SOMEONE LIKES 92°

Having worked outside all morning, in the ever increasing temperature and humidity, I told myself I could take it easy this afternoon. But isn't it true that a gardener always remembers something else that needs to be done. I had forgotten to fertilize my orchids ( they deserved a treat for blooming so well) and needed to get rain water from the tanks. Then I remembered how I must pot up the begonias that have been growing in water and move them and another potted one to an outdoor spot in the shade where they would be on a periodic watering from the drip system during my absence. That job took me out into the front garden at 2pm where I spotted this. I wouldn't have missed this moment for the world.

The balloon cactus, Parodia magnifica formerly Notocactus magnificus, was putting on a worthy show. It had bloomed with one or two flowers already but this was a crown of flowers. Splendida.

Native to Brazil and Uruguay, its native habitat is hilly grasslands where the summers are warm and winters cool but well above freezing.  In the USA it must be protected in zones below 9 so I take it into the potting shed or garage for the winter to keep it dry.
In previous years it has suffered the visits of cactus bugs that suck the sap leaving behind rings of lighter green. When I became aware of this last year I took precautions to check the plant regularly and remove the invaders.

As well as periodic blooming through the summer season babies are forming at the base but I don't have plans to remove them at this time.

MONDAY OBSERVATIONS

One of the first things I did when I got up this morning was to go outside and see if the echinopsis had bloomed. I have been watching it for a few days and with this flower if you don't catch it in the morning it will be closed by lunch time. Sure enough there it was.

It isn't quite the performance of June 6th 2012, but I see there are more buds developing so the next show should be better. Certainly worth the wait.

Close by was another budding cactus. By 1pm its bloom was opened and the Echinopsis had closed. Quite a symphony.

It was then that I spotted something I didn't like to see. Scale had invaded this poor cactus. This is not going to be easy. The plant is going into isolation so the scale do not spread to others. You can read all about diseases of cactus and their treatment here.

All the buds on the balloon cactus, Notocactus magnificus,  opened today.

Monday held some good and some not so good observations.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY JUNE 2014

Welcome to my garden on this special day of the month, when Carol of Maydreams hosts gardeners everywhere showing their June blooms. Here is what is blooming in my garden at the moment.

This day lily is a special bloom today. Among all the other flowers growing in the sunken garden I spotted  flash of color I had never seen before. It has taken 4 years and a move to get the plant to bloom. It was one of those sad looking plants on the sale table at Lowes. I gave it what I thought was a good home but when it failed to bloom year after year I finally moved it last fall. I think I have to do that with all my day lilies which have not done well this year.

The recent rain has been good for my flowers. The sunken garden is my most colorful garden with many self-seeding flowers.

Rudbeckia, Rudbeckia hirta, and cone flowers, Echinacea purpurea, and Monarda Peter's purple are among the most showy this year.

I think they are partly responsible for the day lily failure as they completely crowded them out.

My two jasmine plants, this first one on the pool wall, the white Trachelospermum jasminoides, and the second by the front door, with a more dominant yellow center, were badly damaged during that late spring freeze, when the temperature dropped as low as 18° Many of their stems split and the plant died back to whole wood. They have made a good comeback and are now blooming, probably the latest we have ever seen. Their fragrance fils the air in the early morning.

In the raised bed in the vegetable garden California poppies, both orange and white are blooming. Their blooms get progressively smaller as the plant ages but still make a welcome swath of color.

Wall germander, Germander teucrium is one of the few plants which I left along the pool edge when I cleaned and mulched this spring. I must remember to take more cuttings this winter.

In one of my hypertufa pots in the front courtyard, the balloon cactus, Notocactus magnificus, responded to rain by putting out 3 blooms. To bad this cactus is marred by the hail we had one day this spring.

Verbena bonariensis in the herb garden. Goldfinches love their seeds.

Clouds of pale pink blossoms on the showy oregano, Oregano pulchellum.

The Chaste tree, Vitex agnus-castus. There has been a lot of talk recently about this plant being invasive. It does seem to seed around my garden quite often so it is advisable to cut of the spent blooms.

Square-bud primrose, Calylophus drummondianus.

Water lilies are blooming in my stock tank water garden.

Wishing you a great bloom day, wherever you garden, and thanks for visiting.

WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY.......

7,000 miles and 7 weeks away. What goes on in the garden?

You can bet that there will be some good things and some bad things waiting for me after being gone for so long. For the last 8 hours of our summer trip I begin to get that nervous feeling in my stomach. It happens every year and somehow I soon get over the first shock of seeing a Texas garden left to the elements for nearly two months.

My first glance is at the side entrance. The potted plants which normally live in the back garden were moved into this more shady location for their summer vacation. I was hoping they would receive  the gift of a summer shower and they did. It was the only rain the garden was to receive during our absence; .3" perfect for cactus and succulents.

My indoor plants benefitted from a summer vacation too, but they were on a drip system.
That same rainfall prompted a couple of cactus to bloom. How can you not smile when you see the sunny yellow blooms.

Texas fish hook cactus

Balloon cactus 

But there were a few bad things. The first made itself evident to me when I walked outside the next morning. He was right there on the pathway not 4' in front of me. I see he has his eye on me and that rattle is at the ready.

I rushed into the house to get my camera and he obliged by remaining there. I got in touch with my neighbor and my gardening friends and I quickly got the message that we needed to deal with this. It was going to be very dangerous to try to garden if he was still around. Unable to raise anyone over the weekend David decided to go though the garden and check any place he might hide. That included under our decksteps. No sign of him. Maybe he just comes in at night. I would say he feasted on all our lizards as I haven't seen one since our return and they are normally running around all over the place. Let's hope he took care of any cotton rats and mice.
Snakes are out there I know. I have seen garters, smooth greens, rat snakes, hog-nosed snakes and the colorful coral snake. Never a rattle snake before although I recalled afterwards that earlier in the year  found a shed snakeskin. He's probably been around for a while. I shall be more careful in future.

Maybe the next happening was for the best in the long run. I had left one of our umbrellas up in the English garden. The wind must have picked it up and brought the table crashing down with it. This is what is known as experience....... When you make the same mistake twice! The same thing happened about 4 years ago when we had to replace the table. This time we decided it was time to replace the whole set. It had been an inexpensive set and the chairs were very rusted. I knew it was going to take me ages to find a replacement that I liked but as luck would have it a trip to the grocery store made the whole process easy. Four chairs and a table and on sale too.

David refurbished the umbrella, which I had bought for $2 at a garage sale, to complete the set.

Now begins the task of weeding, hacking back and removal. I made a start in the corner where the water garden is situated. The level was down 1' despite my having fed a drip line from the 110 gal. water tanks. They were empty. The vegetable garden is a priority as the fall planting season will soon be upon us.

PRICKLY AND SUCCULENT TREASURES I HAVE LEARNED TO LOVE

When I see a cactus in flower it makes my heart leap. The flower may only be there for a brief moment but it draws bees and beetles in like a magnet. They have just a short window to do their job.
The excitement this week came from seeing this.

The balloon cactus, Notocactus magnificus, in my home made hypertufa pot, is about to bloom for the second time. This is a response to the recent rains when the pleated ribs swelled with water and buds began to form in the center. Just half an hour after I took this photo the sun reached the plant and within minutes the flowers opened.

This time I was there as the flowers opened and was able to capture them in all their perfection. Not all the flowers opened at once. Just the outer ring. It must be natures way of spreading the chances of pollination. As yet no pollinators had arrived.

The second happening to cause great excitement was anticipation of the blooming of a 12 year old Spanish bayonet yucca, Yucca aloifolia.
As I looked through the kitchen window the other morning I saw something unusual in the center of the tallest spike. Could it be about to bloom?

Not one bud but three blooms have appeared. It will be some days before the flowers open but what a thrill it will be.

I wonder if they will be like those on the twist-leaf yucca Yucca rupicola, which is currently blooming in my garden.

This yucca is endemic to the Edward's Plateau on which our garden sits.  Protected from browsing deer, who love the asparagus-like stalks when they first appear, it bloomed for the first time last year.
Growing up in England no one had cactus. After all they were new world plants.
As they have become more popular and easier to find in the nurseries I have mixed them in with my other similarly adapted plants. Here's a selection of just a few.

A flyer arrived in my mailbox this week. The Cactus and Succulent Society of America is having their convention here this week and their plant sale is open to the public.

I'll be there and I may just be tempted to add to my collection.