VIA COLORI FESTIVAL 2011

Once a year our downtown streets are transformed in a open air art exhibit. Here are my favorites for 2011.

Can you believe she's made of chalk?

This one was my favorite. I told the artist it was the best of the show! He was happy to hear it. :-)

MORE BEAUTIFUL BUNGALOW PAINT COLORS

My wife and I went for a casual walking tour today in Houston Heights. I must have hit the jackpot. At every turn there was another beautifully maintained bungalow from the 1920s and 1930s. Don't you just love bungalows? I do. I live in one. David :-)/ Houston Texas

Wine red door with steel gray tones. Nice!

Immaculately kept bungalow of  blue-gray with white trim.

Another beautiful grayish tone with white and blue gray trim. Isn't that a nice porch?

A beautiful cottage garden surrounds this pale green bungalow. Large cypress trees give it a cozy feel.

The brick circle drive is a nice touch on this one. The color is subtle and beautiful...a greenish gray tone.

Another fine bungalow with a historic shade of gray. The windows and eave supports add charm.

A nice color for the historic district. Any seasonal decorations would go with this.

I'll end with this pocket garden filled with blooms in November. Many of the new homes are two story, but try to carefully match the historic style. This is a great gardener. A tip of the trowel to you and your garden!

David/ :-)

8 YEARS OR 80? PLAY THE "HOW OLD ARE THESE BUNGALOWS" GAME

Builders and owners alike try very hard to match building styles within historic districts. Sometimes it's imposed. Other times it comes from the desire to protect the look and feel of special places like the Houston Heights and Woodland Heights. Not all of these are bungalows, but all are in the historic district. I'll tell you the answers at the end. Warning: some homes are hybrids and would be considered both since there is an older, original part and a newer addition. If it's closer to 8 years old, then the answer is 8. If it's an original home, then the answer is 80 years. Get a pencil and paper and mark your answers. Ready?

House A: 8 years or 80 years old? (This one is easy)

House B: new construction (8 years) or original bungalow (80 years)?   The new roof doesn't count.

House C: 8 years or 80 years old? (New roof doesn't count either way)

Houses in picture D: both 8 or both 80 years old?

House E sure is pretty! 8 or 80?

House F: 8 or 80?

House G: 8 or 80?

House H: 8 or 80? Is this still fun, or am I driving you crazy and now you're second guessing that all these 'old' houses are really new?

House I is filled with charm, isn't it? So is it 8 years old or 80?

House J: 8 years old or 80?

House K: Wow, this one is for sale! 8 years or 80?

Finally House L: 8 or 80? This one is probably my favorite because of the windows and roof line symmetry.

But all of them are so nice it's hard to pick a favorite.

Answers:

A. closer to 8

B. closer to 80 

C. closer to 80

D. both are surprisingly closer to 8!

E.closer to 80

F. closer to 8! This was painstakingly built to appear as if from the historical period of the Houston Heights 

G. closer to 80

H. not certain, but probably closer to 80  

I.closer to 80

J.closer to 8

K. a hybrid of both 1910 & 2005, so it's both 8 and 80 years 

L.closer to 80

Thanks for stopping by! David/ :-)

COZY BUNGALOW PORCHES

For this post, I went to an older part of the city that's experiencing a boom in remodeling old bungalows. Here are three wonderful bungalows with cozy chairs on the front porch.

A 1920 Duplex Bungalow with red chairs. Isn't it inviting?

A 1920 bungalow with a cozy porch swing and wicker love seat.

Finally, this 1910 Bungalow was just remodeled and on the market! What a nice sunny porch.

That's it for this time. Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

WABASH FEED STORE: YOU NEED TO VISIT!

Let's say you need a change of pace. Something different. Something a bit out of the ordinary. A place where you can see and buy fun things. Now throw in a healthy dose of nostalgia and you've got Wabash Feed & Antique Store on Washington Avenue. It's a fun place to take older people who have ties to country living and are stuck in the BIG CITY. And it's fun for the kids to see animals, plants, and a feed store. Plus, the garden art is fun, fun, and more fun. Stop by now that it's cooler since they have no A/C.

Cloth chicken

Metal chicken

Live chicken. These beautiful Black Australorp hens just arrived and need a good home.

Lots of herbs, vegetables, and other plants.

Whimsical doesn't begin to describe the art! I love it!

This is definitely a good post for my blog, "The OTHER Houston". It's not what you imagine you'd find in a metropolis of over 2 million.

BUNGALOW & COTTAGE GARDEN FLOWERS FOR HOUSTON & THE GULF COAST

I've been asked to design a colorful entrance to our church in the historic Houston Heights district. What an honor and what fun!  My inspiration comes from the wonderful color beds designed by professionals in the Galleria area. The person who invents these is a genius and makes the drive very pleasant even in the worst traffic. I also love to see what's going on at my 3 favorite garden centers in town. Most of these flowers can be used all summer in a cottage garden or sunny bungalow garden.

This is a perfect balance between blooms and foliage. It's not overpowering, but still eyecatching. I like it because it has endured an awful summer with drought.  Pictured: Purple verbana, Silver Lamb's Ear, Silver Dusty Miller (Artemesia), Yellow lantana (not in bloom), Rudbeckia (daisy), and a tall Blue Salvia in the background. Photo from a church on Montrose Blvd.

Zinnia linearis, Gomphrena (tiny purple globes), Sun-loving Coleus, Caladiums, Salvia, Rudbeckia, and white Angelonia. All can take full sun.

A little space between plants gives a cottage garden feel to these Rudbeckias (yellow) and lavender Obedient plants.

A rock or two adds interest to a mix of Zinnia, Vinca, Cuphea, and a lavender-flowered bush I don't recognize.

European fan palm, roses, loripetalum and a grasslike foliage plant gives a different look.

Another beautiful, mixed planting

Coneflower, angelonia, zinnias, and a dwarf hibiscus are fabulous together.

Zinnia linnearus with lime green Sweet potato vines are an unusual mix, but seem to work together.

Well, that's it for general impressions. Scroll down for Part 2 and a list of my 3 favorite nurseries in town.

Thanks for stopping by.

David/ :-)

FULL SUN FLOWERS FOR HOUSTON SUMMERS ~ Part 2 ~ DETAILS

 There seems to be a larger variety of flowers these days for Houston gardeners. I'd say there are probablybetween 20 and 40 great choices ~ more than enough to get away from the standard begonia/vinca/lantana mix for office parks. Ready to see something new?

Dwarf hibiscus, purple verbena, and white angelonia. Wow!

Melochia tomentosa ~ gray green foliage, lavender flowers, unusual leaf shape would contrast well with fine, feathery grasses.

Almost all ornamental grasses grow well here in Houston. These are Miscanthus.

Mexican feather grass is a sensation. Drive along Gessner at Memorial City Mall to see it in action.

Rudbeckia fulgida is a smaller, more dainty Black-eyed susan. It is very drought tolerant. It goes great with purple angelonia.

If you cannot find blackfoot daisy, this Zinnia linearis will do nicely as a stand in. It likes superb drainage.

These are new to me, but because they are in the white, proven winners containers, they will probably do fine here. I do not know the name, but these would be nice in front of larger plants.

If you don't like the 'sunflower' look but want a massing yellow flower, get Golden Shower Thryallis. It is filled with delicate star-shaped blooms all summer.

For foliage accents, dark green rosemary is stunning behind the silver gray leaves of licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare)

Add purple, white, and violet flowers for a wonderful landscape.

Salvias are sensational in a mixed bed with taller Rudbeckias. Some flower sparsely, but this powder blue Rhea selection looks strong.

Blue daze (Convolvulus nuttallianus) is my favorite as a delightful ground cover along borders.

OK, I'll admit these Vinca do look beautiful. I would sprinkle a few in a mixed planting to showcase individual plants. I'm guessing this is a resistant strain to a wilt we have here in humid conditions.

                                                 The End ~ Happy Gardening!
SO WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE PLANTS? IF YOU LIVE IN THE HEIGHTS AREA OR CENTRAL HOUSTON, GOOGLE THE FOLLOWING & STOP BY:    
           ANOTHER PLACE IN TIME

           JOSHUA'S NATIVE PLANTS

           BUCHANAN'S NATIVE PLANTS