Sunny This and That

Yeah baby, I know you're just lusting after my new dirt right now, aren't you? Funny what a smidgen of sunny weather will do to a gal.

I've had the outline for two new beds down all winter. But it's been too darn wet to do any digging. Finally after several days in a row of no rain, the soil in this bed was ready for sod removal (the other bed is in the back where the neighbors' yards drain through, so it won't be ready for a while). This seemed like a relatively small bed being just 4' x 24' but when it came to digging, I pooped out quicker than I expected. Fortunately my hubby was nice enough to help me finish the job. Then I splurged on some lovely soil in order to be sure the bed was well drained. I plan to move some plants from the back here and have purchased some others online. It'll be a sunny flower and ornamental grass bed. I have high hopes!

Anole sunning on rocks

Last weekend was mild and sunny which brought out all the animals, including me. This anole was in his element.

American Goldfinches

The goldfinches have been swarming the feeders. Although this photo makes them look mild mannered it's been a veritable free-for-all. And it's not just the goldfinches (of which we could have 20 to 40 at any one time). The woodpeckers (downy and red bellied), cardinals, white breasted nuthatch, and house finches are helping to create the melee. Those of you who have goldfinches at your feeders in the spring and summer may note that these little guys are not very yellow. Of course that's typical since they're not ready for breeding just yet but I do wish the bird websites would include some of these types of photos for those of us down south. Just when the males start turning their stunning yellow color, they fly north.

I'm forcing some more branches indoors. A couple weeks ago a very large branch from my neighbor's Bradford Pear broke off. So I took clippers in hand and clipped a few smaller branches. They're finally starting to bloom, probably two weeks before the trees outside start. I recently read that instead of hammering the ends of the branches to help them take up water, you should just cut a slit or two into the end. Good to know.

We've got some cold but sunny weather in the forecast so my blogging and reading of blogs may be curtailed. You know how it goes for gardeners!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

Rejuvenation

Forced Flowering Quince

This long, dreary and very cold winter has me looking for tiny signs of spring. A couple weeks back I pruned the Flowering Quince and brought some of the trimmings inside. Here it is blooming in my dining room only with much lighter blooms than what it's doing outside.

Inland Sea Oats

The Inland Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is starting to pop up causing me to dither about whether or not to cut the old stems off. Are there more hard freezes in the offing? Well even if there are, it's growing now so it probably won't hurt to cut them off. I'll do that this weekend.

New growth on chives

After the "Artic Blast" of early January the autumn transplanted chives looked horrible. Although I was tempted to leave them as is because of future freeze risks, I just couldn't stand the look of them wallowing in their sad bedraggled state. So I cut them back and now the dark green of new growth is poking through. Any light freezes to come will be okay (they've already gone through a few).

Cardinals and one Junco keeping the lawn free of leaves and seeds

There has been tons of activity at the bird feeders. Sadly we had only a quick fly-through by the American Goldfinches. In "normal" years they arrive at our feeders in early January and stick around until about mid-March. This year I had a quick siting of them last week, about 10 of them, and then they were gone.

White Breasted Nuthatch

I took this photo through my kitchen window of this White Breasted Nuthatch on the tree because he was just frozen there (not literally). All the birds had disappeared momentarily but this guy hung on completely motionless. I didn't spot any nearby hawks so I'm not sure what was going on. Which reminds me, don't forget about The Great Backyard Bird Count going on February 12-15. Click on the link on the right of my page for more information on how to participate. I hope to add this little nuthatch to my count this year for the first time. And for the first time, no goldfinches!

New firewood - willow oak logs

In contrast to the poor folks in Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere who have been pruning ice-damaged trees from last week's ice storm, we finally had the tree trimmers out to do a little rejuvenation on some of our older trees. First order of business was trimming some of the lower branches from our Willow Oak (Quercus phellos). This will allow more light to a crape myrtle as well as some beds. Below is the newly pruned oak and the crape myrtle to the left.

Willow Oak, Quercus phellos

We also wanted to lighten the load on our old and potentially dying pecan tree.

Pecan tree on left, red oak on right

We've lived in this house for five years now and have been babying the pecan tree for almost that long. It was never in good shape but it provides some great shade in that part of the yard. So a few years ago we had a red oak planted about 10 feet in front of it in hopes that it would take over shade duty when the time comes to remove the pecan. In the meantime we keep removing limbs in the pecan to lighten its load and prevent it from keeling over.

Red Oak, possibly a Shumard (Quercus shumardii)

Here's the lower part of the red oak. It's grown very tall in a few short years! I have such high hopes for it that I think this may be the pecan's last year. I better plan accordingly for the back "shade" garden!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

Fingers Crossed

Old Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia species)

Now that it's gotten nice and cold, it's time to start tree trimming down here. This old crape myrtle is in need of some rejuvenation, having survived a major landscape makeover and who knows what else before we moved in five years ago. I do know for a fact that someone tried to commit "crape murder" on it some time ago. That is evidenced by the big old knots the tree has on each trunk at about the same height. For those who haven't heard of "crape murder", it's when one tops the trunks. It destroys the natural beauty of the tree trunks and I think it could be a plot by landscape contractors who need more work in the winter! Here you can see the beauty of a stem next to the ugly mess left by years of topping.

Old knot caused by topping

One thing I've noticed in the last few years is a decline in the number of healthy looking bloom ends. Whether it's due to trauma or just old age, I'll never know. But yesterday my muscle (my husband) helped me take some drastic steps in trying to help it out. We took out many big trunks, especially those that were criss-crossing up top.

Hopefully you can see how it's opened up in these before and after shots.

So fingers crossed, the old crape myrtle will bounce back this summer.

We're bracing for a very cold week here, probably the coldest we've had since we moved here. I have my doubts as to whether my Agave desmentiata will survive in its stock tank. Here you can see some of the cold damage it already has (yellow spots).

Agave desmentiata

So today (while it was snowing no less!), I added some pine straw around the agave. Fingers crossed it'll make it past the week!

Agave desmentiata, Bamboo muhly stalks, and Aeonium arboreum v. atropurpureum ‘Zwartzkopf’

And then there's my portable greenhouse. I've never tried heating it before. I've just always hoped the temps wouldn't stay below freezing for long. And for the most part it's worked. But since the predictions are for temperatures to stay below freezing for at least 24 hours and in the mid-teens for several nights in a row, I went ahead and purchased a heater.

Don't try this at home!

This is NOT a heater one should purchase for a greenhouse. But since I couldn't find one specifically made for more wet conditions, I'm taking the risk. It won't have to work for long and I'll be very careful. Fingers crossed it'll work like a charm, the plants will survive, and nothing will burn down!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

McKinney Falls State Park and Happy New Year!

This past weekend after a trip to see family in Houston, we drove to Austin for another quick trip to see friends. The weather was typical Austin winter weather - glorious sun and a nip in the air. Our friend Marcia is a volunteer trail guide at McKinney Falls State Park so we decided to take advantage of her knowledge for a little hike.



The park is on the southeast side of Austin and has some natural limestone rock formations that have sheltered people for 8000 years. The photo above and below reminds me of my Native Plants class that I took at UT in the mid-70's. We went to this park before it was open to the public then and it was the first time I saw a plant, a variety of maidenhair fern (Adiantum sp.), growing in the wild when I had only previously seen it in a pot. This is growing right on/in the limestone ledge.





The photo above is of the base of a giant old Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), said to be 500 years old. Marcia said the Parks personnel ended up watering it by hand this summer because of the drought. They didn't want the old beauty to die.



In our walk we came across the ubiquitous Juniperus asheii, otherwise known as the bearer of the dreaded "cedar fever". That orangey stuff on the branches is the pollen and it causes many people to suffer cold, allergy, and flu-like systems for as long as the pollen is around (many weeks!).



One of my favorite plants, Prickly Pear cactus (some kind of Opuntia).



At last we came to the Lower Falls. Marcia said this summer it was barely a trickle. Good to see some water back again.



The falls are fed by Onion Creek, a creek that meanders through much of south Travis County (and I think north Hays County).



Because of the creek's proximity to a major urban area and thus urban runoff, the creek has its issues with algae growth, which you can see hanging on to the limestone caves under water. Still, it's a little jewel of a park and well worth seeking out for a nice hike, especially with friends or family.

I hope everyone has perfect weather, a perfect garden, good and healthy friends and family, and a great 2010!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, etc.

Foliage Follow-Up to Bloom Day

Pam at Digging has a new meme going that celebrates foliage and other non-blooming natural things around the yard, the day after Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. While photographing my yard for blooms (my Bloom Day post is here), I had great fun in photographing the many interesting textures and colors in the garden. I think this might be the last hurrah for my 'Bloodgood' Japanese Maple above, but a nice hurrah it is.



I wish I had thought to put something at the base of this pine tree so you could tell how massive it is. When I hug this tree (yes, I do that occasionally), I can't get my arms all the way around. I wish I knew the variety of pine it is (might be Short Leaf pine since it has very short needles).



This time of year is when the ‘Silver Shower’, Ophiopogon jaburan, a type of mondo grass, starts putting on new growth. Seems a strange time for it but that's what it does. I have several of these in mostly shade.



The foxtail ferns (Asparagus meyeri I think) are in large pots nestled against the house. I'm too scared to leave them out exposed where I normally have them most of the year. I probably don't have to worry though. They're very hardy.



The texture on my ‘Felt Plant’, Kalanchoe beharensis, is like velvet. Although this photo is towards the top of the plant, the older leaves show more bumps on their undersides.



I like the way my red oak is still determined to hang on to some of its chlorophyll.



Moving to a more ancient form of vascular plant, we have Horsetail Rush, Equisetum hyemale. (It's ancient because it reproduces by spores, not seeds.) This is in a pot in my little water fountain. So far I haven't had to protect it from freezing yet.



I really don't mean for this to be a botany lesson but now I seem to have moved to non-vascular plants like this moss (the black stuff is mold, green stuff is moss). This appears during the rainier seasons on our chimney.



And now I've moved to lichens, which according to Wikipedia is "a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc)". Plus a little moss thrown in on the rock for good measure.



More lichens and rock. The only native rock around here is something called "iron ore", so these rocks come from Arkansas. Makes me feel a bit guilty that they're not native but iron ore is usually small, rusty, and hard to work with.



I guess I'll end my impromptu romp through the plant kingdom with a fungus, some type of big mushroom.

Be sure to check out the links to other Foliage Follow-up posts at Pam's (and my Bloom Day post if you haven't seen it yet)!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

Travels and Home

Thanksgiving is usually associated with travel and home. This year we decided to stay home for the holiday but get out on the weekend to the "big city". Many of my visits to other locales involve trying to visit a local public garden and this weekend was no exception. Our trip to Little Rock took us to Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts. They have several distinct garden areas in the park, many of which are maintained by local garden clubs. Unfortunately for us it looked like we were about one week too late to see some blooms (I know they had a good freeze just this past week). Still, when you're a gardener, it counts. Above is a view of the wildflower area. It looks like it would be very nice in bloom.



It had several bluebird houses and a stream in the area. Although they had a separate butterfly garden, I imagine that this area is alive with wildlife.



This sea oats (Chasmanthium) would provide forage.



We arrived fairly late in the day so our sunlight was fading fast. But didn't it highlight this river birch nicely? There was a lovely little seating area near the performing arts theater that showcased these and many other trees, as well as grasses and rudbeckia.



Along a little lake is a 10 acre arboretum with drifts of daffodils (which I'd love to see in the spring) and well labeled trees and shrubs. Take for example this shrubby tree above. Doesn't it look like it would provide a great burst of flowers in the spring? Thankfully it was labeled as Pinckneya pubens 'Larry's Party Pink' (they also called it a poinsettia tree but I think the more common name is fever tree (like the 60's band!)). In fact, because everything was labeled so well, I was able to see what several shrubs I've been considering for my garden looked like in the fall/winter. Very good info.



This label however, caught me by surprise. I'm not really sure what to say about it. I think I won't say anything.



Last but not least, this little viola remained so I could photograph at least one bloom! I will definitely return to this park, hopefully in the spring for their daffodils and azaleas.

Back to my garden, I've been tidying up for the fall, enjoying the remaining fall colors, and planting a few things.



These little birdies are missing their succulent pals.



Those succulents and more go into the storeroom for the winter, where the temps stay warmer than in the unheated greenhouse.



My portable greenhouse still has room for a few more plants. The newly repotted olive tree looks like it may be too tall by next year for the greenhouse.



This photo makes this plant look much bigger than it really is! This is one of the plants I picked up recently at a mostly native plant nursery. It's Viburnum obovatum ‘Mrs Schiller’s Delight’, a dwarf native cultivar. I'm anxious to see how it turns out. It's supposed to be very attractive to butterflies.



Fall colors are really here now. Our red oak is doing its red thing finally. I'm not sure which species this is exactly, but it has grown like crazy since we planted it.



The Japanese maple 'Bloodgood' is really responding to cooler temperatures.



Our pecan tree has been totally devoid of leaves for some time now but the willow oak (Quercus phellus) in the background is still slowly losing them.

I hope you all had as lovely a Thanksgiving holiday as I did!