2015 - SEPTEMBER SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY

This post, 2015 - SEPTEMBER  SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the DIrt Blog

2015 - September Sophia's Garden Day

The abundant rains of May and June 2015 stopped as suddenly as they had started. July and August straggled along, hot and dry. Although September brought no relief, Austin weatherfolk assured us of El Nino moisture ahead so people who had been putting off garden work were once again making plans and starting projects. 

In early September, Sophia sent this photo of her Schoolhouse Lilies (AKA Oxblood Lilies) beginning to bloom.

 A clump of my Schoolhouse lilies bloomed a week later, after I encouraged them with a drink from the hand-held hose.

 Sophia's Garden Day dawned with the daunting prediction for a high temperature of 97°F. I live closest to Sophia and was the first Diva of the Dirt to arrive - what did I see in Sophia & Roger's driveway? Two pallets of grassy sod...

 And about 4 yards of amended soil! Luckily we'd be working in filtered sun from the small-leaved Cedar Elm trees.

The calendar said this was Talk Like A Pirate Day, but the only Sea we'd be dealing with was a Sea of grass.

Over the years, we’ve removed large amounts of lawn from almost every Diva yard to make beds and borders and reduce water needs. but we also know that in some places, a little lawn works best. Sophia's request was that we redo the space between the front beds and groundcover borders, making a semi-shaded, cool grassy area for visiting grandchildren to play. The area now alternated between mud and dust – not a good choice for the kids.

 Mattie and Annie arrived soon after I did, with Karla pulling up next. When Buffy drove up, she brought the electric tiller. A few years ago, we Divas of the Dirt chipped in and bought this handy tool so it could be ready when we needed it.

Breakfast would be ready soon but Sophia (being Sophia!) offered a first course of coffee and two fruit breads from HEB - how can you choose between Peach Melba Bread and Triple Berry Bread?

 Mindy and Sugar couldn't be there for breakfast but would be coming later. So six of us went in to admire the autumn decor of the dining room. I can't wait for those beautiful berries but please hide that candy corn!

Oh, my - maybe it was a mistake to have tried both kinds of fruit bread... Sophia made Cheese Grits?

There was a big bowl of Blueberries, Strawberries and Grapes, there were juices, there were scrambled eggs and Jimmy Dean pork sausages, too.

Who could not love a bouquet of big, friendly-faced golden sunflowers?

 Breakfast was almost over when the three-member canine crew made an appearance. Mattie had brought Barbie to visit Sophia's two dogs. Luckily we were already sitting down because they so excited they began running laps around the dining room table. That brown blur at left is Barbie (seen often in previous posts), the handsome grey gentleman in the middle is Chukster and at right is Miss Magnolia, the young-black-Lab-who-thinks-she's-a-Bichon Frise. Magnolia has a sweet temperament, but she is sure that she can fit into the same spaces she did as a puppy!

 Once we went outside, it was time to get any weeds or grass out, to dump the amended soil where the sod would go, to rake it over the area and to then run the tiller - this process would take a very long time.

Here is Mattie raking the dumped soil, spreading it out so the tiller can work.

 Sophia took the first turn at running the tiller.

The soil in the designated area was gradually amended and mixed.

We alternated tasks and worked on other beds and borders. The soggy spring followed by a too-dry summer meant death to rosemary plants all over Austin. Some of the goners were large old plants in Sophia's parkway.

Other unhappy plants were the two Mutabilis roses - usually one of the toughest roses in Central Texas, but not this year. It would take some time to get all the dead wood out – and we had to watch out for the thorns.

The tiller works best with a rotating crew. Some of the Divas of the Dirt were up for operating the tiller, some of us knew we couldn’t handle it. This time it’s Karla as the tiller driver.

Although she broke one garden fork in half while doing it, our Buffy got that dead rosemary out of the parkway.

 We took time to admire the plants that were thriving, like this combination of Blue Plumbago, Burgundy-leaved Oxalis and Northern Sea Oats.

 Before the sod could be set into place, the advice from the sod company was to soak the ground first. How could we do this without walking through mud while we worked on adjoining patches?  And exactly how should the squares be laid? What kind of pattern and direction would work best? As you can imagine, this part of the project took a long time, requiring a lot of discussion and some trial and error.

 Sugar and Mindy had both arrived to help, and soon different sections of the front yard were in different stages of progress  – soil dumping, soil mixing, watering and sod laying happening at the same time. Mindy and I filled the wheelbarrow over and over, then she steered it to the next spot to dump it.

Some Divas used the dolly or the wheelbarrow to move the sod squares around – other Divas liked to just grab a couple of pieces off the stacks. Diva Annie joked that we still had enough sod for a green sofa.

 Sophia had been busy inside - a wonderful lunch of Challah bread, herbed pasta with veggies, baked crunchy chicken fillets, and a huge green salad with choice of dressings was on the table by 3:15pm.

Sugar, Buffy, Karla, Mattie! Come on in and have lunch!

 I don't know how Sophia makes that chicken, but it is amazingly delicious. With a salad for healthy crunch, great bread and yummy pasta, who could want more?

 But you know there will be more - do you see what's in the bakery box?

Sophia conjured up a chocolate Italian Cream Cake (think it was from Upper Crust Bakery) with our group's name on the top.

 The afternoon temperature topped out at 96°F and while the number of squares on those pallets had been greatly reduced, there was still a lot to do after lunch - including fitting the edges along the driveway.

 We also had a lot of finishing to do with the edges along the front sidewalk. We Divas did what we could before we had to leave, but Sophia and Roger will have to complete more of the project tomorrow.

Saturday night is the official night for running hose end sprinklers – watering will be necessary until the promised rain arrives. Goodbye for now from the Divas of the Dirt! Grow little front lawn, grow and thrive.

This post, 2015 - SEPTEMBER  SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the DIrt Blog

2012, APRIL - BUFFY'S GARDEN DAY

The heat had already begun by mid-April and the day was off to a very late start. We Divas gradually straggled in and found Buffy still engulfed in her ambitious menu. The table looked lovely!




We wandered outside to check out the garden. Mattie had brought Barbie along, hoping she and Libby would have fun. Aha! Finally a photo with a pretty dog instead of a Barbie-shaped blur.



Breakfast arrived at the table at 10:45 am. Here a basket of crescent rolls & blueberry muffins complements spicy fresh ham from The Noble Pig (This small restaurant near the corner of El Salado & FM 620 has garnered a huge amount of buzz since opening in far Northwest Austin!)




We are in for another treat today... Buffy has made Eggs Sardou, gently poached eggs, cradled in artichoke hearts, nestled on a bed of spinach and covered in Hollandaise sauce -



The berries & pineapple missed their photo opportunity but here is Loquat Jam from a local Farmers Market. Buffy & I both have loquat trees - maybe our 2012 crops will be abundant enough to make some loquat jam, too.



When we went out we saw that Buffy had turned the remains of her 2011 project into art for the front bed... remember how we struggled to get this ex-Texas Sage out of the driveway border?




The drive bed plants had done amazingly well in the drought - here we see Buffy showing her helpful nephew Jimmy how to deadhead flowers while Libby supervises.


Buffy had more ideas for that drive bed this time but her main project was to turn another part of her parkway from not-happy grass into a water-wise planting. After a lot of work, the bed was stripped of grass and turned with the tiller, but oh, my!




The soil was fill dirt - brought in during construction and full of small, chunky rocks. Buckets and buckets were sifted out from just this small strip.



Meanwhile in other parts of the yard Divas pruned the barberry hedge, worked on the gateside bed and pruned, weeded and tidied the center bed



Divas redid the original parkway planting and even worked on the edge of the lawn. 



Back at the hell stip #2, another power tool mixed in amendments, including expanded shale.



After more hours of work the bed was done with rock edges in place. The plants included Blackfoot Daisy, Damianita/Creosote shrub, Rosemary, Lychnis coronaria, 4-nerve daisy and a few plants Buffy had bought without tags. This job was approved by Libby.



Then the bed we redid in 2011 was clipped & groomed and new plants were added, including white iris, a Yellow Knockout rose and several Salvias from Barton Springs Nursery (our guess on ID is 'Wendy's
Wish'.)


We finished that bed then began pruning and clipping yaupons and other shrubs and trees but we avoided making any cuts on the live oaks in Spring. The experts advise that the safest time to prune live oaks to avoid oak wilt is in late winter.
By the time all the front beds were in good order it was 4:45 pm - we were ready for a fabulous lunch! Buffy surprised us with Steak Salad - ribeye on the grill cut in strips to top mixed greens



With lots of wonderful extras to top that salad and soft breadsticks on the side




Steak salad is quite attractive when assembled!



No Pudge brownies with more toppings were the sweet end to the meal, but you'll have to imagine those brownies... we were laughing so hard when Barbie decided to sit at the table with the Divas of the Dirt that I forgot to snap a photo of the dessert



I did catch one more picture of the stunning floral arrangement - thanks for a fun day, Buffy!




Posted by Diva Glinda/Annie in Austin

2012 - MARCH, MATTIE'S GARDEN DAY

Written by Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog 


On this warm March garden day, Mattie set her table with a special collection of dishes from her sister Patti. The dishes arrived piece by piece, traveling from country to country and from state to state. The result was sentimental as well as spectacular, crowned by a centerpiece of beautiful, densely-petaled roses in an unusual color. Mattie and Mindy said they were Rio roses, but Rio seems to be the grower rather than the variety.  

Egg & vegetable fritattas were almost ready to serve with sides of guacamole, turkey bacon, juice and fruit salad with grapes.

 

 Topping the menu was Blueberry French Toast, a dish with a personal connection for Mattie: 

The recipe came from Panache -  a beautiful cookbook that Mattie's niece helped to create for a hospital fundraising project  Link to Panache Cookbook

The temperatures were already warm when we went out to hear about the day's project and check out the plants we'd use. Mattie had chosen two roses, 'Julia Child' and 'Cinco de Mayo' along with a bronzy-red crepe myrtle, a good-sized pomegranate with developing fruit, silver ponyfoot, yellow lantana, gaillardia/blanket flower, bicolor sage, white Gaura, Salvia 'May Night' and tropical Butterfly weed/Asclepias currasavica. Passalong plants brought by the Divas included a huge clump of Setcreasia/Purple heart, White iris, Peach iris, Mexican mint marigold, a big sack of Salvia 'Black & Blue', White Salvia coccinea, and a small clump of Blue Mistflower (botanically either Conoclinium greggii or Eupatorium greggii )

A front yard with one tall tree trunk centered in an empty square of thirsty grass was not working for Mattie! The canopy on the tree had been raised so high that instead of connecting the house and garden and lessening the impact of the street, the trunk added a harsh vertical bar to the landscape. Our project would be to add a shorter, leafy tree - the new pomegranate-  to anchor a new border with a mix of plants. 

For the second part of the project we would add another bed where the lot met the curb. Making grass grow in a spot like this takes a lot of water! Mattie would rather use this precious resource on plants for birds and butterflies.

The Divas of the Dirt used a garden hose to lay out the long kidney shaped bed, with much discussion by Buffy, Sugar, Karla and Mindy as to where that line should go!

The tiller is always handy to dig up the bed and mix in amendments but Mattie had another job for it - rather than simply moving it along, she held it down in one spot, harnessing the power to excavate large holes for the pomegranate tree, the crepe myrtles and the shrub roses.

Diva-Annie took on a separate task - removing the stones that filled a bed near the entry. Mattie had plans for that bed and Annie's work would get it ready. Things were progressing.

NO PHOTOS INTERVAL
We hadn't realized how large the project would be or exactly what we'd be doing... we needed a lot more compost! We needed rakes! We needed compost & soil sifters! Since Buffy had already planned on a quick trip to take her son to work, she offered to make a tool & supply run. I felt about 100-years old that morning, so volunteered myself as her assistant.

While the rest of the Divas soldiered on in the 90°F heat we went off on our hunter-gatherer mission. We picked up tools from Buffy's house, stopped for more at my house, made a third stop at Sophia's and then headed to Countryside for bags of Revitalizer Compost. A special sale brought in customers and long lines. Eventually Buffy moved her vehicle to the loading area and we stacked bag after bag in the back.

We returned to Mattie's house, sure that with that compost the plants would have a better chance of survival and that the tools would make it easier to get the borders in shape. It was amazing how much progress had been made already. Some plants from existing borders were transplanted into the new bed, and the plants in containers were set in all over the garden.

By late afternoon everyone was delighted to hear that lunch was ready. We deserted the Dirt for the Dining room.

 Mattie had a second feast ready for us - delicious tomato-basil soup

Crab cake salad with garlic toast

and Cherry Cobbler with Bluebell Ice cream.

Can you see a dog in this photo? Barbie is a sweetie but she's so alert and responsive every Diva Day that most photos have been blurs! Maybe next month.
 

After we went back outside, the project moved toward completion- stones were sifted out, amendments mixed in, edges cut and recut. We paid careful attention to placing the plants where they'd not only look good but would have a chance at survival - Texas summers are brutal.
Long slow deep handwatering settled them in and mulch gave the borders a finished look, held in moisture and insulated the roots against the heat.

The large pomegranate border looked pretty cool!

The curb bed was going to be a knockout once it got going! Better give that native Blue Mist plant plenty of room!

And Mattie's plan for attracting wildlife was already working - check out the dragonfly that appeared like magic!

A few months later Mattie sent this photo of that tiny piece of Blue Mist plant - now very happy, greatly expanded in size, and spangled with Queen butterflies.

Written by Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog