The Spring Garden

The all too short Spring Garden is always my favorite in Austin. Waiting in anticipation for the first rose bud, the first poppy bloom, the first fig leaflet- and just as the fig tree has fully leafed out- it's time for the grueling Texas heat. We prepared for Summer this year. We installed wonderful rain barrels from Austin Green Water. So far- in this El Nino Spring, I can't use the water fast enough!

The transition from Winter to Spring is always a tricky one at my house. The garden spaces are strategically positioned between 50 year old Sycamores and a lone giant Pecan tree. No garden plot receives full sun. The North Garden is home to the Sun Lovers - Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, and Summer flowers. Not a drop of Winter Sun reaches the North Garden's soil, thanks to my house casting shadow during the Sun's low Zenith. Plants often get a slow start here. My new Bailey's Red Rose is currently getting only a few hours of morning sun before the house and the large Sycamore shadow it. So far, the Bailey's red Rose has had only two blooms- but that will change as the Sun reaches higher in the sky.

California Poppy

The West Garden, or Backyard Garden, or Winter Garden is home to Winter and Spring Greens- Arugula, Kale, Chard, and Herbs. For about two months, February and March, this garden gets wonderful Sun and the Greens burst forth with crazy tidings. In April, the three 40+ ft trees encircling the little garden start to leaf out- stealing the garden's show.

Arugula Blooms

The most prominent species in the Spring Garden is the beautiful 'crop cover' Hairy Vetch. I planted the Hairy Vetch early last spring with a Vetch inoculant and let the lovely flowers go to seed. Well, it reseeded itself and puts on another lovely- yet wild and a bit overgrown show this year. The bees absolutely love it and so do the night time pollinators- moths and the like.

Bee on Hairy Vetch

You cannot go wrong with this plant. It's a nitrogen fixer if inoculated, a pollinator feeder, it puts on a show of delicate blooms that lasts for a few months, and is a great mulch for the incoming tomatoes!

Hairy Vetch

I plant my tomatoes and peppers right in the Vetch. I clear a spot large enough for the transplant and am sure to use a tomato cage for peppers and tomatoes alike- that way I am sure to not loose them in the Vetch. There is a little Vetch maintenance involved with this method- the Vetch tendrils tend to affix themselves to anything- especially tomato cages.

Tomato in Vetch

I love the Vetch even though it is a bit invasive and needs to encroach on another's space. The Vetch spills over the sides of the raised beds, onto the ground, and into the neighboring raised bed a foot and a half away. In the picture below, it looks as if the Yarrow and Vetch are planted in the same bed. I don't mind this temporary invasion- once the short Austin Spring warms to near Summer temperatures, the Vetch will turn to seed and it's tendrils and leaves will wilt into a thin layer of mulch until next year.

Vetch over taking Yarrow