Saturday, January 31, 2015

End of Month View - January 2015

The first month of 2015 has come to a close, which means it is time to join Helen over at the Patient Gardener for an end of month view of the garden.

Veggie Beds

The vegetable beds are full of collards, kale, chard, lettuce, arugula, spinach, broccoli, peas, and brussel sprouts right now.  Some of the broccoli has already bolted, so unfortunately I missed out on some harvesting.  The collards, kale, chard, lettuce and arugula are doing fantastic - I'm harvesting several salad bowls full of them every week.


The grass is also SUPER green right now... thanks to the wet and warm winter we have been having here in Central Texas.



Shade Tree

This bed is quite sparse.  It looks like I need to do a better job of incorporating in some evergreen plants into this mix so it doesn't look so bare at this time of year.



Deck

The herb garden has plenty of greenery thanks to the lemon balm, several types of parsley, mint, dill, and cilantro.



Triple Threat

The three central garden beds in back are also relatively bare, except for the poppies, which have very robust green leaves right now and are loving the cooler temperatures.




Pomegranate 

This bed shall henceforth be known as the "Pomegranate" bed, well, since the new pom tree sits in the very center of this bed.  Similar story as the other beds - not much happening right now except weeds, which I'll need to tackle as soon as I have another weekend that does not involve rain.



Neighbor Fenceline

There is nada, zero, zilch planted here right now.  However, that will soon change when I add several rose bushes in this bed.  This is the bed that I'm most looking forward to the transformation in the coming months.



Bulb Bed

There are just a few patches of irises that can be seen in this bed right now.  I'm really hoping that some that I transplanted last spring will bloom for me this spring.  I'm anticipating that the ones I planted last fall will not bloom until next year, but we shall see.



Front Fenceline

Blah.  More boringness.  I seriously need to work on my lack of evergreens.  The most interesting feature in this bed right now is the dead purple feathergrass.  I'm hoping the grass will make a resurgence this year, since the temperatures haven't dropped too low.



Courtyard

I have neglected to do much with the courtyard in the past year since we lost our shade tree in the middle.  I'm hoping to rectify that this year and get a new tree planted in the middle, along with adding several plants that will keep the space interesting throughout the year.




Front of House

The front of the house has the best seasonal interest right now since there are several more evergreen plants in this mix.  I did a bit of pruning on all the perennials last weekend, but still need to clean out the leaves in the beds.




Be sure to stop over at the Patient Gardener to see what other January gardens around the world look like.

7 comments:

  1. A lot of work you've listed to do but there's evidence of so much work you've already done as well. I hope you'll stop to pat yourself on the back for your progress. Filling in large areas takes patience and time and it is good you are using both to help with plant choices. I hope you'll look to native trees for your patio shade - there are some great varieties to select from.

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    1. I'm definitely looking to native trees for my selection. Right now I'm leaning towards a Texas Ash, since it is a fast-growing and long-lived shade tree, and I think it would be about the right size for the courtyard (after maturing). As a bonus, it will have flowers and berries that birds will love, and great yellow coloring in the fall.

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  2. It is dis-spiriting at this time of year to see so much bare earth isn't it but I am sure it won't be long before we both have more interest in our borders. I love your front borders and they do look so good right now.

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    1. Thanks, Helen. The front borders were just added last spring, so it is amazing to see how much they have filled out in just a year! I'm looking forward to the show they will put on this year.

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  3. your garden looks so neat (tidy) Rebecca, I look forward to seeing your roses growing in such a different climate, nice veggies, my winter veg suffered in the January weather so I have none just now, Frances

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  4. So much beautiful stone work. A couple of winters to grow and your garden will be stunning. That stage in gardening when patience is needed is the hardest.
    But the front garden shows up as stunning already.

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  5. Wow, you are growing pomegranate, I have never seen anyone else doing that, I will look forward to following the progress on that. You have a lot of good and nice hard landscaping in place which will make it easy to get the new plants to look good once they get growing. I like tidy gardens with proper borders and edges :-)

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