if it puts out some new leaves come spring.

The black bamboo put up a second shoot this week. I’m excited! The shoot is still small, about 6″ tall. I wonder if there will be a time when new bamboo shoots make me cringe rather than glow?

The roses are still blooming, some of the newer ones are a bit warped from the cold but the roses seem to bloom larger in the cooler weather so I don’t mind so much.

The more delicate orchids are in for the winter, most are still roughing it outdoors.

I’m seeing less birds in the yard, but I’m seeing a larger variety. I’ve seen the hawk here looking for dinner a few times. So the birds come, they eat, they leave, instead of hanging out.

I added a photo section here a week or so ago. There are garden pictures, more and larger plant pictures, pictures from botanical gardens I visit and any thing else that catches my eye that I think might be of interest to gardeners.

This is supposed to be one of the easiest and fastest cycads to grow. They will grow in full sun to shade but prefer shade. Cones form more often on ones in sun. There are male and female plants, both have multiple cones. Cones are a bright fiery red. Most of the time Zululand cycad looks like a broad leafed fern. Leaves are pointy when mature like holly leaves.

These are not especially cold tolerant. They will need protection the first few years they are growing. Natively they grow in frost free areas with rainfall between 35″-40″/year.

They stay compact at about a 3′x3′ spread but that takes quite a while to reach. They remain single stemmed unless damaged and the stem is not usually visible.

We saw one several years older than this one and thought it was the coolest looking fern we had seen. Turned out to not be a fern, but it looks like a cross between a fern and cycad when it gets larger. Cycads are some of the oldest known plants having been around on the planet as far back as 300 million years ago.

There are pictures of some large ones with red cones in the Hawaii photos ( follow photo link above ). They are truly gorgeous. I have great hopes for this plant now.

See also:
Cycas Revolution

This is another sun loving water hating succulent. It may or many not survive over the winter here. It is not supposed to survive our cold, yet I was told by someone at the Extension office sale that hers have survived just fine outside for many winters. Flowers will come on long stems rising from the middle of the plant.

In the summer they prefer regular watering but will rot if too wet in the winter. They can do well in the shade as well just keep an eye on the water. Lower leaves can be lost in the winter and while it won’t harm the plant it may make it less pretty. Drought tolerant once established.

On a side note silvery plants do not as a rule do well in humid climates. The little hairs/fuzz that makes them silver are there to help them retain more moisture in dry climates.

See also:
Peter Lapshin’s succulent site has a ton of pictures if you are looking to figure out exactly which Echeveria you have