Outdoor
The Garden Guy
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
Aqua blue pots in the landscape and staggered on the side of a hill were not my idea, but that of my bride, the person who pops up on my phone as “Jan My Love Winter.” This is the color I have avoided like the plague for most of my life. To modify the French phrase, this project was going to be my “‘Peace’ de Resistance.”
You see, Jan is a gifted and natural plant groomer when it comes to our mixed containers, so making ‘Peace’ is the goal. The containers have two sections, a lower reservoir for pea gravel and the upper-level for a good lightweight potting soil which I consider the critical element for all containers and baskets.
I was also required to drill drainage holes in the upper-level compartment and in the bottom. Since the containers were to be staggered on a slope, I decided to wait until they were planted to level up not only with each other but from every angle in the landscape. For this I used wood shims much like you would use for furniture in an old house.
To read more pick up a copy of NTFR magazine. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Tony Dean, [email protected]
If moisture is adequate, there are several winter annual grasses that dominate the landscape during early spring in Texas. One of the most common is Rescuegrass.
This winter annual is native to South America but grows over much of the United States and can be found in all ecoregions of Texas. Rescuegrass is easily recognized by its flat seed head.
Numerous seed heads produce seed that is transported by animals and can quickly spread to other areas.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker
The National Garden Bureau has designated 2024 as the ‘Year of the Angelonia’ and I am in full celebration mode. As I was preparing for my contribution to the celebration, I was, however, sent into taxonomic trauma.
For the last 26 years of deep love for the Angelonia, or summer snapdragon, I have told everyone via newspaper, radio and television that they were in the Scrophulariaceae family. Since most gardeners don’t like those words, I modified or simplified the snapdragon family, but somebody has tinkered with green industry happiness and moved Angelonia to the Plantaginaceae or plantain family. I immediately reached out to my friend Dr. Allen Ownings, Horticulture Professor Emeritus with the Louisiana State University AgCenter. I said, “Did you know this, or better yet, did you do it?” He said, as I expected, that the Taxonomist group had done it. This reminded me that someone once said taxonomists have to eat, too.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Jelly Cocanougher
Brazen rumbles cut through the daylight stillness. Enamored by the grandiose symphony of the firmament, tinged in anticipation from where the light will snap next.
The clouds dance in the sky as a love letter to the electrically-charged synergy of the ground and air. It moves unashamed, reckless, and bold. It is raw power that could command attention for any being, a reminder that we are attuned to the primal opus of flora and fauna. The spirit of the prairie was awakened, the hands of a cowboy rests at the heart of it all, a symphony in combination.
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