Last Year: A Recap

In March of 2011, my garden consisted of a few pots of cacti, aloe vera, and a ficus placed outside my crummy duplex porch.

With the exception of the tall cactus (tiger tongue) and the agave, all of these cacti came from Terlingua, TX

 Thankfully the cats did not destroy my plants over the winter. With such a small place, the cats found my cacti to be convenient beds, and more than once, litter boxes.

Going from little sun to full sun turned these plants a nasty shade of brown. They look much bigger and better now.

I'm sure that soon I will post a series of my older plants, including this aloe, through time. I've been growing these since 2007.

Looks like it's dying. It may have been last year, but it never died.
On the contrary, it's much larger and greener this year.

Cats ate the lower branches of this ficus.
Today this tree is much larger and fuller- and the cats stopped eating it.

 In April, I purchased a habanero pepper plant and pruned my large cactus back, planting the cuttings.

It looks tiny now, but just wait...

For some reason I don't recall, I gave this cactus a haircut at night.
It is entirely possible that alcohol was involved.

To propagate a cactus: you simply cut it off at a joint, let it sit in the shade for 3 days, then put it in a pot.
Initially, water it a little more frequently than you would a mature cactus.

May, June, July, and August were months of transition for me. I moved in with my girlfriend, finished my next-to-last semester of grad school, and my laptop died. It was also a time of evolution for my garden. Moving into the 3-bedroom house I now share with my girlfriend and a series of roommates who shuffled in and out was a time of evolution for my garden. My  Mom, my new neighbors, and my girlfriend began giving me a variety of new plants to care for.

In the process of moving in, I discovered this gem which now hangs on the porch wall

This is the first bulb I ever grew

This is what the elephant ear looked like in May

Elephant Ear in June

Elephant Ear in July

Elephant Ear in August

Elephant Ear and habanero
The bed they are in is simply a broken, half-buried TV stand filled with soil

Smaller elephant ear and Swedish ivy - I have no idea what the plant in the foreground is

Cleaning out the old garage resulted in several decaying pieces of furniture for plants to sit on

Initially, there was way too much space and not enough foliage

Catnip, rosemary, strawberry, lawyer's tongue, snake plant, and a few nameless ones

Cacti at night at the old duplex

Once spring hit, I moved the cacti out where one flowered!

Cacti on the side of the house- one of two locations at the house that gets plenty of sunshine

My neighbor covertly put the gnome in that planter

Aloe vera- looking much better!

I propagated this quite a bit and moved it to a shadier spot

A torrential spring rain on the ficus and habanero

This jerk was eating my ficus all summer long.
I flicked him off shortly after this picture and never saw him again.

The ficus regrew its cat-injured branches and grew up  and out this year

My girlfriend obtained this plant at a farmers' market. All I know is it's an annual hybrid succulent

My neighbor gave me the Swedish ivy, and after I almost killed it, it came back with a vengeance

I'm not sure what the cactus on the bottom is, but I've been told it produces flowers that smell like rotting meat.

Wandering Jew from cuttings from my Mom

This is the same wandering Jew after about two months
I got the toilet for free on Craigslist. The couple I got it from were pleased with my plans for it.

Habanero- the first vegetable I've ever grown

The problem with this setup is the rose in the middle struggled for sunlight. Unsuccessfully.

Spider plant! Mom got it from California, but it hasn't fired any runners out yet

This combination worked out really well

By September, the container garden and habanero plant were looking their best. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the yard, but it was a time of epic drought in Denton and in Texas as a whole; it was the hottest year on record here.

Toilet garden started filling out

We hosted a bridal shower in September

The back yard was the perfect place, and the temperature was amenable to being outside

Evidence of the drought on the right. I never watered that part of the yard, but the irises survived

My bike. But more importantly, the cacti!

In late September, my habanero finally started fruiting.
I was worried all summer long, as the flowers were forthcoming, but always died before making peppers.

Needless to say, people kept giving me plants

I began propagating some plants

This hybrid succulent flowered every morning, but by midday, most of the flowers had shriveled and died

Pothos and spider plant

My girlfriend bought me these cacti from a garage sale

I repotted the aloe because it was getting out of control

The cactus garden

The toilet garden at its peak

I impulse-bought the catnip from PetSmart and it actually grew well
and made for some fun times with the cats

The neighbor's junk gives this garden an urban feel

The peppers started coming!

More and more

Mom gave me a plant (pink pot) that looks like an elephant ear but grows like a pothos

My neighbor gave me the crown of thorns (brown pot) and some other succulents

I grouped these plants together because they do well with a little shade and frequent watering

Propagating my ficus. Cut a ficus branch at a node, place in water for 6 weeks and it will root

Firepit!

By October, the high temperatures had dropped to reasonable levels, and the garden looked its best. 

After raking

That painting is the face of the back yard

Succulents and snake plant

I don't know what this plant is, but my girlfriend dug it up from by the window and put it in a pot.
It flowered in September.

Pink flowers

So green!

Cactus with leaves? Sí

This plant has the texture of a lamb's ear, but it's a succulent.

Propagation!

Sadly, this guy won't be back this year.
I stored the bulbs over winter, but they got soggy and fungusy

Coleus I got from Mom

Plants + Dog

The ficus looking good

Hanging garden cacti

The porch roof is semi-transparent which is great for the pothos...

and the spider plant

Remember what the aloe looked like at the beginning of the season?

The height of my garden's awesomeness last year

After months of worrying, my peppers finally started appearing
By this point, I was worrying about the threat of frost (unnecessarily, it turned out)

So many peppers on one plant!

The cacti were doing well

The agave has looked sickly and thin for a few years, but this season, it got fat and happy

Moving the cacti to this part of the yard was a great idea

These plants needed a lot of water. Notice the addition of mint on the left

More cacti

I have more ambitious plans for the toilet garden this year, though it seems to have done quite well

This is the path I made through the yard. I started in spring, quit for the summer, and renewed my
efforts in the fall. I moved almost all of the rocks from overgrown beds throughout the yard.

There was evidence that someone once cared about the yard, but not for at least 5 years or more

The wood and bricks were already here

I strung old Christmas lights throughout the path so that it's accessible at night

Pretty cool, huh?

Deep in the back of the yard, I had to hack through trees to make a tunnel

It's a nice place to chill and have a cold beer on a hot day

The yard is huge!

Firewood on the left

Drought-ridden grass

Kelly and the dog

I'd like more flowers next year. There were only a few bees

This one didn't mind me taking pictures

In fact, I think she liked it

When late October came, I put these plants in the Earth.
Coleus, flowering bee plant I can't name, catnip, mint, rosemary, Thai basil

The peppers just kept coming

Later, I moved the cacti under the shed roof

I built a table and moved most of the container plants indoors

Herbs. The Thai basil was killed by the first frost before it went to seed.
The mint, catnip, and rosemary are still there

Chloe Bowie

Everything looks good inside

Even the hanging plants

I am perpetually propagating this stuff

Why a birdcage? Cats.

Leafy cactus

First, I moved the cacti under the porch

It's not dead, it's playing possum.

Thus began a bountiful harvest

I had initially named these peppers "Culo de Fuego"
Though they were spicy as all Hell going in, they didn't burn coming out.

That awkward moment when you realize you are flowering in the winter

It started getting cold

December 6th- A little snow. Garden season officially ends in Denton

Late December: I start preparing the bed for next year. I tore down the old decaying furniture
and turned them into beds filled with compost

Compost

So, what have I learned?

• I am more adept at growing a variety of plants than I had anticipated. 
• It is helpful to group plants together with similar sun and water needs
• Watering at night got my plants through a rough year
• Fellow gardeners love sharing plants, cuttings, harvests, and advice. Seek them out.
• Minimal pesticide use is best, and the all-natural, safe-for-kids stuff worked just fine
• Fertilizer is unnecessary if soil is good. Start a compost bin or two.
• It is unwise to use the Almanac to predict first frost. Check the weather daily. 
• On a related note, plants need not be moved indoors based on this information
• The most dangerous place for plants is not outside with bugs, but indoors with cats and dogs

 I don't know about you, but I am eagerly anticipating the onset of Spring. Especially after going through all of my pics from last year!