PREPARING FOR THE WINTER

Despite that fact that we are still enjoying what some people would refer to as summer temperatures there is a distinct feeling of fall in the air. The Salvia gregii may still be blooming its head off but that is likely to continue well into the fall. Other plants are starting to look a little ratty and I have been going around collecting seed for next year.

Saving seed of the narrow leaf zinnia, Z. augustifolia, is important because it is impossible to find the seed and a very cold winter could result in the seeds in the ground being lost.

The berries on the espaliered pyracantha turn a little more each day. The mandevilla, which I allowed to climb up high into the plant will soon need to be found a warm home, if it is to survive the winter.

A Mexican marigold mint has seeded between the pavers in the vegetable garden. Fine while small but it may have to come out before it takes over.

Even the patty pan squash peppers and zucchini are miniatures of those that grew earlier on in the year. I picked all the lemon basil which had seeded next to the compost bins. The deer don't seem to browse here.

The Mexican pots which have been hanging outside all summer have now found a new home for the winter. I attached some battens to the wall in the potting shed from which to hang the pots.

I seem to have an ever increasing number of pots to be accommodated over the winter. It takes time to get them all inside.

YELLOWSTONE THEN AND NOW

In 1981 we had just moved from Canada to California. We spent every available weekend and holiday, traveling in our VW camper, visiting the National Parks, some on our doorstep and some further away. In the late summer we went to Yellowstone.

This summer 28 years later, our eldest son, standing next to his dad, traveled from Taiwan with his wife and daughter to join us on a return visit to Yellowstone .

There are two faces to Yellowstone park. The stinky, smelly, barren landscape with mud pots and fumaroles of hissing steam.

And the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river with crashing pounding waters and rugged walls capped with fir trees.

This is the photograph we took this year

Here is the one I took in 1981. Not much difference.

We stayed in the Madison Campground which is close to the west entrance to the park. Our granddaughter toasted marshmallows.

From the this location we headed out to visit all the different features in the park.

Emerald Pool in Black Sand Basin.

Boiling water flowing into Firehole River.

In 1981 the buffalo stampeded across the field.

This time we only saw them peacefully grazing the lush summer grass.

Even in the more barren parts of the park wildflowers were growing. Here the fringed gentian, designated the official Yellowstone Park flower.

Hare bells.

We waited at Old Faithful for the show!

We stood well back from the crowds as the geyser blew.

At Mammoth Hot Springs we donned our sunglasses to view the blindingly white travertine formations.

Fishing Cone, at the West Thumb at the West Thumb Geyser basin on Yellowstone Lake, photographed in 1981.

Just a taste of all the wonders that await the visitors to Yellowstone National Park.

FALL LIGHT

When a fall cold front blows into central Texas it brings with it sunshine, cool temperatures and a significant drop in the humidity. The skies are azure blue and the garden revels under this special kind of light.

The Philippine violet bursts into bloom, competition for the Salvia leucantha which has had the spotlight for many weeks. Just the odd hummingbird still drops by, a latecomer on the migration southward to Venezuela.

The knockout rose in the English garden recently put on new growth and is flower filled.

Not such a good year for the Japanese anemone, but still many blooms.

The orange bulbine in the Spanish oak garden is ready for some division this winter.

Everyone has to have a little place in the garden which requires less work. The Spanish oak garden is mine. Just a little clipping of the Ficus pumila covered wall, from time to time. Otherwise the pittosporum seems to require no maintenance. Agave desmettiana seems to prefer a light shaded location. This location also protects it from any harsh northern winds.

In the front, D recently removed the Senna tree that had grown behind the bird bath. I was sorry to see it go but last year it had been attacked by some kind of weevil in the trunk. It struggled this summer losing many leaves. The leaf drop had become a problem for cleaning up the gravel. I will not replace it although many seedlings are waiting beneath. Question is what to plant there? This area, surrounded on 3 sides by house, gets no sun until the late afternoon when it is blasted by the westerly sun. A yaupon holly tree has seeded against one wall but I think this will have to be removed before long. Time to get on my thinking cap. Fall is our best time to be planting.

Yesterday we enjoyed lunch sitting under the umbrella in the front garden. The seed heads of the pink crystal grass were wafting in the breeze. It was a delightful sight.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY OCTOBER 2009

After what has seemed to be an eternity the rain and cloudy days are gone and bright sunshine has taken its place. Along with temperatures in the 90s and a heat index of 99 degrees. Most of the garden is all the better for the rain although the weeds are rampant. Carol, of Maydreams invites us to show what is growing in our garden in the middle of October.

This is the time of year when the daylight sensitive plants begin to bloom. They have been waiting in the wings with their green foliage for the shorter days and cooler nights.

High on my list of favorites is the Philippine violet. Although the plant usually dies back to the ground each winter, this year it did not. Still, I cut it back to improve the shape. It is a plant that neither bug nor disease seems to bother.

The Stapelia, Huernia.

Mexican marigold mint, Tagetes lucida, an acceptable substitute for tarragon.

The Japanese anemone x marguerite.

Then there are the big time spring bloomers who want to get in on the action. Damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana. Not the profuse blooming of the spring but a few flowers to mingle with the grasses.

African daisy, Osteospermum, resting for most of the summer.

and still the blanket flowers Gaillardia pulchella keeps blooming among the gomphrena and alyssum.

Greg's blue mistflower, Eupatorium greggii.

The hybrid blanket flower Gaillardia pulchella x 'Sundance'

Red spider zinnia, Zinnia tenuifolia 'red spider' among blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum.

White mandevilla climbing among the ripening berries of the Firethorn, Pyracantha.

Datura.

The inevitable sea of narrow leaf zinnias, Zinnia augustifolia, so plentiful this year because of the mild winter. The garden made it through the hottest summer on record. It can now rest and prepare itself for the big spring bloom. Judging by the number of wildflower seedlings 2010 is going to be a big year.

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE MUD DAUBER

If I thought that the project was complete I was wrong.

October 14th 2009, 8:00am

This morning when I went out I saw there was a small hole drilled neatly in one of the upper cells. During the building stages I had noticed a small wasp hovering around the area. I thought at the time it might be a parasitic wasp. Then on several occasions I would go out and find that one of the cells was open. I just assumed that the cap had fallen out. Next thing it was closed again. Now I know what happened. I may be wrong about this but I think it was a parasitic wasp and it was opening the cell to lay its own egg on one of the paralyzed spiders or on the egg in the nest. The cap of the cell came off easily when the mud was fresh but this one was pretty hard so it had to drill in. In fact it behaves like a cuckoo! Mud dauber does all the work.

October 14th 10:30 am

Then when I came in later the hole was covered and the mud dauber was busy checking the whole of the structure. Isn't nature fascinating? Right on my doorstep!

DIARY OF A MUD DAUBER

The mud dauber wasp is a frequent visitor to our house. Maybe he is attracted to the color of the stucco which is very similar to the color of the mud he uses to build his nests. Or at least this is what I thought until recently.

September 21st 2009

The solitary female wasp began building her nest right by our back door; the most frequently used door in the house, and I just let her carry on. The first three cells were completed and I assume she has stuffed each one full of spiders which have been paralyzed. She then laid an egg in each cell, closed up the entry and began work on another. Three have already been completed and she is busy at work on the fourth.

September 25th 2009

Here she is busy closing up another cell. This is one busy little wasp and you can imagine my coming in and out of the house rather disturbed the process. So many times I walked out and right into the action that I quickly became conditioned with the startle response even when she wasn't there. Still I let her carry on.

September 28th 2009

I thought the cells blended in very well with the stucco but she now decided to do a bit of a camouflage job.

October 5th 2009

That seems a little odd. A white cell with a brown door!

October 6th 2009

Now things are looking better again.

October 8th 2009

Oh, no! Several people in the neighborhood must have had soil delivered. Some got red death and some chocolate loam.

October 9th 2009

When it dried out this was the final product. I think this mud dauber must be a little mad.

We usually knock the cells off whenever we see them but I might just let this one stay. The egg will hatch inside and the larva will feast on the spiders before pupating and emerging as an adult. I will be interested to see how many hatch next spring.