1445 Cortlandt
Teran Smith, John Caffey, and our children have lived at 1445 Cortlandt since 2010. We were fortunate to inherit good “bones” in our front yard. Previous homeowners had installed the flagstone pathways, the large beds and of course the crucial irrigation system. Over the years, we have tried to make the yard more inviting to human guests by replacing the forbiddingly tall picket fence with a shorter one. We also hope to make it more inviting to bird and insect guests by planting or maintaining species attractive to them.
Our recent weather extremes have winnowed down the plant selection to the hardiest perennials and the most reliably re-seeding annuals. Perennials include Turk’s Cap, Indigo Spires Salvia, Mexican Cigar Plant (Cuphea ignea), Mexican bush sage and dwarf yaupon holly. I really enjoy the pink amaryllis that come back each spring (unfortunately quite decimated by the freezes).
Re-seeding annuals include cosmos and sunflowers. I always plant Mammoth Sunflowers from seed as early as possible in the
spring, as they are easily shaded out if the other plants are too tall already. This year, I also have some volunteer sunflowers that might be some kind of hybrid between the Mammoths and the more commonly found branching sunflower varieties. The volunteers are tall and straight with a single bloom on top like a Mammoth, but the flowers are smaller and dark in the center like the other varieties.
I also rely on my great yard service team for some extra annual color. I always try to include white sweet alyssum for the amazing fragrance. This year we also included some yellow petunias and orange-ish snapdragons. As part of our recent rear fence replacement project, we commissioned the metal sculpture on the south gate from our friend Emily Mann, a Tucson-based metal artist (Solaz Designs). It celebrates our love of Houston’s big live oak trees, including a resident squirrel, Rice Owl, and butterflies.
