Old Black Magic in the Garden

So, this was a surprise. I'm not sure if it's actually an Old Black Magic iris, but that's the closest I could find when I searched images on line. The petals are more black than burgundy when not photographed in full sun. This iris is one of the dozens that I dug up right after I bought the house a couple of years ago, as they were right smack in the way of foundation work being done.  Below: The mystery bunch of irises (and daylilies) I inherited with the house, in their original spot.

I have yet to figure out the secret of getting irises to bloom: am I using too much bone meal? too little? are they planted too deep? Exhibit A: these were planted last spring, got a bit of bone meal in the fall, have beautiful strappy foliage, and no sign of a bud anywhere.
But each rare time an iris does bloom, I think: "Oh, so that's the color I planted there." This time, the reveal was delightful, especially next to the pale orange flowers of the Indian mallow.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: December 2012

Happy bloom day! Still a lot in bloom, even with temps dipping into the lower 30's this past week. For other gardens around the world this December, check out May Dreams Gardens.

Copper canyon and cigar plant are happy neighbors.

Gregg's mistflower peeking through artemesia
Gaura backlit by the afternoon sun
My garden helper, Lena, discovered the fun of pouncing on Mexican feathergrass
The Gulf muhly is still putting on a show every afternoon, with gaura in the background
Thyrallis and Mexican heather, orange cosmos
Pale yellow firecracker fern next to some cold-damaged fig leaves (about 90% of the leaves are untouched, but I just felt like I had to prove we've had a handful of winter days)
Blackfoot daisy doing well in the new curb strip
Long view of the curb strip, which got planted about a month ago
Cosmos and zinnias reseeded themselves in one of the backyard beds (waiting till they freeze to pull them out and mulch the bare irrigation lines)
A purple-blue salvia (I think Majestic something? Picked it up at Barton Springs) that got planted last month

Berries! Possumhaw holly, all dressed up for the holidays.
Cherry laurel

Nandina (I know this plant's invasive, but I'm enjoying these inherited landscape shrubs at the moment)

Garden Conservancy Open Days

Just now getting around to posting photos from the garden tour on November 3. My mother and I stopped at three of the gardens on list, all beautiful and inspiring. Our big takeaway was to leave enough spaces for conversation areas, or "outdoor rooms." And to paint window trim periwinkle. And maybe to train pyracantha on a stone wall espalier-style. Full set of photos here.

Garden of Jennifer & Fred Myers


 Garden of Yvonne Tocquigny & Tom Fornoff
Christine Ten Eyck/Gary Deaver Garden