2015-MARCH MATTIE’S GARDEN DAY

This post, 2015-MARCH  MATTIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for her Divas of the Dirt blog.

Before her March garden day, Mattie emailed some information on what her project would be and asked that we bring any unwanted cardboard, newspapers and phone books to her house to fill the under layers of her planned Keyhole Garden. Mattie was intrigued with the idea of building a Keyhole Garden after meeting Deb Tolman - who brought the concept from Africa to Texas - at a conference. These gardens are especially useful in dry places with thin soil – sure sounds like parts of Texas! 

But instead of using recycled concrete, stones, heavy cement pavers or bricks, Mattie decided to buy a kit with a frame and corrugated sides. After we saw her idea photo, we were intrigued, too!

The weather for Mattie’s project day was pleasant but the Divas were not in top form. Sophia and Annie were so sick they decided to stay home and the rest of us were feeling creaky for a variety of reasons. As we’ve learned over the years, we often feel better once we’re working together, all talking and laughing. Of course that euphoric effect can sometimes be temporary so we might feel even worse after we stopped!

On the way in from the street I was floored by the sight of Mattie’s Peach Iris in full bloom. A few divisions shared in spring 2012 and planted in good organic soil with lots of sun had spread into a 5-ft sweep of beauty, form and fragrance. These were very happy iris!

Inside, tulips announced the season and pretty cupcakes promised a sweet reward after the project was done.

Mattie had made both a Spinach-Mushroom Quiche and a Broccoli-Pepper Quiche, a huge Berry-fruit salad with grapes, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries, and a nostalgic surprise – homemade Corned Beef Hash.

 In the hall we saw a very large box destined for the back yard – could an entire keyhole garden fit inside?

We looked at the big front border – the plants looked pretty healthy for March but where had all those Nettles come from?

Grass is invading this bed and the winter-killed tops of plants need to be cut back.

The lantanas have died close to the ground, but little leaves at the base are ready to grow. Let’s cut them back and get another crop of nettles out of this border!

Tree seedlings and weeds have invaded the little path by the entrance but they’ll soon be banished.

We split up into two teams… Karla, Sugar and I stayed in front to move along the ground tackling weeds, cutting back the tops of frozen perennials and reclaiming the edges of all the beds. (Mattie snapped this photo.)

Mattie, Buffy and Mindy took their tools into the back yard to start the layout and assembly of the keyhole garden. After some time they were pleased to see that the frame looked like the instruction manual.

Many more parts sit ready to be used in the next stages – will it all fit together eventually?

Tada! After a few glitches, the keyhole garden is assembled with wire basket tower ready to go!

The Divas roamed back and forth between front and back yards, visiting, kibitzing and working. Some finished the weeding, edging and cultivating of the beds. Other Divas sawed out pesky saplings that sprouted along the fence line, then cut up the pieces and layered them into the keyhole garden.

Many more layers were needed - branches, phone books, leaves, newspapers and any organic material we could gather, including piles of cardboard boxes brought by those Divas still in the midst of kitchen remodeling projects.

 “Time for a lunch break!” says Mattie.

Although we all like to cook, sometimes the wisest and most efficient choice is to let an Austin restaurant cook. This month Mattie chose Rudy’s BBQ. Their brisket is fine but Rudy’s turkey is my personal favorite. With salads and beans it was quite a feast.

Some Divas decided to leave the traditional white bread (and its gluten) in the bag. Rudy’s tastes as good as it looks.

Time for those cupcakes!

We went back out and worked for awhile longer. Lucky Mattie had a family member in East Texas who had access to bags of what gardeners consider as treasure: bags of pinestraw mulch. We used the fallen dry needles mixed with partially decomposed leaves over the soil in all the beds and borders.

Now the entrance bed looks good.

The big central bed looks good and the iris look even better with the weeds gone.

And the long front border sweeps smoothly across the front of the house again.

As to the keyhole garden – Mattie continued to rip cardboard and add to the interior of the doughnut-shaped enclosure and then added soil to the top so herbs and a few smaller vegetables could be planted. She still hunter-gathers organic material to keep the level up and it’s provided some food all year. When Diva Annie and I were at Mattie’s house last November, Mattie was still picking cherry tomatoes from her Keyhole garden. 

This post, 2015-MARCH  MATTIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for her Divas of the Dirt blog.

2014 - October SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY

This post, "2014 - October SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY" was written by Glinda/AnnieinAustin for the Divas of the Dirt Blog.
Showers overnight into morning had put more than an inch-and-a-half of welcome rain in the gauge - but would it be too soggy to work in Sophia's garden?
Diva Sophia said breakfast was going to be on the table and someone had better be there to eat it, work or not!

Sophia likes to have a theme for her garden days (last year she'd dived into an Appalachian-style cookbook and come up with winners) and this year the theme was The Experimental Kitchen.

The table was set with colorful plates and bowls and harvest decor - pumpkins rule October!

Our Diva number was down by two - Mattie was on an out-of-town business trip and Mindy had just returned from a journey halfway around the world. Since she'd arrived in Austin one day before, there was no way Mindy could come.

Buffy was helping out at a breakfast benefit for a local organization so she would show up a little late.

Glasses filled with candy corn and battery candles made the dreary morning bright.

Chefs Sophia, Roger and Mark had a great menu planned - they're pretty practiced at working together in the kitchen. Karla and Annie were there when I arrived, with Diva Sugar following soon after - then Surprise! In walked Mindy, ready to garden (and eat) and not even appearing jet-lagged.

Red and yellow raspberries, strawberries and blackberries topped with whipped Mascarpone cheese, apple juice, orange juice, great coffee and English muffins made a colorful start to the day.

Main dishes of scrambled eggs and a creamily delicious potato & Gouda casserole were not to be resisted.

The rain had just slowed, so we didn't hurry over breakfast - there was a lot to talk about! Soon Buffy joined us and we seven went out to groom the garden. There would be no planting or major digging this day. Sophia's request was for us to clip back, to prune, to weed, to cultivate, to compost and to mulch everything we could see.

Weeding was so easy after the rain! We pruned the red tip photinia and weeded the groundcover area near the covered porch. One of the pickiest tasks was to groom the cast iron plants, individually cutting out the damaged and/or drought-browned leaves and cleaning up around the huge clumps.


This was time-consuming but when finished, all the plants of Aspidistra elatior looked happy and green. What good things the Divas will do for each other!

A mutabilis rose can be one of the prettiest things in Texas when it's in bloom but when the flowers stop that's a good time to cut it way back, ready for the next bloom cycle.
Sophia's Rosa mutabilis shares a border with an orchid tree - if the boisterous rose isn't pruned regularly, that orchid tree can disappear! Here's the border, done and mulched.

The parkway bed (AKA the hellstrip, or the parking strip, or the curbside bed) had some weeds, some dead plants, and some overgrown perennials. Attention from the Divas made it ready for fall.

On the other side of the sidewalk a grouping of blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata), burgundy oxalis (Oxalis regnellii 'Atropurpurea') and native inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) has filled in beautifully - but it looks even better when the weeds are banished and the dark native hardwood mulch sets off the leaf and flower colors.


We didn't neglect the far parkway bed or the long bed along the driveway. This area had been revamped in 2013 - on a hot day that called for a breaker bar, a sledgehammer and a tiller. Today's grooming session was much easier! The blocks and gravel had held up well - it was satisfying to see our previous project look so good.


Sophia's Experimental Kitchen had come up with an amazing late lunch for all of us. Ooh - look at all those interesting toppings - green olives, black olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and cubes of cheese.

(Maybe you've probably heard me say this before, but does anyone else immediately think of the movie Tortilla Soup when you see the word 'toppings'?)
If the bowls and plates made you guess soup and sandwiches were up next, you are quite right. But when the cooks are Sophia & Roger & Mark there will be nothing ordinary about that soup and those sandwiches.

Italian Wedding Soup! Sophia was a bit hesitant about making it, because she's served it a few times before. We were glad - why strive for novelty when you have reached perfection?

And there were Panini sandwiches, loaded with grilled eggplant and grilled zucchini, a salad ready for the toppings and crunchy breadsticks.

Then, the finale made by Sophia & Roger's talented son Mark - simply the best Italian Cream Cake, ever - can this be a poster if Mark ever opens his own bakery?

If you've heard our We Are the Divas of the Dirt song from 2006 you may remember this line, "...spend all day working with our friends, before we go inside for cake..."

Some things do not change and we like it that way.

This post, "2014 - October SOPHIA'S GARDEN DAY" was written by Glinda/AnnieinAustin for the Divas of the Dirt Blog.

2012 - November DIVA-ANNIE'S GARDEN DAY

This post written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog

Six Divas of the Dirt met at DivaAnnie's in November - Sophia and Sugar couldn't be there, and they missed a pretty fantastic day!

Annie's table looked lovely! White plates in basket weave chargers looked so pretty ranged on either side of a bird-patterned runner. Bird napkins complemented the vintage bird figurines.

DivaAnnie tried a new recipe for eggs, sausage, peppers and mushrooms baked in muffin tins - delicious!

The zucchini bread and a fruit salad of blackberries, grapes, strawberries and pineapple were perfect.

Annie wanted a redo of some overgrown beds and she hoped we could get the ted the entire front garden mulched. But before starting to work we wanted to look at all the wonderful plants she is growing.

Up in one part of the curb bed a riot of flowers were in bloom - red Gomphrena, Blackfoot daisies, lantana and more... maybe that yellow daisy is Zexmenia.

Annie's Podranea ricasoliana/Port St. Johns Creeper has really taken off & blooms well. It's planted inside the gate near a Rose of Sharon but has been successful in sprawling its way over the fence. According to Dave's Garden, other botanical names for this vine are Pandorea ricasoliana, Tecoma ricasoliana and Tecoma Mackenii and other common names are Pink Trumpet Vine, Zimbabwe creeper and Queen of Sheba.

This Mexican Flame vine/Senecio confusus is also doing well - what a bright, autumny flower! This vine is borderline hardy for Austin - luckily for DivaAnnie, her garden is in a warmer part of Austin.


Near the porch the Shrimp Plant/Justicia brandegeana has really settled in, with a huge number of shrimpy-pink flower heads ready to greet visitors



Some beautiful plants are doing a little too well, like this enormous Duranta erecta, also called Golden dewdrop. The problem is that the Duranta grew so large that it had engulfed anything in

the surrounding area - that bit of foliage peeking out from the Duranta's sweeping Ballgown skirt is a stunted White-flowering Russelia equisetiformis/Firecracker Plant.


And some horrible plants are doing well, too - the hated Bermuda grass has invaded this bed, threatening Giant Squill bulbs planted here.



Although some parts of the front parkway were beautiful, the center just looked bedraggled.

Soon Divas of the Dirt were digging out weeds and setting stone blocks and a larger stepping stone in place.

Weeds disappeared and much transplanting followed. It didn't happen quickly, but the white Firecracker/Russelia, some May Night Salvia, a dwarf Lion's Tail/Leonatus, some Four Nerve daisies, and the herbs thyme and Oregano found new spots. I hope the sweet little native Snake Herb (Dyschoriste linearis) will make it!

This front bed is now done and mulched so the native Anacacho Orchid, Argentinian Butterfly Bush and Cape Honeysuckle have a better chance to make it through winter and to bloom again next year. 

Time to head in to the bird table again, this time for lunch! Oh, look! DivaAnnie has also made petite framed pictures for each of us as a memento of our day together




Annie has set the buffet with barbecued brisket, Hawaiian bread, Corn-Potato salad and coleslaw with nuts




For dessert she has baked a fabulous Clementine Chess Pie




We didn't rush through this lovely lunch but we did want to get a little more done before it got dark.
A flowering Senna tree once dominated the right side of the long center bed, but most of it was now dead. The Divas took out the dead wood around the one small live sprout, weeded and mulched the whole bed.

Some Mexican Honeysuckle was transplanted from the established part of the parkway to the newly cleared area and all was mulched.

The established plants in the parkway looked lovely on our workday but I couldn't catch a decent photo. When DivaAnnie and I went to the Empty Bowl project a couple of weeks later I remembered to take photos. Here is the beautiful Mexican Honeysuckle /Justicia spicigera

DivaAnnie's Lion's Tail/Leonatis are so full and flowery!

Two weeks after our project, the mulch looks good, and it contrasts well with the plants in photos, but we discovered that the dark color did not happen naturally, but was added to the wood. While we worked, the black dye got onto our hands, knees and shoes. And it looks as if the mulch didn't stop all those weed seeds from sprouting - more weeding ahead!


This post written by Annie in Austin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog