Spring in October
The rains have started falling and the drought may be slightly on the wane here in Austin, but as Robin at Getting Grounded explains in her entry Recapping the Summer from Hell 2009, it will take a whole lot of heavy showers before our lakes are full again. Still, my garden is finally happy after a long torturous summer. The sweltering 100+ temps started in May this year and stole spring from us. Now the cooler temperatures, wet weather and colorful flowers make me feel like spring has arrived in October.
This is the first year my Senna (Cassia?) flowered well. When I planted it several seasons ago it was little more than a twig. This summer the caterpillars clung to the foliage and butterflies drop in for an occasional sip at the blossoms...
Since space is at a premium I'm attempting to train it rather flat against the stark white brick wall...
The blooms are so luscious and plump, it's no wonder the butterflies can't resist them...
The drought scorched most of my groundcover this summer so I tried covering my mulch with some purslane (Portulaca oleracea). It flourished in the heat and the honey bees approved of all the flowers.
Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha), Bush Daisy (Euryops) and Prostrate Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) are blooming all at once today...
This butterfly bush (Buddleia) is surprisingly attractive to humming birds as well as the butterflies.
Here's the view of the front flower bed from the lavender-skirted birdbath...
My basket of begonias looks so healthy you'd never guess the scorching summer heat ever bothered them...
Inside, this pink orchid is blooming in my breakfast window for the 3rd year in a row...
Mariah, my Siamese Cat, has completely recovered from her run-in with steroids. Here she seems to wonder when we're adding a screened-in porch for her bird-viewing pleasure.
From the window she can see the flower bed I've begun planting in the back garden.
I removed one of the dwarf yaupon holly under our family room window and am in the process of replacing it with salvia, bulbine and assorted flowering plants. I plan on replacing the remaining yaupon as well with hummingbird-friendly flowers like my new Salvia coccinea 'Coral nymph', seen here looking extremely pleased with itself...
Finally, I'd like to share a little good news: As some of you may know my son's former one-on-one school assistant inexplicably quit her job without giving notice. She just didn't show up on the first day of school this fall, which left the administrator's scrambling to hire someone and my son with substitute aides for the past month. I was very proud of him for coping so well despite the upheaval; not always easy for someone in the autistic spectrum. The good news is the school finally hired a nice lady for the job last week. I met her today and she seems like a lovely person. We're all breathing a collective sigh of relief, hoping things will get back to what passes for normal in our lives. Whew!
And with that, here's wishing all of you a very contented Autumn Gardening Season. If you get tired of your rain, please send it here, we're enjoying every drop in Austin.
"The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you'd just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency." ~Susan Allen Toth, England For All Seasons
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