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~~

Hello, Again....

Halfway through January, already.

It's been fun.

Today it's 75 degrees.

Last Friday, we didn't get above freezing.

A few days before that, it was 85.

Whew!

Too crazy a ride.

This was the morning it was 13.

If you look closely, you can see the ice at the edges.

We were in the 60s by afternoon.

All this makes gardening here verry interesting.....

I took this photo before the freeze.

It's worse now.

But, as you can see, the deer have done their thing.

My fault...

I should have put wire around it.

I usually do.  But, I let myself get lazy.

The bucks didn't seem to have velvet on their antlers, to wipe off.

And, you just can't cage everything.

They messed this one up, too.

Worse now, since the freeze.

And, this one...

they chomped it.  AFTER they moved this piece of wire off.

I put it back.  So far, they've left it alone.

I won't show you the lovely frozen plants in the rest of the yard.

I'm not sure what to go ahead and cut back. 

That might make them put on new growth,

and I know we're not done with cold weather.

I'll cut a couple of the agaves back, and try to keep them alive.

So, I'll just show you one of our Christmas gifts from our Son's family.

Pretty, huh?

It twirls in both directions.

We put a solar spotlight on it.

A nice view from the porch, on these warm evenings.

We got another garden gift from our Daughter's family.

There is some assembly required.

So, we'll show you that later.

And, oh....

This is our oldest granddaughter.

These two here, under the Wimberley Trail of Lights big tree,

are giving us a GREAT grandson, in just a few days.

We are truly blessed.

Hope your holidays were happy also.

This year is going to be a good one.

Stay safe and warm.

Seems we'll be warm, here.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Big Limb Down...

We were out the other night.

Coming home in the dark, we knew it had rained,

but maybe there was some wind, too.

When I got up the next day,

I saw this huge limb down,

across the street, in the vacant lot.

The deer were loving it.

There were maybe twenty, when I first looked out.

Several ran away, when I walked outside.

They came and went all day.

This morning, you can see how much they ate.

Those leaves must taste good.

Walking around yesterday, I saw no other limb damage.

Maybe it wasn't wind. Maybe this limb was just ready to break.

Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Passion in the Garden...

Passion Flowers, that is.

It seems to be a small theme, this year.

First, our daughter got one, for her new/old garden.

She texted me this picture.

It's the purple variety...but, a bit different than some I've seen.

So, when we were down there, she and I took a trip...two whole blocks...

to the local garden center, to get one for me.

No purple left.

So, I got a Scarlet Passion Vine.

I like it.

It's not as hardy, though. I may have to treat it like an annual.

Then...the other night, when I was doing the evening Garden Walk,

I noticed a bloom, on the fence in the Fenced Yard.

Small blooms...

I'd left this vine, when I cut things back on this fence.

I'm glad I did.

Turns out, it's a Wild Passion Vine.

Passiflora lutea.

The blooms are only the size of a quarter.

But, they're very interesting.

That vine has been on the fence for a couple years.

I never noticed any blooms.

Don't you love GOOD garden surprises?

And, I guess you could say we have more results of

"garden passion".

Yep...this year's crop, is showing up.

Hope you have a good weekend.

We're forecast MORE rain.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

April 1....

April 1...

Already...

Yesterday, it was in the 80s.

Then, a cold front came through, and today it's in the 50s.

This morning, the sun was hitting the tops of the trees.

But the storm clouds were forming. 

Soon it was raining, and we had tiny hail...no damage.

I've been weeding...and, weeding...and, weeding.

Oh, yes...and some mulching and graveling. (is that a word?)

The front beds are done.

And luckily, I finished the Island Bed yesterday, before the cold and rain.

The Veggie Garden is weeded, and ready for some veggie plants.

The Round Bed (which isn't really round.) is ready for mulch.

The Back Bed isn't completely weeded yet, but it's doing pretty good.

The leaves I put down in the fall have done a good job of keeping weeds down.

The purple iris are done, since this photo.

But, the white ones, and this one have started.

The stems on this one are so short, it's like it's hiding.

The Crossvine isn't hiding. It's finally really blooming...for the first time.

Other things showing up...

 'Hot Lips' salvia

 Purple Heart

 Silver Germander

Looks good against one of our fountains.

 Jerusalem Sage

The other Jerusalem Sage 'Edward Bowles', has bigger leaves and didn't like FULL

Texas, afternoon sun. So moved it to the back. It's looking good,

But, no blooms, yet.

And, look at this!

The Softleaf Yucca, at the front corner of the house,

has a bloom stalk, for the very first time.

It has been properly caged, against the constantly foraging

horde of deer.

****************

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

Still have lots more weeding to do.

And, cleaning up Live Oak leaves, and soon the catkins (brown squiggleys).

Then, more mulching and graveling.

It just never ends.

Happy Gardening...

(and, Happy April)

~~Linda~~