A Change in the Weather...

You gotta love Texas weather.

Air conditioner on one day....heater the next.

It was 31F here this morning.

A light frost on the golf course, catching the morning light.

Maybe because there are still lots of leaves on the trees, I didn't find much frost damage.

Not to worry.....it's supposed to be mid 80s by mid-week.

If you don't like the weather in Texas...just wait a minute.  It'll change.

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Another change in the weather, is coming for the folks on the East Coast.

Here's hoping this big storm is over-hyped.

Hoping the best for all of you.

Stay safe...

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Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Blowin' in the Wind....

There's been a lot of talk about Wind Energy, this election season.

Coming down the mountain, into the Palm Springs area last month, 

we got to see a place where they take it quite seriously.  

There are acres and acres of wind turbines.

We saw them all along our trip.

But, this is the most we saw in a populated area.

They range right along I-10, at a 'pass' through the mountains.

The wind really blows here.

I guess we should use all the resources we have for energy.

There are pros and cons for each of them.

I do find these pretty interesting.  

They're like rain lilies after a rain, popping up out of the desert.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...2012...

Yesterday was hot and humid.

Today is cool and dry.  A beautiful day to be outside.

The palm is doing well, in the Island Bed.

And, lots of things are blooming.

We've had this chrysanthemum for about two years.  It blooms spring and fall.

The Autumn Sage...Salvia greggii...is blooming away.  

The magenta ones that were here when we moved in, seem to do the best blooming.

The Coral vine has a few blooms.  It really needs to be moved to a sunnier place.

The cosmos in the veggie bed just keeps on going.

The knockout rose is liking the cool weather, and the extra rains this year.

This lantana has been blooming a lot this year.

You know...I see this kind all over the neighborhood, without a fence around it.

Why do the deer only eat the blooms off this one?

I have to put wire around it.

The Lion's Tail is blooming again.  I needed to prune it back.  And, it needs more sun.

So, it's moving sometime soon.

The Oleander is finally blooming.

The Turk's Cap seems happy at the back of the fenced yard.  

It's been a challenge for me to get something to grow in this super shady spot.

The Mexican Bush Sage is putting on a show.

Truth in blogging....should I have pruned it, during the summer?

I'm not too happy with it flopping out into the yard.

And, I'm not too happy with the cannas here.  Only one bloom all summer.

There'll be some rethinking in this bed.

I must have picked a good spot for the Philippine Violet.

I love it's pretty purple blooms.

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Over in the Veggie Garden:

The Hyacinth Bean is looking good.

I've never cooked any of these beans.  Maybe I should.

There won't be any lack of seeds for next year, though.

I planted some Tatuma squash.  The guy at Natural Gardener steered me to these.

They're less likely to have the Squash Vine Borers.

That seems to be true.  But, they sure take over a space.

They have LOTS of pretty yellow blooms.

But, few squash. (?)  The squash are good, though.  They're a bit more like zucchini than 

yellow summer squash.

And, look....the tomato vines are putting on fruit again.  The same vines from spring.

What a difference a year can make.

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Now, from the 

DEER ARE EVIL

department.

This agave was growing and looking really good.

It dodged the Agave Snout Nose Beetle.

Then I go out and find this.  Shredded!!

Now, I have to figure out what to put in it's place.

This is the Drive Bed.  So far, the yuccas got zapped by the dreaded Snout Beetle, 

and now the agave is shredded.

A Sotol maybe?  

They don't seem to bother those.

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I hope it's beautiful in your neighborhood.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Plants at the Golf Course....

Recently, I posted about our trip to the desert,
and Golfing in a Garden.

I thought I'd show you a little of the Flora and Fauna there.

Some, I've not seen before.

This Bougainvillea is one I don't know.

From a distance, I thought it was a Crepe Myrtle.
Very upright....almost like it could be a tree.

But closer, I could see it was a Bougainvillea.
Smaller leaves....

And, clusters of smaller blooms.

Here's the Bougainvillea I'm used to.

And, this bush.  It gets quite large.

That's one, just ahead and to the left of these carts.  I saw some even larger ones.

It has these pretty yellow blooms.
Sorry for the photo.  My camera does NOT like to take pix of yellow flowers.

And, this silver shrub.  I think it's some kind of Sage.  I like it.

 There were lots of nice grasses....

And, the ever present Lantana...

The Palm Springs area uses Lantana a lot.  It's a good hot weather, drought resistant plant.

The landscaping at the villas at the Hyatt Indian Wells, is pretty good, too.

And, there were pink and white water lilies blooming in the water hazards.

With the water, and all those blooming things, there were lots of birds.

This little hummer...I think maybe a Black Chin Hummingbird...posed for me several times.

And, this little red bird took a lot of work to get a shot or two.

I think he's a Flame-colored Western Tanager.

This little guy...a Black Phoebe?...just came right up and posed on the handle of the rake in a sand trap.

And, this American Loon was swimming around with his friends, diving under water for whatever was on the bottom.

view from our balcony

I had a busy day, even though I didn't golf.

If you know the names of those plants I showed you, please let me know.
Hmmm....wonder if deer like them.

*******

The Longhorns have a big game this weekend, up in Dallas.
We play our arch rivals, Oklahoma.

Hook 'em Horns!

*******

Have a great weekend...
~~Linda~~