T-Minus 8 Days and Counting

There is no turning back now. The map for Plano's first Water-Wise Landscape Tour is posted and the countdown has started. There are so many things I think I need to do before June 7 and so little time.

As I look around my own front garden, everything still looks pretty good even though most of the spring blooming plants have reached their peak. I was concerned that there may not be many flowers still in bloom on June 7 so I deadheaded several of the Four Nerve Daisies over the weekend in hopes of coaxing another round of blooms.

The Hesperaloes and Mexican Hats should still be blooming in nine days and the Skeletonleaf Golden Eye is getting ready to bloom.

The cactus will be in full bloom soon too. I have three unrooted pads from this cactus that I will give to the first three people that ask me for one on tour day. 

Temperatures have not been overly high yet this year and we are finally getting a little rain so the plants are looking pretty lush. Maybe some of the American Basket Flowers and Echinacias will still be blooming.

A Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly feeds on Butterfly Milkweed as a bee is making its approach for a landing. 

When I post photos on this blog, I show the the views of my garden that I want the world to see. I usually don't show the messy areas. I will not have this control on the day of the landscape tour. The good, bad, and ugly will be there for all to see. 

I have been furiously cleaning and moving things to prepare for inspection. I have been on garden tours before and wondered why some of the gardens were worthy of being on a tour. I don't want mine to be one of those gardens.

Here is an area that still needs to be addressed. Bluebonnet plants are going to seed in the parkway between the street and sidewalk. The part of my garden that received the most attention when the bluebonnets were in bloom is now its biggest eyesore. I collected all of the seeds I want and I offered neighbors the opportunity to pick some seeds for themselves. These plants will all go to the compost pile this weekend.

Going through the gate to the backyard, I have a little more cleaning to do. This area has become my cattle panel storage area and Mexican Feathergrass farm. I built new tomato cages and an arch for vining vegetables this spring. The cattle panel pieces will be hidden away inside the garage and a few more grasses will be plucked. Word to the wise: one Mexican Feathergrass plant will produce more seedlings than you can imagine when allowed to grow in decomposed granite.

Moving on into the backyard, things are looking pretty good. Flowering Tobacco, Mealycup Sage, Butterfly Milkweed, and Horsemint are in full bloom.

These plants quickly grew over the pathway. I will prune them this weekend. Around the corner is another area that needs attention.


This has become my storage area for landscape materials. Rocks, mulch, sticks, concrete edging, bricks, flagstone, dirt. You name it. I have plans for all these item, but right now, my plan is to get them out of sight. Unfortunately, I do not have any good hiding areas (although this could be one if I built a fence or planted shrubs around it) so I will move these items to the side yard where my remaining lawn grows. 

Even though I am trying to get my property organized, I can't pass up a good deal. I spotted this sign at a house down the street.

Of course I had to bring home a load of rocks. Now where will I store these?