O-o-o-o - how pretty! I'm with you - LOVE spring and all the lovely colors after the dreary winter!

Pat

I can't tell you what I love more. The climbers (roses)are my favorites in my garden. I have 4 Lady Banks,2 Cecil Brunners and a swamp rose(sort of climbs). That walkway with the paisley is so striking.
I have to plan out my next garden (moving July of this year probably.) instead of "plunking". It just looks so scattered here. I'm also new to TX native plants so I've learned quite a bit in the last 3 yrs. I came from the desert so my gardening quickly overgrows me here!This is last year's garden PJ

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VERY NICE LADIES!!! I'm looking at what 14" of snow did to all my daffadills, they are now horizontal!!! Grrr! But it was sooo magical to wake up with the quiet of a snow blanket! No power wasn't as fun, but it still had the peace that comes from not drowning out the bird chiping with the TV!!! I had transplanted a bunch of primroses and they all took, all along one garden bed, like a border of them and it is sooo pretty, I'll have to get a pic for you! It's 8:30pm here right now and too dark to take a pic right now.

Oh, wow, PJ - how very lush everything looks. On your roses, my DD near Dallas has a Cecil Brunner among many other roses, and that thing acts like a Lady Banks. The trunk on it is huge, and of course almost covers her pergola. Takes some real work pruning it. I see you have a Ficus inside. I move mine to the patio every spring, and this year, it's too large to move back inside, so I'm gonna have to chop her off. Do you know if you can propogate those from cuttings? Don't know a thing about them. Mine is seven yrs. old and I got it as a small plant at Lowes. It's now too large to move in/out so I hate to kill it. Was I think the first plant when I moved back to the States in retirement, so it's been through a lotta moves b/f I finally settled here. Your house looks similar to mine. So you plan your garden. I dug every one of these beds w/a little hand hoe, and just plunked plants here/there. It just evolved. I used to work outside all day every day, until I was bitten by the mosaic bug, and now the garden is so neglected. Going junking today w/a friend, so can't work outside.

Boy things have really bloomed since I was there Slow.The petunias have really grown.So beautiful, I love your yard.Do your plants burn up in July ,Aug like mine do?

Very Pretty, things are just starting to pop out here. Nice to see a great garden

Slow, My Cecil isn't a shy climber! LOL! I'm taking one of the Cecils and the purple Lady Banks with me when I move. I'm going to combine the purple Lady with "Mermaid" it has a single, white saucer sized flower. I'm going to mix the Cecil with a red single climber called "Skyrocket" and allow both to duke it out on pillars! I was thinking about adding mosaic embellishments to the pillars but you won't be able to see the work and that will irritate me! LOL!
The rest is going into raised beds to help me control the GRASS!!! They don't call it the "grass land praries for nuthin'!
Ficus is very,very,very hardy except for freeze. It can be bonsai.
Most folks I've read about toss a too big Ficus and start over. You can cut it back but it will take awhile (and look icky) for it to grow back. You can most certainly "top" it. My best future advice is to just leave it inside. I never take mine out. (I have to overwinter a gazillion plants as it is!)It really does do better just left where you want it and pruned to fit. I have to start selectively pruning mine soon. It has finally reached the ceiling in a few places. (water spouts that don't "weep".
They are easy to propigate in moist soil. Here's a link with more info on Ficus. One post involves quite a bit of condecending toward people who are getting the hang of indoor gardening but he/she has some good info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ficus info

oh I'm jealous PJ, I've been trying to get my hands on a lady banks for years. Just saw one on availability list again today... we're borderline for it here but that won't stop me.

Thanks, PJ, for the info - I could have done that - stupid me!!! Can't quite bring myself to toss this huge thing, but I REALLY don't have room inside, nor proper light for plants. Your plans sound wonderful for future plantings. NT - I saw several Lady Banksia today. Wish I could send you one. Check out Antique Rose Emporium - it's in Brenham, TX. They have a wonderful array of roses, and they ship from October to April. It's probably pretty late to get some of their best sellers, but that's where I ordered most of my roses. I've lost several the last couple years from over pruning, and one bush rose was so danged thorny I got mad and cut that sucker down and dug it UP!!! CRACK - lots of the annuals tend to get weary in August, but I've actually had Petunias winter over in pots on the patio. By then, I'm pretty sick of taking care of them, so have stopped planting for winter - Pansies etc. Dallas DD says Petunias burn up there, so she doesn't get many of them. I bought a ton more plants today - all the time remembering "for every plant you buy, you have to dig a hole, fertilize, water, deadhead etc." But, it's spring and I can't help myself.

Spring fever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice, is it worth coldframing? I did one of my boarder line plant boarders with pvc and 6 mil plastic. Then again I'm insane. LOL! I've read LB is good to zone 6 but I wonder about the blooms. They tend to be frost sensitive. We had a couple mild frosts here (wierd for this area) and my blooms were brown tipped. LBs bloom in March/April so if you have late frosts your flowering might be hit and miss. PJ

well I'm zone 7 so I'm hopeful with a little micro climate location...

They won't bloom that early for us, not enough degree days accummulated your march april will be may for me

I finally bit the bullet and ordered up a 4' staked specimen be added for delivery... as it is, it's coming from 4 hours south of here and will be several weeks ahead in flushed growth...

It will be the omen that this house will sell this year - I finally get my banks..

and with that said... because I created all these gardens for the idea that my retirement would be cutting and selling arrangements. So everything I planted is meant for cutting materials.

Since Dh got this bug to move us, I've decided if this is my last year here I'm gonna enjoy cut flowers constanly - also once we list the house, having fresh flowers in here will be a nice touch!

last weekend my girls and I cut tulips and daffs. I had thought that if I conditioned them for half a day in seperate buckets we might escape the dreaded narcissus sap problem - to no avail, the tulips blew out in a matter of 3 days...
but it was pretty

My lilacs are coming on strong, I have some conditioning outside right now. I'll try to share pics with you all as I make arrangements.

LOL!!! on moving!! I found a few rarish(is that a word?) native trees for N.Central TX and we're moving in 2 months or so! Thankfully I've only been here a short while (3yrs) so I'm going attempt to move these trees. They are under 4ft so I'll only have to dig 1/2 way to China. The area I'm going to is close in climate with better soil.

Lilacs I am officially jealous.

I had no idea about Narcissus and Daffodil sap. TX and where I'm from in CA is too warm for Tulips.

Your flower arrangements are just gorgeous. I'd probably buy your house based on the gardens alone!

What color is your L Banks? PJ

You REAL gardners - (I'm an amateur) w/love a gardening site. My DD in Dallas is still thanking me for sending it to her. Check out Moosey's Gardens - Moosey's Gardens. It takes time to explore, but you get so caught up in it and get such inspiration that it's worth it.I watched Martha Stewart last night and was ALMOST tempted to plant Peonies, but today - NOT.

PJ, I'm after the original yellow. So far the nursery is showing it on my order soo keep your fingers crossed - I've been this far with them before and had it drop off the availability before it shipped.

SLOW, real gardeners? pe..shaw! You're gardens are as beautiful as any I've ever created! I love that site and know it very well.

yep, I love peonies for cut flowers - oh the smell mmmmm
speaking of smell - wish I could share this scent over the puter.

the iris are total indulgence I know, but I pick them with several buds so I just deadhead the arrangement daily.. although they look like beardeds, they are only just budding now. These are my earliest Iris, a shorty called pumilla. in the background to the right you can see one of my yellow magnolias going gang busters right now mmmmmmmmmmm, one of my favorites

How funny! "real gardeners? pe..shaw! " That's exactly what I thought! ROFL! No such thing I'm tellin ya. What I lack in talent I make up for in enthusiasm and tenacity.
Nice is right about your garden Slow it is lovely.
Nice you're a smelly gardener!(guffaw) ok that's an old joke. I'll bet that smells like heaven about right now. Did I ever mention I'm CRAZY about purple? I know purple flowers are common but they are still my favorites. I want more scent in my garden too. I'm going to throw in some non-natives for more scent and add more natives that have smell. Hopefully my next garden will stick with the plan I have on paper and in my head instead of "random plunking".
L.Banks I like the purple and the white but the double yellow is the showiest and the most hardy by far. It also has smaller almost lacey leaves to me that are really attractive. Good choice I hope you get it. If you don't I can mail you one. They are common here. PJ

tenacity is a key element to gardening, years ago my assistant gardener on an estate coined the phrase "you have inner terrier" when describing me LOL!

I've never seen a Banksia in purple. I appreciate the offer of sending me one but I think I should be getting one on the next truck - just as soon as they have a truck comming this way!

Slow, What BEAUTIFUL gardens. I can smell the roses down here in Florida. I LOVE roses but can't figure out how they will grow in zone 9b.. YOur place is lovely

NT, Oh spring flowers all over your house while you are selling it!! Sorry so see you are moving, but that just means a new garden to design and a fresh plate...

Oh, I remember the Brenham roses place,i think I will check them out, maybe there is some kind of rose that will do well here with salt tolerance.

mermaid, I lived in Simi Valley Ca for about 5 yrs.Simi V is zone 9/10 It's a "dry heat"( I don't know where you are on humidity etc...) roses go bonkers there. Many of the commercial roses come out of zone 9 and 10. A Lady banks WOULD eat a house in Zone 9 so you gotta be careful.
ROFL! "inner terrier" is so cute! My mom in a moment of frustration labeled me "pitbull on a hambone". I like terrier so much better!
I suspect Purple Lady Banks is really "Veilchenblau". It's just so darn hard to spell I stick with Purple Lady Banks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Veilchenblau

OOHHHHHHH pretty.

PJ, We are in humid central Florida.. And we're across from the beach so we always have to buy plants that are salt tolerant. Luckily, and pocket book unluckily, we had to drill a new well, and it went down deep so we caught what they call a "sweet" spot, and it is not salty and you can drink it.. so the sprinkler won't ill my plants any more. But we still have salt air and humid....

We had some nice roses in Texas..

Just planted a bunch of cosmos seeds and they are coming up like crazy in my flower pots, so most things i love do grow well here...

Oh wow, I've grown that! I took cuttings from one at a hotel that was being torn down, rooted them easily and they turned out to have a hardy root all the way to New England! I loved that rose

You're in luck Mermaid! Lady Banks is salt and humidity tolerant. LOL!
Florida is really beautiful and as the name implies many completly gorgeous flowers will grow there :)
I've only lived really close to the beach once. (Half moon Bay San Fran) I loved the sound and the smell of the ocean. I think I would like Florida better tho. I'm not much for chilly weather and Half Moon was too cold for me.
nice, how neat! I love pass along plants and plants with a history! I get a lot of my native/rarish plants from a nursery called Weston Gardens. It has a ton of history as a rich man's party place back in the day. They turned it into a nursery/historical demo garden thing. If I had the money I'd rehab an old Victorian house and re-create the gardens in a minute! PJ

Oh, the thrill of a new dig. Look what I did yesterday. I bought several "full sun" plants last week, and have been fretting on where to put them. I have so little shade so what to do but dig up more of the front yard. It may look a little weird to y'all, but I think when it gets all filled in w/MORE plants (cuz I went a little wild) it'll look fine. Less lawn, more flowers is fine w/me. BTW - I feel like FLAG's 18-wheeler ran over me this morn. Bod is getting a workout for sure - can eat MORE cookies today.
New Dig

I haven't had a chance to buy one plant so far...no dirt under my nails..just grout.........and how I miss feeling the earth in my hands.....the weather here has been God-awful whenever I have a "free day." Too cold....always raining lately........etc................and rain coming THIS weekend.........gish..............so I am enjoying everyone's pictures. Cannot wait to get nice weather so I can scratch in the yard like a chicken. Thanks for sharing!!!

Got the concrete borders around most of it and need to buy more of those and mulch. Got the Butterfly Bush planted. Hmmm - I might need to buy more plants to fill in the bridge to the Mexican Pot. Got another bed to dig for the False Indigo. Don't know where to put the Sago Palm that I bought after being inspired once again by FLAG's magic garden. Also have a Black Elephant Ear, and a Podocarpus Yew. WHY do I DO this? Just can't control myself when I go to a nursery.
Update

Gorgeous!!! I love your new bed. My favorite is the ornamental grass in the pot surrounded by what looks like day lilies? You can grow Black Magic Ele ears anywhere. IN the water,in a pot,in dry shade,full wet sun....Amazing plant that is!
I have a confession to make. (Looking side to side paranoid) I hate sod. There I said it!!!
I know it's "outdoor carpet" and all but I find it boring. The best low maintenance lawn I ever had was a clover lawn in the desert. I didn't mind the bees and all I had to do was mow out the weeds once in awhile. People that don't want the bees mow down the flowers. I have been looking for a TX native groundcover (besides buffalo grass) but bermuda is very resiliant!