We are constantly being bombarded with the buzzwords “green” and “sustainable”. I can hardly imagine what our great grandmothers would think if they saw a list of ways to be “green”. For them it was a way of life. There was no thermostat to set. If they wanted to be cooler, they went outside on the porch or sat under a tree. Heating was automatically regulated – they just used less wood or coal in the stove. Hanging clothes out on the line was the only option (always a challenge up north – I can remember many times when a load of clothes on the line were frozen solid).

When it came time to garden, they knew that choosing plants that were native or well adapted assured them of success, since they would be much more drought-tolerant. In north Texas, that meant plants had to handle drought and heavy rain, extremely hot temperatures, sudden dramatic changes in temperature and lousy soil.

Turk’s cap, ruellia, tawny daylily, salvia and oxeye daisy, oakleaf hydrangea, prickly pear and flowering quince; desert willow, vitex and eastern red cedar were just some of great-grandmother’s plants. These tried and true plants are still available and still recommended for the same reasons they were popular more than a 100 years ago – they will survive!

For several years now, I have had a Meyer lemon in a container. For the past three years, I have harvested two dozen or more lemons towards the end of the year. The tree is brought in to a sunny spot at the time of the first freeze and comes out again in March at the latest. Our son is going to do the ultimate experiment this year – he has planted his in a protected courtyard. He plans to cover it when we have a hard freeze. I am anxious to see how this works out. Meanwhile, my harvest this year looks like it will be a record.

There is no room to plant any more trees in our yard. I have yearned to have a fig tree for years, so last fall I finally just planted one in a container. Already there are six figs on the tree – not bad for the first year. Next up will be a ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate. I know it may take a year or so to fruit, but it will definitely be worth the wait. If I can have pomegranates the size of the ones Carol, one of our employees, brought in to the store last fall, I will be thrilled. What is even better, the tree is a beautiful plant with its glossy leaves, and scarlet orange flowers – the best of both worlds.

My husband and I were just looking at photographs taken in our back yard only five years ago. We were astounded at how quickly the oak trees had grown. We wanted a privacy screen, but more importantly, we needed shade for our back patio area. We did have a minor setback early on. A couple of beavers decided they needed dinner one night. Two trees disappeared. We replanted them and protected all four with hogwire – we knew we needed the trees more than they did.

The trees were not large, so the garden underneath them originally had beds of miscanthus grass, Gulf muhly, Russian sage, Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’ and Rudbeckia goldstrum. They all thrived in the full sun, with very little care, providing color all summer long.

What a difference five years make…the trees have grown so much that I have had to transplant the Gulf muhly, Russian sage and most of the rudbeckia to other spots in the yard. Now I have an odd assortment of shade-loving plants in their place. Hardy ground orchids given to me by a friend, ferns, viola, varieties of heuchera, toad lily, butterfly ginger and viburnum have replaced the sun-loving plants. The tree branches are now strong enough to hang a birdfeeder filled with safflower to attract the neighborhood cardinals, chickadees and titmice.

It may not be instant gratification, but it is something close to it. Each year we have watched the line of shade slowly march across the back yard. Today as I am writing this it is 4:30 in the afternoon and half of our back yard is in the shade!

By early April, my cousin David (a member of the Shetland Horticultural Society) was using his newly constructed greenhouse to sow various vegetables and bedding plants, planning to use it for peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and some lettuces afterwards.  Some plants, such as sweetcorn, courgettes (what we call zucchini) and beans would have to be grown inside as they do not do well outside there, even with windbreaks in place.  “I have acquired five lots of seed potatoes (an early, a second early and three maincrops) which are in place in seed trays to begin chitting any day now (hopefully). I was also gifted with 3 bags of Shetland Pony manure which is a first for me. I will probably use some of it for the potatoes and courgettes when they are planted out.”

David then sent me photos of him and his wife Fiona gathering seaweed on the local beach.  They were then going to lay it on their garden soil and then “rotavate” or dig it into the soil.  When I mentioned to him that we sell many cases of Maxicrop liquid seaweed each year, he reminded me that Norway, where Maxicrop is harvested, is only 225 miles due east of their islands!  He has even used it himself in the past. 

What a small world it is…