"Indian Peaches"

A member of the Central Texas Seed Savers Heirloom Fruit Tree Preservation working group shared this article with me about “Indian” peaches.

About 10 years ago I read a different article about different “Indian” peaches in the Four Corners Region. These trees reached legendary status in my imagination. I’m sorry that I can’t remember where I read it originally but I did find this really interesting article about it. From what I remember about that old article, the trees were brought to the American Southwest by Spanish Missionaries, and the Native Americans began growing them in a feral way, propagating them mostly from seed and letting them grow with little care in the cool canyons and mineral rich soils of the Southwest. The idea is the Native Americans only planted seeds from the best tasting fruits and the trees had to survive on their own without pruning. Most contemporary peaches need intensive care from humans to produce good fruit. I have heard different info from different sources about whether or not most peach seedlings will come “true to seed”, meaning the tree that grows up from a seed will resemble its parent tree in every way. Many sources say most peaches will come true to seed, but others disagree, and I haven’t tried growing a peach tree from seed yet. Peaches, like most fruit trees, are commonly propagated by cuttings to preserve desirable traits, and they often can’t grow on their own roots and need to be grafted onto rootstock. Grafting is a process that most home gardeners aren't equipped for, so the idea that you could grow a tasty, healthy peach tree from a seed was, and still is an obsession of mine, a lingering dream in the back of my mind. Then in summer 2023, I freaked out when I saw that Lone Star Nursery was carrying an “Indian” peach, and I promptly purchased 3! Be sure to read Lone Star’s description and history of the tree.

When I bought them it was the middle of summer so I waited until September for tree planting season, (approximately September 15-April 1 in Austin depending on who you ask) and stuck them in the ground in 3 different areas in my yard. One spot gets full hot sun all day long and the soil is awesome because it is a former vegetable garden where I amended the soil for 10 years. Another spot is in poor soil in the shade of a tall privacy fence for most of the day. The other is at the end of a current veg garden with morning sun and afternoon shade. There has been no difference in the vigor or health of the three. They are all doing awesome! They each get 10 gallons of water once per week if it doesn’t rain. No signs of disease etc. I learned from Susan Poizner during my orchardpeople.com courses that most fruit trees should not be allowed to make fruit in the first 3 years after planting/transplanting so they can get their roots established before undertaking the strenuous process of fruit and seed production. So even if the trees make flowers you should remove the flowers by pinching them off or pick off tiny fruits from the trees. So I won’t let these make any fruit until Spring 2027. I hope they stay healthy and the fruits taste good. I put on my patience pants.

Vit Kaspar who is the nursery manager at TreeFolks used to live in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas. He mentioned to me that there is a type of “Indian” peach from that area too. So maybe the term “Indian” peach is more widely used than I originally knew, applied to any peaches that were grown by Native Americans that cultivated them using minimal inputs. I’m planning to bring some scions from my trees to the CTSS scion swap in Feb 2025, see flyer attached. Maybe I will see you there.

SCIONWOOD WORKSHOP WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!

I was so happy that 20+ people showed up on a drizzly, cold Sunday morning to learn how to take scionwood cuttings from fruit trees at Festival Beach Food Forest. Vit Kaspar taught us to how stake pencil-thickness cuttings from persimmon, figs and peaches. We also got a bonus crash course in grafting citrus. Later this spring Central Texas Seed Savers will host grafting workshops. Thanks Walker Pickens for organizing and for Festival Beach Food Forest for Hosting! This was our first ever scionwood workshop and I hope we will do it again next year.

THANK YOU, MENCHACA BRANCH LIBRARY

ON SATURDAY I HAD A GREAT TIME TEACHING A SEED SAVING CLASS AND PARTICIPATING IN A SEED SWAP ON NATIONAL SEED SWAP DAY AT MENCHACA BRANCH LIBRARY. THEY HAVE OTHER CLASSES AND EVENTS COMING UP THAT I WILL NOT BE ATTENDING BUT MY READERS MAY FIND THEM INTERESTING.

Heirloom Fruit Tree Class At APL Central Oct 23 6:30-7:30

I’m teaching a class for Central Texas Seed Savers and Austin Public Library Seed Collection about heirloom fruit trees. This event will launch CTSS’ new Heirloom Fruit Tree Preservation Project. I am so pleased to be a part of this group, working to prevent the extinction of both historic and durable fruit trees that once thrived in larger numbers in Austin. Free and open to all, no registration required. Parking can be a challenge at APL Central so arrive early.

Annual Austin Central Library Seed Swap October 12, 2024 from 11-1

Join me for the annual BIG seed swap!!! My volunteer group, Central Texas Seed Savers, supports the seed collection at the Austin Public Library. Leftover seeds at the end of the swap will go into the APL seed collection and other seed libraries around Central Texas. This event is free and open to all, no registration needed, and you don’t have to bring seeds to participate. All seeds are welcome as long as they are legal to grow in Texas. If you bring seeds please label them with the name of the plant and the year the seeds were collected. Bring your seed stories and be ready to share seeds and stories with other gardeners!

Tree ID Walk and Seed Swap Oct 4 at Texas Keeper 6PM

Seed swap is free and open to all, no need to register for that. Bring seeds if you have them but even if you don’t that is ok, you can still come and get seeds!

Many of y’all know that I am the founder of Central Texas Seed Savers, a project of Fruitful Commons. We prevent extinction of important plants through seed sharing events.

Texas Keeper Cider is named after an extinct variety of apple, a good example of the type of extinction that we are working to prevent! They are located at 12521 TWIN CREEKS ROAD, MANCHACA, TX, 78652

Register for tree ID walk here:

https://www.treefolks.org/events/tree-id-24-10-4/

How To Water Your Landscape Plants

In March 2023 I got a message from a consultation customer after they planted their new landscape. They asked me how often to water their new plants. Here’s my reply to them, just in time for summer heat and our regularly scheduled July 15-August 15 drought in Austin. Like most gardening questions, the answer is complex.

First off, before you water you should check to see if the soil in the planting area is dry or wet. You can use your fingers to touch the surface of the soil underneath the mulch. Be sure you are touching the soil and not just touching mulch. 

The soil should feel wet like a wrung out sponge for the first 2-4 weeks after planting. Don’t let them dry out. Depends on your weather and soil how often. Most likely it will be every 2-3 days that you need to water. 

After the first month you can go down to once every 5 days, and it’s ok to let them dry out a little between waterings. 

Trees require a different schedule than the rest of the landscape.  See my blog post about watering trees here.

Then next spring you can back off to watering once each week using the same method listed above. Then in the third year and later you can water as needed- if we go for more than two or three weeks without rain at any time of the year, I recommend watering. 

Please keep in mind that these instructions are merely guidelines, and the amount of water plants need varies wildly depending on temperatures, air humidity, wind and your soil. When in doubt, use your finger to check the soil near the plants. 

Things to look for: 

Plants with yellow leaves that look weak and slightly wilted: this is sometimes a sign of over watering or an insect problem.

Plants with curled leaves or wilted leaves that are brown on the tips or edges: under watering. Try increasing the duration of time that the water is on each time you water. 

One last tip:

 It is always better to water for a longer duration time and less frequently than to water every day for a short time. Watering for a long duration encourages roots to grow further into the ground toward soil that stays moist for a long period of time, so the plants will be less dependent on irrigation. Over-watering can cause the proliferation of root pests like grubs and fungal diseases.

Finally, plants die for no apparent reason sometimes, so if you loose one or two that is ok.

For my Blog readers, you can find a sprinkler, soaker hose and landscape staples here on my recommended products page. I haven’t found a hose nozzle, digital irrigation timer, soil moisture meeter or a watering can that I want to recommend yet. If I ever do, I will add them. But all of the ones I have tried so far break or have design flaws.





Another happy customer!

One of my regular customers sent me this beautiful photo today of her yard. Her grass had died up by the street. I consulted with her, and together we redesigned the space. I purchased and delivered the plants for her, and she and her handy person installed them. I help my customers by alleviating their anxieties about their yards. Now this customer can feel happy about her yard! Make an appointment today to get support and take advantage of my 20+ years of experience.

Central Texas Gardener Appearance

Central Texas Gardener Seed Sharing Video

Hi Y’all, Colleen here. HEY IT IS TIME TO START SAVING SEEDS! In the photo above I harvested seeds from Milk Thistle. If you are new to seed saving, just choose one plant this season and let it go to seed, do some research and gain some experience with collecting from just one plant. Cilantro is a good choice to start with. The seeds are appearing now on top of the plant where the flowers were. The seeds will dry out and they are referred to as “Coriander” and can be used as a spice in cooking or you can save them to plant again next year… and make sure you share some at the library.

In addition to my business as a landscape consultant with Red Wheelbarrow, I am the founder of Central Texas Seed Savers, an organization dedicated to preventing extinction by sharing seeds.

In fact, I did a “Backyard Basics” segment for Central Texas Gardener about how to share seeds at the library.

I am excited to tell you that I will be appearing on Central Texas Gardener on KLRU, the local Austin PBS station at noon & 4:00 on Saturday, and 9 a.m. on Sunday, and various times and dates this weekend statewide and on PBS stations outside of Texas. In fact, the entire program is on pbs.org and our segment is on YouTube!  I did a “Backyard Basics” segment about how to share seeds at the library. Enjoy and share!

BRAVE Communities!

🌻 MEET THE PANELIST! 🌻

Colleen Dieter is one of our awesome panelists for our monthly BRAVE Communities Connection, April Showers Bring BRAVE Flowers! 🍃

As a top gardening educator and founder of Central Texas Seed Savers, Colleen is often asked to speak to audiences about saving important plants and native Texas planting. She is the owner of Red Wheelbarrow Landscape Consulting, where she loves helping “do-it-yourselfers” find their own environmental passion right in their backyards. Dive deeper into her journey and passion by tuning in to her podcasts, “The Horticulturati” and “The Horticulture Hangover.”

“I want to learn what BRAVE Communities is all about and connect with people who have different demographic backgrounds.”

We are so excited to have Colleen share her knowledge, experience, and stories with our commUNITY! You don’t want to miss out on getting to know Colleen THIS Sunday at our event, April Showers Bring BRAVE Flowers! RSVP using this link: https://www.betterunite.com/braveccapr24 or by clicking the link in our bio!

#BRAVECommunities #beBRAVE #nonprofitatx #austinnonprofit #atxevents

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Luci and Ian Family Garden 10th anniversary

My friend and co-host of the Horticulturati podcast, Leah Churner and I, were guests of the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center last night for their special fundraiser dinner celebrating 10 years since the creation of the Luci and Ian Family Garden. Leah and I both realized we rarely get to visit the LBJ Wildflower Center in spring! I teach classes there in winter and summer, and I am usually too busy with business to get over there in springtime, so seeing the blooms was an extra special treat. Meeting other LBJWFC supporters and staff was a delight. Conversation at our table ranged from 9 pound lemons to how to identify animal scat using iNaturalist. Here’s a photo of Leah and me all cleaned up good.

TreeFolks Keep Austin Rooted Picnic Panel

Hey it’s me, Colleen the landscape consultant. Did you know I am also a certified arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture? I will be part of a panel of arborists answering tree questions at this year’s fundraiser for TreeFolks- the Keep Austin Rooted Picnic. $50 for adults gets you a meal and 2 drinks at Live Oak Brewing. There’s music (obvs) and other fun activities. It is a fun event! Plus you are supporting the best tree planting org in Austin, reversing climate change through tree planting projects, and reforesting land that was damaged in disasters. Get all your warm fuzzy feelings and get your tickets here.

Perennial Planting Time!

What are you up to in your garden?

 April and May is prime time for planting perennials in Austin and Central Texas. Perennials are plants with a seasonal life cycle that live for many years. Typically the top of the plant dies in the winter and it grows back from the roots in the spring. Lantanas, Indigo Spires Salvia, Yellow Bells and Pride of Barbados are all examples of plants that are perennial here in Austin. Lucky (though confusingly) for us in Austin, we have perennials that have the opposite life cycle of most perennials. They grow actively in fall and winter, bloom in spring and then the tops die in summer when it is hot. Weaving in these different types of plants into your landscape will give you year-round interest. White yarrow, oxalis, spiderworts, dutch iris are all examples of these early spring bloomers who will be going dormant soon. Below is a photo of my yard with some cool-season perennials: Dutch Iris and Texas Bluegrass, photo taken March 13 2024.

Book your appointment with me to get good results in your landscape.

Spring is the time to treat yourself. I gotta say, I really enjoy spending time with my customers. Wouldn't you like to stroll around your yard with me ? Are you having any springtime anxiety about your yard? Need a little calming, confident advice? Book your next landscape consultation appointment in just a few clicks. I look forward to seeing you soon!

 Happy Gardening,

Colleen