TEXAS SNAKES. A review

The holiday season will be upon us soon and the mad panic for gifts. What to get the avid gardener or nature lover? Here's an idea. Texas Snakes, by James R. Dixon, John E Werler, and Michael R. J. Forstner. Published by the University of Texas Press.

Just a few days ago I found a snake in my water collection system. Feeling rather guilty I fished him out, (I think he had been in there for a while because he didn't slither off) went in the house to get my camera and took his photo. His markings were certainly different from the more common snakes we see around the garden. After checking in this guide I decided he was plains hog-nosed snake. I'm pleased to say when I went the check the next morning he was gone. 

I posted his picture on face book and almost immediately someone asked if he was poisonous. Isn't that what everyone always wants to know. Many people think only of the venomous snakes and to many every snake out there is just that. 

I like the fact that the books answers these questions right away. Turn to the first two pages in this book and you will see listed 108 non-venomous snakes and only 16 venomous ones. And of those 8 are rattle snakes and 3 are copperheads. In the introduction a number of pages are given over to each of the latter. Enough maybe to allay the fears of many and ways to reduce the chances of snake bites.

The book gives a good basic education on the habits of snakes and why they are so important to the environment. By far the larger content of the book is given to non-venomous snakes to be found in Texas and illustrated with excellent color plates. 

Perhaps reading this book might just save your life and a snake's life too.

FALL IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

 Over the last few weeks I have concentrated some of my gardening time( just an hour or so a day is still all I can manage) on preparing the vegetable and herb garden for the fall/winter growing season. Arguably the variety of crops that can be grown successfully over winter far out-number those grown during the spring/summer season, although some of the fall plants will mature during the early spring.

 Before I could even begin to prepare the beds I had to first remove much of what had been growing in the pathways all summer. This included the many grasses, blanket flowers, gomphrena, pink, purple, strawberry and 'Fireworks." I am always torn between having flowers spilling over the pavers and the neat and tidy look of having nothing to impede moving around when working out there. When I clean everything out in the fall I know this is the look I like but then when they all start growing in the spring I like that too. How to balance this with the hours spent removing them is the challenge at this stage in my life.

Even now I have left a few to enjoy the last of their blooms.

Then I had to tackle the beds themselves, removing the layer of cedar mulch that had been been on there for 2 years saving it to either mulch another area of the garden or return to the beds after planting. Each bed got one bag of new 'garden soil' purchased from a big box store. 

 

We decided that because our gardens are so difficult to access that it was more economical on the body to move them by the bag. Plus we no longer have a truck to transport bulk material. 

 Weeks ago I started some winter vegetables inside, under grow lights.  I find they stand a better chance against snails and caterpillars if they are a decent size when planted outside. 

broccoli, baby pak choi, kale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

red cabbage, parsley

Beets and carrots were sown directly in the ground. They are now up and growing well. One of my weaknesses is my inability to pinch out plants but with the beets as soon as they are big enough to add to the salad bowl. I promise I will!

Kale, pak choi, broccoli and cabbage are now all big enough to go into the ground.

I have a few packets of seeds including Napa cabbage, lettuce and radish which I will direct sow over the next few weeks. 

Peas are struggling with the heat. I probably planted a little early. 

 

We kept the citrus trees out on the driveway this year, mainly for ease of transport into the garage during periods of freezing temperatures. All that is except the smaller kumquat and the orange. The kumquat was a rescue citrus and it was a few years before I even knew what it was. Last year was the first fruiting which has increased this year. It makes great marmalade.

I see the beginnings of ripening on one of the fruits.

The orange tree has not done so well. One last chance to improve itself!

GOODBYE SUMMER, HELLO FALL

At last! Temperatures are moderating and fall is on the way. It is not just the gardener who is celebrating the advent of the new season but the garden plants are too.

All that is except the plumeria. A few nights of temperatures in the 50s and it is already beginning to cry "I'm out of here" Shortening days mean the plant starts to cut back on food production, the leaves turn yellow as the supply of food is reduced. The leaf forms  an abscission layer and eventually falls off. 

 Every day new leaves fall and soon it will be time to move the plant into the garage. During the winter it will receive no water and will go completely dormant. Because the plants are so large I plan to do some pruning before I move them which will make the job a lot easier. 

 

Flower colors become more vibrant as with the native orange lantana, Lantana horrida. And the award winning David Austin rose, Rosa 'Molineaux', blooming again for the first time in months. This shrub rose is a repeat bloomer and named for David Austin's favorite soccer team. 

 

There are lots of flowers that are repeat blooming such as the Verbena, Verbena bonariensis whose lanky growth was cut back to the ground a few weeks ago.

Another repeat bloomer is the soft leaf yucca, Yucca recurvifolia, which the deer have failed to find. 

 

It has become quite a free-for-all of flowering plants in the sunken garden with Perovskia, white Salvia greggii, mealy blue sage, Salvia farinacea, frost weed Verbesina virginica, and Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha.

 But there are some plants that bloom only in the fall. They wait patiently for the shorter days before they begin to bloom. Notable in my garden is the Philippine violet, Barleria cristata. 

It blooms best when given plenty of sun and is one of my favorite fall bloomers because it attracts neither bugs nor disease. It dies to the ground during a normal winter and shifts a little from its original positions as the center often becomes very woody and dies out. 

And finally the bush clover, Lespedeza thunbergii, waits patiently to bloom in the partly shaded border of the English garden. 

There are lots of short day plants which will bloom over the next few months including chrysanthemums, poinsettias, Christmas cactus. Make sure the later receives at least 15 hours of darkness from now on. 

Happy Fall Y'all.