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After lunch yesterday, rather than sit and talk for hours, my mom and I decided to go to a local nursery and look at plants. My mom has been working tirelessly in her yard, improving a substantial portion of her yard and she needed a large shrub/tree for a certain area. So we braved a hot and humid Texas afternoon, searching for the perfect item for her yard.
She wanted to go earlier in the week, but I really wanted to go with her, so I was able to go on Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to tag along because if I’m really honest, I’m pretty intimidated by plants, gardening, gardening, etc. Plants are not my world. Put me in any department at Home Depot and I can thrive very well. But as I walked outside, to the nursery, among the plants, I was completely lost. I can probably name five plants, mostly indoor house plants, and beyond that, I’m clueless.
So I wanted to tag along and dip my toe into this whole plant world and ask some questions like, “What’s this called?”
We went to a small-ish local nursery called Bonnie’s Greenhouse, which I highly recommend if you’re local to the Waco area. The lady who helped us (I think the owner, but I failed to ask) was very helpful and knowledgeable. And when I mentioned the name of the place to other locals who know the plants, they said that she really knows about the plants that are native to the area and thrive here.
As I looked through the selection, I recognized quite a few plant names from our landscape design. In fact, having a large print of our landscape design in my studio really helped me study it more (and more often) and familiarized myself with many names that I would look up to in the future. This large print made it very easy to see and identify the different plants on the plan, and when I was ready to purchase plants, it was easy to decide which section I wanted to work on and take pictures of that section. , find the plants on the plant key and take pictures of the name. Then I can take those pictures with me to the nursery and find what I need. It’s much easier than finding things with a landscape design pulled up on my phone or a small printed version in hand.
So yesterday, I found some different plants in our plan. At the front of the house, the landscape designer placed several boxwoods. This is actually a plant I know because when we bought our house, the front bedroom window was covered with boxwood. And we still have a ton of boxwood on the side of the house. But these plants around the front porch are boxwoods.
In the landscape plan, there is Japanese boxwood. Since I don’t know the plants, I don’t know if it’s a specific type of boxwood, or if it’s just a common name for boxwood.
So I found two different boxwoods in the nursery. First up is this Sprinter Boxwood.
But according to the tag, it grows 2 to 4 feet wide and 2 to 4 feet tall, so it’s probably not the right choice for those areas of the plan.
She showed me something else that I think is a dwarf boxwood, or something like that. I think dwarf boxwood works better in those areas. So it’s a decision! 😀 I’m starting to think this might actually be doable for me! I actually didn’t buy plants yesterday. I explained to her that it was very early and I still had to bring in a lot of dirt and prepare my planting beds. So she recommends waiting until late August before buying and planting any of these plants. I hope to have a very concrete plan by then.
Another plant I spotted, the landscape designer recommended for this area is the front porch.
According to the plant key, it is Gulf Stream Nandina.
What I found was the Nandina, but it wasn’t the Gulf Stream. It’s absolutely beautiful, though!
But it’s called Firepower Nandina, and she says the leaves turn red in the fall, which is shown on the tag.
I think I could swap out the gulf stream for the firepower, but I want to make sure before I make my purchases.
I see some plants that have no place in my landscape design, but I definitely want to find a place for them. One of them is this Japanese Yew. I love those long, thin leaves! What a beautiful plant!
It’s a dwarf, so it can go anywhere. I’ve read that if left alone, they can grow 3-5 feet tall and 6 feet wide. But they respond well to being trimmed to keep size in check.
But when I got home and was looking for information about these plants, I came across this picture of all kinds of plants that I love.
The description of the picture called the area of low, rounded bushes a “boxwood cloud,” and I couldn’t have wanted more. 😀 It is made up of three different plants – Sunshine Ligustrum (which is one of my absolute favorite plants because of its bright green color), Boxwood and Dwarf Eupon (which is also in my landscape design). So now I definitely need to find a place for the “boxwood cloud”. And then the hedge “fence” was created with Japanese yew (obviously not the dwarf variety) and NR Stevens hollies, which my mother actually ended up buying yesterday for her particular area of her yard. I loved the shiny deep green leaves of NR Stevens holly. So now, after seeing the picture above, I dream of planting alternate Japanese yew and NR Stevens holly along the back fence of our property for a natural privacy “fence”.
Another plant that’s not in my landscape design, but I’d like to find a place for, is this Texas Sage. It grows 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide and has silvery leaves and purple flowers. It is very beautiful when grown as a large hedge. It needs sun, but it’s native to Texas, so it’s drought tolerant and heat tolerant. I want to find a place in our yard to put it.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I’ll leave you for now. I took lots of pictures and by the time we left yesterday, I was feeling more excited (and less intimidated) about buying some plants and starting landscaping.
She also gave me the names of two different people she recommended to help me prepare my planting beds for plants in late August. So I’ll be contacting them in the next few days, hopefully meeting with them and I’m “clicking” with any of them. And then we can hopefully start hauling dirt, preparing the beds, planning the irrigation and getting everything ready by the end of August when I can buy some plants. I’m really excited about this! Heck, I might turn into a plant person!
Addicted 2 Decorating shares my DIY and decorating journey as I renovate and decorate the 1948 Fixer Upper that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical activity, so I do most of the housework myself. You can learn more about me here.
