BLUEBONNET BONANZA

Once again the area in front of our house is awash with our state flower, the Texas bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis.

This year, with a little of  my help, they are even spreading down the road and onto the empty lot next door to us.

Native plants love a lean soil and they do not do well in competition with grasses. I see a patch of annual rye grass out front that needs dealing with before it sets seed, so that bluebonnets can grow there next year.

Bluebonnets love to grow in decomposed granite so down the side wall that surrounds our front. It's not easy to pick your way round to the side gate. They have even covered the rocks on the left side.

Behind that wall it suits me just to have one two blooming among the other native spring wildflowers.

I am a little more forgiving in the English garden where large expanses of gravel quickly fill with bluebonnets.

And there is always room for just one in the sunken garden. One plant can easily cover 3'

And I don't mind doing the odd high jump to get to the vegetable beds.

But soon the time will come when the bluebonnets go to seed and we must wait for the seeds ripen before they are removed.

I don't need to go traveling to enjoy this bonanza of bluebonnets.....but I probably will. Next week will be the perfect time to take a little road trip to see roadsides of our other spring native flowers.

ENOUGH! I SAY

We had a taste of fall last week. Gardens and gardeners alike breathed a sigh of relief. We opened the windows and delighted in turning the air conditioners off. It was short lived. Summer came back with 90 degree temperatures. The windows were closed and the AC turned back on. Will it ever end?

Two fall plants in the English garden, Gregg's blue mist flower, Conoclinium greggii,  and a Japanese anemone, Anemone x hybrida  purchased so long ago I have lost the name. I would love to have a white one but have not seen the anemone for sale since the time I bought this one.

They spread quickly by underground runners so are easy to propagate. This area of the English garden is fairly shaded from the hot summer sun by the cedars outside the wall although there is less shade now that we have removed the yaupon holly tree. It was leaning forward because of the cedars outside the garden and was just generally in the way. The bed will now be herbaceous plants only.

The Mandevilla vine has reached the top of the trellis but it is not as thick and healthy as it should be.  Possibly due to it being on this south facing wall. Maybe a change of location next year I can keep it alive over the winter.

I'm getting ready to change out the plants in the window box in front of the potting shed window but with the profusion of narrow leaf zinnias, Zinnia liniaris and the 90º temperatures I think I will wait. This is a very hot wall.

The Philippine violet, Barleria cristata is just beginning to flower. I can think of no other plant that is as fuss-free as this one. It has never been visited by insect or disease. Famous last words! I now have nearly a dozen of theses plants that have seeded around the garden. Of course they are all along the edge of pathways where the seeds were blown.

Philippine violet

This is one that grew along the edge of the path and was never removed!

We are now waiting for the emergence of the copper canyon daisy and the Mexican mint marigold. They should flower well into November. Roll on those perfect Texas fall days. I think we may be getting one this weekend which will be perfect for the Wildflower Center Happy Hour event, in our garden, this Friday.

SHHH! GO BACK TO SLEEP

I wasn't planning on my spring window box looking so good in January. I'm afraid it will be worn out by the time the real spring comes in March and April. But what's a gardener to do? Always be on the ready for something different. This is Texas. No two years are ever the same. This time we are having another dry spell but plenty of sunshine and warmer than expected days.

Exactly how long those ornamental cabbages will last I don't know. I remove leaves from the bottom fairly frequently so they are getting taller each week. Maybe it will leave more room for the pansies and violas. At the back are stocks and red flax, which I started from seed, and snapdragons.

I bought this planter from Gardeners' Supply with a gift coupon. It is self watering and holds 3 gallons of water in the reservoir. This certainly makes watering a lot easier. It has been one of my major success purchases, so yesterday, tempted by the fact that they were on sale, I bought another one. That means I will be able to plant up another one in readiness for when this one is finished. It's a luxury but I still had money left on the gift certificate and have decided it is a gift certificate well spent.
Elsewhere in the garden there are some early bloomers. I wish they would wait because it is going to get cold again. Grape hyacinths among their tangle of foliage. Is there a grape hyacinth that has shorter foliage?

The first of the square-bud primrose, Calylophus berlandieri.

And a very early blooming blanket flower, Gaillardia pulchella, sheltered between the walls of the raised beds.

It isn't so much that these last plants aren't hardy enough to survive a few frosts, they have already had at least five, but I would like to see them in my spring garden.

It's good there is something out there for the bees because they have been in evidence once the day warms. They love the sweet smelling alyssum, which has great depth of color in the winter. This is one plant I never need to buy as it seeds itself readily.
But don't leave here with the impression that my garden is full of flowers. It still has that winter look.

The English garden

 It may not have quite the bare look of winters gone bye but I think there is probably time for that to happen.

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.