Acorn Mast Aftermath
Posted: April 24, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: acorn mast, Automatic Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, oak tree, Southern Gardening 8 Comments
I had a post about the oak trees having an acorn mast. I was correct in predicting I would be pulling up many young oak trees. The squirrels have been very helpful burying them in the garden beds and lawn. I have replanted a few and I let the ones growing in appropriate areas alone. Time will tell if any grow into a mighty oak tree.
All is Right in the World
Posted: April 22, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Amaryllis, Automatic Gardening, Caterpillar, Gulf Coast gardening, Hummingbird, Southern Gardening, Subtropical Gardening 14 Comments
At last, the garden beds are full and bursting with color.
Many of these flowers would have been blooming earlier but were knocked back by freezing weather.
Thankfully, the Amaryrillias bulb did not turn to mush and it put on a beautiful display. A second stem with buds is coming up.
A variety of caterpillars have hatched.
And the hummingbirds have come back. All is right in my backyard world.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Posted: April 8, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Brunfelsia pauciflora, Yesterday Today & Tomorrow 22 Comments
My Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow shrub is blooming. I guess the bud stage is the prequel.
On the first day, it is purple.
The second day it becomes lavendar.
And on the third day, it fades to white.
All together the flowers make an interesting flowering shrub. It is a spring bloomer and its scent is hard to describe, but I feel it is an acquired scent you need to get used to.
A Heavenly Scent
Posted: April 6, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Gulf Coast gardening, Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, Scents, Southern Gardening 13 Comments
On my morning walk through the garden I smelled a heady scent. I checked out my usual blooming trees, but it wasn’t any of them. I opened the back gate to the natural area and found Honeysuckle right at eye level and sure enough that was the source of the aromatic fragrance. I believe this is Lonicera japonica or Southern Honeysuckle. Like so many plants, it is not native here originally from Japan, and has become invasive. I am going by the policy “not in my backyard” and enjoy the wonderfully scented vine in the natural area, which is not allowed to be altered.
Finally Flowers!
Posted: April 1, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: African Hosta, Automatic Gardening, cannas, Drimiopsis maculata, Gulf Coast gardening, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Little White Soldiers, purple Oxalis, Year-round gardening 27 Comments
I’ve been slightly jealous of my northern gardener friends’ pictures of daffodils, forsythia, hellebore, and other early bloomers. My plants are finally coming back from the freeze and there are a few in bloom. Above is my “mulch pile” Iris. The Iris arrived in a mulch delivery over 30 years ago and proved to be very hardy. It has managed to reproduce too.
White Soldiers or Drimiopsis maculata is a great plant for this area. It is reliable and spreads. The flowers are not that exciting and after the bloom, they will make bulblets and new plants. They are also called African Hosta and are the closest to a Hosta we can grow here.
One of Cannas has bloomed already. Another plant that reproduces easily.
The Gulf Coast Penstemon is really putting on a show. The only thing is that I did not plant them in this bed.
Black-eyed Susans have also started to flower and make a nice spring mix with the Gulf Coast Penstemon.
The Purple Oxalis is having a very happy spring. These are in two pots I have next to each other and they make a great display. I also have the Oxalis in two beds and they always come back every year.
Texas Spring
Posted: March 25, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Blue Bonnets, Gulf Coast gardening, hardy, Ilex vomitoria, Southern Gardening, Yaupon Holly, Year-round gardening 25 Comments
In Texas, the first sign of spring is the annual blooming of Blue Bonnets. I try to have a few in the garden every year.
The native Yaupon Holly trees’ tiny flowers have opened with a scent that fills the air. Their botanical name Ilex vomitoria comes with a warning.
The diminutive flowers cover the ground like snow.
And with spring comes weeds. This is a sticky weed. As I have mentioned before, I don’t take up brain space learning weeds’ proper names. I wish I had counted the bushels of weeds I pulled this spring.
Pretty and Pink
Posted: March 18, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Azaleas, Chinese Fringe Tree, Formosa Azaleas, Gulf Coast gardening, Loropetalum, nature photography, Pipe-vine Swallowtail, Southern Gardening 20 Comments
I was amazed that my Azaleas were so full of flowers this year. They have not looked well most of the year and we had water restrictions over the summer. Of course, they are not as nice as my six-foot-tall ones that died.
Every flower bud opened making the shrub lush with pink flowers.
I had been watching this Pipe-Vine Swallowtail butterfly in the backyard looking for a flower(they all froze) to feed on. It took a couple of passes by the sugar feeder, but it did not know how to use it. I was happy to see it feeding on the Azales.
Many years ago I had a Loropetalum struggling in the backyard. It had some life left, so I planted it in the front with a little prayer. It ended up living and growing 10 feet tall. Normally, they are trimmed to 4 feet and kept bushy.
The Loropetalum is very graceful with fluffy pink flowers and is also known as the Chinese Fringe Flower.
Heading On Up
Posted: March 11, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Cope's Grey Frog, My Kitchen Window, nature photography 14 Comments
This Tree Frog is just so cute that I had to do another post about it. I caught it hanging on to a plant in my chiminea.
I believe it is a Cope’s Gray Frog although it could be a Gray Frog as they are both very similar. The Tree Frog can be found from Virginia to Eastern Texas and lives in woodlands.
I kept an eye on the Tree Frog and was able to photograph it making its way up the vine to the top of the pot.
The next time I went to look for it the little frog was hanging onto the brick wall.
The frog finally made it to the lower roof went on its way and disappeared.
And Just Like That
Posted: March 4, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Ecomecon chionatha, Gulf Coast gardening, Leucojum vernum, Rose Cramoisi Superieur, Snow Poppy, Tulip Magnolia, Violets Snowflakes 16 Comments
Spring has arrived seemingly overnight. It is a pleasure to find something new blooming every day Here are the first few to open. Above is a Tulip Magnolia.
Snowflake, Leucojum vernum
Violets
Snow Poppiy, Ecomecon chioatha
The Cramoisi Superieur rose came back quickly after all its flowers had frozen. My garden usually has many more blooms, but as I posted earlier, all the plants froze back. Every day more of my frozen babies are emerging from the ground. Hopefully, the garden will be full of blooms for the hummingbird migration.
Turtle Burmation
Posted: February 26, 2024 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Backyard Critters, nature photography, Southern Gardening 15 Comments
While working on my rose bush I noticed a muddy rock. Not remembering why I put it there I went to check it out.
The rock was a box turtle that may be coming out of brumation or hibernation.
Maybe not happy that I disturbed it, the turtle moved a couple of feet to a sunny location.
As the day ended I found the sleepy turtle had crawled back under the pine needles for the night.
The weather was nice enough to fire up the grill for supper. As the cover was removed I found another sleepy creature. Of course, the little tree frog had to be removed to a safe location. The weather is warming this week, the days are lengthening and insects are hatching it’s time for my garden friends to come out of their winter sleep.
Automatic Gardening & Real Gluten Free Food 