I planted this Oakleaf Hydrangea last year in my new shade bed. It's just popped into flower this past week. So lovely...

Still getting some decent lettuce from the 'Red Sails', 'Black Seeded Simpson' lettuce and a few other varieties, including a burgundy test lettuce. I imagine that they'll only last another week or two with the heat.

Here is one of my salad beds...a crazy mix of greens around the edge with carrots and some Apricota poppies (Papaver rupifragum) in the center. The poppies are just starting to bud. Should be lovely once they come into flower...

I seeded some Nasturtium as a border to one of the veggie beds...just because I had a packet of seeds kicking around. They just decided to pop into bloom yesterday...

A lovely orange Nasturtium with some purple-leafed test lettuce in the background.

A yellow Nasturtium at dusk...

It's been a great spring for strawberries! We've got quite a harvest going this year. You know they're perfectly ripe when they pull right off the stem without you having to snip them. My fingers have been pink for days from picking and eating them right off the plants. I just can't help it!

Strawberries are perennials and will usually start producing well the second year after planting in a sunny location. I like to mulch mine with pine needles before the fruit starts to set in early spring to help keep fruit off the soil.

The biggest pest issue I have with strawberries in the N. Texas area are pill bugs (rollie pollies). You can treat strawberries with spinosad if they become a problem for you. During fruit production plants will need good consistent watering, but be careful because they are also very susceptible to fungal problems with too much water. Make sure they have good drainage. Okay, I've got to go pick more berries!

How to water, especially when its hot

1. What time of day is best to water? As a general rule, how often and how deep should I water?

Early morning is the best time to water if you can. Watering during the evening or at night encourages fungal diseases on your turf and ornamentals. Watering during the middle of the day or afternoon can cause scorching. High soil temperatures also make it difficult for plants to take up water efficiently. When it comes to turf, the less often you water the better. Setting your sprinkler system for only 10 or 15minutes a day will do more harm than good. Shallow watering causes a shallow root system that is susceptible to disease and damage due to heat and cold. Water your turf about once a week for an hour early in the morning. In the heat of the summer you may need to increase to twice a week, but only if your grass is wilting (the blades will curl and it may have a bluish tint). Herbaceous ornamentals, such as your summer annuals, may need more frequent watering as summer progresses. Their root systems usually reach about 6to 12 inches deep, so check the surrounding soil every couple of days. Established trees and large shrubs only need supplemental watering during periods of drought, but newly planted trees should be watered frequently and deeply until they reach 2 to 3 years of age. Soaker or drip hoses are best used to keep your woody plants watered properly. Your goal is to deliver 1" of water per week to established plants. You can audit your irrigation system by using several small tuna cans. Place them in different irrigation zones and let them run till the cans are filled with 1" of water. Then you'll know how long to run each zone to deliver the right amount of water.

2. Sprinkler systems are expensive. Is it really worth the investment?

There are several reasons why a sprinklersystem may or may not be right for you. If your landscape contains mostly woody plants and herbaceousornamentals with little turf, you may want to stick with soaker-hoses/dripirrigation and hand watering. However, if you have an expansive lawn or youjust don’t have the time to water, a sprinkler system may be the way togo. Turf requires deep watering inorder to encourage a healthy root system. Hand watering or watering withmini-sprinklers usually doesn’t do the trick. A sprinkler system allows for proper and consistent watering with littleeffort. Because sprinkler systems arecontrolled automatically with timers, you can ensure your landscape won’t lievictim to drought while you’re on vacation in August! If you aren’t ready foran expensive underground sprinkler system, you may want to consider using anabove ground stand-alone pulsating sprinkler, such as a Rain Tower. Stand-alonesprinklers are several feet tall and connect to standard garden hoses. In the long run, a good sprinkler system canincrease the value of your home, which may make the investment a worthy one. Personally, I don't use an in-ground sprinkler system, but then perfect turf grass is not at the top of my garden priority list.

3. What kind ofmulch is superior for moisture retention?

Mostgardeners use organic mulches, which are derived from plant material, toconserve moisture in their landscape. Inorganic mulches include lava rocks, pebbles, plastic, or landscapefibers. Inorganic mulches can conservemoisture, but they do not break down to improve soil structure nor do they addnutrients. An important value of organic mulches is that they continuously addorganic matter to the soil surface in addition to conserving moisture. Homemade organic mulches can be produced byrecycling yard waste such as chopped or shredded leaves, wood chips, and drygrass clippings, or you can purchase mulches from your local gardencenter. Shredded hardwood or cedar mulch is anexcellent choice if you are going to purchase mulch. Mulch should be applied as a 2-5 inch layer on top of yourexisting soil. Over-mulching will limitair and water movement to the soil and cause disease, so make sure not to overdo it!

4. What is the trick to using soaker hoses?

Drip,trickle, or soaker hoses are ideal for use on woody plants, herbaceousornamentals, and vegetable gardens. Soaker hoses use less water thanconventional systems, such as the handy garden hose, operate at lower pressuresthan sprinkler systems, and save water by preventing run-off. Soaker hoses actually “sweat” water asopposed to spraying it into the air. The key to using soaker hoses is to bury them underneath your mulch.This not only holds the hoses in place, but also ensures that the moisturereaches the soil instead of getting trapped in the mulch. Soaker hoses are alsovery useful for keeping your foundation watered, which is crucial during ourhot dry summers. Place the soaker hosesalong the drip line of your home, or about 18 to 24” away from the foundation. You'll also need to run your soaker hoses much longer than you think, which may be several hours. Check the soil with your fingers to see how far the moisture has saturated within a given period of time.

5. Observe your local watering restrictions. In Dallas, restrictions run from March 1st through October 31st with no watering by automated systems between 10am-6pm every day. You may hand water with a hose or watering can during this time, but you cannot leave automated systems or above ground sprinklers running.

Not sure why I don't have more clematis planted in my garden...I think I just don't have many perfect spots for them, which they do sort of need..the "perfect' spot that is. When I do plant them, I usually try to combine them with another shrubby or vining plant to shade their root systems. This Clematis, 'Ramona' (planted for my little doggy Ramona), is planted with my Rose 'Abraham Darby'. It's winds itself up along the rose plant for support. So lovely.

Favorite Roses in Full Bloom

Well, the very cold winter we had did provide some benefits. The strawberries are going to provide a bumper crop, as well as the peaches, and the roses got the full chilling hours they needed to look fabulous this year. The cold weather killed off many of the fungal spores as well so even the finicky English hybrids have gone blackspot free this spring!

Texas is not always kind to many of these roses, particularly English hybrids, but I'm a stubborn horticulturist who wants what she wants! So I put a fair amount of extra TLC into bringing out the beauty in these roses that typically prefer a cooler climate.

Rose 'Pegasus'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

'Pegasus' in the forefront, 'Abraham Darby' and 'Fransika Krueger' in the right background, 'Perle d' Or' in the left background. A 'Pat Austin' and 'Tamora' are just out of view. I have an fabulous 'Ebb Tide' hidden in the back that is just luscious.

Rose 'Abraham Darby'
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Wow...I love blue in the garden. My blue spiderwort (Tradescantia) has started blooming in the shade garden. Aren't these flowers, and their reproductive parts AMAZING?