Suburban Wildlife Garden: June 2008

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The Heat is On!

It's only June in Austin, but we've had record breaking temperatures here for so many days that it's felt more like August. My poor garden is a bit spent I'm afraid, but I'll show you what I do have. Here is a Canna that has some color left...

And my Bat Face Cuphea (Cuphea Llavea) seems content despite the hot weather....

Perhaps no one will believe it, but I swear I took photos of these very bedraggled blue bonnets on 6/17/08. See below. Nothing to write home about I admit, but I honestly cannot believe there is any color left to them at all. Still, I may rename them Bluebonnet Persistence. ;-)

The other constant in my garden are the birds and squirrels. I've counted up to eight doves at one time in the yard thus far. That seems rather a lot of doves for the little garden. They are enthusiastic about the seed and water garden. If you look closely you can count 6 doves in the photo below.

The herbs in my Hydroponic Kit are finally germinating! Thanks again to my dear friends in Tennessee and Florida for sending this lovely birthday present to me. What great fun it is!

I've kept the little dome on the parsley, which hasn't quite started germinating yet. Aren't the little plants cute? The water circulates below. The roots do not touched the water yet, but still seem to get enough moisture somehow. Here's a closer look at the tops...

In other news, I've been cleaning out old boxes I hadn't opened in decades and came across this little 'autographed dog' the hospital gave me when I had my spinal surgery when I was 15 years old (see below). It was a rather curious find since my son is having a similar spinal surgery in only a few weeks.

Of course my cat, Mariah, had to pose 'like the dog' as soon as I took it off the daybed [Heh].

She's not showing off or anything. ;-)

Just cuddling. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Seriously though, it was so strange to see that stuffed dog again after all these years with the autographs of my family and friends on it. It makes me wonder if my son will feel as much love and support before and after his surgery as I had. We live far from extended family and since my son is in the autistic spectrum he doesn't have the same kind of friendships as I did at his age. It will be a very different experience for him than it was for me, but we'll do what we can to make it good. I'm trying not to compare.

One thing we're doing before all the action packed medical scariness begins is visiting Galveston Island for a week. I'm hoping a trip to the beach with my parents might be nice for my son before the pre-surgery appointments begin later in July. We went to Galveston last year and had a nice time (the photo below is from August 2007). Maybe I'll even find some plants to blog about...when I'm not making elaborate deals with God on the beach.