Garden Photo of the Day

A Garden in the Making

A gardener enjoys her first spring in a new home

Tenley Raj in Houston recently moved and is experiencing her first spring in her new garden! A rule of thumb when you move is to not plant anything new until you’ve been through the first spring so you can see what has already been planted. Tenley is discovering lots of fun things, even though it is still early in the growing season.

How lucky am I to be welcomed by a bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis, annual) popping up in a planter I brought from the old home? Bluebonnets are among those wildflowers that are often difficult to grow at home in a garden, but if you are lucky and live where they grow naturally, one might just move in all by itself!

Ferns and greens sprout from a rock in a normally shady spot. It is amazing how plants can find a way to thrive in the most unlikely of locations. Will this recently transplanted peony survive the odds and bloom in Texas? We can hope. Most peonies perform poorly in climates without some winter cold, but this one looks good so far.

Eleven-foot-tall oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia, Zones 5–9) mingle with palms in the side garden.

A nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus, annual) dangles from a terra-cotta pot beside a holly tree. I wonder what else will pop up here?

Gertrude the cat meets a young bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis, Zones 3–9) in the shade garden. A rose gets started on a trellis in the background.

 

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Comments

  1. user-7008787 04/23/2018

    Love this! Gertrude looks so excited!

  2. User avater
    treasuresmom 04/23/2018

    Love surprises. Yes, wait for a year so you can see what pops up. Share again when more is there, please.

  3. User avater
    meander_michaele 04/23/2018

    What a gorgeous hunk of rock you have there, Tenley, that is providing such a nice growing environment for the fern. Looks like it is at the start of something involving river slicks ...a dry stream bed, perhaps? The first growing season on a new (to you) property is certainly filled with surprises and the repeat of the question "is it a weed or a welcome plant?" Good luck with always getting the right answer!

  4. sheila_schultz 04/23/2018

    It looks like your new gardens are off to a fun start, Tenley! Have a most wonderful time discovering all the little surprises, the adventures are about to begin!

  5. Chris_N 04/23/2018

    I love the rock with the ferns. It looks like someone must have had a nice garden there before. Enjoy the surprises and good luck on your new gardens.

  6. btucker9675 04/23/2018

    Enjoy your new garden! Does Gertrude do any weeding?

  7. Maggieat11 04/24/2018

    Love that rock photo! Lovely surprises along the way..... Best wishes in and for your "new" garden!

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