TRAILS AND WILDFLOWERS ON OUR DOOR STEP

We were aware that there were trails on the land between Tecoma Trail and Mirador but I had no idea how unspoilt they were, with more flowers blooming there than any other well-traveled trails I have been on in the Austin area. David had ventured down the bike trails which criss-cross both sides of the steeply wooded ravines that eventually drain the land into Barton Creek. When he came back with tales of beautiful pink flowers my ears perked up. The following day I joined him. 

 Too late in the year for the pink evening primrose I was trying to decide what they might be. Two fall blooming flowers sprang to mind.. Agalinis and palafox. I had seen both of these in my own wild spaces. Only about a mile away as the crow flies these were the more than likely candidates and it was the right time of year

I was right on both counts. All along the edge of the upper trail grew clouds of Agalinis purpurea, interspersed with dwarf Palafoxia texana but there are many other flowers growing there. Plateau golden eye, Viguiera dentata, blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, Maximillian sunflowers, Helianthus maximiliani,Whitlow wort, Paronychia virginica, and liatris, Liatris,  Liatris mucronata.

 

I came so close to this roadrunner on the trail. I moved closer and closer and he was not going to move. I began to think he was harmed in some way but eventually he ran off in front of us. 

At one time an unpaved ranch road ran along the top of the escarpment giving way to a single trail which in many places branched off down into the ravine. David has explored many of these trails that head down into the ravine and I have now joined him. He will wander down any trail without knowing where it is going. I, on the other hand, am more cautious not wanting to get lost in there.

Hiking poles are really a great help as many areas are slippery and quite steep. I don't know who made the trails but we believe mountain bikers might have improved many of the original trails made by cattle.

At one point David points with his pole telling me that is where we are going. It looks miles away! He has a much better sense of direction than I and walking the trail it is almost impossible to believe that you have that you have reached the other side without being aware of having gone around in a half circle.

On subsequent days we went deeper and deeper into the area and at one point came across this. Someone has been very busy creating a ramp to make sure their bike made it around the corner instead of heading over the edge of the ravine.

We have yet to make it right down to the bottom where the wet weather creek would flow. There is no trail along the creek bottom which eventually passes over Lost Creek Blvd. Once many years ago we did walk an area on the other side of this creek and found a rusted out Volkswagen vehicle abandoned on the top. I wonder if it is still there. I know there are plans to eventually develop that area above Barton Creek and someone will probably end  up with that vehicle in their back garden. For now we can enjoy the flowers and the trails without having to get in the car and drive somewhere. What could be more perfect.

Alas! Our time will be short here. In December we will move to a house in Oro Valley, Arizona, and a new chapter in our life. It will be a whole new gardening adventure.

THE NEW PAD

When it comes to the garden that is exactly what it is, a pad of concrete on which I will garden for the next few months. It is a new experience for me and I am 'digging in ' with the enthusiasm of a die-hard gardener. Years ago, as I steadily added more cactus and succulents to my collection, I realized that my future probably held more of this kind of gardening, be it on a patio or in the desert itself. My cactus should be happy because now I can give them my undivided attention. I'll try not to over-water! 

 

They had a respite over at a neighbor's house. Some were under a car port some were under a persimmon tree where they were rained on during a deluge and then had leaves and dirt blown over them by a gas blower! One was blown out of its pot and across the driveway where my neighbor found it. Of course I told her not to worry as I apologized for landing her with so many plants. She is now taking quite an interest in growing succulents as she has been privy to several of mine flowering.  This one today, Stapelia gigantea.

 I told her how it attracts flies to its rotten meat smell and as soon as I see a fly has visited and laid eggs, witnessed by the small white wiggling larvae, it's time for me to snip it off and put it in a bag and dispose of it.

I also have one blooming over here but it is rather different. Not so showy but certainly very stinky. David was standing on the grass about 12' away when he said he could smell a foul smell. Is it dog poo, I asked, because everyone here has dogs and sometimes two, and most of them get a short walk to the grass while their owner checks their cell phone. We see it all the time. Once in the morning and once after work! 

 This is my stinky bloom, Stapelia leendertziae, black bells. It comes from Tanzania and Northeastern South Africa. To us its smell is vile but to the blow fly it smells like rotting meat and although it may be disappointed at not finding a dead rat it is a good place to lay its eggs. A stem was given me by a friend who had visited the area and I waited patiently for many years for it to produce a bloom. I will admit that I was mildly disappointed in the bloom but if it was the smell I was interested in there would be no disappointment whatsoever. It is much stinkier than the gigantea. Having learnt that it grows low to the ground I decided to put the pot on the ground so the flower would be turned up. As I put it down a fly flew out and a huge waft of foul odor reached my nostrils. That was it. Off with its head and in the bin.

 The patio has a wider section off the dining room doors and then this narrower section, which I have yet to fill with plants. We sold all our teak patio furniture at a consignments store  keeping only this small green plastic table and chairs and a couple of small teak chairs. We may be sorry some day in the not too distant future when we try to replace them and find the tremendous back-log of container ships goes on well into the future.

 I also managed to find a couple of pieces of metal art which I was able to fasten to the railing. Glad I kept those little green grocery store ties. They came in handy.

In the corner by the little table there is a shaded spot perfect for the house plants. 

It makes me feel more at home to have my plants around me. More to be added this weekend. Meanwhile back to the boxes.