Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Let It Snow!!....





It's been ten days ago, now.
But, something that very rarely happens in this area, happened.

IT SNOWED!!!

Enough to stick.

That was a Thursday night.
On Monday of that week, we hit 84 degrees.

Welcome to Texas weather.


It kept on snowing...

And, snowing...


Wet, heavy snow...


The next morning dawned bright and sunny.


The snow was already beginning to melt.


But, it was beautiful, while it lasted.


I worried about some things.
But, they came through ok.


They's no telling when we'll ever see this again.


It was SO fun!


When you live with Texas weather...
you just never know what you'll get.

Hope the weather's just the way you want it,
wherever you are.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Stormy Weather...


We've had some stormy weather, here in Texas.

Brought to us by a guy named Harvey.


We had some wind...
and 18 inches of rain!

But, it was slow...over two days...so no flooding here.


A lot of it soaked into our SO-DRY soil.
But, enough ran off to make the creek flow again.
That's a lot of water.


Our daughter lives a little over 100 miles southeast of us.

They were inside the center circulation, for three days.
LOTS of wind.  They lost a few trees.
And, over 30 inches of rain!


The trash can saved the fence.


But, miraculously, they had no damage to their 100+ year old house.

And, there was beauty, under the debris.


They've gathered up supplies, and have a pallet of water, to take to those less fortunate.


The jeep looked worse than this...
with MOSQUITOES...
before they got back from the first trip over to Corpus Christi.  

Horrible monsters, making things even more miserable.



We've greened up here.  Amazing how fast we've gone from dead,
to back to life again.

There are people whose lives will never be the same again.
Towns all along the Texas Coast, almost wiped away.
Towns who don't make the news.

But, Texans are tough...
and, stubborn.
They don't give up easily.



Another monster is bearing down on America.
Let's all pray for the people in it's path...
and hope it doesn't make it all the way.

Stay safe....



Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

Thursday, June 2, 2016

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~~

Friday, April 1, 2016

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~~

Monday, November 2, 2015

What is it With Halloween?....


I love the way the creek looks, and sounds, when the water is flowing.
The problem is, sometimes that will only happen
if we have a TON
of rain.


Just like two years ago on Halloween,
we had a lot of water come through here.

We had taken a quick trip. So we weren't home.

Our neighbor showed us a video she took, and the 
amount of water was mind boggling.


We have these water barriers. You fill them with water,
and they settle down like sand bags.


Well, too much water can pick it up and toss it to the side.


And, twist it like balloon art.

And, allow that water to get into the garage.


It only came up half way on the front porch. 
Didn't get through the door.


It piled up debris against the fence and gate.


Which backed it up against the garage wall.

I've taken ten cart loads of this out of just this area.


It washed out mulch, dug up a couple of new plants, 
and knocked down the wall in the Grass Bed.

The power of water is just amazing.


But, the land is already responding.
We had rain the weekend before, too.


It doesn't take long to turn dry and crispy into green.


Not to mention this always seems to happen right after they 
overseed the golf course for winter.
So, more grass to pull up.


The trampled and almost washed away wild onions, are already sprouting.
They must have strong toes.


Each time this happens, it changes the bed of the creek.
Look closely...see the deer watching?


We'll clean up and keep going.  
After all...it's still a beautiful place.

Foggy mornings are pretty here.


It's mostly quiet and calm.
And, we like the view.


Even through the bathroom window.

We just need to watch out for scary Halloween weather.

Hope you're safe and happy, where you are.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~