PINK PROFUSION

It is the moment in the gardening year I look forward to with great anticipation.. The brief moment in time when the lace cactus, Echinocereus reichenbachii, flowers. Never in all the years have so many flowers opened at the same time.

There have been occasions in the past when I missed the flowering because this clump is growing outside the walls in the granite area that was once a parking area. Yesterday, however, as I drove in down the driveway it was impossible to miss the mass of pink. I rushed into the house and grabbed the camera.

TWO OF MY FAVORITE GRASSES

Once in a while a perfect morning arrives. The cold front, which moved through here yesterday bringing a smattering of rain followed by strong winds has moved on. It has left us with cool clear air. All I want to do is walk around the garden drinking in the beauty of the flowers.

Even though the sun is shining I thought the light shining through the Mexican feather grass, Nassella tenuissima, was just stunning. It is starting to seed and will soon be a tangle of seed heads which will require a good combing.

The second grass in full bloom is ruby crystal grass, Melinis nerviglumis. Despite its appearance after a hard winter it has greened up nicely and is already blooming. There is no prettier grass than this South African native. It seeds readily in the gravel, staying green all summer long. It is drought and heat tolerant. These two grasses are a must for bringing light, movement and sheer joy to the garden.

NEW RESIDENTS IN THE GARDEN

This may not be exciting to most but we finally have someone living in the bee house. It happened almost overnight. One minute I was thinking that the house must be placed wrongly and then yesterday I realized some of the holes had been sealed. The question is, who is in there? I'll probably never know. I just hope it isn't another case of the wrong people moving in as in the owl house.

Furthermore, the old mud dauber nest, on the wall by the kitchen door, is also being reused. Several of the openings have been sealed again. I really did mean to take it down. It's beginning to look as though it part of the house!

OH, CRUEL WIND

My neighbor brought over some iris for me to have in the house. She said the wind had just knocked them over and there was no point leaving them outside.

The weather man was not wrong in his prediction of strong winds today and a high in the low 90s. How is it he is only wrong when he says we will have rain? Will my garden ever see rain again?

It just amazes me how I can go out in the early morning and photograph my garden in the still air under a cloudy sky and within a few hours the sun is out once again and a fierce wind is blowing. By afternoon very petal on my poppies was blasted off and the garden was littered with rose petals. I probably wouldn't mind if I wasn't a gardener. Grumble, grumble, grumble. We walked around Lady Bird Lake this morning and the wind made the walk bearable.

These knockout roses in the foreground, photographed early this morning, have also lost most of their petals.

There will be no sweet smell of chocolate, (from the chocolate daisy), on the air tomorrow morning.

Two plants that seem to stand up quite nicely to the wind are the Hinckley's yellow columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. Hinckleyana. and the Gulf coast penstemon, Penstemon tenuis. In this corner of the garden a battle rages between these two plants and the heart leaf skullcap, Scutellaria ovata. I know who would win here if I didn't have a plan to take charge in a few weeks.

Salvia greggii survives a windy day. It has sheltered the pink evening primroses growing beneath. If given plenty of space for themselves the pink primrose grows low, but will compete to any height if necessary.

So what does the weather man say? Another day in the 90s tomorrow with a cold front that may bring us some rain. I know that front will bring more wind but if it brings rain this time I shall be ecstatic. Of course a Texas cold front means down to the 80s. Still way above our April average of high seventies. We shall see.

HOW I LOVE SURPRISES

Who doesn't love a surprise? Today I had three. Lucky me.

The first came in the mail from my friends at Gardeners Supply. It was a thank you for letting them film in my garden last fall. I thought they had thanked me already! The frogs were one of the items they were filming and I fell in love with them. A must have. I waited and waited for them to show up in the catalogue and in the meantime used my gift card to buy hedgehogs, (an absolute must for an English garden) and tomato trellises, gloves, boots. All manner of things including some items to encourage my son and his family to try raised bed gardening. (It's all installed with tomatoes, peppers and herbs and trellises). I never did get the frogs.

Then two boxes arrived this morning, and there they were. I need to find them the perfect spot to sit and have a chin wag.

And another surprise. This is the cactus arm I brought back from Phoenix. It was languishing on the ground under a huge group of the same. It had clearly been there a while judging by the scar on its underside. I brought it home and potted it up in some pumice. A few weeks ago I noticed two little bumps on the side. New arms? flowers? Yesterday I was pointing them out to visitors and this morning a flower opened. The arm till hasn't rooted. I hope this isn't a swan song.
Surprise number three was when yellow iris opened. I hope it will be able to cope with 90 degrees and a fearsome wind.

I LIKE TO WATER THE PAVERS

One of the first gardening books I owned had a photograph of a gardener watering the pavers in her garden. It was an herb garden and between the pavers little plants grew. I remember how much I loved the look of those little plants growing in the cracks, softening the stone. That must be why I let all and sundry grow between my stones. Sometimes herbs appear. In fact I know there will be basil plants there later in the summer, but for now there is Mexican feather grass, gaillardia, Mexican marigold mint, alyssum. Soon there will be the narrow leaf zinnias and coreopsis. There is some weeding to be done, for sure, but it is all worth it, and one of my favorite things to do is to get out on a cool morning and water the stones.

MISSOURI PRIMROSE

I love the exuberant flowers of the native Missouri primrose, Oenothera missouriensis. A new flower appears each day and by the following morning has closed. I missed the first three flowers so made a point of checking today to see if a new one had opened.

NOT MORE POTTED THINGS!

On Saturday morning, on our way to do our usual weekend walk around Lady Bird Lake trail, we stopped in to see if there was anything that I simply had to have at the Austin Cactus and Succulent sale.

I really did have a mission. Another claret cup cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus, to go with the one I bought last year, and which has so delighted us with its gorgeous red, long lasting flowers, this spring. I was lucky. I spotted one with two in the pot. That will make a perfect group when added to the one I already have.

My other mission was to find a few succulents to add to the ones I already had. They were to go in this planter. Several years ago, when my son moved into his house and was cleaning out a shed I spied this wooden 'something'. It might have been a tool box made in a school woodworking class. I definitely had a mind to repurpose it. It has kicked around for 4 years, first in the potting shed, then in the greenhouse. A few weeks ago David drilled a few holes in the bottom and painted it with some left over stain. Today I planted it up with the three plants I bought on Saturday.

Along with them are passalongs from garden friends, and all that remain of my graptopetalum which suffered heavy losses this winter.

A couple of other succulent planters are very happy to be out of the potting shed and into the fresh air. They are taking on new color and growth.

OH! IT WAS THE MOST GLORIOUS MORNING

There is nothing more perfect than a spring morning. This morning a clear blue sky and temperatures in the low 60s. I was going to make the most of it because the weather man promised a high of 89. I was going out to smell the roses. In the front garden Zephirine drouin on the wall is the most fragrant antique rose. How could I have been thinking of taking her down. Unruly thing! She's always poking us when we sit in front of her. The problem is that I don't know how to prune her to stay flat against the wall like I see on walls in England.

The bluebonnets and blackfoot daisies also have a fragrance which makes this garden such a delight. Already the star jasmine on the wall by the door is starting to open and she is more fragrant than all these other flowers. In a week she will be fully open.

David broke from washing the dishes to come out and smell the rose and take a picture.

There is also a Zepherine on the wall in the English garden I struck this one from a cutting but didn't really have a place to plant it. She really is unruly eschewing the trellis I made for her and preferring to grow through the viburnum in the corner.

The dry stone wall in the English garden with Pam's dovecote in the distance. Thanks Pam.

Now the sun is peaking through the entranceway.

and I can see that the sunken garden is in full sun.

Hidden by the wall the sun hasn't quite reached the frilly pink poppy.



But here she comes. Another hot dry one on the way.

CLEAN UPS AND CACTUS

I really worked hard yesterday and the work was not much fun. In the Spanish oak garden I had to do a major job on the Ficus repens which covers the concrete retaining wall. For the second year in a row it was severely hit by the freeze. Dead stems and crispy leaves covered but protected the underlying new growth. I started with my pruning shears and ended with the weedy whipper. That resulted in everything, including me, covered in debris. Next it was the rake then the blower, followed by the hose to clean everything off and give the plants a much needed drink of water. Wouldn't it be nice to sit down int he shade with a book. Nope-too much to do!

Overwintered in the greenhouse these cactus and agave plants are back outside for the summer. I also decided to move the road runner out here. I'm glad I managed to save the aloe, Aloe saponaria, because all the ones in the ground, except one, died in the freeze. As I was cleaning up the leaves a red stripe ribbon snake slithered out from underneath the rock and quickly retreated. He'd better watch out for that road runner!

Even more potted agaves, cactus and succulents reside on the fireplace where they receive only morning sun. Many cactus would prefer a spot underneath a tree where they get some shade.

And there are more round the front. What did I say about not having so many pots this year. And it is the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society show and sale tomorrow and I'll be there.