Sound Gardener

A few the highlights from my trip to central Texas in mid December: Cylindropuntia imbricata in front of the Bauer farmstead in Guadalupe River State Park. An impossibly large Opuntia growing out of an impossibly small disc in San Antonio. P erhaps the roots have grown through the pipe? Yucca rostrata at Barton Springs Nursery in Austin, TX. The Yucca is now living on my brother's patio in Austin, hopefully to be transported to Seattle when my family visits next. I also purchased an Agave geminiflora 'Spaghetti Strap' at Shades of Green in San Antonio.  I fell in love with a large specimen of Agave ornithobroma, a close relative, at Cistus Nursery.  Unfortunately, neither are reliably hardy in zone 8b.  Other purchases included a Nolina nelsonii & Chamaerops humilis var. cerifera (Barton Springs), Agave bracteosa (East Austin Succulents) and a Sansevieria bacularis/sulcata (Great Outdoors).  Sadly, the last purchase is yet another houseplant, ...

In mid December, I visited the San Antonio Botanical Garden on a very blustery day. My previous visit was over ten years ago. Beautiful combination of Artemisia and Agaves  Blechnum gibbum inside a conservatory, I have thought about trying one of these as a houseplant.  Cycads (Dioon I believe)  Zombia antillarum, a palm with the most amazing texture on its trunk Overall a great visit, but the garden could use withn adding more ID labels, particularly of Yuccas, Dasylirion, and other hardy drought tolerant plants.