The Hot Porch Garden - Part One -- Embracing that Texas Attitude

Welcome to my garden. I’m gong to let you know right now that this is going to be a 3 part series. Part one will be setting the scene of the garden. Part two will be an overview of what plants I brought into the garden and if they thrived or failed. And Part three will be the future of garden. With that in mind, let’s get to it.

Allow me to set the scene for you. Dallas, Texas on a mid-July evening. Everyone has been locked up in their homes since February due to a worldwide pandemic and like cicadas emerging into the night, the people step out of their homes to admire the setting sun over a reedy lake while the sprinklers dance over the golf course that frames the water’s far edge. A long, green slopping hill leads from the apartments down to a private, wooded walking trail. Couples walk their dogs hand in hand while bullfrogs start their mating calls. A Great Blue heron stands motionless on the boggy banks, searching out a last minute snack before roosting for the evening.

The view to the left of my porch

Peaceful. Calming. Beautiful. All choice words to describe the view from my back porch.

A direct view out from the porch

Now let me add some atmosphere. It is 98 degrees Fahrenheit outside and with added humidity the real feel is over 106 degrees. It has been a cloudless, brilliant blue day in Dallas and my southern facing concrete and steel porch has been baking under the rays since 10 AM that morning. The metal fencing sizzles like a grill in the pink and gold light of evening. The buzz of mosquitoes is almost drowned out by the constant humming rattle of the cicadas. Or at least you hope its a cicada and not a rattlesnake that’s taken refuge on your porch in search of some sort of shade.

The blanket is to keep him from burning himself  on the concrete when he sunbathes

Hot. Heavy. Humid and yet some how there is an incredibly dry wind that blows through, sucking the moisture right out of your pores. All you want to do is to slink back inside to your air conditioned apartment and crank that thrumming bad boy up until your teeth rattle and you’re home feels like its somewhere between an icebox and an Antarctic research outpost.

But this is Texas and that sight is not worth giving up. There’s a steak in the freezer just begging to be barbecued, a cold brew to drink, and an evening to enjoy. And of course there’s all of that gorgeous sunlight just being wasted when there are definitely some brave and well adapted plants that are ready to suck in those rays. Texans don’t give up that easily in the face of adversity. They wouldn’t give up the Alamo and I’m not giving up my back porch.

The right hand view from the porch

The key to my dilemma is finding out what plants will be able to handle the porch and giving them all the support they need to not only survive but thrive in this inhospitable atmosphere.

Now some people say Dallas is in the South while others argue that Dallas is in the West. I argue its a bit of both. Dallas is in what I call “Green Texas” while further to the west it becomes the rocky and arid “Brown Texas” – which is pretty much anything past Abilene. “Green Texas” is that famous southern prairie you picture in old Hollywood westerns with its rolling, green bluffs and muddy red river banks. Old, noble oaks still grow with strong roots here while prickly pears grow in the same dirt unperturbed. It is a blending of what is familiar and Eastern while still crafting itself with the alien and strange vegetation of the dry deserts and mesas of “Brown Texas”. Its like a well-cut business suit with cowboy boots. It may seem ridiculous but in Dallas that’s nothing unusual. Oil barons, cowboys, and long horns. A happy contrariness that somehow is charming.

So that was my aesthetic when I went into crafting the perfect garden for my hot porch. A charming, relaxing oasis for my husband and myself that had some real grit. I would need some plants that were as stubborn as the surroundings and fed on animosity. But they had to be beautiful too. Unique and eye -catching. Dare I even say fun. Something with that Texas stubborn charm. A Southern drawl with a split lip.

I started calling the project “My Jungle”. The goal was to create a wild, lush garden that would help shade the back porch. I want to avoid a mono-species garden and really create a design that had lots of different leaf shapes, colors, sizes, heights, and scents. I pictured a bit of night-blooming jasmine to capture that Louisiana flare. I wanted something spiky that would be desert inspired to embrace that dry summer heat. And how about some tall, dropping banana tree leaves or the fanning leaves of an elephant ear to incorporate Southern Asia? Maybe an orange tree or a magnolia? Hollywood CA meets Hollywood FL.

My husband and Buddy chilling on the porch prior to adding plants

And then I remembered I had a budget. So better to find myself some key looks and deals before I went too crazy. And I also had to remember that the space had to be usable too. My husband wanted to be able to use his smoker to BBQ and I wanted to be able to sit at our patio table and enjoy a meal. So scale would be key.

With all these factors swirling through my head, I started the hunt for the best plants possible – and affordable – that I could find while still staying safe during Covid.

But all that will be in Part 2!