Anole

The first anole of the season - this one is shown on the fence that the passionvine is growing on.

Da 'Pocalypse!

Just having some fun with the camera...okay, so really I was trying to get a "movement" picture of the feathergrass, but it was still too bright outside and the sky got blown out instead...

Wordless Wednesday: Light Play with the Chinese Pistache

Mexican Petunia

This is a picture of one of the Mexican Petunias I have growing in the yard - mine are mostly in the shade with a few bright spots during the day (like in the evening).  I got two of these plants from Bob at DracoGardens 4 years ago or so and they have spread and done well for me - well enough that I give them to other coworkers looking for something that will fill in a large area relatively quickly.  I don't think I've ever watered these plants ever but seeing as how they've spread with little love from me, it does indicate just how hardy they can be.

Brazos Penstemmon

This is a Brazos Penstemmon that I got from Linda Lehmusvirta and it has been blooming beautifully - I also think that some of the seeds I put out are finally starting to come up (I had put them out last spring, but the drought and what have you took their toll).  I haven't watered this bed very much (and when I do water, it's to water the passionvine since it's FINALLY blooming - it only took it 3 years), and considering that the plant survived last year (albeit I don't remember exactly when I planted it...), I'm sure it will do just fine this year with no babying.

Wildflower Center Sale

On Saturday the 14, I went to the semi-annual Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Sale.

I also became a member...I haven't told my husband yet...shhh...

But!  The reason why I became a member is because of the reciprocal benefits at other botanical gardens - specifically those in Florida and Arizona (the two locations where I'm hoping to go to on vacation this year).  Of course, it doesn't hurt that it also meant that I got my entry fee back ($9) and also got 3 free 4" pots (again, $9).

I did see that the Austin chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas was selling some yellow red yucca.  And even though I have no place to put a red yucca, I was like "I want this. bad"  But I refrained from buying it because I already had the following:

1 Chocolate Daisy
1 Purple Skullcap (Austin NPSOT)
1 Shrubby Boneset
2 Purple Coneflowers (Williamson County NPSOT)
1 Chile Pequin
2 Zexmenia (Austin NPSOT)
1 Eryngo
1 Desert Marigold
2 Tahoka Daisy
2 Fleabane
1 Red Columbine

It's not like I really have a place for half of that stuff anyway.  So thus I didn't get the Yellow red yucca...but man, I really do want one...Now I just need to make a spot for it...

Wordless Wednesday: Zexmenia

May Night Salvia

The aforementioned May Night Salvia obtained on clearance from the HEB last fall - this is a plant, that if I remember correctly, was supposed to get up to 3' tall, and yet it's only about 8".

Also, we'll now recommence with our regularly scheduled posts (which is to say, every 2 - 3 days...hopefully).

Poppiezzzz

The poppies have stopped blooming a while ago now, but I still love them and I can't wait for next year.

Duelberg Sage

Bob at DracoGardens always loves a good story (he took his blog name from the historical marker by his house, for chrissakes).  And so, as he says, he acquired himself some Henry and Augusta Sage.  You see, no one really knows for sure where the Duelberg Sages came from, what they do know is that they were found in a cemetary growing on a husband and wife's gravesite.  One blue, and one white, the guy who found them and realized they were heretofore unknown varieties, started propagating them and they are now sold in nurseries.  The Henry Duelberg is blue, and the Augusta Duelberg is white.  And boy are they pretty.

You can read the story as told by the guy who found the plants, Greg Grant, here:  http://www.plantanswers.com/salvia_arcadia.htm

Sunflower

Crane flies are a sure indicator of spring - the cat has been hunting them left and right, and considering that he was sick last week and refused all food except for the crane flies he caught. The sunflowers in my yard are volunteers - mostly because the birds and squirrels really hate actually EATING all the seed I put out for them.

Other flowers blooming in the yard include the previously mentioned guara, cedar sage, may night salvia, a blue salvia from Bob, a blue salvia from HEB, passion vine, shrimp plant, verbena, coreopsis, zexmenia, hymenoxys, rock rose, the manfreda, and finally, the parsley.

Guara and Parsley

The compact guara I found at the HEB and the parsley that grows wild in my yard

Missing: Bird Seed. Reward Offered

So I've been noticing this week that the bird seed is getting completely eaten - which is fine, I don't mind that.  I don't mind that all the seed gets eaten in the platform and upcycled feeders - the squirrels have easy access, and I really don't care if they eat some of the seed; they tend to leave the safflower and really the squirrels don't come by until the afternoon anyway.  What I do care about is that I filled up the tube feeder this morning and by the time I came home it was completely empty.  Like I never even touched it.  I'm very confused, I didn't think the squirrels were getting to it, but maybe they are?  But then, since the feeder is cheap plastic, I would have figured that they would have just chewed through the feeder instead of methodically going through the little feed holes at the bottom...

Oh the confusion.

I foresee me sitting by the window all day on Sunday looking for the culprit. 

I can't do it tomorrow though because there's things to be done - specifically a birding seminar, the East Austin Garden Fare and the Wildflower Center plant sale. 

Front Yard

The front yard, not looking too bad...  Close ups of the flowers to follow throughout the week...

The cats by the berm - one with the lone bluebonnet plant in the front yard - most of the bluebonnets on on the side yard.

Wordless Wednesday: Bluebonnet Edition

Project Hellstrip: Planted

The Planted Hell Strip:

Note:  I am not done planting - I will still plant more plants - like more verbena and some ruby crystals grass and anything else I can find that I think will be good.

Since you can't see jack in the picture above (oh the problems of using 4" pots of plants...)

Alamo Vine (From Susie at VivaVerde)

Miniature Coreopsis (From the Sun City Plant Sale)

Silver Thyme (From the Austin Organic Growers Plant Sale)

Hymenoxys (From the Sun City Plant Sale)

Not pictured: another coreopsis and hymenoxys; 2 more thyme plants, two artemisia plants, two mexican feather grass plants and two verbena plants.

Weed ID?

Does anyone know what the following weed is? I allowed it to stay in the hell strip until it bloomed - however, the flowers are inconspicuous (I've never even seen them, but I'm pretty sure the black spots under the leaves are seeds)

Leaf structure 

Underside - seeds?

Sun City Spring Plant Sale

One of the benefits of having your in laws live in Sun City is that they tell you about all the plant sales.  There's a plant sale in the spring and one in the fall.  My mother in law went to the spring sale last year, deemed it wonderful and insisted I go to the fall sale.  Unfortunately, because of the drought, there weren't a whole lot of plants and most of them were gallon sized (obviously, the bigger the pot, the more money you have to spend).  I still bought plants - specifically a pink turk's cap, and two plumbagos.  Sadly, the plumbagos didn't make it through the winter.

My mother in law told me that the spring sale was coming up, but also prefaced it with she wasn't sure if it was going to be any good based on the fall sale, but also stated that her friends all insisted that the spring sale is ALWAYS bigger than the fall sale.  Since I am a sucker for plants, I said that I would go.

Since the sale starts at 9 am, it was mandated that I arrive at 845 or so.  Shawn and I rolled up right at 845 I think, but we didn't leave for the sale until 9.  By the time we arrived at 915, some plants (such as Mexican Honeysuckle) were already sold out.

Of course it didn't help any that as we walked up, I was taken with the poppies and started taking photos while showing my husband ("See!  these are like the plants we have in our yard, they're not thistle, they're poppies!" "that may be, but the plants you have in the yard are thicker stemmed and the leaves look a little different")

I finally got down to the business of looking at the plants and found some miniature Coreopsis, a few Hymenoxys, a Standing Cypress, a Verbena, a Columbine,  and some Butterflyweed.

As we were walking to the checkout, who would you think we ran into but Bob from Draco Gardens? (No picture because I wasn't thinking)

I also walked around and took a picture of the gardens - because of the deer and Sun City's restrictions, if you want to do vegetable gardening,you're more than likely going to do it here (there are tall fences around the entire thing)

All in all, I had a great time at the sale, and I'll be heading back in the fall to see what other plants I can find.

Planting

My mother in law has been a busy bee and planted a bunch of plants in her yard.  Unfortunately, from the pictures below you can't really tell.  Thus the problem when using 4" pots to fill in a space.  I'm sure I'll take more pictures as the plants fill in...

Next up:  creating a stone pathway from the back door to the bedroom door.

Other posts on my In Law's yard:
Design
Paths
Implementation