BARGAINS!

Our two wheelbarrows have seen a lot of service. Their trays have worn so thin that they are full of holes. When I saw someone was selling one at a garage sale I was determined to be over there at 8am. And I was.

The wheelbarrow turned out to be a disappointment because it was a small one. However  it works for me as I can't haul the weight of material I once could. But I really got excited when I saw the rain barrel. It was pretty grubby but the price was right.

This gardener can never have enough clay pots and saucers.

Total cost for all items $10. Now that's what I call a bargain.

The barrel comes with a screened cover although the overflow pipe and hose are missing.

We will have to do a little work on the rainbarrel. I'm not very happy with the size of the drain hole and will need to make it larger to install a proper tap.

I also rescued this little potted succulent. I had a feeling that no one would buy it so I took it home. I need to repot it in one of the clay pots!
The plant has now been identified as Rhipsalis grandiflora, thanks to Gwennie and Gwennies garden.

JEWELS IN THE CROWN OF THORNS

It is worth the once a year show. The claret cup cactus, Echinocereus coccineus, has a bloom that shines like a ruby jewel in the garden.

Unlike many delicate petaled cactus flowers, this one last several days. The first ones to bloom are in the sunken garden but this year the big show will be in the front courtyard. I counted no less than 20 buds. I can't wait for the show.

TOUGH TIMES IN THE GARDEN

March certainly came in like a lion this year. It roared in with temperatures, in the 80s, strong buffeting winds and hit a record high of 90° yesterday.

Our poor spring flowers, like these Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane', with their delicate petals, do not last long under such conditions.

Petals need to be tough, like those of the Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum.

But it isn't just tough for the flowers. The Swallowtail caterpillars are having a tough time too. Two days ago I counted 10 tiny caterpillars on a parsley plant. Today when I looked I couldn't find any. Then on closer examination, this.

A fire ant in the act of devouring one of my babies. I quickly went over to look at the bronze fennel plant where I knew there were two caterpillars getting ready to pupate. To my horror, this.

A stink bug devouring this caterpillar. Too late to help him but at least I may have saved the other one.

Later in the day I had to rescue a blackswallowtail butterfly from the greenhouse! The things a gardener has to do.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY, MARCH 2013

It is the most amazing March bloom day.

Our mild winter and wonderfully warm days have brought an early spring to Austin. After a very dry winter an inch of rain fell last week and the plants responded with immediate growth. So much is blooming.

it is a special year when the pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum, flowers. Frequently zapped by frost but not this year. It is planted in a sheltered south corner of the house.

Bluebonnets.

A lone freesia planted many years ago.

Gazanias from last year.

Native blue gilia, Gilia rigidula. See how it adores the inhospitable limey soils.

The cross vine, Bignonia capreolata, on the gate.

Indian hawthorne, Raphiolepis indica.

Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum.

Wright's purple skullcap, Scutellaria wrightii.

Blanket flowers, Gaillardia pulchella, in the path.

Clusters of sweet alyssum, Lobularia maritima. Watch out for the harlequin bug!

Trusses of Lady Banks' rose, Rosa banksia 'lutea'.

Closed for the evening, Tulipa clusiana, Lady Jane. See the flower buds on the Claret cup cactus? Can't wait for that showing.
What's blooming in your garden this March? You can join many of your fellow gardeners at Maydreams gardens. Thanks, Carol, for hosting.

DON'T FORGET THE LITTLE GUYS

If it were not for the fact that the top of the dry-stone retaining wall is almost at eye level I might have missed these tiny star-shaped flowers, with their speckled pink petals and stamens with cerise anthers.

This is the flower of the Graptopetalum, more commonly known as ghost plant, for its pale ghost-like leaves. A native to Mexico and a lover of limey soils it seems to have found a perfect home where very little else will grow.

Not quite as showy but equally small and easy to miss the flowers of the leopard lily, Ledebouria socialis. This one is planted in a pot so when I moved it today I noticed the string of tiny flowers. Both these plants are known more for their striking foliage than their flowers: the ghost plant with its fat grey leaves and the leopard lily with its silver and green mottled leaves. But their flowers deserve the spotlight too, especially as they bloom early in the season.

And once again another plant known more for its chartreuse bracts than its flowers,  gopher plant, Euphorbia rigida. Stop and take a look at the center of those yellow bracts to see the beautiful little flower. Let's hear it for the March little guys.

MORE SNOWBALLS

Last summer we purchased a 4'x2' stock tank to make into a water feature. I had the perfect place for it in the potager. I decided to wait until the spring to plant it as we were going to be traveling throughout the summer.

A couple of weeks ago, when there was a threat of rain, D took the tank out of the garden and placed it under the fall pipe from our gutters. Because we have enclosed gardens it was necessary to pipe the water out of the garden and the pipe comes out about 20' from the wall. The water drains down into the  wet weather creek below our property.  If you missed my posting about the result of the drizzle we received that day you can read about it here. When we looked inside the tank we were amazed. Full from less than 1/10". Let's get another tank and join them together".

This time we got a 5'X2' which just fits into our truck. D placed the larger tank under the fall pipe joining the two tanks together through their drain holes. Now we can collect 500 gallons!
OK, we need somewhere in the potager to store some of this water. We have the perfect place for a couple of rain barrels. These are the nicest ones we have seen: made here in Austin and on stands and for sale at the Natural Gardener. They were expensive at $299. They hold 55 gallons each.

Next D purchased a 1/3hp submersible pump for $60, suitable for pumping up to 25' in height, and we bought a new tank for my water garden, which I hope to plant in the coming weeks. Now we wait for the rain. Friday there was a promise of some drizzle. It didn't seem much but there was a steady stream out of the pipe and we collected over 500 gallons. I say this because I was busy bucketing it out so that it didn't overflow. I must have bucketed 50gallons. Later in the day I told D we must get all that water out because tomorrow it is really going to rain and I want every drop!

With the pump in place we began pumping over the wall into the new rain barrels.

Then into my empty water feature tank and a garbage can and every bucket we had!

For your information in Texas there is no sales tax on water collection systems including tanks. We discovered this when we were buying the rain barrels. After some phone calls and searching we came up with the necessary paperwork to take along to the store. If you decide to do this make sure you take the paperwork along. Callahans knew nothing about it and I doubt any other stores which sell tanks do. The form you need is 01-339 page 2. On the reason for the exemption write in for rainwater harvesting.
One reader posted on my previous blog with a link to the U tube video she made about her solar  water collection system. It is a very informative video and well worth watching if you are thinking of setting up a system.
OK rain, do your stuff!

WHEN GARDEN PROJECTS SNOWBALL

Have you ever started a project which snowballed into something much larger? For us it began as my simple suggestion that a fence to hide the air conditioners alongside the house would improve this area. D agreed and before I knew it the fence was built.

He then decided to make a pathway down the side of the house. We use this route regularly from front to back. Because there is a slope away from the house, which becomes greater further down the pathway, it wasn't simply a matter of putting in a single height of edging.

There was a good deal of discussion about what material should be used to line the sides of the path. Chopped limestone block wouldn't match the house and we don't really care for metal edging. In the end we decided on wood to match the new fence. You can see that the edges of the path step down towards the far end and then rise up again. The surface material would run right up to the wall of the house.

This part of the project was greatly aided by this little gadget. I have no idea how much they cost but I know we paid $1 for it at a garage sale. When I think of all the times in my life I could have used this, but it only arrived last year.

More discussion about the material we should use on the surface: gravel or decomposed granite. In the end we decided on 1/4"-1/2" Fairland pink granite gravel from Geo-growers at $37.50 yd. We did a split load which included 4yards of granite for this project, 2 yards for other projects and 2 yards of soil to replenish the vegetable beds. That's quite a load for someone to move!

By the weekend the job was completed.

Now we just need a good rainfall to pack down the granite.

I asked D to add up the cost of this project. All those little trips for cement and wood added up to a tidy sum.
Total cost for both the projects $860. The project also came with a promise from me not to allow plants to grow in the pathway!

ON A MARCH MORNING

This group of iris close to the house is now in full bloom. They have benefitted from some extra care and attention in the form of water.

The first blooms on our native columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. Hinkleyana.

In the English garden the Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens above the hand-me-down dovecote that one graced Pam Penick's garden. Thank you Pam.

Species tulip, Tulipa clusiana Cynthia. These naturalizing tulip are so tough I wonder why I don't have more of them.

Clusters of Ipheion. I need more of these too.

Clumps of my favorite alyssum in the gravel paths.

And the true flowers on the gopher plant. Little dots of red.

That special time of year has begun; the time when every day brings a new bloom.

HOMEMADE WOOLY POCKET

Have you seen those wooly pockets that they are selling in the stores? Nice idea, I thought. I'm sure I could do that. But then I frequently think I can do things and find that, actually, it isn't as easy as it looks. This time I was successful. I am tired of buying those coir inserts for the hanging basket in front of the potting shed. They deteriorate quite rapidly helped along with the birds who pinch the strands for nesting materials.

It was really more of a re-purposing. As D walked by me he said, "Oh, the bridge table cloth!" He was right because this is what once was the felt tablecloth I made for our round glass top table when we play bridge. It was becoming a little pilled so I gave it a new life in my wall planter.

You can see the planter has seen better days but I am hoping the plants will take care of that as they grow. I lined the felt with some freely draining weed barrier and then just tucked in the felt. When I watered yesterday a little gecko shot out and up the wall. It looks as though he has moved into one of the folds int he fabric.