LOTS OF LITTLE PUPPIES

It seems I have the kind of Queen Victoria agave, Agave Victoriae-Reginae that offsets. To begin with I was a little disappointed with this plant because it doesn't have than nice ball shape that you see in a perfect specimen. Those are tens of babies clustered around the base.

This is an example of a non offsetting variety in a neighbors garden.

Mine has been in that spot for years and has hardly grown. They are noted for their slow growth but at the same time maybe all those offspring are holding it back. The time had come to remove some of the offsets. There was one really big one behind the bunny ears cactus, Opuntia microdasys, but it wasn't coming out without a tussle and I was really afraid of damaging the mother plant. But I did manage to pull at least 10 and there are more to come. One came out with a decent root but they were all still attached to the parent plant so I need to let them callous for a few days before potting them up.

So here they are all potted up and in the greenhouse for the winter to give them a better chance.

I planted one in the ground in the front courtyard in the new area alongside the garage. It is below the Candelilla, Euphorbia antisyphilitica.

It does look a little forlorn for now.

Both these plants are hardy for my area and will be quite carefree.

On the subject of pups. I have one Moby's offspring. If you follow Pam Penick's blog you will know about the magnificent flowering spectacle of Moby, Agave ovatifolia,  followed by hundred of offsets. It's no bigger than the Agave Victoriae Reginae but should outstrip it in growth in one or two years. For now, it too is in a pot in the greenhouse.

Agave ovatifolia, Whales' Tongue

And how about this agave? We aren't sure what it is but possibly Agave parryi as there were a number of pups with it. Apparently gardeners in Arizona can have too much of this good thing and my son is the lucky recipient.

THE END IS NIGH

Our long summer will end this weekend with a frost.

By Monday there will be no flowers draping over the open greenhouse door. It has been the latest bloom on the cross vine in my memory.
The window box against the potting shed will be replaced by a box of winter annuals patiently waiting in the wings.

Seeds will be collected from the narrow leaf zinnias that have performed through the hot summer.

All the cactus and succulents and citrus have left their summer homes for the potting shed greenhouse and house.

The anole is wondering what the heck is going on. All his favorite plants have disappeared.

The two large plumerias are inside the house.

And what will become of my lovely papaya tree.Too big to try to cover it will undoubtedly be a shriveled mess by morning. I might try putting a fan underneath it to keep the frost from settling but it will only be a temporary stay. But let me think about that some more.

Only a crazy gardener would try to protect such a plant.

I am praying that a papaya will not seed itself in my garden next year. I'm getting too old for these kind of antics.

I'M THINKING SPRING

Last week I started to think about next years garden. I thought summer was finally over. It wasn't__ we are back in the 80s again. I had started to move a few things around thinking it was now time. How foolish of me! I'd love to have a break but then this is Texas and as my husband reminded me when he told me we were moving to Texas, "You are going to a place where you can garden year round" At the time I though that was a pretty big selling feature-I'm not so sure anymore!

The basket has been sitting on my dining room table for a while as I collected packets of seeds and bulbs for planting this fall.
Among the bulbs I have Ipheion, Narcissus 'Rip van Winkle', Several packet of species tulips, 'Lilac wonder' 'Tinka', 'Van Tubergans Variety', Anemones, Narcissus, Erlicheer, pink Rain lilies,  Packets of seeds of Nigella, Alyssum, flax, Indian paintbrush, blue curls. I already planted the bluebonnets.
I have also been collecting seeds from summer annuals.

It's a little too early to put the bulbs in yet, maybe after Thanksgiving, but now that we have had rain I think I can start planting some seeds. Before I do that I need to deal with two problems.

The enemy of seedlings. The decollate snail. If I thought I had stemmed the tide last year I was sorely wrong. They are back in force again this fall.

Snail gathering has been a priority this week with all the rain and I have gathered hundreds.  I avoid using snail poisons so I hand pick and use decoy bait. Perfect timing as the grapefruit harvest is in and we are eating grapefruit for breakfast every morning. Snails may do plenty of good out there but they also love the new seedlings of blackfoot daisies, violas, purple skullcaps, larkspur and bluebonnets not to mention vegetable seedlings. They can mow down a row of arugula overnight. I prefer them to eat the grapefruits and yesterday I discovered they love carrot peelings. It's the first job of the morning to go check the grapefruits and look underneath the blackfoot daisy plants. That's where they really like to hang out. But there are so many places to hide; underneath agaves, down among the rocks, along the edges of the raised beds in the vegetable garden deep in the cedar mulch.

Then there is the enemy of bulbs. A mouse has been collecting seeds and tomatoes and storing them behind the cushion box on the patio. I think he is thinking of setting up his winter quarters inside the box.

Just as long as he doesn't shred the cushions for nesting material.

There will be may more enemies of the garden that will come to light as I clean up the leaves and debris of a growing season. There is much work to tidy up before our Texas winter. All in the name of next year's garden.

THE LATEST PROJECT

David loves doing projects which is a good thing because I keep thinking of projects for him to do.

Between the side door of the house and the garage there is a wall with an opening. It has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. Summer breezes are nice but in winter the wind howls through there and summer and winter if the rain is in the right direction it blows through there wetting everything outside the door.

We needed something we could open and close. Shutters wouldn't look good with our style of house but a sliding barn door shutter would be perfect. A week ago on our Sunday walk we discussed how it should be. Tongue and groove paneling to match the door. David worked on it all week and yesterday we slid the door onto its barn door track.

I won't have to worry about leaving my gardening shoes outside the door.

The day before installation David worked incredibly hard cleaning the wall. This summer with that rain it was looking awfully stained from mildew. The plants have all been removed to the driveway where they will remain. Some of them will be going in the garage for the winter.
I'm thrilled with how the shutter looks. Thanks David.

LEST WE FORGET

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

When I first planted the garden I was in love with the Indian hawthorn, Rhaphiolepis indica. It was evergreen and had these beautiful pink flowers in the spring. In the front courtyard I planted them in three places. In front of the two large windows and alongside the garage. The ones along the dining room window were the first to go, as we redid the area following a very cold winter. Then, earlier this year I removed the ones in front of the other window. Those ones had become rather thin and rangy and made cleaning the window difficult. The remaining ones, alongside the garage were removed last week. We needed to do some work along the wall and they were in the way.

Even though they were perfectly healthy I was glad to see the back of them. For one thing they had become a little intrusive requiring a cut back every year, but the worst thing was that despite being evergreen they shed some leaves and those leaves were a big chore to remove from the dry creek. In heavy rain the leaves would wash onto the drain.
It's never as bad as you think. In fact, it is exciting to be thinking about what you can do in the new area and it will match the rest of the garden a lot better.

Once those bushes were out I knew there was going to have to be some rock work. Yeah! My favorite thing to do.
But on a side note just look at that soil. I am reminded once again of the English garden designer and author Penelope Hobhouse's words as she  designed and implemented a project in Dallas. She referred to "This thing you call soil" And yet it is quite amazing how many plants can survive in such 'rubble' Many of our natives are quite at home in such conditions.

I called upon David to bring me some rocks so that I could build a new edge to the creek to retain that 'soil'. He was relieved to hear that I was only looking for small ones.
I had to remove all the river rocks and dig out with the pick axe. A two day job. Then brush everything and replace the river rock. Here's the finished product.

We now have a cleaner, tidier area which I am hoping will be less maintenance.
Now for the hard part- the planting. Not hard in digging the holes but in choosing the plants. I would like something evergreen for the corner but it must be upright- possibly a grass. Not having any bright ideas about that. Along the edge I will be shopping my own garden for echinacea-always plenty of those. This is a west facing wall and the wall itself, being stucco, gets very hot. It has to be a plant that can cope with intense heat in the summer. Please feel free to offer up some ideas.
Update
Changes to the rock path and the corner of the new area.

A SPOOKY VISITOR

The Black Witch moth, Ascalapha odorata, also known as La Sorcière Noire, Mariposa de la Muerte, arrived at my house overnight. It is the largest of our North American moths with a wing span of up to 7" and is sometimes mistaken for a bat as it is nocturnal with a flight similar to a bat. This one is a male lacking the white stripe across the wing.  If I was superstitious I might be a little disturbed by its presence, especially at this time of year. It is on the wall, nestled up against the roof, over our side door.

Because of its association with bats it is tied to many superstitions. In Mexico, named the mariposa de la muerte( butterfly of death) they believe if it flies into your house it means and you are sick you will die. Here in Texas the butterfly has to visit all four corners of the house before a death. But if it appears after someone has died then it is their soul returning to bid you farewell. Some believe if it flies into your field of view it brings a curse from your enemy, or if it lands on your head your hair will fall out. I much prefer the one that says if it alights on you, you will get rich or if it lands over your door you will win the lottery. Should I go out and buy a lottery ticket? It's tempting.
Have you seen this visitor lurking around your house?

DID I MISS FALL?

Yesterday I went out to buy some vegs for the winter garden. Because I like to buy them in 6 packs, for economy, I went to one of the big box stores. I thought I might pick up some 6 packs of winter annuals too. I was surprised to see half the area empty of plants. No vegs. and no 6 packs of annuals. Ah! Those empty shelves mean one thing, getting ready to bring in Christmas trees. Was I too busy getting ready for last week's event in my garden or was it the unusually warm temperatures that had me thinking I still had plenty of time to shop and plant for winter.
Even the garden is still full of color leading one to believe that summer is far from over. Then, this morning there was a slight mist on the cooler air and it just felt a little like fall.

And all the butterflies flitting around in the sunshine are a sign that the end of this season is upon us.

Here's another sign of the season. I cut back the huge gomphrena plant above the sunken garden. Beneath, it looks as though a hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus, has been busy getting his seeds together for winter. They must have incredible patience to get out those tiny seeds from their fluffy casing. I never bother, just saving the dried flower head and breaking it up and seeding directly in the garden next summer.

It is to be another week of near record temperatures. Already by noon it feels to warm to be out in the garden other than sitting in the shade. Maybe, I'll postpone transplanting those arugula seedlings until tomorrow. I'll take my lunch outside with my new book, The Bold Dry Garden, and do some day dreaming about the new garden area we started at the weekend.

A WEEK IN THE MOUNTAINS

In late September I spent a week in Vail, with 3 friends.

The air was glorious and even at 8,000' I am pleased to say the lungs still work well. I certainly didn't need any of this. The last time I saw these oxygen canisters was in Cusco, which is 11,000'

There was a trail within walking distance of the condo, which I took several times. The fall color of those aspens was spectacular. One time as I walked there was a strong gust of wind and golden leaves filled the air. Winter is just around the corner.

And grasses were blooming along the creek.

There was talk of a moose having been spotted in the area and the posting on the trail notice board mentioned this being a mountain lion area. That had me watching my back a few times. But I spotted no wildlife.

You would not be surprised to hear that before I left I did a little research to see if there were any gardens in the area and came up with the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, the highest public garden in the world.

The Fords had long time connections with the Vail community and in 1988 the gardens were named in her honor.

The gardens have a fine collection of alpine plants displayed in a wonderful mountain setting. They also promote the conservation of the world's rarest alpine plants. A small visitor center has plenty of displays about alpines as well as regions of the world where they grow. I recall a visit to the alpine meadows of Rocky Mountain National Park some years ago. A biting wind blew over the tundra, even at the height of summer, and elk grazed all around us. This day was quite different as we left to explore the garden. Cool enough to wear a sweater but still with a warm sun.

They have a fine display of unusual trough gardens. You know how much I love troughs!

And crevice gardens with their tiny alpine treasures.

If you think fall is all abut those burnished golds and bronzes then think again although pinks do seem to be a little out of place. And yet these are the fall blooming colchicums.

and Veronica spicata 'Red Fox'

and the pink fall color of this ground cover.

There is a children's area with some delightful stone sculpture. (Vail abounds in expensive sculpture.) Adventure boxes had been placed underneath benches and we saw one child opening up a box to find some little treasures.

There was plenty of lawn for picnicking and for children to run around.

With it being the end of the season the gift shop was closed and several other buildings around the garden. It was very quiet and peaceful and I as glad not to have missed the opportunity to visit.