Backyard Lillies

Here is a sample of what I have blooming in my backyard this week. So fun to have new varieties pop up each week!

































We tore down the fence dividing the backyard from the driveway yesterday and will have a new gate installed across the back. Didn't realize how many landscaping projects it would generate!





Note: that is not our suburban in the background, although I'm sure Benton would love to have one like it for hunting!

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Backyard Blooms

As of March 31st, here is what is blooming in the backyard:

Azaleas:


Purple native, not sure what it is:



Yellow and white roses:


Pink native variety:



White hydrangeas!!!



Lilly of the Valley:




Puny-looking hydrangea:



White native variety doing great in the driveway:



Bronze-leaf begonias we planted by the garage:



Blooming chives:



Please send me a comment if you can identify the native shrubs!


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Garden Update

Yesterday was the first rain we've had since I planted the garden. It was nice to have a drizzly day and not have to worry about watering. The downside was having to keep Parker indoors all day because he LOVES to be outside.

Here is a picture from today of the main garden:




This is the third time I've tried to write a germination update. I get almost finished and have to stop Parker from eating something. Today is was a leftover daffodil flower that is apparently poisonous - don't worry I got it out before he swallowed! In any case, my BlogPress app deletes most of my post when my phone gets turned upside down or left on the concrete. Ugh!

5 watermelon sprouts along the fence

2 Shasta daisy sprouts outside our bedroom window

No spinach sprouts

3 squash sprouts

1 asparagus sprout

2 squash sprouts

3 cantaloupe sprouts

6 okra sprouts

3 jelly bean tomato sprouts

1 new potato sprout

Then I also planted some established plants:

3 beefsteak tomato plants

1 red pepper plant

1 zucchini plant

2 different heirloom tomato plants (yes I love fresh tomatoes!)

1 sweet basil plant

Several green onion bunches

1 mint plant in a pot (so it doesn't spread)

And I was lucky enough to already have some herbs from the previous owner:

2 Rosemary plants

Some garlic and chive plants

Some thyme plants

And I think I may have some tarragon and sage.

My next post will be an update of what we currently have blooming!

Petunias

I'm going to buy petunias for my front flower beds tomorrow morning. Although I'm trying to migrate towards more water-wise and native Texas plants, you can't beat $.78 per 4" pot! Plus, the previous owners planted them last year and they did great in our full Wes sun through August as long as they were watered well.

Goodbye to my overgrown purple cabbage and pooped pansies from the fall. They did well considering we didn't cover them when we had 8 inches of ice and snow. The bushy plant behind the cabbage are snapdragons that look like they should bloom again this spring.

Here is the info for tomorrow's one-day-only sale:




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Welcome to Cumberland Gardens

I was inspired yesterday to start this blog after read through some blogs and following new blogs they were linked to.  Although it would be great to be a full-time blog surfer, I realized that this would cut down on my time outside and attention I should be dedicating to my son and husband.  I have several new projects I've started outside, and I thought this would be the best forum to share rather than lumping it in with my family blog that is mostly adorable pictures of my son who will be one year old on April 9th.

I chose the name Cumberland Gardens for a couple of reasons.  First - Garden Girl was already taken and Texas Garden Girl seemed like too much of a copy.  Then I tried searching Parker's Garden and Dragonfly Gardens, both of which are names of nurseries in other states.  Cumberland was my next choice because it refers to the street I grew up on, and where my parents still live.  My dad always planted gardens when I was growing up, and now that I've started my own vegetable garden, I realize that I learned a lot from watching him till up the yard each spring, watering the garden, picking the veggies, cooking fresh veggies, etc.  His mother, my Nana, was also an inspiration on the flower side of plants.  Her yard is full of wildflowers each spring and it probably drives her neighbors crazy that she has two foot tall purple coneflowers in patches in her front yard and she refuses to mow them because they're flowers - not weeds.

We were lucky enough to move into a great house last July, with a huge backyard.  By the end of July in Texas, most plants are tuckered out and look pretty brown and sickly.  I knew when we bought the house, the yard would have great potential, but I had no idea what surprises were laying dormant for me to discover.  I have two degrees in biology and can't come close to identifying all of the plants that are around our house.  Somewhere in my free time, maybe I can use a dichotomous key to identify and then dissect each flower to analyze its pistel structure - NOT.  So far, I've been lazy and try to take mental pictures of leaf shapes and flower petals before going to our local nursery.  Then I identify what I can by matching them up.  Not the most official documentation, but it's a start.

I plan to use this site to showcase my new vegetable garden, my flower arrangements made from my home-grown flowers, and some of my own recipes I've invented using what I have in my backyard.  I hope you'll enjoy watching Cumberland Gardens grow!

Our front yard before we moved in last summer.

Our backyard last September before we added some more concrete to our patio.