Dallas Redux

An annual fall convention took me to Dallas this past year for a second time. I was there for a visit in 2010 when my convention was held there that year. I needed to satisfy my botanic garden thirst one day on my recent visit before the convention started, so I hopped on a long boring bus ride out from the downtown hotel and spent time at the Dallas Arboretum.

This botanical garden is one of my favorites, filled with interesting things and things that I like to see. Enjoy my photo log of the latest visit.
No this was not Jurassic Park, but there was Alocasia everywhere. Love it.

Are they started indoors in a prior year?

Alocasia, coleus, and crape myrtle.



Coleus like a hedge.

Coleus "Red Head' as a hedge, again with marigolds and colocasia 'Coffee Cups'.

Orange coleus and dark colocasia.

It was a relatively hot day, and the cool shade under some old impressive trees was appreciated.



Water helped provide cooling relief in several places.





Dallas is designated as a test garden for All-American Selections, a non-profit that tests, evaluates, and recommends herbaceous and edibles every year.





Everette DeGolyer was a wealthy oilman and philanthropist whose mansion and estate serve as the beginnings of the botanical garden. No photos of the interior of the house.

And last, the old crape myrtle allee.

More From Dallas

Fall has been on the warm side, with no killing frost yet as we head into the last weeks of October. This year I am getting a jump start on the fall cleanup, busy pulling out dead material, planting and moving newcomers, and preparing beds for spring. In past years, I was known to be outside in December doing this, rather than preparing for the holidays.

So without much new to show at the moment, a few more photos of items I found interesting at the Dallas Arboretum are posted. Pictured above are rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida) growing along some of the paths. Below are some of those paths prepared for halloween and the fall season.

Being used to gazebos with a Victorian or Colonial style, a northerner found the southwestern style with its clay tile roof very different and appropriate for Dallas.

The Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) was identified after I got back home and sent the photo to the arboretum for help.

How many people would stick something in the middle of this place, making you concentrate on the something? Instead, the space is the focus. A contemplative space.

Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: cosmos, canna, nasturtium, mexican zinnia, zinnia, rudbeckia, calendula, aster   • Harvested: 1 Anaheim pepper

Discoveries at Dallas Arboretum

While in Dallas Texas last month for a convention, I took a side trip to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. After a bicycle rental and 9+ mile (14 km) ride around nearby White Rock Lake, I spent a hot afternoon strolling through the later summer gardens. Here are some of the things I found interesting.

Tucked into the corners of the paths were Cat's Whiskers (Orthosiphon stamineus). Although they can grow up to two feet high (60 cm), these were found only half that. Unfortunately, these are not a zone 7 plant, but maybe they can be considered an annual here.

Crape myrtles do not easily grow into monster trees in my town. The arboretum's crape myrtle allee was impressive for the size of the shrubs, probably due to the weather, age, and lack of heavy snowfall.

The formal allee lead to the playful frog sculpture fountain.

There were several trial gardens. Have you ever seen so many sweet potato vines in so many colors? There are eight varieties in this shot alone.

This was a trial garden for potted plants. With growing interest in small space and container gardening, I am glad someone recognizes that these tests are important. Notice the castor bean plant that refuses to conform to its neighbors.

Another plant that caught my eye was the Golden Shrimp plant (Pachystachys lutea). Another one that does not grow in zone 7, but maybe I can try by treating it as an annual.

Looks like the potato vines sprouted pumpkins in time for Halloween at the cottage's 'cottage' garden.

Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: cosmos, canna, mexican zinnia, aster, acidanthera, rudbeckia   • Harvested: 2 Anaheim pepper, 2 tomato