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| Freeze damage on Agave 'Blue Emperor' |
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| (Same plant, further away) |
I got semi-ambitious in December and decided to take a stab (get it??) at finishing up that desert bed against the house. I say "semi-ambitious" because I didn't finish, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
The biggest challenge was all the pea pebbles I had to haul from Home Depot. I must have purchased at least 36 bags, and there are STILL bare areas. (I ran out of money before I ran out of bodily capacity, but it was a crap-shoot as to which I'd exhaust first.)
As part of that effort, I decided to plant my potted Agave 'Blue Emperor' in the ground, and I purchased 2 others. Here's a picture from today:
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| 3 recently planted Agave 'Blue Emperor', along with existing Yucca 'Blue Skies', Opuntia 'Santa Rita', Euphorbia antisyphiltica, and Agave weberi |
Time will tell how much damage they'll exhibit, or if they'll even make it. They're supposed to be hardy to zone 8, but I don't know if that's 8a or 8b. I'm pretty sure our 8b has felt a lot more like 8a this winter.
If they die I'll kick myself for putting them all in the ground: I love that plant. On the bright side, the one I originally owned has a pup that seems untouched, so it won't be totally lost.
I'm belatedly a little worried about my Golden Barrel Cactus as well. For some reason I had it in my head that they were bulletproof? Then I read Pam's post here and googled it: some sources say 14 degrees, others say 9a is the lowest zone it can survive in. For those of you keeping score at home, those are not even remotely the same. I should probably use some of my extra plastic nursery pots to cover these plants going forward....
But then there's these guys:
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| 3 Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy' |
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| My beloved 3 year old Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy' flanked by two new whipper-snappers |
I got those new Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy' in September 2017, along with these Ballota pseudodictamnus:
I love them: both are kicking butt even now, shrugging off the cold weather. The Yucca are all like "Bring it, winter: I'll see your freezing temps, and raise you a badass color change to show you who's in charge."
I started googling plants this week, planning for spring. I was worried I needed a 12-step program until I got a text from Robin today: she is doing the same thing! I'm not a weirdo, yay!! [Correction: I'm not a lone weirdo.]
My planning is angry, though. I'm just SO pissed off about everything in the back yard, and in full candor I felt that way before the freeze decimated everything. There are big gaps, and I'm tired of being able to see over the fence into the neighbor's yard. Shade gardening in Central Texas is maddening.
I'm going to cram the back yard so full of plants in the spring that I'll be whining about having to thin them out in 6 months, but I don't care: I'm just going to throw plants at the wall until they stick. Er, something like that.
To match my current mood, I will end this blog with pics from our heavy snow in December.
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| View from inside the kitchen |
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| Bananas at night in the snow |
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| Snow covering various plants |
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| Snow-covered Carex 'Everillo' |
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| Daisy LOVED the snow. Lost her mind running around in it and trying to bite it. |
I have pictures from a post I never did in September, so maybe I'll do that soon to make myself feel better. Or worse. Could go either way.
I love your garden so much! And hell no, you're not a bad gardener. It's Mother Nature who was bad for throwing that deep freeze at our gardens that are used to 90 and 100 degree temps...RIGHT?? Hopefully your golden barrels will shrug off the cold since it wasn't particularly wet that week. It's the cold and wet that's the real killer. I'm loving those yucca 'Blue Boys' too.
ReplyDeleteYEAH!! ;-) Good point about the wet/cold combo...every winter it's like I have to re-learn these things.
DeleteReally enjoyed this post, Wendy. Always love learning the limits of what agaves and yuccas (and really, any plant) will take before I try them in my garden. So many people won't share something that might make them look bad. The "bad" ones are my kind of gardeners!
ReplyDeleteHaha, then I'm your gal! I feel disingenuous because so often I post the good pictures of the garden and omit the bad ones, but I think it's because if I don't post them then I can pretend it never happened?
DeleteThanks Vicki!
Oh no! I am so sorry about your beautiful Agave 'Blue Emperor'...I'm no expert (not even close) but in the photos you shared they looked like only parts were damaged and they'll pull out of it. As for your Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy'...now I know where these plants really shine. WOW! I keep trying them in my garden but they keep, well, not looking great. Yours are spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThanks Loree! I'm cautiously optimistic about the 'Blue Emperor': I probably just made them "unsightly", i.e. gave them character. ;-) Just in case the worst happens, I'm already mentally prepared to sub in Agave 'Sharkskin'.
DeleteI cannot overstate how much I neglected that mature 'Blue Boy' for 3 years. It will probably up-and-die on me now that I'm paying attention to it. ;-)
I think you like to live dangerously and not much will stop you. I have learnt that the barrels do better in pots although I have had a couple of small ones in the ground for a few years. We shall see. The blue boy you purchased for me is in a pot in my greenhouse! Dare I risk doing what you have done. I know the one in your back garden was a stunner but success has more to do with not experiencing a combination of those two horrors wet and cold together. You just never know with Texas. You lead the way Wendy!
ReplyDeleteI saw your potted Golden Barrel and LOVED it! It was so simple and classic! If these don't make it, that's my next try.
DeleteGardening is always a challenge with the wide range of weather we get. Now that I've seen yours in the cold, Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy'is going on my list--love that winter color! Where did you find that?
ReplyDeleteI think it would do equally well in San Antonio! I got my now-mature plant 3 years ago from Annie's Annuals, and the more recent 5 (!!) from Digging Dog. One of them was even double-headed: I'm pretty sure I made a loud noise when I saw that!
DeleteThanks Wendy, I'm ordering some in the spring!
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