June 4 , 2015
Superstar Plants, Pool to Pond, Fungal Control
Despite downpours , laborious freeze and drouth , Cordia boissieri(also call Mexican olive or Texas wild olive ) is still on my list . For a few years , I ’ve regarded a neighbour ’s modest bush / tree as a “ test , ” which I ’m afford A+ . butterfly head for nectar on its splashy bloodless flowers through summer . snort will snag those fruits when they mature . So would deer if we had them in my neighborhood!Here ’s more from a past blog . Hummingbirds are heading for native coralbean ( Erythrina herbacea ) all over town , like in designerLisa LaPaso’sgarden . Fungal diseasealso appreciate our plants and lawns right now ! But Christine Sill ’s story start up last June when a section of her healthy low - water Zeon Zoysia sess started to slump . A lawn society name chinch microbe , but after discourse and fertilizer , it just mother worse , especially when they state her to water more . Needless to say , she dumped those guys!Daphne and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologistWizzie Brownagree that it was not chinch bugs . chocolate-brown piece is to blame .
So , what to do?Daphne recommends activate again and adding compost to ensure ripe drainage and healthier soil . Remove all affected turf , plus a little extra around the margin to shun errant spore . address with a fungicide , re - sod and keep off over - watering . Here ’s the whole story with many thanks to Christine !
The Natural Gardener’sJohn Dromgoole recommends Actinovate as a good brown patch preventative . Chinch bugs lean to hit blistering speckle along the edges . If you surmise them , bury a tuna or cat food can and take with water to see if you get any musca volitans . Get more ofJohn ’s lawn tipsto avert brown plot of ground .
The City of Austin ’s Grow Green programidentifies lawn problems and solution . In the past , aerialPhytophthora fungushas plagued dear drought tough summertime annual vinca , normally called periwinkle . But who can refuse such pollyannaish colors , like these from Greg Grant ’s troublefree heirloom seeds , paired with white Zinnia angustifolia?Most winkle are such tidy little plants for containers and edge borders . Daphne picks periwinkle asPlant of the Week , especially theTexas Superstar‘Cora ’ vinca series for its impedance to the devastating fungus . Since screen it at habitation since 2013 , she reports that it ’s a dependable re - seeder , undaunted by our cool , rainy spring . This workweek , meet the latestTexas Superstarswith Brent Pemberton from Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension . One is ‘ Arctic Frost ’ satsuma , so cold - hardy that it survived 12 ° at his examination garden in Overton . Two long time ago , I channelise to Overton where Brent gave me the luxurious term of enlistment of their rigorous testing to ensure a works ’s worthiness in your garden . Another that ’s passed the psychometric test is ‘ Little Ruby ’ Joseph ’s coat , a low - growing glow of color that even direct reflected heat ! drouth problematical , it needs estimable drainage . Perfect for containers , too . Fragrant alyssum attracts pollinator like nuts , so it ’s always sad to lose this wintertime friend . Guess what ? Now you’re able to occupy that vacuous spot with summer , drought - problematic White Stream lobularia , a intercrossed alyssum . Our “ superstar ” Viewer Picturegoes to Mary Valente and her husband , who claim out front railyard lawn for flock of constitutive vegetables . They even grow extras for a neighbor who is n’t able garden these daylight . John Dromgoole ’s arrest sport tipsfor part with the landfill by recycling instead of tossing old , broken objects . On tour , Irene Anderson and John McMillan recycled the swim pool that came with their theater into a natural pond . go with their tiddler , including son Chris Smartt ( who works with Irene in their really cool garden shopSol’stice Garden Expressions ) , they deform a maintenance squealer into wildlife home ground all year . For natural garden artistic production , Chris craft a concrete mushroom cloud onto a felled tree branch . look on the whole inspiring taradiddle now !
Thanks for stopping in ! See you next workweek , Linda
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