the-texas-persimmon

[the-texas-persimmon]

Watering day for my indoor babies.

Right now I’m watering every other week on Saturdays. I think I need to repot the money tree into a better draining soil mix. It seems to be staying moist for too long

[the-texas-persimmon]

Big news! I think last year’s basil is resprouting!

I let the plants go to seed and then completely ignored them all autumn.

[the-texas-persimmon]

I think this is a sunflower

There are a lot of varieties of sunflower, and I may get more information about this once once it blooms. It wasn’t here last year, so this was a pleasant surprise.

The leaves seem wider than the photos of the common sunflower (helianthus annulus) or Maximilian sunflower (helianthus maximiliani).

[the-texas-persimmon]

The rain chain drain

(See also the half dug-up hackberry)

We have these beautiful rain chain downspouts around our home. However, I don’t think they can handle the heavy downpours we sometimes get.

This is what I’ve learned about rain chains:

They’re not as efficient as regular downspouts

They cannot direct water away from the house; they can only drop water straight down

They are best used as supplements to traditional downspouts

It seems to me that we’re going to have to get the gutters and spouts redone

[the-texas-persimmon]

I think this is a hackberry

Also called sugarberry. Celtis laevigata.

My FIL calls them “trash trees.” We’ve tried cutting it down twice but it just grows back stronger and bushier.

Here’s what I’ve learned about hackberry trees:

they are prolific. The birds eat the berries and spread the seeds

They need a fair amount of water

The wood is weak and they can drop branches

This information came from this website:

I also learned that the fruit is edible (and apparently delicious).

I found this YouTube clip talking about hackberry fruit:

A few of these trees have popped up around the yard. Since they can get big and since they can drop limbs, I’ll remove the ones that are poorly located. I wouldn’t mind allowing one to grow if it’s well placed.

[the-texas-persimmon]

Variegated thyme

[the-texas-persimmon]

A winter visitor

Our Texas persimmon housed an owl for a few glorious months. I believe she’s a western screech owl, and I named her Athena

[the-texas-persimmon]

I think this is bougainvillea.

Last year I tried braiding it because I thought it might grow like a wisteria. But it died back in the winter.

Some of the new shoots seem to be growing out of the ground while some are growing out of an old branch

I trimmed all the dead, old branches. Here’s what it looks like now:

This is what I’ve learned about bougainvillea:

They are native to South America

The sap can cause rashes

it loves the hot sun and dry, well-draining soil. It grows well in zones 9-11

People in my area report that their bougainvillea dies back entirely in the winter but then grows back huge by fall. We always get at least one good freeze each year, and bougainvillea do not like to freeze

There are 16 species of bougainvillea. I don't know which mine is

Most of this information came from wikipedia

Care of my bougainvillea:

I’d like to get a container like this to wrangle it:

In my (Admittedly brief) internet searching, I haven't found any routines that I feel confident in. This website recommends trimming branches back to 1/3rd and trimming off spent flowers. New flowers occur on new growth, so pruning is important.

[the-texas-persimmon]

Figuring out the basics

I googled my growing zone, and I’m in 9a. Urban Farmer recommends these vegetables during our 2 growing seasons.

[the-texas-persimmon]

Here’s what I’ve learned about money trees.

I inherited my first money tree from a yoga studio that was going out of business. I kept it alive for a few more years. Sometimes it thrived, and sometimes it struggled. Then this past winter it finally dropped all its leaves and passed away.

A few months later my husband lost his job. So, there you go- irrefutable proof of the power of money trees.

So of course I got a new one. This time I did a little reading on how to properly care for a money tree. This information comes from this reddit post and this YouTube video :

- Water only when the soil is mostly dry. Then drench the soil (I’ll try once a week at first)

- Plant in well- drained soil

- Put in bright, indirect sunlight

The Latin name on the container for my money tree is pachira aquarica, but according to Wikipedia most ornamental money trees sold are actually pachira glabra. They are native to the swamps of South and Central America.

[the-texas-persimmon]

The plants are in the ground

The wood surrounding the bed is rotting out, but I think it’ll hold for this season. That looks like a next-year-project.

[the-texas-persimmon]

I finally bought some plants.

There’s rain in the forecast, so I dragged the husband to the nursery, and we bought just a few things.

This nursery is very cool. It has a huge wind chime hanging from a huge live oak tree.

Here’s my small haul:

2 marigolds, 1 basil, 2 thymes, 1 chervil, 1 rosemary, 1 zinnia, and 1 money tree.

Total cost $62

[the-texas-persimmon]

Here are some of the elements already in my garden. I think the former owner did a great job. At this time, my main goal is simply to keep her work alive. In the future, as I spend more time here, I want to make it my own.

[the-texas-persimmon]

This is my gardening blog.

This is my first time having my own yard, and I’ve dreamed for years to cultivate a fabulous garden. For a long time, I’ve lived in apartments and have had orchids and small container gardens. In childhood, I helped my father with his garden. But I’ve never had any land of my own until now.

I have a small home with a small yard and a big texas persimmon tree. The former owners left some good bones to build on.

In this blog, I plan to document my progress, my victories and mistakes, my ideas, and what I’ve learned.