What's blooming, August

I hope dragonflies (and damselflies) are good luck. It's been hot - of course, it is August in Texas. We got a good rain last week, but I'm hoping for more in the future. Keeping up with the watering gets old. But I am pleased to report the horticultural oil I sprayed on my trees had a greatly reduced my pests (scale, aphids & spider mites). I may have to do another application on two of my crepe myrtles, but the pest load was likely reduced by 90 percent.

Damsel fly resting on crepe myrtle 'Nachez.'

The dwarf wax myrtles have really taken off. A happy surprise.

Bloom on crepe myrtle 'Nachez.' These trees were slow to set flower, but it's still their first summer.

Pink 'Knock Out' rose. Still doesn't look like much, yet.

Butterfly bush 'White Profusion.' Starting to get big and fill up the empty fence line. Good.

'Caldwell Pink' rose. This is a compact and very tough little rose. I actually got this plant as a freebie when ordering climbers for my last garden. It had been living a very stressed life in a pot until last fall, until I finally got it in the ground. If a plant could have danced for joy, this would be the one. It's been blooming and healthy, despite the pest plagues around it.



The 'Teddy Bear' magnolias are still looking pretty decent, even when not in flower. The glossy effect of the horticultural oil made the leaves look very nice. Another benefit of spraying I never considered.



The grasses, 'Adagio' maiden grass, are starting to put out their plumes.



I'm loving this recent acquisition, humming bird mint 'Cana.' And I actually saw a little humming bird at it one afternoon last week! The leaves have a very lovely scent. A great, tough plant.

One of the many blue dragonflies. The frequent the back garden regularly, buzzing up and down the pathway. The boulder is a nice warm landing pad.

Springtime in Texas, my favorite time of year . . . .

The bluebonnets and wildflowers are out in full force. They have peaked just south of Dallas and in Waco. Probably spent in south Austin, but I found some good patches in Georgetown. Hoping to get some good boy in the bluebonnet portraits within the next 24hrs. First I have to figure out what "cute" clothing will actually fit the growing boy. I think he shot up 2 inches in the last two weeks.

Maybe I'll even get to take a mini wildflower hunting roadtrip. Oh, I'm also on a mission to figure out what to do for a garden gate. Something shorter, maybe an old/salvaged gate or make my own. Color would be nice. Or maybe iron, which I imagine DH would object to. Of course he'd probably object to anything that wasn't homemade/cheap. But I'm looking for a killer deal! Gotta check out those funky Austin shops. SoCo here I come . . . .

Photography in the garden

Garden photography combine both of my passions. Getting it right is a challenge for both the photographer and the garden designer. When both are on, it's brilliant. Even without perfection, the results are usually pretty decent. So keeping an eye on the finalists for International Garden Photographer of the Year will prove pretty interesting. The National Trust in England and Wales even offers workshops and advice to those whom enter. Pretty decent of them.

Something's out there

The dog's got a new fascination. Something (I hope, I hope not a rat) is in his backyard. It's still 95 degrees outside at 10:45, and he's on the hunt, in the dark. Maybe it's the same mystery guest who knocked down our garbage can and pulled three trash bags into the street.

Must have plants

Need to make a list of my must-haves. Since I have lots more space, I hope to squeeze in plants I always wanted to incorporate into my garden but could never find the room.

Gotta Have Plants

Mexican Bush Sage

a Redbud tree

more ornamental grasses

shrubbery (hollies & maybe boxwoods)

Also wanna have-its

a swing (for big and little people)

a fun/dramatic fountain

a really great garden gate (actually two, one tall exterior and one short interior)

These lists have the potential to get really long. Better stop now.

Keeping busy

Nothing too exciting to report. Just keeping busy with the kiddos at VBS, chasing after the boy and waiting on servicemen to fix things at the house. The construction next door is in full swing. They're almost done framing the neighbor's house; wasn't it just a slab on Monday? 

A very helpful landscaper was out yesterday to fix a broken sprinkler head. It was a construction causality; probably the first of many. I'm now becoming very aware of how much light is going to be blocked by the new house. It's on our north side, where we did enjoy an unobstructed view, if only for a short time. But we knew it was coming. I predict we'll have a warmer and more shaded micro-climate between the houses. Hmmm, maybe this is where I can plant my camellia (currently pot-bound at a good friend's home)? Hubby wants a fence there, pronto. But that will just get damage by construction too.

Since I don't have anything in bloom here, I'm sharing eye-catching colors from the past. From my old garden and garden travels.

Wild America

We hadn't been in the new house for 48 hours before we met the locals. By that, I mean rabbits. I was warned we would have rabbits before we moved here. But they were not warned about us (meaning the dog). Our golden mix was delighted to find a bunny nest and was chasing the freaked-out little cuties around the backyard. Luckily, I was able to get to them before much damage was done. So I spent the next few days tending to the adorable furballs. Keeping them out of harm's way. Happily, the left the nest box on their own, and I haven't seen them since. Sorry I don't have any pictures to post. They were super cute, but I didn't want to stress them any more than necessary.

Shortly after the rabbits were handled, we had new guests. Bees. On our first Monday morning at the house, construction workers started grading the empty lot next door. After one pass with the skid steer, the work abruptly stopped. Then I saw the most interesting site, cottonwood tuffs or dirt flying through the air and organizing in my front yard. What?!? No, wait, it's a bee swarm! And they're swarming before my front door. Now they are heading into the water shut-off box in my front flowerbed! Are you kidding me? This is crazy. 

So it seems the construction disrupted a bees' nest in the ground next door. Now those sweet (thankfully) honeybees set up shop in a box in my flowerbed. I'm all for bees. Great pollinators in need of all the help they can get. I just didn't want to host them so close to (inches from) home. 

Well, we finally found an available bee keeper to remove the majority of our honeybees. Dr. Dean Hansen, a large and small animal vet for 32 years, was great. He came over late on a Friday night, donned his full beekeeper's whites, and got to work. Since it was dark, all the bees would be in their new "hive." Dr. Dean then used a crowbar and a painter's scrapper to remove as much of the comb as possible. He put the comb and two handfulls of honeybees (approximately 5,000) into coolers in the back of his pickup. He hoped to integrate them into another half-hive box had had going on his property. Like many beekeepers I discovered, Dr. Dean is quite a generous and interesting person. 

After he was done removing what he could and the bees once again calmed down, Dr. Dean showed us a portion of the honeycomb he removed. The honey was the lightest I'd ever seen, and so sweet. Can't get any fresher either. So we've already enjoyed our first (and probably last) honey harvest at the house. 

I do have a few worker bees remaining in the box. But I'll let them stay. It's not likely they will make it through the winter, but they aren't bothering anyone. Wonder what will show up next?

A fresh start, new homestead

We moved in to the new house at the end of May. It wasn't too hot yet, but the Texas summer came in quickly. Now it's 100 (plus one or two degrees) everyday. Now is the time to dream of leafy shade trees and a splashing waterfall fountain. I'm just starting to sketch out ideas now. No dirt will move until late fall, after the heat leaves for good. 

My first order of business is to establish and draw our my landscape plan. Anything we do is going to cost money and require a lot of work. I hope to only do things once. Digging was a lot easier when your yard was half the size and there were no irrigation lines to consider. 

We've already decided to move the fence-line up toward the front of the house, possibly putting a kitchen garden (potager) in this reclaimed private space. Then the herbs and veggies will be near the kitchen and grill.

I want to create a good foundation and strong structural elements in this new new landscape. Visions of garden rooms, evergreens and cedar structures are floating around in my mind. Of course I have to remind myself to accommodate playareas, dogs and kiddos too.  Fantasy will be replaced by practicality and function.