Viewing comments posted by Bubbles

I bought every one of the Tropic Escape hibiscuses I could find a couple of years ago. They were beautiful, always blooming. Toward the end of fall, I noticed I had lost a couple. They were just sticks. I found that they were cuttings that had each been started in a piece of Oasis. When the roots could no longer penetrate the Oasis, they died a slow death. Just as you check your geraniums in spring, you should be vigilant and check your smaller hibiscus pots. You can always cut the Oasis away.

Matchstick is a somewhat hardy bromeliad. Blooms in early spring. After the blue and pink spikes have finished flowering, those spikes turn fuchsia and stay that color until late summer or early fall.

Hardy to Zone 9a, the mature height is 36." Likes a mildly acidic to neutral soil. From northwestern Australia, Kimberly Queen is a tall upright fern with narrow dark green fronds. It prefers light to partial shade and regular watering. If mulched well and kept somewhat dryer, this fern will survive most winters in Austin, TX (Zone 8b).

Wavy cloaks are native to the southwestern parts of Texas. Mature heights 6" to 12". They are well adapted to arid conditions and like well drained, somewhat alkaline soils. The fronds dry out and curl up, looking very dead when water stressed, but will rapidly turn green and unfurl when watered. They prefer light to partial shade.

Usually blooms late summer. Already blooming and producing fruit in May.

Extremely sweet, seedless, and easy to peel. Ready to pick in October. Reasonably cold hardy

Has a mild peachy flavor, requires minimal care, and bears fruit that ripens late May to June.

Sugar cane must be planted on its side, not upright.

This rosemary has pink flowers and grows 4' tall and 2' wide.

Tuscan Blue has an upright form and can grow 6' tall and 4' wide. It has violet blue flowers and broad leaves. It is excellent for culinary use.

Arp grows 4' tall and 3' wide. Useful as a culinary herb.

This has been a reliable, pest-free perennial with low water requirements. I have it growing in full sun, where it is also open to the elements of wind and cold. It freezes to the ground each winter and comes back in late February. It will grow to about six feet tall and six feet wide by late summer in my garden. The long bloom spikes consist of gorgeous electric blue flowers emerging from lime green calyxes. It will bloom from late summer to the first hard freeze. It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and neighbors (for those showy blooms).

This salvia was discovered growing in Quertaro, Mexico by Robert Ornduff in 1978. It is also known as Lolly Jackson salvia as it supposedly was found growing in her front yard garden.

Wanted to show that the beans are usually 12" to 15" long. Beans need to be planted as soon as possible, as they take the entire season to mature. May not be a good choice for more northern climates. Great vine for covering a trellis. Mine climbs an oak tree and an arbor.

This plant can be traced back to the 1600s. The English peasants gathered it from the understory of the forests and sold it to butchers, who used it to scour the blocks where they butchered meats. Also used to scour the floors.
The new growth is tender and can be steamed. Tastes like asparagus!

I have the dwarf one and it has been a great plant. Does well in our alkaline soil. Thrives in a bed between the driveway and a limestone walk. Doesn't require much water. Propagates easily from cuttings.

This salvia was found growing on the grave of Augusta Duelberg by Greg Grant. He also discovered the blue salvia, Henry Duelberg, growing on the grave of Augusta's husband.

Makes a beautiful shrub or small tree. The flowers supposedly taste like popcorn, others say marshmallows. I couldn't taste either one. I trimmed up one to make a small tree. Another is still in a pot, but had fruit this past year in spite of the drought.

Supposedly found growing in a cemetery on Henry Duelberg's grave by Greg Grant. There is also a white one that he also discovered on Augusta Duelberg's grave. It's a good story to tell. I see my white one go back and forth from bright white to pale blue, and back to white again depending on the heat of summer.

Leaves are fragrant. Smell like allspice. Mine is at least 5 yrs old but has never bloomed. I overwinter it in a cool greenhouse as it is not cold hardy in 8b.