A Trip to Big Bend

"the window" in the Chisos Mountains

a beautiful agave plant

the Rio Grande River

Texas Wildflowers

Recently we had the opportunity to drive through the heart of the Texas Hill Country while the wildflowers were at their stunning best!
Every roadside, every field seemed to be covered in great sweeping palettes of color---we stopped often to take photos or just to oooo and ahhh---every field seemed prettier than the last, and finally I decided just to take it all in because there is no way to convey the big sweeps of color and fragrance with a camera.

Dancing Bones (Hatiora salicornioides)

Blooming right now---a plant that I have had for many years. I almost lost it to freezes and neglect a few times, but managed to bring it back. It blooms in late winter/ early spring with small, yellow, fragrant flowers. The scent is quite strong and fills the greenhouse. What a treat it is to step in there on a cold day and smell the sweet blooms and behold the bright yellow flowers! It is often called Drunkard's Dream or Delight because of its way of growing in all directions.

spring

one of the first fruit trees to bloom on the place is the Guthrie plum---such an easy tree--blooms beautifully, makes fruit , requires no special care

bird peppers (Capsicum annuum -Chile pequin)

I learned about bird peppers about 10 years ago on a birding listserv. They were recommended for attracting birds, but are also used for seasoning by people who crave highly spiced foods.

Eventually I found a source for a plant and placed it in my veggie garden. My husband used to think that there was never a pepper too hot for him. He gathered a few bird peppers for salsa.
We discovered one little pepper was more than most could stand.

However, it makes a beautiful plant and the birds love them.

salvia guaranitica "black and blue"

beautiful and loved by hummingbirds

on the walking path

a nice patch of daisy fleabane
a beautiful black fungus

feeding the goldfish

Several years ago I put goldfish into my old cast iron sugar kettle. They have thrived in spite of some neglect. A few of them are now second generation fish since the adults have spawned a few times.

They seem to know when I am approaching and rise to the surface for food. Perhaps they can feel the vibration of my footsteps or hear my voice if I am talking. The largest has a white or gray cast to its sides and I am concerned that it may be diseased--or since I saw it chasing another fish which seemed female--maybe in some type of breeding condition.

our big snow

On the morning of December 11, 2008 it began snowing-----and snowing------and snowing. I could not believe my eyes and kept taking photos because I knew it would not last long. I was wrong though --it snowed for hours until the snow was 8 inches deep. Of course, I was amazed and excited at first, but began to wish for it to stop when the live oak limbs began to crack off. Because they hold their leaves through the winter, the snow was able to collect there in great quantities. At first the weighted limbs bowed to the ground, but as the snow continued the limbs snapped. Many fell to the ground. However, the trees are now filled with large dangling dead limbs that threaten us every time we walk under them.

The trees have taken some serious damage--first from Katrina, and now the big snow storm of 2008.

Hickories

At the bottom of our hill is a small grove of hickory trees. They are attractive all year long--in the summer the leaves are exceedingly large and the bark a deep brown or black, but in fall the leaves turn a brilliant glowing gold. It is difficult to capture the beauty with a camera though I try every fall.

Destin, Fl

Many years ago my family would spend a few days in Destin, FL every summer. At that time there were only a few family motels on a long stretch of sugar white beaches and azure water. At first we would stay in the nearby town of Ft. Walton and drive to the beaches, but finally we were able to rent a room at this motel on the beach.

The beach and water were the main attractions for us--no amusement parks, mini golf courses, or miles of fast food restaurants. We spent the entire day on the beach---beach combing in the morning, swimming and body surfing thru the day, eating a meal that my mom cooked in the kitchenette that was a part of our room in the evening.

I probably spent too much time in the sun because I have encountered skin problems in my mature years, but I still think these were some of the best vacations of my life.

oxblood lily

oxblood lily (Rhodophiala bifida)

They are also called hurricane or schoolhouse lilies because they bloom in late summer. The flowers burst forth first, followed later by the strap leaves. Introduced from the Andes, they were brought to Texas by German settlers after 1865.

mama's rock garden

Many years ago we found a source for large rocks near our home. They had once been ballast for sailing ships that docked in New Orleans. Then they were used to make cobble stone streets in the city. As they were pulled up and discarded they were brought to a facility near our home for storage. Mama really wanted some so we took a little wagon and brought these home to her.

At first she painted them bright primary colors and arranged them around a small tree. Later she let the paint wear off so that the blooms would be the stars of the garden. She chose bulb plants that would bloom every spring. Often she handed me the bags of bulbs and let me arrange them however I wanted. Maybe the gardening passion that I have today was born then.

When she moved the rocks came with her----and now they are in my yard. However, I have them tumbled into a heap where I keep a bird bath. Bright patches of paint still remain on their bottoms, and I think of those spring tulips and daffodils that mama and I planted so many years ago every time I see them.

bursting with bunnies

The bunnies are still in the flower pot. I don't know how they stand being crowded in that small
hole when the temperatures have been so high every day. Most of the time they are covered over tightly with vegetation and mother's fur. I had to remove the cover to snap these photos.

I have learned that the mother does not stay with them---probably only nursing them twice a day. We have not seen her since their birth, but they seem to be thriving.
I think I see three of them.

Hope I can salvage some of the rose cactus that was in the pot. I have had it for about 20 years. The whole experience has been interesting, and I have learned something new.

update: There were 4 baby rabbits crowded into the hole that was a nest. They all made it out safely and hopped around the yard before disappearing into the wild.

possum print

I found this little track at the margin of our pond. It looks like a small human footprint ---but it is
the track from a possum's hindfoot.

that cwazy wabbit!

The rabbit that decided it was our pet continues to be a constant fixture in our yard and garden. It has been here for a year now. Recently I noticed that many of my potted cactus plants had been dug up. They are against the house on a bench we made to keep them drier than the other plants. I blamed the squirrels for the destruction because they are always digging holes to bury nuts, etc.

One afternoon last week though we saw our rabbit carrying twigs and grass to the cactus bench. She was making a nest in a hole that she had dug! Wow! I had no idea this is how rabbit birthing was done. It took her a few days to make the nest, and one morning when I thought she had abandoned the whole project I poked my finger into the pile of grass and heard a squeal. There were babies in the nest! I didn't pull it back further because I didn't want to lead predators to the spot. I haven't seen her much since then--perhaps she only visits them at night. I need to pull the grass back and see if they are still there.


update: I pulled some of the nest material away and looked in the hole that the mother rabbit dug---the babies are there and doing fine. I took a photo, but it is not very good because they would wiggle down deeper into the hole. Research shows that she only nurses them about twice a day.

a furry little head, I think that is a still closed eye on the right

blue willow

Blue and white ware has always been a favorite of mine. When I first began housekeeping many years ago the only china I had was this blue willow set. The local discount grocery, Schwegmann's, had shelves of this pattern in "open stock". My mom and I took a grocery basket down the aisles and chose various pieces. The price of each piece was quite small. "Made in Japan" was stamped on the bottom of each one. After many years, I finally retired them because they had become cracked and crazed. The teapot, bowl and a large platter were added later, but they were made in China.

milk and wine lily

When I first moved to my home in the country nearly 40 years ago, there were many old pass along type plantings on the place. Some of them were planted in tires, or plopped in odd places in the yard. Eager to neaten things up I mowed some down or dug them up to discard, but I did keep many--old fashioned chrysanthemums, white iris, a fuschia garden phlox, magnolia fuscata. However, I mowed over the milk and wine lilies---they were all over the yard and I wanted them gone.

Now I recognize them as an heirloom garden plant---and I wanted one for my garden. I had to pay $20 for one plant. Somewhere the original home owner and gardener is grinning at the return of this familiar flower to her garden.

upland sandpiper

While cutting and fluffing hay our neighbor noticed this bird catching insects in the stirred hay. It was new to him, and so knowing that I am interested in wild birds, he called me to come identify it. It was new to me, too, but using my binoculars and a field guide I was able to give him a name--an Upland Sandpiper-- once quite common, but hunted to near extinction. Protection for migratory bird species have given it a chance to rebound.

It does not nest here, but was migrating to its grassland home in Canada or prairie states to the north and west of us. It winters in Argentina.

Peggy Martin Rose

The parent of this rose survived being submerged in the salty floodwaters of hurricane Katrina.

yellow native azalea

blue bottles

Love the way they light up in the sunlight---the poor man's stained glass.

Louisiana Iris

Blooming beautifully this year--in its blue and copper form.

new in the garden

Goldfish plant (Nematanthus gregarius)




From Southern Mexico and Brazil-- waxy green leaves and orange pouched flowers

Basically a house plant, but seems to be flourishing on my porch in spring and summer




Nun's Orchid (Phalus tankervilliae)





Named for its hooded flower, the flowerstalks can be 4 feet tall, and the leaves remind me of aspidistra. A native of China that can be planted in the ground in warm climates----the fragrance is delightful.
When viewed from above the tops of the flowers are white, but when I shot a photo from below the rich dark maroon and brown of the interior made it seem a different flower.

oops! I did it again!

Bought too many pepper plants!

o--well--they're fun to grow and great for picking when you need them.

winter hummer

stunned after hitting glass

missing neck feathers, but drinking nectar


Some years ago I discovered that not all hummingbirds leave the south in the fall. There are several western species that stray into the southeast and winter in favorable gardens or where feeders are available. After some research I began planting shrubs and flowers that bloom late into fall and winter. I learned to keep my hummingbird feeders filled all year. Finally I began to have a winter hummer or two. Most didn't stay long, but it was exciting to see them buzzing through the yard on cold winter days.

My late blooming flowers lasted for a long time this year--the cold weather was late in coming. I even had garden tomatoes until near Christmas. The hummers showed up, and one has stayed with me for months. It is a selasphorus type---a rufous brown colored bird that has managed to survive 17 degree mornings and a run-in with the sliding glass door.

It crashed into the door late on New Year's Day. I think it was being chased by something which may even have had him by the throat because a circle of neck feathers fell out as he lay in my hand after I rescued him from the patio slab. When I brought him in his eyes were closed and his tongue hanging out----I warmed him in my hand and then placed him in a paper bag while I worked in the kitchen. Before long I could hear him fluttering against the bag --a sign that he was recovering. Since the temperature for next morning was predicted to be in the teens I was uncertain about whether to release him then or the next day. His struggles in the bag grew louder, and I decided to let him go though it was getting dark and cold--- a few moments later he came to the window feeder and drank heavily. I did not think he would be able to survive the cold night after his traumatic evening.

At first light the next day he was back at the feeder in the freezing temperatures and has been here everyday since then.

Such a feisty fellow!---a few ounces of fluff and feathers surviving in a cold rather barren garden right now--but giving me so much pleasure every morning that he still shows up.
He will eventually migrate back to his western summer location somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

firebird

While resting from work in the vegetable garden I happened to look overhead and was thrilled to see a bright flash of orange moving through the pecan tree. I quickly reached into my pocket for my camera and managed a fast photo of a male Baltimore Oriole before he moved on.

monarch larva

Many years ago I planted milkweed plants in flowerbeds to attract Monarch butterflies. The plants now pop up all over the place in various flowerpots and beds. I usually weed around them and watch for Monarchs. Butterflies have been scarce this year, but Monarchs must have been through here. This morning while watering pot plants I noticed several Monarch larva munching away at the milkweed plants that attracted the adults. They are about to eat themselves out of a place to stay--the plants are disappearing from their healthy appetite.

tomatoes--take 2

We had so much success with tomatoes in bales of hay that we planted more for fall.
They are beginning to set fruit, and if there are no late hurricanes or early frosts we should have some nice ones for salads and sandwiches. However, it has turned droughty again, and it's water everyday. I do have a soaker hose strung through them though.

yellow jackets

Recently one of my sons made a lap or two on my walking path. Soon he came dashing back into the house stripping clothes off as he ran. "Yellowjackets!" he shouted as he ran for ice and tried to count the stings.

I was puzzled--I have walked the path most days for months, cut the grass with the mower or tractor, and picked blueberries a few feet from where he said he had met up with them.

A careful search revealed a hole in the flat earth, mostly covered by sod, and only a few feet from the blueberry bushes. I don't know how I escaped them all spring and summer for I have certainly walked over them more than once!

We sprayed the entrance with wasp spray and this morning found that a night creature had pulled some ofl the nest from the hole.

surprise, surprise!

A few days ago I noticed a bud forming on a vine that I considered a weed for nearly 27 years. It came with a palm that I had dug up from my parents' home after they had both passed away. Every spring and summer the vine would emerge and cover the palm in rampant growth, attach itself to the house and climb the walls. By summer's end I would try to rescue the palm from its burden of tangles. Using snippers, and perhaps even Roundup a few times, I would cut it back to the root and think, " I have gotten rid of it."

It really went wild this summer and managed to set a bloom. The moment I saw it I realized it was not a native weed or vine, but something more exotic---Allamanda cathartica (Golden Trumpet).

A search on the internet showed it is a popular ornamental, and probably something my mom and dad had collected for their garden. Somehow it had escaped my notice as a flowering plant.

I am still not sure how desirable it is since it smothers things so quickly. Perhaps with a bit of nurturing it will flower more.

In some places it is considered an invasive species because of its rapid growth. It has proved itself to be exceptionally hardy. Further research shows that it has toxic sap and may cause rashes, but I have never experienced any of that in my battles with it previously.

sweet basil

We put two sweet basil plants in our vegetable garden this spring. They are still flourishing and reward me every morning that I work near them with clouds of sweet spicy scent. I never thought they would survive this long.