Rock Garden in 2023

We've had a boatload of rain this year, and the rock garden is loving it! This is year 3 for the rock garden (est. spring 2021).

Mainly 'Moonshine' yarrow and Mexican feather grass with a bit of Spiny Goldenweed and Threadleaf Groundsel mixed in.

Jillie gnawed off several of my Red Yucca spikes, so now they're "weeping," lol.

Grandmother's purple Larkspur in the background.

The lawn gets some evening shade, but the rock garden is full sun all day, every day. Lawn was installed from seed ('Highlander' bermuda) in 2021.

Desert Willow Seedlings

This is the first time I've started desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) from seed. I've had terrific success germinating them in 4" pots by spritzing them daily with water from a mister bottle and then keeping the pots covered with a clear, upside-down drip tray (to keep the soil moist but still allow sunlight in). The seeds should be planted shallow (just barely covered with soil) as they need sunlight to germinate.

The internet tells me to overwinter them indoors in pots the first year and then plant in the ground next spring. Supposedly the seeds lose viability rather quickly. I plucked these off of the tree (select brown pods that are dry and starting to split open) and seeded them the same day.

The seedlings below are from the tree in my back yard ('Bubba') which I got 20 years ago from Garden World in Abilene. They are still displaying their cotyledons and are just starting to grow their first true leaves. I've started four pots of these, and all germinated successfully in about one week.

Desert Willow seedlings

 

Desert Willow 'Bubba'

 These are the first seeds I started back in the summer, and these came from the tree over at the park which has more white in it than the tree in my back yard. August 10, 2022; pictured with two chocolate ghost pepper plants:

 

Transplanted into 1-gallon pot today:

Desert Willow transplanted into 1-gallon pot

Red Yucca

Red yucca starting to form bloom spikes.

Early Days of Spring!

Did lots of work around the yard today since we're finally having some nice weather without all the WIND!

Planted sedum tiles along the front sidewalk. I bought two and broke them up into pieces. The bright green stuff is blooming! This area tends to be hot and dry in the summer although it is getting more and more shade as the Cedar Elm in the front yard gets bigger.

The flower bed in the front yard... I planted a packet of hummingbird seed mix here last year, and it was really pretty! There are a ton of seeds in here, but nothing much has sprouted with the drought conditions we've been having. The larkspur established last fall and is starting to bloom. Also, the ice plant looks good, and I added in some Grape Hyacinth today.

And the kitties helped me a lot in the front yard today...

In the backyard, I planted 3 Pincushion plants (Scabiosa; two purple, one pink). 

In and around the rock garden...

I transplanted some pink yarrow I got from one of my neighbors:

The Mexican Petunia are starting to sprout:

Threadleaf Groundsel overwintered (surprised!) and is starting to bloom!

Prickly Pear is putting on new growth:

'Moonshine' Yarrow is budding up:

Spiny Goldenweed also survived (also surprised!) and is bushing up:

And Cody helped me in the back yard... overlooking his kingdom!

Threadleaf Groundsel

Senecio douglasii (Asteraceae Sunflower family)

I transplanted this "weed" back in the spring from one spot in my yard into the rock garden. I think it's so pretty with its feathery gray foliage and bright yellow flowers. It is not as heavy a bloomer as the Spiny Goldenweed, but after heavy blooms in the spring, it does bloom sporadically throughout the summer.

More info from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension:

Description

Threadleaf groundsel is a many-stemmed evergreen composite in the Sunflower family. The stems are herbaceous, although somewhat woody at the base, and may have variable hairiness.

The stems and leaves are gray-green. The leaves are long, threadlike and divided into three to seven segments. They may be hairy or nearly smooth. Showy yellow flowers emerge from March through November.

Threadleaf groundsel is poisonous to livestock and offers poor to fair forage value for wildlife.

Threadleaf Groundsel flower

Threadleaf Groundsel foliage

Threadleaf Groundsel flower & seed tuft

Habitat

Threadleaf groundsel is a common range plant in Colorado and Utah and south to Texas and Mexico. It is common in the grassland areas of western Texas. Disturbance and overgrazing can cause it to increase in abundance.

Spiny Goldenweed

Xanthisma spinulosum

These are "wildflowers" in Lubbock (our wildflower selection is pretty limited!) that I dug up and relocated into my rock garden. I think they are Spiny Goldenweed.

From Blooming at Academy Village:

Spiny goldenweed is a small, rounded native perennial whose lovely yellow flowers appear in April and then again with the monsoon rains. Growing to no more than a foot, it can be used in a native garden almost as a groundcover. The petals fold in at night but soon open with morning sun.

This plant is probably not available commercially. Cherish the ones you have. Seed can be collected. Simply rake into the ground and wait for new plants to appear. Goldenweed responds well to shearing. Cutting back after the spring flush of flowers will create a compact plant and will not delay summer flowers.

Wildlife value: attracts insects and small butterflies

I dug these up in the spring when they were still fairly small. They went through about a week of mild transplant shock and since then have bloomed repeatedly throughout the summer. 

The fine textrued gray-green foliage contrasts nicely with other elements of the garden. Mine is low-growing, about 6" - 8" tall, and as their name suggest, they are somewhat "prickly," though not "stickery" like a cactus. They like it hot and dry!

Spiny Goldenweed - Xanthisma spinulosum

 

Spiny Goldenweed - closeup of leaves

Yellow Cosmos

Yellow Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) is blooming and going to seed. It grows 18" - 24" tall, is heat and drought tolerant, self-seeding, and attracts butterflies.

Yellow Cosmos

Seed is easy to collect and save for next year or share with a friend. If uncollected, plants will reseed themselves naturally.

Yellow Cosmos going to seed

It is beautiful both up close AND from a distance!

Yellow Cosmos on both the left and the right of this frame

Red Yucca

Hesperaloe parvifolia

My mom dug up a bunch of red yuccas last year to divide and gave me several. One is blooming in the rock garden, and it is quite pretty, especially in the morning when the bloom is lit up but the background is still in shade...

 Red Yuccas are not "true" yuccas. Wikipedia tells me they are native to the Chihuahuan Desert. They are definitely heat and drought tolerant and produce beautiful, long-lasting bloom spikes which last for months.

Red Yucca close-up

Red Yucca close-up

Rock Garden

The whole idea behind putting a renewed focus on the rock garden area was to have something pretty to look at from the house. It's working! I swear, every time I look out there it just makes me happy!

The green grass on the right was seeded in about 10 days prior to the area on the left. 

The sunflowers seem to grow noticeably every day!

Mexican Feather Grass, Hardy Ice Plant,
'Moonshine' Yarrow, spineless prickly pear

Red Yucca in the foreground, rosemary and
Mexican petunia (Ruellia) in the background

This is some kind of yellow blooming weed I dug up from another spot in my yard and transplanted into the rock garden! It suffered some transplant shock but is about to bloom again.

 

I broke up a sedum tile to plant around the path through the rock garden. I'm just crazy about it! Hopefully it will fill in all around and between these rocks.

Whenever a piece breaks off because the dogs walk on it or something, I stick it into the in-between spots...