Who said you can’t have some color in the Winter time.

Here in the Blue Glazed pots (pots – Joshua’s Native plants in the Heights) we have a variety of texture and color. I recommend a little bit of fern texture, some bold foliage, a bit of Variegated
material and something creeping or cascading.

* Starry Eyes Nierembergia
* Thelmas Pink jacobinia
* Nierembergia garacilis / Pink Buttons
* Variegated Pedilanthus/ Lady’s Slippers
* Kingwood Torch Coleus
* Bellis-English Daisy

Thanks to Tree Search Farms, where the pickin’ is good when other nursery’s tend to be
bleak this time of year.

If you have any questions on what works this time of year, feel free to contact me through this blog or email me.

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Jatropha integerrima:
Common names are Peregrina or Spicy Jatropha
Family:Euphorbiaceae
Zones: 9-10 (sensitive to frost)

Peregrina is a evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy leaves and clusters of small star shaped bright scarlet flowers.

A native to the West Indies and is especially known for being cultivated in Cuba and Florida.

This wonderful plant has also been discovered to be a great source of Bio fuel. It is being grown and harvested in large capacity throughout many parts of Africa just for this sole purpose.

Peregrina is a spectacular shrub when in bloom, attracting many varieties of Butterflies and Hummingbirds.

Jotropha is a very diverse genus which includes cactus like succulents, herbaceous perennials and woody trees. It can be trained or pruned easily to form a single trunk tree/espalier, or it can be trimmed as a dense flowering shrub. It likes well drained soil and can be drought tolerant.

Please Note:
Keep all parts of this plant out of the mouths of people and pets, for it is extremely toxic if ingested.

Please feel free to write me to ask any questions you might have and I would love to hear your comments on my blog.

All the best,
Portia

Tagetes Lemmonii:

Genus: tagetes (Tag-e-Teez)
Species :Lemmonii (Lem-on-eye)

This wonderfully fragrant perennial is hardy in zones 8-10 . A Fall bloomer that loves the sun and requires little water. A great choice for low maintenance “Zero-Scapes”, attracts butterflies and is well suited for hill country and habitat themed gardens.

Easy to sculpt if out of control, just make sure you trim it in the early spring so it has plenty of time to produce the fall blooms.

If you have an issue of Deer eating your plants, this one is considered a Deer Repellent. Copper Canyon Daisy is one of my favorites this time of year.

I had the honor to teach & install a Butterfly Garden with 31 children.

We planted a variety of color and butterfly attracting specimens.

The looks on the faces of this bunch of wonderful bright spirits was priceless.

This garden was in honor of Ms. Rose.

Thank you again Jennifer and Carla.

Enjoy yourself!

November is almost here and the weather has been perfect for landscaping and gardening.
You can plant most anything you would in the Spring, just remember deciduous varieties will lose foliage around this time and until the last frost in late February.
Be aware of cold sensitive varieties like Gingers,many tropicals & decorative grasses will go dormant.
Feel free to ask me about anything you are not sure of.
The Fall season is actually better for planting in Houston, since it gets so hot in the Summer here. The plantings have more opportunity to develop a good strong root system before the extreme heat sets in.
Varieties of Roses, Azaleas, Camellias, Junipers and many herbs & veggies love cooler weather.

Get out and have some fun!

Happy Gardening!