The Final Frontier....

This is the back of the house last fall.  Yep...it was dry out there.

A couple of years ago, I dug out a small bed back there.  

It wasn't much, but it worked for the time.  I had other irons in the fire.

You can see one of my solutions for shielding plants from deer....upside down tomato cages.

It actually works...sometime.

I had wanted a raised planter box along here.  But, the moaning that occurred whenever I mentioned the 300 landscape bricks and all the loads of soil to fill it, made me rethink what I wanted.

So, on to the new plan.  

We dug a bed, added some compost, and put bricks and rocks along the edge.

It's looking pretty good, so far.  All the plants are from other areas of the yard....

Autumn Sage, Prickly Pear, Candy Lily and Iris, Salvia Leucanthus...and some Mexican Feathergrass babies.

I moved what I hope is a Coral Vine to grow up this trellis.

It's all drought resistant.  This area gets LOTS of afternoon sun.  

Right now, we're enjoying the blooms on the Prickly Pear.

So, it looks a lot different.  I think I like it already.  And, when everything fills in, I'll like it even more.

Ah...the Last Frontier.

Well....maybe.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2009

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens , garden bloogers around the world celebrate what is blooming in their gardens at the middle of each month.

Here in Central Texas, the heat and drought has taken it's toll on many of the plants that might be giving us a show this time of year. With a lot of work to keep things alive, here's what's blooming in my garden.

A pretty pink begonia in the shade on the porch.

A yellow bulbine keeps hanging in there, again on the porch, out of reach of the deer.

A bright pink calibrachoa, in a hanging basket on the garden fence. The deer don't bother this. Bright hot orange and yellow of a gaillardia. A new hanging basket of landmark lantana. Love those little pompom blooms.

Mexican oregano.... A coral periwinkle, to replace the chomped gazania.

A white periwinkle, to replace the chomped gerbera daisy. Deer don't seem to like periwinkles.

The cool blues of a plumbago. Soft pink upright ruellia.

Bright red, heat loving verbena.

And, last, but not least...

Candy Lily, pardancanda norissii, from the old house. This is another plant the deer haven't touched. It's from the iris family. The bloom is only a couple of inches across, and only lasts one day. It blooms much better if deadheaded each day.

So, that's it from this garden in the central part of Texas. What's blooming in your part of the world?