Inside Austin Garden Tour

Awesome.  I wrote a long entry and then the browser crashed taking all my hard work with it.  So now you get the condensed version.

The Inside Austin Garden Tour is happening on October 17, 2015.  It runs from 9am - 4pm and costs $20 (for all 7 gardens) or $5 for each individual garden (the extension office demo garden is always free).

The Austin Garden Bloggers were invited to have a pre-tour to allow us to blog about the tour BEFORE the tour.  Because of prior commitments, I could only make it to the last garden and the extension office - but based on photos from others, the other gardens are not to be missed.

This is the "Flashy Natives" garden.  I foresee the giant purple grass on the right being the next big thing in the garden blogger world...

Hamelia Patens and Philippine Violet combo.  Hamelia patens is commonly known as Firebush or Butterfly bush/plant - which there are like 30 different plants marketed as "butterfly plant" so be sure to look for the scientific name.  Also, why doesn't my plant look like this?  It probably doesn't get enough sun, dammit. 

Master Gardener Demo Gardens - I really ought to do hoops on my garden - you can keep the sun out, keep the bugs out, keep the heat in depending on what you put on the hoops...so yeah, I should look into doing hoops.

Lady bug larva (right) and pupae (lefT)

"Fireworks" Gomphrena.  I think I need to print this picture...

Purple Passionvine

Mexican Flame Vine.  I think this may be my next vine I'm going to try.  I keep trying vines and not being happy with the results.  I probably need to cut them back or something to force branching...

Hello World

Hey - look at that.  It's been a month since I last posted anything.  Awesome.

I've got some posts lined up - the big one, of course, is that there is the Inside Austin Garden Tour happening on October 17 from 9am - 4pm.  It is done in association with the AgriLife Extension Office Master Gardeners Program.  Pam Penick (of Digging and Lawn Gone! fame) has her garden on the tour - the "Oh Deer!" garden.  I'll share my photos from the pre-tour the bloggers did the other day (though I only managed to make it to one garden and the Extension Office).  Of course, the 17th is going to be a busy day because that's also the same day as the Garden Conservancy Tour, AND Dogs Out Loud's biggest fundraiser of the year (which I will be helping out with).  In the past I've always skipped the Conservancy tour (not that it's been on the same day as the IAGT, but more because it's more expensive to do that tour), but this year, I'm going to try to convince my mom to go with me, and I know she's going to want to see Christy Ten Eyck's place so we'll probably end up hitting a few gardens from each tour and just paying by the garden ($5 for IAGT, and $7 for Conservancy).

I know I should be posting stuff about my yard, but my yard looks like shit; so we'll just ignore it for a while longer - though it IS time to be planting your fall veggie garden, if you're so inclined.  I've got my garlic lined up, and I just spent like $25 on veggie starts at the nursery (though I'm going to wait a few more weeks before planting to let the plants get bigger - see, I learn from my past mistakes of planting plants when they're little only to have them be eaten by bugs)