I have posted some FAQs from recent emails and guest book entries with my replies that answer a number of FAQs.

From Carol in San Antonio, TX:
Loved your site, I'm am alway, looking for ideas to incorporate into my young garden that I don't know much about yet. I'm mostly into perennials, which are all dead-looking right now, but I've been assured they're not. I'm excited thinking about what Spring will bring to me. I'm expecting the garden to look very different from last year, as everything was new, small and choppy looking. Any ideas for fast growing vines with flowers? We have a nice deck, but no trees to speak of. We already have Trumpet vine, Mandevilla, Esperanza and Boganvilla. I hope everything will come back, it looks terrible now. Along the fence we have Plumbago, Lantana, Mexican heather, and various sages I don't remember the names of. I like a lot of color. We get pretty much full sun, it's very hot and dry here, but I water frequently. We aren't going to do a lot of construction of beds, etc, because we intend to move in a year or two, but I really want to make the most of what we have
for the time being.

Answer to Carol:
Thanks for letting us know your enjoyed the pages Carol!
Since yours is a short-term garden, you might want to go for annual vines such as moon vine and morning glory. Perennial vines such as Passiflora passion vine and coral vine could be grown in pots to be relocated with your next move.
Growing young trees in large pots could furnish the deck edges to give you the sense of a 'garden room' and could also be moved to your next home. They would wait patiently there for you to plant them into the ground of your new home when you move in a year or two.
Your trumpet vine will come back for sure and may take over the entire yard if not carefully contained! Your tropical mandevilla and bougainvillea are very sensitive to cold, and are usually grown in pots so as to be taken in for the winter. Depending on which esperanza you have, it may be the same may situation - If you have the Tecoma stans 'esperaza', it is more susceptible to cold than the hardier form : Tecoma angusta, which blooms longer than the other. The salvia greggiis are great border plants for hot dry gardens and come in pink, red, coral, white and a new purple. They have some green foliage almost year-round. Evergreen edgings are a mixed border's best friend ... to keep the beds looking bright through winter. Creeping junipers, 'thrift' Phlox subulata, dianthus, 'lamb's ears' Stachys, and liriope are some great ones which also tolerate our hot-dry summers. Taller junipers and hollies are good evergreen bones for the winter scene. The yaupon hollies make great topiary medium for architectural structure within the border.
Most perennials can safely be potted up for relocating, and annuals from seeds are the most cost-efficient strategy for a temporary garden.
Be sure to watch for our newest page, about to be published: a monthly guide to organic gardening practices for Texas. I shall add you to our mailing list to notify you when new pages are published.
Here's wishing you a glorious 2000 garden and many more to come!
Maggie

From Sujane in Ft. Worth, TX:
...we have just recently moved into a brand new house and all we have for yard at the present is mud. I would like to have some gardens, more than just the usual landscaped yard.

Answer to Sujane:
Here's wishing you much luck and pleasure turning that mud-yard into a garden, Sujane! At least you won't have to remove coastal bermuda grass in the bed zones! I have posted my reply to Carol, above, as there are some bed-design tips within the note that might interest you on edgings and hedge-architecture. There is also a new-gardener's primer article on the December Come Stroll pages that may be of some use.
This is a great time to begin a garden in our area. Have fun and take time to make some gourmet
mud pies, cause gardening is our socially-accepted chance to legally 'play' outdoors again!
Maggie

From Marline in Beaumont, Texas
what plants thrive best in texas . fruit trees . i live in beaumont texas on the coast
Reply from Maggie to Marline:
Felder Rushing's book SOUTHERN GARDENING is an excellent title for those on the Gulf Coast and includes a section of fruit trees. You may order it directly on our BOOKS pages, under PLANT REFERENCES.

And if any other readers want to jump in and answer, as Holly did on the guest book, feel free...this is an open forum page!!!!

Reply to Marline from Holly in Texas
Marline, Maggie has shared an entire year of plants (with beautiful photos) that succeed in her garden! Check out the Come Stroll pages for a feast of Texan bloomers with wonderfully written articles - so much more enjoyable than those boring long lists on many other sites. Every article makes me feel I had spent the day in her garden. Thanks Maggie, for inviting us all in!
Holly

I am often asked about the irrigation practices in this garden and although it is addressed frequently on the Come Stroll pages, I shall post it here for permanent reference.

From a recent email reply to one of our visitors:
> Intensive organic soil and other bio-friendly practices, established adaptable plants in appropriate seasons with no vegetable beds and very few annuals makes it much more possible to ornamental-garden in hot climates than most would expect. Regular composting is key and the sunny beds are then topped with several sheets of newspaper and our mulched-up woody prunings. Then there is that most important fertilizer: the gardener's shadow!

an email excerpt from Raymond in West Texas:
... I curious about your topping your beds with newspaper sheets.
Do you shred/mulch the paper before covering your plants? I never heard of that before.

Here is an excerpt of my reply to Raymond:
.....first the soil needs to be good and wet, then I fork on a good layer (1-2inches) of compost, usually my homemade stuff. Sometimes I must resort to purchasing a truckload (3 to 6 c. yards) if I want to give the whole garden a dose at one time.
Mulching with the newspaper - I just layer lumps of pages , maybe 6 to 10 sheets on top of the soil, overlapping the edges so it is a blanket-covering... then fork on the mulched-up wood...maybe 1 to 3 inches depending on how much we have at the time - or purchase more in bulk.
So glad to hear you are looking forward to your very own garden in the near future, Raymond. I'm really pleased that you have enjoyed our site within that anticipation and hope it inspires and influences you further. ....
....If your new-home-to-be will be in West Tx, compost will be your best friend!...to add the much-needed humus to the sand. Constantly adding
lawn clippings (rescue your neighbor's bags from the curbs, ergo landfills) will also help turn your sand into soil. Our native dirt is heavy black clay over caliche lime, embedded with limestone boulders - ack!. But at least the bit of clay does help retain moisture more than your sand would. It is very unlikely that we shall ever again relocate, but if ever we do, I am committed to shopping for good gardening ground as the #1 priority!!!

From our Guest Book:
Hello Maggie, I'm the one who visited Graham and Adelaide's web site to find out about flowering shrubs and bushes. I very much enjoyed their site and I've also enjoyed your's. I've yet found an answer but, now I'm asking you hoping you can help me. I would like some ideas on what kind of bushes I should purchase that live year round. I do have a few bushes on one side of my house but, I would like to do the same with the other side but, I have no clue on what kind of bush I should plant. Also, I would like some other ideas on planting flowers that would be easy to maintain because I want a beautiful yard and garden but, I work full time and so does my husband. We are practicaly still newly weds I'm 18 and he's 21 and we realy have no clue about plants but, I do want to learn. I would send you a picture of my house but, we really haven't gotten around to taking pictures but, I'll definatly try to take some pictures of it and email them to you so maybe it will be a little easier on how to even start. I would greatly appreciate it if you'd give me some advice. Thank you.
Michele
Dayton, Tx

I really can't design folks' gardens for them over the internet guys! But I did answer Michele with an entire article on the December '99 Come Stroll pages for other's further reference. Besides suggesting some of my favorite shrubs, I also warn of the many un-seen considerations when first planning a garden. The article is accessed on the Come Stroll page, at the December link.

I live in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I wonder what zone it falls into.

Today when I was surfing on the net, I passed over the word "hardness: zone8". I wonder what that meant.

thanks for your help

fang

Hello Fang, The country is divided into zones based on each regions expected low winter temperatures. You can research your USDA Zone by clicking on the green-leaf link of our "Weather Page" from most any other of the pages on this site. From there, click on the map for USDA Zones on the Weather page.

Here is a direct link to our
Weather Page
and a direct link to the
US Zone Map
There is also a UK map and a US Heat Zone map on the weather page, as well other climate info.

When you research a plant's requirements, the USDA Zone number will tell you if the plant is cold-hardy in your area.

i need info. on how to cut back a split leave PHILODENDRON. mine is 12 years old and is a cutting off of a 20 year old plant. it has now grown out of its space in the garden and has grown too far into the yard with its large leaves. i use to prune it back after the winter freeze killed it a litte but it was then in a more exposed area. now it gets better protection from the cold and never freezes back like it use to. i need to cut it back. can i cut the main trunk so long as i do not get into the root area? i need help. Ken

You must have a very warm garden Ken, since Philodendron monstera is a tender jungle plant. Do not fear harming it by pruning. A new haircut will rejuvenate it, as well as keeping it in bounds. With less stem and leaf to support, the roots will only have to feed new growths – much more efficient than keeping old bits on life support. When choosing where to cut, consider that new sprouts will develop along the remaining stems at the leaf nodes (joint where leaf was attached).

And think how many more plants you can make by rooting up the trimmings. With enough warmth and moisture, most pieces of stem will eagerly send out new roots at each node. You can stick them in a jam jar of water or into pots of soil indoors - or outside into a warm earth in shade. Just think about how the tree-clinging vine multiplies in its native rain forest. An animal trods on a fallen stem, pushing the broken end into damp, rich soil. In a shady moist air, the severed piece sends out roots into a dank compost-laden ground. In many cases, newly rooted pieces take off to become better plants than the original parent.

In what part of the world does your monster grow, Ken?

thanks for responding to my Philodendron question so fast. i live in liberty, texas, one hour east of houston. we just have not had the big freeze the last several years and i guess that is why the plant has survived so well, along with being tucked in a corner protected somewhat. i have covered it before with blankets when the temp. did get low. so far so good.

ken