Our time in Puget Sound was magical.  Each garden, private and public, wowed in so many different ways.

I’ll start my virtual tour with the garden of one of our hosts, Camille Paulsen, @tahomaflora .

She has crafted her space to frame and enhance the many gorgeous views of Mount Tahoma, also known as Mount Rainier.   The mountain enjoys almost mystical status around Seattle and Tacoma.  The days start with an assessment about the visibility of the mountain and end on the same note.  How fortunate her family is to have this National Geographic-worthy sight from their deck, their paths, their hills, and so many other vantage points.

We were there on a clear day, and the mountain was glorious.

This little secret seating area on the edge of the hillside had a special view, too.

I can imagine sneaking away to to escape here.

Several paths wind through the property, all of them welcoming and interesting.  And many of them with an eye to the view.

On the back deck, a bit of whimsy highlights the distance of treks to similar mountain hot spots.

The light was striking as it poured in between the leaves of a collection of Japanese maples and other wispy trees.

Camille’s artistic flair extends beyond the curating of plants to include an interesting assortment of art in the garden.  Various carefully crafted vignettes were tucked throughout.

Sharing the adventure with so many long-time and new gardeners was as fun as discovering the garden itself.

So many unique details caught my eye.

Sweet spaces scattered everywhere.

The pool area was a lovely gathering spot filled with interesting pots and plants.

Tucked down the hill in the forest, koi languished in a beautiful pond, suprised by all their guests.

Enjoying some pats, Camille’s cat seemed unfazed by all the garden gawkers.

Thanks, Camille, for a great tour of your lovingly created garden.

Another post to come soon highlighting other beautiful sights from the 2024 Puget Sound Gardeners Fling.

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We’ve been fortunate to have had a little bit of rain lately in our part of Austin.  Because of our topography, it’s not uncommon for different parts of town to have dramatically different rainfall.

It’s been a rough couple of years.  Snowpocalyse Uri in 2021, another terrible freeze in 2022 and multiple days at 110 or higher last summer.

This spring feels like the garden is coming into its own.  Things are filling out and look like my vision for the space.

Jerusalem sage is one of my go-to plants.  It doesn’t mind our heat and it’s evergreen and deer resistant.

Few things perk up the spring landscape like shasta daisies.

While I have a large swath of bluebonnets along my creek bed, this year I ventured out and bought a few of the cranberry-colored ones to add into the garden.

They look so interesting compared to all the blue ones.

We won’t talk about the idea that they were bred to represent A&M University, the arch rival of Austin’s University of Texas!

A fabulous border plant, purple skullcap looks great trailing over my street-side boulders.  This soft, mounding perennial blooms reliably from spring through fall.

This scrappy little Damianita grows throughout the tough landscape of the Texas Hill country in the most difficult conditions.  Another great border plant, it grows about 18 inches tall.

The bluebonnets are almost done.  I’m just waiting for the seed pods to dry out and start to open before plucking them.  In November, I will plant all of this year’s seeds, so we have an even bigger show next spring.

The ditch lilies and the coreopsis intermingle and blow in the breeze together.

Heartleaf skullcap is another of my spring favorites.  The luminescence of the tiny blooms is enchanting atop the velvety-soft leaves.

Lemon mallow makes a striking statement against the nearby Henry Duelberg salvia.

It’s 90+ today, but we are all holding out hope that this summer isn’t as brutal as last.  Spending as much time in the garden now as we can!

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Green and purple foliage adds interest once the blooms have finished.  About 1-2 feet tall when it blooms, it spreads quickly, so make sure you give it enough space to roam.    I’ve planted it in my woodland shade garden, pairing it with ferns, black scallop ajuga, ground orchids and columbine.

Check it out – you’ll be glad you did.

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Modified for Covid protections, reservations were required and the sale has been stretched out over multiple weekends.  While there were less plants in a smaller space, that wasn’t surprising given the winter we just had and the spreading out of the event time.

As is often the case in the spring, we were greeted by one of the baby owlets that are hatched each year.  For the last 10+ years, the entrance to the center has been home to a pair of great horned owls.  The mom’s name is Athena, and she and her little ones can be seen high above the entrance arch for 6 to 7 weeks in spring.  Can you see the little one peeking over the ledge just under plant on the right side?   Learn more about our iconic feathered friends here

They still had lots of great natives in 4-inch pots and gallons.  Sun plants, shade plants, trees, agaves and grasses and yuccas.  As always, I was fascinated to learn about natives new to me, and a few of them ended up in my cart.  (Surprise, surprise!)

I’m trying Geum canadense, a woodland herb that grows as a ground cover in a woodland setting, it has strawberry-like evergreen foliage and a sweet little white bloom April – June.  Also new to my garden, I bought a Solidago – I admire them every fall and have said for years that I’d like to have one.  Well, now I do!

I also picked up several of my annual sale favorites – Helianthus maximus, calylophus, Henry Duelberg salvia, and Datura.   Having a new garden helps me rationalize my purchases these days.

After our retail therapy, we treated ourselves to a leisurely walk around the grounds.  The spring wildflowers and other bloomers blanket the beds, filling them with a patchwork of colors and textures like a beautiful quilt.

Engleman’s sage clusters brightened the beds all through the grounds.

Winecup makes a beautiful border.

Several windows create a secret garden effect, allowing visitors to peek from one part of the garden into another.

I’ll try to keep up my blogging momentum and post the rest of my pics this week, so pop back over!

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Now that the crisis is over..we are looking at our landscaping and wondering how to save the plants! JB and Whitney talk with landscape designer Diana Kirby of Diana’s Designs. She gives us the critical tips to help us figure out how to save our plants!

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As power is restored, water becomes safe to drink and the process of repairing damage has begun, it’s time for garden assessment.

It’s ugly out there. Finally able to walk my dogs, I found downed tree limbs or cut brush at almost every house in our neighborhood. Prized agaves, sago palms and other specimen plants turned to rotting mush. Tough-as-nails rosemary bushes sport black branches. This unprecedented freeze damage has left even seasoned gardeners wondering what will return and what’s gone for good? Is it dead or is it dormant?

We normally only have a few weeks left until the danger of frost has passed. According to the USDA Hardiness Zone map for the Austin area, our average last frost occurs between March 1 and March 31. It’s usually the middle of March. But it hasn’t been a typical winter.

Cacti that are mushy and seeping probably won’t make it to summer after the winter snow and ice.

The most important thing right now is to wait. If you prune a dormant plant right now and warm weather stimulates growth, the new leaves will be highly susceptible if we have another freeze, and it will then die. If you wait until the danger of frost has passed, you will give your dormant plants a fighting chance.

The center of this sago palm should be checked. If it is still hard, it should make it.

Palm trees

Native Sabal minor palm trees tolerate freezes in most years. Most other palms won’t make it. If the center bud is firm, the plant might survive. Cut off drooping, dead or damaged leaves. If your palm has a rotting crown, or you can easily pull fronds out of the trunk, it won’t come back. If you’re unsure, however, give it plenty of time to recuperate.

Cycads – Sago palms

Many Austin gardeners enjoy the drama of large Sago palms in their landscapes. Not actually palms, Sagos are cycads. They generally tolerate temperatures down to 15 degrees. Frost-damaged leaves turn yellow or brown and should be removed. If the trunk and leaf crown are hard wood, it should recover. If the trunk turns soft, your sago might be damaged beyond recovery. After the freeze of 2010, Sagos across town were devastated but most had no crown damage. By summer, new leaves emerged and the plants thrived.

This rosemary has survived 20-plus years, but not the winter storm of 2021. It probably won’t come back.

Shrubs and woody perennials

Rosemary normally does fine in our mild winters, even handling a few light frosts for short periods. Days on end of single-digit weather and wet snow spelled the end of the road for even the most established plants. You can remove them at any time — they won’t be coming back.

Salvias range from cold hardy to tender. Some Salvia Greggiis even survive to 0 degrees. If you don’t know your exact variety, the best approach is to cut them back to green wood. Once you see green inside the cut, stop. If you don’t see any green, simply cut it back to the ground and be very patient. It may come back from the roots, given a few months.

Salvia can be cut down to see if there is green in the branches.

Take the same approach with shrubs and other woody perennials that appear dead like pittosporum, loropetalum, lantana and boxwood.

Succulents

We know some plants simply aren’t cold hardy. Many agaves, cacti and other succulents won’t survive after the prolonged deep freeze and snow. A handful of species might have weathered the storm, and you’ll know if there is hope if you have a firm center inside the collapsed outer leaves.

Sotols, Yuccas and Nolinas are usually Texas tough. Many in my garden and elsewhere are looking great after the winter assault. Whale’s tongue and havardiana agaves are reported to have survived in some landscapes as well.

The plants might look bad right now, but some of them might surprise us by summer.

Cacti

Crumbled mounds of mush, prickly pear cacti simply disintegrated all over town. There might be hope for some of them, however, depending on the species. Some varieties of Optunia are hardy to 15, 10 or 0 degrees.

Agave might look very bad right now, but some of them might survive.

Cacti are very sensitive to the timing of pruning. While their dying pads and stems look terrible, it is important to wait until it is really warm to prune them. Then dust the big cuts with sulfur to help dry out the cuts. Jointed cacti regenerate really well, but the columnar ones should be cut back to the base or you will just end up with a permanent stump. If the plant is oozing, you can remove it now.

Our plants took an incredible hit. Those that survive will need much longer to recover than milder years.

Once, after a terrible freeze, I advised my clients repeatedly to wait longer before pulling out plants. I ignored my own advice and ripped out a very small Anacacho Orchid Tree only to find the tiniest green growth at the base of the plant that was hidden by mulch. So, wait, wait, and wait some more.

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We can’t turn down the outside thermostat, but there are things you can do to help your garden weather the heat.

When it’s sweltering outside, our bodies sweat to cool off.  Plants sweat to cool off too, through a process called transpiration.  Transpiration is basically water movement through the plant and the resulting evaporation from the leaves, flowers and stems.  The plant takes water and minerals from the roots and sends it to the leaves.  In extreme heat, this loss of water can be devastating.  If the water loss isn’t made up by more replacement water in the soil, the plant will wilt and begin to decline.

Water right

How you water makes as much difference as how much you water.  Because most sprinklers lose a lot of water to evaporation, watering should be done in the predawn or early morning hours to prevent scorch and maximize the amount of water going directly to the plants.  Don’t be tempted to water more often.  Frequent light watering actually hurts plants, encouraging them to keep shallow roots.  Longer, less frequent watering develops deep roots — away from the hot soil surface – that require less water.

Drip irrigation provides the most efficient way to water.  Keeping water next to the plants and using minimal pressure, there is almost no evaporation or runoff with drip irrigation.  Because this method releases water so slowly, watering takes much longer, so make sure your plants are getting enough.  Ensure the hose is properly positioned – it should reach around the plant roots.

Of course, using rainwater is great when you can get it.  Plants always prefer natural rainwater to chemically treated tap water.  Whether you use rain barrels or buckets or a cistern, collect as much as you can.

And sometimes, even more water isn’t enough.  When we hit triple digits, hot is just plain hot.   In the scorching sun, plants can get sunburned just like we do.  Plant sunburn generally appears in the middle of the leaf because edges and leaf tips can dissipate heat better.  If your plants are burning, try to provide some temporary shade until temperatures come back down a little.

Mulch well

Any bare ground that is not mulched radiates heat directly onto your plants.  A good layer of wood much insulates the soil, reducing water loss from the soil surface and protecting plants against heat.  Mulch helps prevent evaporation and retains water to keep plant roots moist.  And, it also helps control weeds that also compete for any available water.

Don’t Fertilize

As you begin to see signs of stress in your plants, fertilizing them might seem like the thing to do.  Don’t.  Fertilizing them will push them to grow, adding even more stress.  The best plan is to feed them before the stress of summer, so they are better able to handle the heat when it soars.

Identify pests and disease

Keep an eye out for pest damage and plant disease at this time of year.  Plants already struggling with health issues will quickly succumb to heat and drought.  Check for detrimental insects often.  Look under leaves and inspect in the evening, when many pests are more active.  Be careful not to use chemical products that will hurt the beneficial insects in your garden that control pests naturally.

Other causes of stress in plants can be exacerbated by the heat. In my garden, late summer marks the onset of chlorosis in some plants.  Common in clay and limestone soils high in pH, this nutrient deficiency keeps plants from synthesizing the chlorophyll they need, causing leaf yellowing.  There are many causes of yellowing, including over and under watering.  Consult with your independent garden center if you’re unsure about the cause.

Top Tips to Handle the Heat

1. Water deep and long
2. Mulch well
3. Don’t fertilize
4. Address other stress issues

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Working on a beautiful landscape. Dry creek, new front entryway and patio being laid. New irrigation done. Tomorrow – soil, plants & mulch!

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