The Fragrant Garden

01/10/2017

One of my New Year's resolutions was to be better about posting on The Fragrant Garden FB page. We had a 3 day spell of freezing weather over the weekend, with a 6 year low of 19 degrees here in Smithville. There photos were taken on Sunday morning, first showing an overview of the side yard from the front fence, and then a young frosted rose bush, and lastly a close up of Oregano leaves. This kind of cold is rare here, but welcome. It will help cut down on the insects next spring!

01/06/2017

We are having our second "blue norther" here today and through the weekend. I j ust went out to the garden and poured boiling water onto the 3 birdbaths...all forzen. I'll have to do it again later today...perhaps several times...since we may remain below freezing all day and through the night.

12/25/2016

I promised photos of flowers in my garden; I've been taking them all fall as we cycled through various bloom times. Below I am going to post the last bouquets of roses (we had our first freeze last week) and one bouquet of Camellias, the fall blooming Camellia sasanqua 'Kanjiro' and one early Camellia japonica 'Debutante'. I hope you are enjoying your holiday season, whatever the weather. It's 79 degrees here right now.

12/02/2016

I want to thank those people who have found my FB page and liked it recently. I've been very remiss in posting anything because I am so busy with design clients. I do have a collection of photos from my garden this fall and I promise to post some of them, with comments, soon.

09/11/2015

It's been quite a challenge finding someone to help mow my land this year. I started in early July, finally managed to mow the "lower half" last weekend, and am out tomorrow to finish the upper half. I'll take some photos and post them in a day or two.

Things are going very well with the landscape design business so that is my "up" for the month. My display garden is starting to perk up as the 100 degree days appear to be over...even a few rose blooms beginning to show again.

08/26/2015

Along with my current design projects, this is a time to mow/shred my 16 acres Wild Rose Ranch (actually a nature preserve but everyone on Texas calls their land a ranch). I've learned a lot from my TX Parks and Wildlife Biologist over the years (on how to manage for wildlife and a tax valuation/exemption), and can share that with clients also rural. Here are a few photos of the results.

08/20/2015

I just came in from the garden, hurrying to apply MicroLife fertilizer to roses and other plants that will bloom in the fall. I'm also cutting them back just a bit to stimulate new growth in anticipation of a late September-October and to frost flush of blooms.

08/12/2015

I've finished 3 out of 4 designs under contract, and today will write 4 new proposals. Business is GOOD! I now have a presence on the website www.Houzz.com and have been going through old photos of previous projects for uploading. Here is a photo from my very first project (1997) in Menlo Park, CA...a woodland garden scene.

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03/03/2015

The Layout Plan for the B&B in Columbus is finished, arranged so that wedding parties can walk through a rose-covered white wooden arbor and into a large grassy area in the near back yard. I've minimized the lawn further back, created a circular herb garden with seating provided, and then surrounded the edges with wide planting beds. I'm now working on the Planting Plan...mostly natives and reflecting influence from the (first published 1870, reprinted several times last 1977) famous book 'The Wild Garden' by William Robinson. We'll be using most Texas natives and a few well adapted non-native plants.

11/29/2014

It's been a while since I've posted. Not that there isn't a lot going on, but I've just not done so. I have one project in Houston nearly done, working on several large projects in Fayette and Lee counties, and soon to begin working on an 1890 era B & B in Columbus, TX. We'll be designing something period appropriate, using many native and Old Fashioned plants, and working to get it certified as a Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary.

07/21/2014

I've had my 2 Houston grand kids here for 6 days, and done nothing else but try to keep up with them. Oh, I did have a 12 yard dump truck load of mulch delivered last Tuesday and spread over the flower beds, so things are looking pretty good at the Bishop Street Cottage Garden. Here are Maren and Trace with swimming pool and swing near the front of the garden.

05/28/2014

I've just returned from what I am calling the "what we can't grow here but I still love it" tour. I visited my great-grandmother Martha's garden in Mason City, NE and came away with a gift of a bag of Iris from the current owner. I am just thrilled! We can grow Iris here, but I still miss Lilacs, Lily of the Valley, Peonies, Snowball Bush (I am going to try to grow it again...have seen it here once), Rhubarb, and others. I haven't downloaded my camera but will do so soon. I was on a travelling family reunion type trip through Missouri (sister), Iowa (step-mother), and Nebraska (extended family on both my parent's sides).