Growing Under The Sun: A Botanical Expedition

 Daffodils for Woodland Planting A Narcissus 'Slim Whitman ' bulb waiting to be planted amongest its neighbors     This planting is what I refer to as the drainage point. It is a narrow bed hidden near my greenhouse, that acts like the name says as a drainage point for the rest of the garden due to the overall slope of the land. In the near future it will be home to several unique woodland plants, however even with them, it is lacking in one thing and that is spring interest. To combat this lack of early spring color I have planted two daffodil cultivars. Usually it is recommended that for this kind of planting, small flowered daffodils would be best. The two I have selected are larger flowered hybrids and there is reason to what some may consider heresy. This small planting is right next to a future cut flower garden, a garden that will be exuberant in bloom in comparison to the more dab greens that this planting will consists of. As such the daffodils are a spill ...

    Bog gardens don't often come to mind when one thinks of the desert city of El Paso, yet in this humble clay pot that's exactly what is being created. A bit of back history on this planting. In its initial design it was home to a native honeysuckle which had died due to water logging and subsequent root rot. The remains of the honeysuckle remained for almost a year before being removed. During this time however the idea for the bog pot came into being.     This clay pot has one drainage hole has long since been plugged. It takes about 20 minutes or more for water to level out with the top layers of the soil and another 20 before any starts to drip from the bottom of the pot. This makes it ideal for those plants which thrive in those muddy conditions, conditions that are currently found nowhere else in the garden (more on that later). The soil is a rich humus which when dug into feels like puddling at its wettest moments and cool and airy when dry. It these kin...