These are the plants that I have looked up so far that have potential. I've crossed off quite a few plants that I had in a previous list that would probably not be happy in my soil. I would like variety and I'm planning on letting whichever plants want to spread to spread, so if I get some of these it will most likely be only 1 of each for whatever planting area.
Large Spread & Tall- 5 ft & over
Sumac Evergreen
Elaeagnus Pungens-- seems okay-evergreen
Sapphire Showers -Duranta Erecta -- low medium water--evergreen
Purple Emporer Butterfly Bush --medium water
Elbow Bush- very low water
Pride of Barbados
Blue Dalea- not enough info, but good possibility
4ft & over
Thryallis, golden showers--evergreen
Cenizo- Evergreen
Sage, Mexican Bush
3ft & over
Sage, Penstemon (magenta)--evergreen
Skeletonleaf Goldeneye-very low water--semi-evergreen
Yellow Dalea -- low-medium water
Flame Acanthus (pink)- very low water
Sage, Majestic
Little Bluestem
1-3 ft
Mexican Oregano-Poliomintha longiflora-evergreen
Calylophus- very low water--evergreen
Bulbine- B. Frutescens- very low water--evergreen
Sage, jerusalem--evergreen
Penstemon- Most
Black Dalea- very low water
Sage, Cedar (red)
Blue Sage
Sage, Russian cultivar 'Blue Spire'
Mexican Marigold-Tagetes Lucida
1ft or less
Damianita-very low water-evergreen
Hymenoxys- very low water-evergreen
Measured in inches
Desert Sand Verbena
Verbena- tolerant of variety of soils?-Semi-Evergreen
Mountain Pea -no info on ph-Evergreen
As I look over the plants on my list, most of them are variations of blue, purple, and yellow with the occasional pink or red.
Showing posts with label Alkaline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alkaline. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Figuring out soil issues...
I've done some research on a few of the things I've planted to discover the commonalities in those that died or are wilty versus those that are neutral or doing well.
The 'will fleming' yaupon holly does not like chalky soils and also required more water than other plants I bought. It was also a cultivar rather than a hardy native. It died.
The inland sea oats is not so happy. It apparently does not like chalk and likes slightly acidic soil. Similar to the American Beautyberry.
It turns out that desert willow has a medium tolerance for calcium carbonate (chalky stuff), so I will be keeping an eye on it but it does like alkaline soil. So far, it is not exactly happy or sad, but pretty neutral.
The gulf muhly is doing well even though it has similar requirements to the inland sea oats in many ways except that it likes alkaline soil. I take this to mean that I should really stay away from plants that prefer any kind of acid soil.
Bamboo muhly also pretty happy likes mildly alkaline soil and though it likes regular water, doesn't like to be overwatered.
The Hacienda Vine has managed to live though I have not watered it nearly enough for a vine. It like alkaline soil.
The hops bush has managed to survive even though I didn't water it enough and planted it in the heat of the summer. It has a wider ph happiness.
Maiden Grass 'Gold Bar' also has a wider ph happiness and seems to be doing fine. I didn't know they grew as big as the website is saying. 5 feet after 8 years. A slow growth, but still pretty big.
Mexican feathergrass yet another wider ph plant, also seems to be pretty happy. It also doesn't need much water. On the other hand it seems to be dangerous to dogs, or at least that seems to be a major complaint.
The indian grass seems to be okay even though it was root bound. It has a high tolerance for calcium carbonate and seems to flourish in a wide variety of locations. It seems to have a wider ph tolerance, but more in the acid direction to just mildly alkaline.
Primrose Jasmine has a wide ph happiness, but needs water. It is wilty a little probably because I haven't managed to water it enough. Ah well.
Coral honeysuckle is similar in to the desert willow in that it is okay with a medium amount of calcium carbonate. I planted to tiny ones. One is doing really well and one is not so great. They are planted only two feet away from each other. Not sure what the deal is, maybe I pounded down the soil a little too much around the unhappy one or the other one is sucking up all the available water.
I'm thinking that the mountain laurel didn't like the front yard more because it gets more water since it is at the bottom of the slope our house is located on. I'm also thinking I better test the soil ph in front since it has more grass, shade, and trees.
Sadly, what would by most people be considered weeds in my yard that I like don't really seem to have available ph information or soil preferences per say. I know in some of the books I read that certain weeds are good indicators of the type of soil one has. My weeds are pretty and likeable, but fairly soil mysterious.
Things I need to keep in mind as I choose plants: Calcium Carbonate tolerance, Alkalinity, Watering needs. It seems that chalk and ph make the most difference in survival rather than watering. I'm not sure what to think about cultivars, I suspect in some cases they are a bit more difficult than native varieties and in others they were developed to be really hardy.
Lots of plants on my list to check out...
The 'will fleming' yaupon holly does not like chalky soils and also required more water than other plants I bought. It was also a cultivar rather than a hardy native. It died.
The inland sea oats is not so happy. It apparently does not like chalk and likes slightly acidic soil. Similar to the American Beautyberry.
It turns out that desert willow has a medium tolerance for calcium carbonate (chalky stuff), so I will be keeping an eye on it but it does like alkaline soil. So far, it is not exactly happy or sad, but pretty neutral.
The gulf muhly is doing well even though it has similar requirements to the inland sea oats in many ways except that it likes alkaline soil. I take this to mean that I should really stay away from plants that prefer any kind of acid soil.
Bamboo muhly also pretty happy likes mildly alkaline soil and though it likes regular water, doesn't like to be overwatered.
The Hacienda Vine has managed to live though I have not watered it nearly enough for a vine. It like alkaline soil.
The hops bush has managed to survive even though I didn't water it enough and planted it in the heat of the summer. It has a wider ph happiness.
Maiden Grass 'Gold Bar' also has a wider ph happiness and seems to be doing fine. I didn't know they grew as big as the website is saying. 5 feet after 8 years. A slow growth, but still pretty big.
Mexican feathergrass yet another wider ph plant, also seems to be pretty happy. It also doesn't need much water. On the other hand it seems to be dangerous to dogs, or at least that seems to be a major complaint.
The indian grass seems to be okay even though it was root bound. It has a high tolerance for calcium carbonate and seems to flourish in a wide variety of locations. It seems to have a wider ph tolerance, but more in the acid direction to just mildly alkaline.
Primrose Jasmine has a wide ph happiness, but needs water. It is wilty a little probably because I haven't managed to water it enough. Ah well.
Coral honeysuckle is similar in to the desert willow in that it is okay with a medium amount of calcium carbonate. I planted to tiny ones. One is doing really well and one is not so great. They are planted only two feet away from each other. Not sure what the deal is, maybe I pounded down the soil a little too much around the unhappy one or the other one is sucking up all the available water.
I'm thinking that the mountain laurel didn't like the front yard more because it gets more water since it is at the bottom of the slope our house is located on. I'm also thinking I better test the soil ph in front since it has more grass, shade, and trees.
Sadly, what would by most people be considered weeds in my yard that I like don't really seem to have available ph information or soil preferences per say. I know in some of the books I read that certain weeds are good indicators of the type of soil one has. My weeds are pretty and likeable, but fairly soil mysterious.
Things I need to keep in mind as I choose plants: Calcium Carbonate tolerance, Alkalinity, Watering needs. It seems that chalk and ph make the most difference in survival rather than watering. I'm not sure what to think about cultivars, I suspect in some cases they are a bit more difficult than native varieties and in others they were developed to be really hardy.
Lots of plants on my list to check out...
Sad Plant Test and Deciding What to Plant
My American Beautyberry test plant is not doing well. It is droopy and it is easy to tell even though it is really short. It turns out that it actually needs slightly acidic soil. I have super alkaline soil. The American Beautyberry also needs quite a bit of water (of course, any water is quite a bit to me). I have been watering it, but apparently either not enough or the soil is killing it. I'm really glad I planted it. I'm starting to reconsider some of the other plants I like that I was thinking about planting with it.
It is really hard to resist wanting to plant pretty plants. I made a list of low to medium water plants from the Austin Native and Adapted plants booklet. I wanted to plant Skyflower Duranta (S&C have a really fab one in their yard), Esperanza/Yellow Bells, Pumbago, Black-eyed Susans, Indigo Spires Salvia, Coreopsis, Society Garlic, and Liriope with the American Beautyberry. I'm starting to rethink planting any of those plants and just enjoying them when I see them. They require water every 2 to 4 wks.
I'm starting to also wonder about low-water plants that require watering every 3 to 4 weeks. It is just that if I stick to very low water plants that only need supplemental watering when it is very dry, I won't have all that many choices and that is not even considering what kind of soil requirements they have. At the same time, I need to keep in mind self-knowledge. I really liked the description of one plant at one of the nurseries that said appreciates benign neglect. I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with the watering requirements for my veggie garden and that is with using ollas.
I'm feeling really lucky that desert willows like high alkaline soil and very low water (I just looked it up.) because I've bought a 2nd one to plant today after work. Along with some calylophus (which looks much better in person than any picture I've seen of it). It likes slighlty alkaline soil. Lucky again.
It is really hard to resist wanting to plant pretty plants. I made a list of low to medium water plants from the Austin Native and Adapted plants booklet. I wanted to plant Skyflower Duranta (S&C have a really fab one in their yard), Esperanza/Yellow Bells, Pumbago, Black-eyed Susans, Indigo Spires Salvia, Coreopsis, Society Garlic, and Liriope with the American Beautyberry. I'm starting to rethink planting any of those plants and just enjoying them when I see them. They require water every 2 to 4 wks.
I'm starting to also wonder about low-water plants that require watering every 3 to 4 weeks. It is just that if I stick to very low water plants that only need supplemental watering when it is very dry, I won't have all that many choices and that is not even considering what kind of soil requirements they have. At the same time, I need to keep in mind self-knowledge. I really liked the description of one plant at one of the nurseries that said appreciates benign neglect. I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with the watering requirements for my veggie garden and that is with using ollas.
I'm feeling really lucky that desert willows like high alkaline soil and very low water (I just looked it up.) because I've bought a 2nd one to plant today after work. Along with some calylophus (which looks much better in person than any picture I've seen of it). It likes slighlty alkaline soil. Lucky again.
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