March 10, 2010

Life returns to east Austin; CTG swag!

Last Sunday was a perfectly romantic day to garden. Enveloped in mist, I imagined I was in a far away place, mucking about with geese and cows nearby. Well, okay, anything to get past the drudgery of excavating a trug-ful of weeds from the back path near the lettuce. I paused in the muddy mess to watch a mockingbird above my head go into his karaoke routine, just for me. I bet they don’t have a mockingbird like that in far away places.

While I was there, I clipped 5 varieties of lettuce to put in the spinner.

Then, I lifted up the stepping stones & shoved mud underneath to raise them back up a bit. Tidied up with mulch.

I dug up the Brazilian rock rose (Pavonia braziliensis) from the crape bed and moved it to a spot in the cat cove where it can ramble and flower with abandon this year without annoying my crape bed vision.

I planted some golden oregano and topped off the cove paths with fresh crushed granite.

New life is everywhere.

I’m amazed at how much recovered from the deep freeze. Since the abutilons were leafing out, I pruned them back, something I’d been itching to do for a year. Freezes are very motivating. This one’s ‘Patrick’, partnered with spuria irises and columbine.

Nearby, Narcissus ‘Sweetness’ and spring starflowers continue flowering. Made notes to add more next fall.

I measured the ‘Sweetness’ flowers: approx. 2″. Gigantic Star is 4″.

Here’s Narcissus ‘Abba’ in the crape bed.

Now and then, I had to stop for a whiff from the fragrant Mexican plum flowers.

Look very carefully and you’ll see my little friend up there, urging the flowers to fruit soon.

And, great news!  The thryallis shows tiny little leaf buds. I’ll clip it this weekend.

This week for KLRU viewers, I hope you’ll tune in for our CTG Spring Special on Saturday from 4-5:30!  I’ve compiled some of our favorite viewer segments, along with the premiere of Randy Case’s incredible garden makeover. Tom, Daphne and I will be live in the CTG studio with the Travis County Master Gardeners.

If you’ve been hankering for CTG swag, here’s your chance, thanks to KLRU’s graphic designer Mark Pedini. He made sure the shirt is 100% organic cotton!

And every pledge includes the fabulous Travis County Master Gardener’s Guide, an essential for every gardener! We sincerely thank them for their generous donation. And I thank Daphne for hauling all those boxes to KLRU!

You can also join online to get the gifts and support CTG!  Really, we thank you so very much for being part of our lives every week.

Until next week, Linda

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