Everything was fine in the backyard until a polar vortex 64mph wind gust decided to take the canopy situated over the fountain and toss it into the back of the house. The structure, originally secured to the old fence behind the fountain, was moved and re-staked into the ground while a new fence was built in November. The wind decided to pull up the stakes and send the canopy and frame flying. The custom fabric top was beyond repair. A friend claims the unpredictable wind is because there’s nothing between here and Canada except snow fences.
All four corners ended up in different directions. Bent and broken crossbars.
It’s been welded back together thanks to my ’Mr. Fixit’ son-in-law. New top on the way. Another arctic blast arrived on Friday Jan. 6 morning, with bitter cold (17 degrees — windchill 6 degrees) and a dusting of snow turning to black ice. Friday night traffic has been snarled for hours. Predicted to be 72 degrees again on Wed Jan 11.
It was 70 degrees on New Years Eve Day and a quick tour around the garden showed all the plants, though mushy, survived the three day deep freeze two weeks ago. I mentioned in a comment a few weeks ago about cutting back iris’ green leaves in November. Here’s a pic of iris that were mowed down to the ground with a lawn mower on Oct 31. They were back stronger than ever, along with weeds. Now they’re just another pile of mush from this newest hard freeze.
Gardening in north central Texas is like no other place in the country. We experience 100+ degree heat and relentless sun in the summer, ice storms and hard freezes in most winters, tornadoes and floods in spring, and autumn’s mixed bag of drought/heat/wind/cold. My pocketbook has learned the hard way to plant Texas natives and other vegetation like bearded iris and peonies which can withstand the onslaught of variables. 100% perennials. I can name hundreds of plants which will NOT grow here for more than one season. Your area of the country will have its own native plant species to check out. You’ll probably be surprised by the variety.
- I depend on three 50-gallon rain barrels to augment watering during the year. Some of my favorite dought/heat/cold tolerant Texas natives are:
- Turks Cap (malvaceae — mallow family)
- Flame Acanthus — hummingbird bush (anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii (A. wrightii));
- Penstemon (beardtongue) — Brazos River variety
- Jewels of Opar (portulacaceae talinum paniculatum)
- Autumn sage (salvia greggii).
- And of course all the wild flowers so adored by Lady Bird Johnson
- Milkweed for the monarchs
All these plants draw a myriad of bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Herb/vegetable container gardening is limited on the deck to tomatoes and basil to feed my addiction to ratatouille.
Flowers are my passion. I grew up with a garden full of peonies in Chicago and was determined to grow them here. Everyone said I was nuts, even the nurserymen. Doesn’t get cold enough, they said. Well, hah! Here’s the trick to growing them in moderate climates: cut back in October and don’t water. Peony varieties in the garden include Sarah Bernhardt, Gay Paree, Karl Rosenfield, Brother Joe, Pink Hawaiian Coral, and Bowl of Beauty. They bloom here from late March thru the end of April. Gay Paree bravely put up a bud at the beginning of November only to be done in by the first arctic blast.
- The garden includes 25 year old antique roses (pink blush ‘Old Pink’ with an enchanting fragrance),
- day lilies, spider lilies, naked lady lilies (amaryllis belladonna), canna lilies, hardy amaryllis,
- rosemary, red yucca, blue agave, japonica (winter flowering quince), English lavender,
- Texas Star hardy hibiscus, crossvine (bignonia capreolata 'Tangerine Beauty' ),
- gerbera daisies (gerbera jamesonii), nandina, asters, liriope muscari, coneflower, lambs ear (stachys byzantina), black-eyed susans (rudbeckia),
- Texas sage (as in “The sage in bloom is like perfume, deep in the heart of Texas”) These plants provide non-stop color for 3 full seasons, with a fair amount of green and a few spots of color in winter, especially the bright orangy-pink of the quince and the winter red leaves of nandina.
Just because we’re in zone 8b doesn’t mean winter doesn’t happen. If you’re looking to fill an empty space in your garden, consider these amazing perennials and your locals native plants for a lifetime of color. If these plants can thrive and flower here, they can probably survive anywhere.
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.