Summer Winding Down....

Well...

we haven't had anymore rain,

since a couple weeks ago,

when we had the six inches.

But, things are still happy.

The back, which is mostly Horse Herb, 

is greening up.

The Lantana is finally blooming.

The Ruellia is finally blooming, too.

I was beginning to think they'd just skip this summer.

And, the Plumbago is putting on a show.

The heat has returned.

There have been a lot of triple digit days here.

But, the forecast is for cooler and wetter days ahead.

We just cross our fingers, when we hear these forecasts.

But our Texas Sage, which is always reluctant to bloom,

is putting on a blooming show.

It's suppose to be a good omen for rain.

Let's hope the sage, and the weather guys,

are right.

We're certainly ready for some rain again.

And, cooler weather would be even more welcome.

Hope all is good in your garden.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

It Rained!...

We FINALLY had some rain.

Six inches of rain!

We really, really needed it.

It made everybody happy.

The planter we made in this old fountain,

was happy.  

The Periwinkle loved the rain.

It loves the heat, too.

The Plumbago is beginning to really bloom.

They love the heat, too.

And, a little water from heaven doesn't hurt.

Even the Prickly Pear loved the rain.

We're heating back up,

and we have a whole lot of sun.

But, it was nice while it lasted.

Hope you're having good weather,

wherever you are.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

A Little of This, and A Little of That....

I could have named this post the same as the last one...

Summertime Blues.

It's been HOT.

And, DRY.

I'm really hoping this thermometer is not right.

It's pretty close to the one on the other side of the house, though.

The heat, and no rain, is taking a toll on the whole place.

The trees are dropping leaves almost as bad as fall.

Only good thing...less to pick up in fall.

Not much to eat, for these guys. 

Well....except for our landscapes.

Since it's so dry...

...why do I need so much of these?

I don't dare go out without it.

The mosquitoes LOVE me.

It's not all bad, though.

The early morning light still looks good.

Willow enjoys hanging out on the bridge...

as long as the sprinkler's not going.

Sweet Potato loves the heat.

And, so does the Firecracker Fern.

And, some of our recent sunsets, have been very nice.

I was worried about some fungus looking things on this

Golden Barrel Cactus.

It turns out it's new growth!

Yay!

And, this could be good or bad...

Our son-in-law is a safety consultant in the oil and gas industry.

The workers were clearing a site, and plowing up these.

If I read the photo right, they're Sotols of some kind.

He asked if I wanted some.  I said, of course.

So, he's bringing me some.

I hear there are ten..

I need to do some research to see how long they can stay out of the ground.

They live a distance away from us.

So, that's what's going on here.

Trying to keep things alive,

and staying out of the heat.

Tomorrow is supposed to be extra hot.

Then we have a "cold front" coming in.

We could be all the way down to 99!!

Hey...it's all relative.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Frog Days of Summer...

When it's just too hot,

jump in the water.

Summer is really here.

Really hot.

And, really dry.

Even if it's the dog and cat outside water bowl....

a cool hangout, is a cool hangout.

"They" say, we're supposed to get some rain,

the next few days.

We'll see.

Hope you have the weather you want.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

This is Fall?....

The calendar says Fall.

But here in Central Texas, 

the thermometer still says Summer.

We're still hot...upper 90s...

and SO dry.

Still no rain here....

for almost FOUR months!

 across the Grove to Elli's Meadow

All the rain we had in the spring caused the

grasses to really grow.

The Grove

Now, all that grass is just fuel for fire.

It's a bit scary.

The Texas Sage keeps on blooming.

As the story goes, when the sage is in bloom, rain is close behind.

Well...as a friend says...we should rename it

Liar's Bush!

But, a few other things are blooming, too.

A few of my favorites....

Lion's Tail.

Leonotis leonurus

Mexican Bush Sage

Salvia leucantha

Big Muhly

Muhlenberia lindheimeri

And, I've been doing some more clean-up.

Here's a before, during and after.

Yes...I finally got the Veggie Garden cleaned up.

I'll be fighting those grass seeds for the rest of my life.

But, for now, it's good.

I hope you're having a beautiful Fall.

We're hoping for cool, WET weather here, soon.

Maybe the Liar's Bush will come through, after all.

Now, I have to go sweep up leaves.

Yes....it's that season....again.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The Last Week....

The last week of August.

In my mind, the last week of Summer.

Yes, I know...even though the official last of summer is

Labor Day Weekend,

in Texas, the heat will continue.

These guys will still be hungry, and chomping my plants.

But, there's hope in the air.

Well...maybe not today.  It's forecast to be 102.

But, soon.

Actually, we've had MUCH worse summers lately.

But, age and other incurable conditions, have made me more and more

heat intolerant.  Just can't hack it as well I used to.

But, a gardener's gotta garden.

So, I hauled (with muscle from Mr P) some rocks from the creek.

I had an artemisia Powis Castle up and die.

So, decided to replace it with an agave Lophantha.

About the only thing you can plant this time of year is cactus, agaves,

and ROCKS.

I put extra ones around this to hold it down.

Things get pulled up here, if not anchored.

Speaking of pests.

Yep...Leaf Footed Bugs on the prickly pear.

Research says the best way to get rid of them is pick them off.

Sorry....not on a cactus.

This is the only cactus they're on.

I haven't seen any on any other one....big or little.

We still have some tomatoes getting ripe.

They set long ago.

No bugs on them, and the squirrels have left them alone this year.

Even though I haven't been too happy with the way the garden looks, 

all in all, it's been a good summer.

We sit on the porch every evening, once the heat lets up.

Fans help.

But, I'm ready for fall to show up.

Just hoping to keep things alive until then.

Stay cool....

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

This and That for Thursday...

Remember the old John Fogerty song....

'110 in the Shade'?

Well...it's not quite that here.

But, close enough.

That old sun is beating down.

Barely any breezes blowing.

But, hey...it's August and it's Texas.

It's expected.

It does seem, the older I get, the harder it is to handle the heat.

With  Mr P's help, we got part of the New Project done.

The mulch is down on this part.  Native grasses are planned for here.

We put wire around part of the old Rock Bed.

I need to clean it out and will plant some of those 

'deer resistant' (ahem) plants, that our deer like to eat.

Ones that require more sun than the Fenced Yard supplies.

This part will be planted with salvias.  Very low water plants.

Can you tell I've neglected this bed?

The part between the large rock and the bucket is new bed.

It'll need some amending.

But, when it's already 80F when you get up in the morning,

projects move pretty slooooowly.

You do a lot more sitting in the shade, than digging in the dirt.

While I was sitting, I noticed this Hyacinth Bean had taken hold in a Live Oak.

Now the Oak is blooming purple.

While you're here, I'll show you one of my new toys.

I put a Coke can on it, to give you some perspective.

It is 'toy-like', right?

The heaviest part is the rechargeable battery.

Not big, but it gets our tiny piece of lawn mowed.

If we don't get some more rain soon, we won't have to worry too much about mowing.

In the mean time, we'll keep putting out water for the wildlife,

dragging hoses around, and staying in the shade.

Hope you have the weather you want, wherever you are.

'Til next time...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Speaking of wildlife,

I did a short post, over at my photo blog, about these.