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Weaving Color

Sometimes I have really great ideas! Last year’s lightbulb moment involved a little patience and a lot of luck to land the perfect pot on sale and hard-to-find sparkler sedge (Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’).
Sparkler sedge container Central Texas Gardener
In less than a year, it’s handled rain bombs, flash drought, and below freezing temps.

Containers are a fun way to accent garden and patio, grab attention, and grow plants that would hate you if you put them in the ground.
cute patio plant containers Central Texas Gardener
file cabinet succulent container Central Texas Gardener
Marcus Young from Bloomers Garden Center joins Tom to style up containers that transition between seasons with flowers and edibles.
Tom Spencer and Marcus Young container design Central Texas Gardener
Select evergreens, like dianthus, succulents, and even mondo grass as your base. Then, swap out annuals every season.
garden pot transition between seasons Central Texas Gardener
Or go simply succulent with a dynamic array of colors and foliage.
Succulent container Central Texas Gardener
Made of fabric, Smart Pots come in many sizes for portability and easy storage.
Smart Pot fabric garden container Central Texas Gardener
And get a good potting soil! This is where your plants live 24/7. One of the first things a garden mentor taught me: Pick up the bag. If it’s clunky heavy, it’s a waste of time and money. Watch now.
organic potting soils Central Texas Gardener
You could grow butterfly iris (Dietes) in a container, but make it a big one! Its upright structure magnifies its playmates and works equally well in sun and part shade.
butterfly iris perennial garden Central Texas Gardener
It’s adaptable to rain bombs and drought, and popular for its soft foliage that punctuates like yuccas or agaves, but doesn’t puncture you.
Butterfly iris define rocky paths Central Texas Gardener
Although root hardy to 10°, in extended freezes it can die back. If so, shear off dead leaves to reinvigorate. If some leaves just brown up, I simply cut them off with garden scissors.
Bicolor butterfly iris structural accent Central Texas Gardener
Most commonly you’ll find D. bicolor, blooming light yellow with purplish brown centers in spring. When I can find them, I like to get Dietes iridiodes for its larger flowers of white, yellow, and lavender. Find out more about Daphne’s Plant of the Week.
butterfly iris Dietes iridiodes Central Texas Gardener
Last fall, several viewers had the same problem with their citrus trees. Marie and Art Crowe found tunnels on new leaves.
leaf miner damage lemon tree photo by Art and Marie Central Texas Gardener
On Sanjay Sundaram’s otherwise healthy trees, the leaves are shriveled. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension fruit specialist Monte Nesbitt confirmed Daphne’s analysis as leaf miners.
leaf miner on lemon tree leaves photo by Sanjay Central Texas Gardener
“In areas with warm winters, they’re seen every year, and cause damage by feeding on soft, tender new leaves, thus interfering with normal growth, pinching leaves in spots and causing them to be deformed and shriveled-looking,” Monte wrote us. But they don’t affect the plant’s overall health,so there’s no need for pesticides. Find out more about leaf miners.

Despite our destructive cold spells, warmth and rain guarantee an army of insect pests. John compares pesticides and explains how to make your own pepper/garlic spray.
Organic pest controls John Dromgoole Central Texas Gardener
Check out Rodale’s The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control for bee-wise control.
Rodale's Organic Handbook for Natural Pest and Disease Control Central Texas Gardener
On tour in San Marcos, Lydia Kendrick weaves together a garden of many levels.
multi-level garden destinations Central Texas Gardener
She can see it all on a deck made by her husband Larry, former Chief of Police, who drowned in 1997 in San Marcos River’s flooding waters.
Lydia Kendrick Central Texas Gardener
Since then, she’s carried on the work they’d begun. First was to re-grade the sloping backyard to control flooding rainwater while creating garden destinations.
patio super wide sail shade Central Texas Gardener
backyard bridge, clumping bamboo, water fountains Central Texas Gardener
To water her colorful container plants and the garden, she collects rainwater from every gutter.
multi-level garden and rain water collection Central Texas Gardener
Then, she took a weaving class and got hooked! Now, at Kendrickkreations, she markets beautifully crafted fine yarn items. With scrap yarn, she took her art outside.
yarn weaving garden art Central Texas Gardener
outdoor yarn weaving Central Texas Gardener
A confirmed recycler, when friends offered her colorful newspaper sleeves, she turned them into outdoor garden art. Don’t they look like real yarn?
plastic newspaper bag garden art weaving Central Texas Gardener
plastic newspaper bag weavings garden cove Central Texas Gardener
garden weaving between trees Central Texas Gardener
At thrift stores, bulky trash days, or other innovative hunting, she salvages finds for weaving frames or to color up garden entrances.
recycled head board garden entrance Central Texas Gardener
Prayer flags buoyantly uplift the view.
patio main prayer flags Central Texas Gardener
“The idea behind them is they carry the wishes and the good prayers with them as they fall apart and birds carry off little pieces of them. It’s a peace flag I guess, if you will,” she tells us.
prayer flags niche Central Texas Gardener
Lydia hangs colorful sail shades to soften hot Texas days.
outdoor yarn weaving sun shade sails Central Texas Gardener
When temps climb to 90, she hits the ladder to keep friends comfy at frequent parties. Sometimes, everyone brings a ribbon, string, or fabric scrap to collectively weave their lives together on one of Lydia’s recycled frames.
garden shade sails photo by Lydia Kendrick Central Texas Gardener
She weaves the upper deck patio into her colorful scheme.
upper deck artistic patio Central Texas Gardener
yarn weaving garden art on patio Central Texas Gardener
yarn weaving patio cattle panel Central Texas Gardener
stock pond deck Central Texas Gardener
And Lydia’s birds build the most colorful nests around!
yarn basket for nesting birds Central Texas Gardener
A champion of rescued dogs, she’s always got a couple of gregarious pals around. For those she’s lost, she honored them by painting a dog paw on a big old rock. What a great idea!
dog paw boulder memorial Central Texas Gardener
Watch Lydia’s story right now!

And thanks for stopping by. See you next week, Linda

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