Tag Archives: violas

Ye Olde Garden

I ♥ violas

1/23/2011 Penny Red Blotch Viola or some other cultivar?

Aside from the ornamental kale, dianthus and the lone felicia, the only cool weather color in my gardens are supplied by violas. The blooms come and go in waves, and today, the red and white violas shine the brightest in an otherwise dreary flower bed.

I’ve determined that the white violas may not be Penny series after all. They came labeled as Rocky Pure White; however, the closest determination I’ve made on the vivid red violas is Arkwright Ruby or Penny Red Blotch. However, none of the pictures I’ve seen compare to the bright red and gold-rimming of my garden specimens. I have to assume however, that coming from Strong’s Nursery, that it is likely a Penny series viola.

The only Sorbets displaying color are in the gardenia bed; as usual, the Orange Duets perform the best, constantly in flower. I had occasion to find a Coconut Swirl here and there, but it seems the Sorbets (Black Duets, Blue Heavens and the Swirls) are taking a brief respite.

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Ye Olde Garden

An affection for…

…my Tropical Breeze verbena. The cold snaps have finally forced it to halt blooming, but its foliage still remains green. I am impressed with this plant and hope to get some offspring from cuttings. According to its hybridizer, Ecke, this verbena is considered an annual, but I am thinking the warmer Texas climate might induce it to behave as a perennial. I look forward to the spring to see how well it survived winter in an above-ground planter exposed to full sun. 

…my dianthus chinensis. Even in the frigid December weather they are perhaps one of a handful of plants still blooming. The courtyard flower bed will hopefully fill out with the red and white dianthus bordering it. Meanwhile in the purple garden, some specimens of dianthus chinensis that survived the sweltering heat are now exposed (after I had cut back the overgrown gaura and salvia). Specimens of dianthus that were planted in the blue garden (picotee varieties) died off. An observation: they tend to bloom less and grow leafy in shady conditions.

…my foxtail ferns. These have been the most durable ferns in the garden so far. While the Japanese painted and Autumn ferns have died back continuously into the ground during the summer, these foxtails have continued growing and spreading. Now if I can only coax it to grow upright instead of toppling over when a new plume shoots out. Well, I suppose a comparison to traditional ferns is unfair, since these foxtails aren’t true ferns…are they?

…my violas. After their spectacular January-to-June performance last year, I’ve invested in 3 more trays of them for planting in the late fall. This season, I decided to go with the blues in the Sorbet series (purchased from Christina’s): Black Duet, Coconut Swirl, and Blue Heaven. Most of them are inhabiting the gardenia bed in the front yard and in the blue garden bed in the courtyard. I also invested in a half-dozen Penny series violas (from Strong’s Nursery), red and white, though I’m unsure if they will jump back after a week of neglect nearly killed them off.

It’s amazing what you’ll see if you stand in the garden long enough. This damp December morning I spotted an olive green bird, sparrow-sized, hopping about in the trees. My research determined it to be a pine warbler, female due to the dull coloring. While I didn’t hear any songs, it busied itself in the bare-branched myrtles, most likely foraging for seeds and/or bugs. Pretty!

Ye Olde Garden

Spring gardening part 1

With the weekend temperatures at a cool 70 degrees, the fiance and I tackled two flower beds, framing them with stone and bricks. We also dug out the weeds and put in compost plus top soil to make the beds receptive to future plantings. Finally, we decided to go with black mulch to better set apart the colorful violas that I finally got around to planting in the front beds. (I had bought another flat of blue violas from Strong’s Nursery that went on sale.) The orange, blues, and whites popped against the dark background. And not to mention, the mulch will be help stifle the weed infestation that overgrew the bare beds. My only regret is that the violas didn’t get more ground time during the last month.

In addition to the new violas, I also planted a bag of lily of the valley, purchased from Home Depot. While the packaging advertised 16 plants, I discovered 2 sprouting bundles in the bag (similar to daylily rhizomes), which I quickly put into the front flower bed. It is supposedly a shade-loving plant, and further research indicated that this plant may actually grow like a weed under optimum conditions.

Speaking of weeds, I went ahead and invested in a spreader, plus a bag of weed killer. Unfortunately the yards are overgrown with weeds, not having enough turf to prevent it. But with the sudden onset of rain this weekend, I haven’t had time to apply it.

I’ve convinced the fiance to try a kalmia latifolia in the corner bed by the door, instead of the originally planned azalea. I had already made an online purchase for the Olympic Fire variety, but soon learned that Musser Forests in Pennsylvania was prohibited in shipping to Texas. Interesting. I’m going to have to find a local source somewhere…

Last thing to report…my japanese maple Asahi Zuru is showing signs of life. Green buds have begun to emerge from their red shells. This is exciting news, given that last year, the maple hadn’t leafed out this early. It seems that sitting by the patio door getting some morning sun has encouraged it to sprout early. I’m contemplating replanting in a bigger pot to help it spread its roots some more.