Suburban Wildlife Garden

Welcome to Texas

2010-11-04T08:46:00.011-06:00

Copyright @ 2007 - 2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. After a long, six-month process, my parents and sister have moved from Missouri to a sweet neighborhood in Georgetown, Texas. Their house is a 40 minute drive from mine, which is a big improvement from 13 hours. I hope they will enjoy living Deep in the Heart of Texas. Of course, one of the first things we must do is plant a

Galveston Sans Oil

2010-08-03T11:38:00.022-05:00

Copyright @ 2007 - 2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.It's been a busy summer so far. We just returned from another lovely vacation on Galveston Island. Luckily the oil from the Gulf Oil Disaster did not meet us there, though we did find some tar balls on the beach, courtesy of BP. Grrr... We had an new

Back Among the Living

2010-05-17T10:17:00.019-05:00

Copyright @ 2007 - 2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.It's the 3rd year this orchid has bloomed for me...I hope all the garden bloggers are enjoying spring. Austin experienced some truly beautiful wildflower scenes this year along the roadways, thanks to Lady Bird Johnson. Some of the bloom-filled fields took my breath away...A lot has happened since my last entry in March. First

Diva Getaway to Fredericksburg

2010-03-09T02:38:00.022-06:00

Copyright @ 2007 - 2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My book club, The Literary Divas, went on our annual weekend retreat; this time to Fredericksburg, by way of the Texas Hill Country Wineries. Of course the Divas had a great time tasting the wine. But our final goal was actually a Bed and Breakfast we'd rented together for the weekend in Fredericksburg, Texas. If you've never

Snow in Austin

2010-02-28T22:08:00.014-06:00

Copyright @ 2007 - 2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.It snowed here in Austin on Feb 24th. Big fat beautiful flakes!The snow stuck to the trees and grass.When I arrived at my doctor's office I saw large fluffy snowballs coming out of the sky. They looked like big cotton balls: You can see how large the flakes are in this photo...By the time I drove back home from the school

Lunch on Lady Bird Lake

2010-02-17T22:05:00.012-06:00

Copyright @ 2007-2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.We had a nice Valentine's Day here in Austin, Texas last weekend. The weather was mild enough on the 14th that we went to the Hyatt for lunch then took a little stroll on Lady Bird Lake. My son was impressed by the views from the hotel's restaurant. He enjoyed watching the swans swimming by the docks...The cabbages and kale gave

Auld Lang Syne

2009-12-30T10:36:00.015-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2010. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Happy New Year, Fellow Bloggers! I hope you are enjoying your holiday thus far. Unfortunately my son's Grandfather and his wife were not able to travel down from Missouri after Christmas due to bad weather at that time. We definitely missed them. True, it's a little more difficult to have a Merry Christmas with so few people

Seton Hospital's Healing Garden

2009-12-10T18:10:00.004-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Hello Garden Bloggers,I hope you’re enjoying the holidays. It’s getting quite chilly here in Austin, Texas. I’ve had to break out my winter coat. My goldfish appreciate the heater that keeps their water from freezing at night. I've included some photos of Seton NorthWest Hospital's Healing Garden throughout this entry as I

Spring in October

2009-10-07T14:30:00.002-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.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

Sweet September Get-Together

2009-09-30T21:13:00.007-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I'd like to say "Thank you!" to Diana of Sharing Nature's Garden and Robin of Getting Grounded for hosting a lovely get-together on September 26th for the Austin Garden Bloggers. What a beautiful garden you have, Diana. It was a pleasure to meet our new Ag Extension Agent, Daphne Richards and visit with so many garden bloggers

Galveston: Recovering and Ready for Visitors

2009-09-08T13:35:00.019-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Our vacation in Galveston seems like a pleasant dream now that we're back home in drought besieged Austin again. The beach certainly was lovely this summer. We were relieved to see the island recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ike. My son enjoyed the beach this year; this time without any surgery worries. What a

Off to Galveston and an Update

2009-06-25T23:05:00.009-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.First an update on my cat, Mariah: She is much improved; having almost finished with her antibiotics and is eating on her own. I'm extremely relieved since it was a bit touch and go there for a while. She and Lily will stay at the vet clinic for boarding as we travel to Galveston. We are renting the same beach house as last year

Mariah

2009-06-18T14:30:00.012-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope all of you are having a pleasant summer. I was planning on sharing some fun images from my & my son's birthdays as well as my mother & sister's visit and our trips to the gardens in the area.Unfortunately, all my plans have been put on hold because I'm taking care of my cat, Mariah, who is extremely ill.When we took her

Fantasy Islette or Guppies Gone Wild

2009-05-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My front garden is filling out nicely, but only one out of three of my red yuccas are blooming in the same bed. It's sort of odd since they all bloomed at once in the past couple of years. If anyone has an idea what might be going on, please let me know.Inside, I finally had my kitchen project finished this week. Whoever built

Green The Grounds for Earth Day

2009-04-22T17:05:00.031-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Most gardeners I've met are fairly environmentally conscious. This follows our chosen hobby naturally since we deal so closely with plants, soil, weather patterns and the animals that interact with our gardens. Susan Harris at Garden Rant is one of those special gardeners who cares about the environment; managing to inspire

The Mirror is Up!

2009-04-15T22:00:00.010-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Someone finally helped me get my wooden mirror up on the dining room wall today. Thank goodness my cats approve. ;-) Actually, I don't usually allow Mariah and Lily on to the buffet -- nor tables, counters, or any other food-serving surface -- but I wanted to give a sense of proportion to the photo. Plus they pose really well.I

Easter Lilies and Eggs

2009-04-12T19:26:00.018-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope those of you who celebrate Easter had a very happy day. I'm enjoying the fragrance of the Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum) on our breakfast table this year. I was wondering if I could plant it in my garden, so I checked and saw the MSS at Zanthan Gardens has written a great deal of information about the lily here. Edit:

Mirror, Mirror on the...Floor

2009-03-31T20:32:00.022-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I was feeling rather pleased with myself, because I'd finally found a mirror to fit over my dining room buffet. Here it is sitting (heavily) on the dining room floor...And here is my buffet over which I plan to hang said mirror:I started worrying today when I saw that it took two delivery men to carry the mirror into my house.

All Hail Precipitation!

2009-03-28T16:17:00.019-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. We're experiencing a major drought here in Austin, so I relish most anything that falls from the sky. I would, however, like to draw the line at large chunks of ice that break car & house windows like we had on Wednesday. Most of the hailstones in my garden were about the diameter of a quarter, like this one...Though I've read

Useful Garden Pottery

2009-03-19T22:52:00.027-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I've been on the lookout for a large pot or urn for my front porch. This week I finally found one at Hill Country Water Gardens. It's always a joy to visit this unique nursery. They seem to have everything I love; from plants... ...to pottery......complete with wildlife like this green anole......and fountains with very special

Birds in My Garden

2009-02-26T14:53:00.005-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.After several months of trying, I was finally able to get a photo of the male black-backed form of The Lesser Goldfinch, (Carduelis psaltria), that keeps visiting my garden...These are not the best pics in the world, but I was thrilled to capture him at all since he's so skittish...And I think this may be his girlfriend...They

Warm Indoor Plants on a Cold Winter's Day

2009-01-12T19:41:00.015-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I received a beautiful live plant arrangement from a friend for Christmas this year. It includes a begonia, a bromeliad and what I was told is a terrestrial orchid with yellow flowers (is that right?). I know how to care of the first two plants, but must find out what exactly I'm to do with the last. I'd prefer not to kill

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2008-12-25T14:29:00.004-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I hope everyone is having a very enjoyable holiday. My son's grandfather & his wife came to visit us which made our Christmas a lot happier indeed. We decorated the house much as we did last year, but I'll share some photos here again anyway...I also took a stroll in my garden on Christmas Day.It was nice to see some flowers are

With a Thankful Heart

2008-11-27T03:20:00.006-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Happy Thanksgiving!I am continuing my record as an official Blog Slacker this year by only posting an entry one time per month. My excuses? Well, recently I've started selling books online again, which is fun, but rather time-consuming. Also, this has been a difficult year for my family. Though, I must say I have a lot to be

October Surprise

2008-10-16T11:36:00.011-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My Shubunkin goldfish had two babies! I couldn't believe it when I saw them swimming in my water garden last week. At first I thought they were just some of the guppies I've added to the water garden to control the mosquito population. Then I noticed they have spots and realized they are in fact baby Shubunkins. I could only get

The Butterflies are Free

2008-09-16T15:31:00.002-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.My brother and his wife gave my son a wonderful butterfly kit to keep him occupied during his surgical recovery. It was fun for him to watch the stages of the American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) type butterflies. They arrived in the mail as caterpillars that mostly ate, then they finally changed into an inactive pupal stage....

There and Back Again

2008-08-10T23:03:00.021-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Sorry for the delay in announcement, but things have been extremely busy here. I'm happy to say that my son's surgery was a success. We're back home from the hospital and he's recovering well. His curvature was corrected from 69 degrees to 15 degrees, which is excellent. He had some rough times at the hospital, but he was very

Galveston Island Beach Bunnies

2008-07-11T22:35:00.004-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.We had a rejuvenating time on Galveston Island. The water was warm and the weather was almost perfect. One of our biggest surprises was seeing rabbits in front of our beach house each morning.They would eat the grass, run and play. Then they'd hide among the vegetation of the dunes in the heat of midday. The first time I saw

The Heat is On!

2008-06-17T15:59:00.021-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. 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....

Birthday Blooms

2008-05-30T17:53:00.011-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. My son and I have birthdays only 5 days apart in May, so we had fun celebrating together. I received several pretty plants from friends this year. Here is one favorite...And a girlfriend was so thoughtful; she dropped this sweet bouquet by as well. I really love it!A couple of friends sent this cool hydroponic appliance for my

Not Just A Dream Garden

2008-05-08T12:18:00.018-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Tired of waiting for my pool to be built before starting to plant my back garden; I have begun. I started by laying some pavers so the mower won't murder any more plants. The plants are still babies, but they are doing well thus far. I plan to add some pots in the arched gothic hangers; though I haven't decided what kind of

It's a Spring Fling Thing

2008-04-06T22:03:00.051-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I had a pleasant time meeting Garden Bloggers from around the country at the 2008 Spring Fling here in Austin. I didn't get a chance to talk with everyone, but the Bloggers I did speak with were very kind. Thank you to Pam, Diana, MSS and Bonnie for doing all the heaving lifting (and a special thanks again to Pam & MSS for

My 1st Blogoversary

2008-04-04T00:01:00.005-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.It's my first blogoversary today. Not sure what the netiquette rules are for announcing one's own celebration. I realize I don't have a knockout garden nor an amazing blog like some of the really talented people in the Gardening Blogosphere, but I am enjoying myself and have made some lovely friends. Thanks to all of you who've

'The Winds of March With Beauty'

2008-03-21T12:14:00.049-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Spring is in the air. This American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) and his friends come by almost daily to take a bath in my water garden.They seem to prefer it to the birdbath; maybe to avoid the neighborhood tomcat. Here is one goldfinch balancing on my solar fountain...My son and I went to The Natural Gardener where we bought

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T12:29:00.013-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I love St. Patrick's Day. It reminds me of traveling to Ireland just before my son was born. One of my very favorite movies is Waking Ned Devine. If you haven't seen it, please check it out. It's very funny. Here's a little St. Paddy's e-card with a sweet song you might enjoy...St Patricks Day Postcards.And now, back to

My Sister's Visit

2008-03-05T17:15:00.014-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. My sister came to visit us last weekend. She's actually toying with the idea of moving to Austin so we showed her some of the sights within the limited time she had with us. Here are some nice things we saw while she visited.One of our first stops was Georgetown, Texas. We admired this unique flower bike-rack...One of the most

Hartman Prehistoric Garden

2008-02-18T10:12:00.008-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. After finding out from the orthopedic surgeon that my son will need spinal surgery this summer, we decided to take a break from our worries and visit the Hartman Prehistoric Garden within the Zilker Botanical Garden.In 1992 dinosaur tracks were found on this site. They were mapped and preserved. Plants were chosen for the

Lovely Rainy Day

2008-01-22T10:51:00.002-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.After grumbling in my last entry about my allergies I felt rather guilty. I certainly don't want anyone to think I find Austin less than divine. Actually I think Austin is a cool place to live and visit. Where else can one find an Airstream with a giant cupcake on its roof that reads "Hey Cupcake!" and view the largest urban bat

I'm Allergic to Austin

2008-01-07T11:07:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Well, not all of it. So far, I only seem to be annoyingly allergic to the Mountain cedar (Juniperus ashei) which populates my area of the Balcones Canyonland Preserve by the millions (billions?) and is pollinating enthusiastically this month.Here are some cedars holding seige a few blocks from my house...Being a Missouri farm girl

A Christmas Water Lily?

2007-12-25T17:00:00.003-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I've heard of a Christmas Cactus, but never a Christmas Water Lily. This morning when I went outside to refill the bird feeders I was very surprised to see my water lily, Texas Dawn, blooming in my container water garden.Perhaps the heater in the container garden -- that is meant to keep the water from freezing overnight in winter

'Tis the Night Before Christmas...

2007-12-24T22:23:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. And all through the house...not a creature was stirring...except the fat cat Lily on the ottoman. The presents were ready under the tree... And the baby was lying in the manger... Birds and bobbles fill the tree... while favorite Christmas toys were brought out to play... The stockings are hung on the mantle ready to be stuffed by

Nature in Christmas Cards Past

2007-12-21T13:40:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Each year I looked forward to receiving a very special Christmas card from my great Aunt Totsie. Though she was my step-aunt she always treated me as if I were her blood relative. She and her sister, my step Grandmother, kept excellent correspondence with me throughout my childhood and adulthood. They were both gracious ladies whom I

Potagers Gardens and Verandas

2007-12-08T10:12:00.002-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Special thanks to Annie at The Transplantable Rose for letting me know my content is being stolen by Unscrupulous Thieves and to Mr Brown Thumb for his excellent article: The GrowSpot.com Gets TheSmackDown.I'm not much of a shopper, but I am a soft-touch for a nice garden shop. Since moving to Austin I've been attempting to visit

A Visit to Wimberley

2007-12-01T19:00:00.002-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. A few weeks ago I met a friend in Wimberley, Texas. Wimberley is a quaint little town full of history and adorable cottages turned into shops. It's an easy trek from Austin, so I like to take friends and family there when they visit. This time we saw lots of lovely plants and animals that are well worth blogging.One of my favorite

FreeRice.Com: Rice for Words

2007-11-29T10:47:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Well, rice is a plant and I'm always interested in a good cause. Yesterday a friend directed me to FreeRice.Com, a site where you can play a free vocabulary game and earn free rice for hungry people all over the world. For each word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.If you haven't

Giving Thanks

2007-11-18T15:49:00.001-06:00

Copyright © 2007. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. November weather has been pleasant here in Austin. I really enjoy autumn. My parents are coming down to visit us for Thanksgiving, which should be fun. I won't be blogging for a week or so, but in the meantime here are some photos from my last visit to Natural Gardener Nursery. Enjoy!The butterfly garden in all its glory.By far this

Veterans Day Remembrance

2007-11-07T21:58:00.000-06:00

My mother is the person who taught me to love plants, as she learned from her mother and grandmothers. As a matter of fact, this sedum in my garden......comes from the original plant of my great-grandmother, Vinny. Here is a photo of her at about 12 years old...Speaking of mothers, a reporter for the Kansas City Star interviewed my mom for this Veterans Day weekend. It's a good article, though

Movies and Gardens and Pets. Oh My!

2007-11-02T20:55:00.000-06:00

Last weekend a friend and I went to the Alamo Draft House to see the movie, Lars and the Real Girl. It was a sweet, quirky movie and of course the Alamo Draft House is always a fun, uniquely Austin place to visit. If you've never experienced ADH, please give it a try.After the movie my friend introduced me to a great shop called Ten Thousand Villages in Austin. As we walked from our parking space

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T11:31:00.002-06:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.The Hallo-wieners are on their way. I've had fun decorating the house and garden. The holiday was a good excuse to buy a few items for the house. I found this turret candleholder at Potagers a few weeks ago.It almost looks spooky with an orange candle inside. And we've hung lots of webs and giant spiders outside as well.Just to

Terrariums and Webs

2007-10-17T09:49:00.002-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I was tempted one too many times by the Smith & Hawken terrariums until I finally succumbed last week...Twice...I plan on lining the bottom of the small terrarium with gravel and the larger with flat moss and perhaps some stones so they will both look like proper Wardian cases.I finally dug out my Halloween ornaments and plan on

Halloween Preparations

2007-10-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Many of my neighbors have already decorated their gardens and porches for Halloween by adding pumpkins, spiders, ghosts and scarecrows. My only nod to the season so far is a sweet ivy a friend gave me that I surrounded with gourds and baby pumpkins for my table...I have noticed the local nurseries are getting in the All Hallows Eve Spirit, though. I love the pumpkin patch at Red Barn Nursery. I

When Doors Attack

2007-10-07T18:28:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Today we began our day-trip to Fredericksburg to catch the last day of their Oktoberfest. Along the way we dropped off at Starbucks to pick up some hot beverages as well as free coffee grounds for the garden...Unfortunely, my jaw had a rather unfortunate tangle with a car door in the parking lot. Door-1, Dawn-0. After picking

Riding Down Memory Lane...With Carrots

2007-10-02T23:28:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I was sorting through old family pictures and came across this photo of my siblings and me on our farm in 1965. I'm the 3 year old sitting on the pony with my brother.When I see these photos and remember my rather bucolic childhood in the Ozark Mountains it's no wonder to me that I still love nature so much. I was the kid who

Fredericksburg Outing

2007-10-01T10:45:00.002-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Last Saturday I went to Fredericksburg, Texas with a friend and her daughter. Fredericksburg was founded by German immigrants in 1846. Today it's a favorite place for people in the area to go shopping for antiques and other goodies. Along the sidewalk I noticed this mystery plant...The flowers reminded me of a penstemon, but as

Social Butterfly

2007-09-27T21:34:00.002-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Today I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy from Cold Climate, her friend Cynthia, along with several Austin Garden Bloggers. We had a fun luncheon at Shady Grove talking about gardening, politics and everything in between. Thanks for including me, ladies!From left to right: MSS, Diana, Annie, Pam, Kathy and yours truly.In other

Filling Out

2007-09-25T23:04:00.000-05:00

Some of the young plants I put in this spring are finally making a mark in the front garden. It's nice that they don't look like baby plants anymore. I'm anticipating a more filled-out appearance someday, but am happy with any progress. A Bat-faced cuphea (Cuphea llavea) next to the solar light. Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) The Giant Swallowtail loves my variegated lantana. "The world

Hankies, Tea and Silly Cats

2007-09-17T19:40:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Please forgive my hiatus. I've been a bit under the weather, but am on the mend.Like many people, I tend to drink more tea when I'm sick. While I'm usually an Earl Grey or Green Tea kind of gal, recently I've ventured into new beverage frontiers. My new favorite is Tazo's Passion. When I drink it I'm reminded of passionflowers

Neighborhood Walk

2007-08-28T09:56:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. School has started and my son's first year of high school seems to be going well so far. I'm hoping I'll accomplish a bit more in my garden now that I have a little more free time. I've tried to walk everyday this past week and take some photos along the way. Here are a few plants and animals that caught my eye...Texas sage A

Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award

2007-08-25T19:51:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. I’d like to say a big "Thank you!" to Wild Flora's Wild Gardening for kindly honoring me with a Bloggers for Positive Global Change Award. This is one of the nicest compliments anyone has given my little blog and the very first award it’s ever received. The progressive folks at Climate of Our Future created this award as a

My Big Fat Galveston Vacation

2007-08-21T12:27:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I'm back! Our vacation was a nice success. I'm in the process of recovering from it as well as getting ready for the new school year which starts next Monday.We were very happy that my parents were able to join us on our vacation to Galveston Island. The beach house we rented was just the right size for all of us and the views

Pods & Possums

2007-08-08T01:41:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Just to note to let you know that I'll be computer-free on the beach next week. In the meantime I'll leave you with a few recent photos from my garden.My son noticed this week that our milkweed (Asclepias) pods have started to open. One of his favorite activities is to 'help' release the seeds from the pods and watch them float

Paradise in a Parking Lot

2007-08-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

While they certainly have "paved Paradise and put up a parking lot" in some parts of Austin, I was happy to discover that Manuels on Jollyville Road brought a little bit of Paradise back when they created their outdoor dining room. Walking from the hot parking lot I did not imagine I'd want to eat outdoors. After all, it was 92 degrees that day. But the moment I strolled by their lush courtyard

Another Walk with the Wildflowers

2007-07-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

We took our visiting relatives to see the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center last weekend. It was not my first visit, nor will it be my last now that I have a membership. At the Wildflower Center visitors can see first-hand how Lady Bird Johnson spent her life working to "protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes". This interactive map of the grounds shows there

Revisiting A Favorite Haunt

2007-07-23T12:07:00.000-05:00

We have seen several fledgling birds in our garden in the past few weeks. I was surprised by this fearless young Carolina Wren as he investigated my plant shelf just outside my backdoor. With the help of his doting mother he seemed to give my fertilizer container and gardening clogs the Better Wren and Garden Seal of Approval.We had the pleasure of a visit from family last week. It was fun to

The big and small of it...

2007-07-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

You may be familiar with the Dr. Seuss story, "Horton Hears a Who!" I couldn't help thinking of the story -- and the little pink flower Horton holds -- when I saw this legume in an Austin parking lot.The flower was intriguing to me as it looked almost like fiber-optics, even up close. I am guessing it is some sort of tiny mimosa. If any of you know the name please let me know.Austin has so much

Lady Bird Johnson Remembered

2007-07-12T00:17:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.I was so sorry to hear that former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson passed away this week. She really was a remarkable lady who did so much for environmental conservation and the beautification of our countryside. Photo from University of Texas, Austin.In 1982 Mrs. Johnson and actress Helen Hayes founded the Lady Bird Johnson

7 Random Things...

2007-07-08T12:45:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. This entry is a little different than usual. I had the privilege of being tagged for a meme by Ann/Ziggywigs at Life in the Highlands. Thanks Ann! The request is that I list '7 Random things about me'. At first I thought this would be easy. I'd just let people know things like how I collect Portuguese cerâmica, like this

High Fliers in the Garden

2007-07-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

It's a very wet season here in Central Texas, but that has not slowed down some of the more frequent fliers in my garden.My newest visitor is a bright red dragonfly called Neon Skimmer (Libellula croceipennis).He's beautiful and eats so many pests, I hope to see some dragonfly nymphs in my container water garden soon.I have two hummingbird feeders in my back garden. They are very popular with

Here be Dragons

2007-06-21T18:18:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Well, not dragons exactly, but lizards of respectable size. One frequent visitor to my garden is this Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus).He's a bit longer and plumper around the belly than the anoles that I was accustomed to seeing in Florida. These Texas Spiny Lizards are much faster moving as well. Once I shot the

Snakes and Blooms

2007-06-11T13:40:00.000-05:00

Hello! I've really missed blogging these past few weeks and am very thankful to be feeling better now.There have been a few changes in my garden in the past month. My passion flower has grown up and over my back fence. The Mexican Fritillary continues to show interest in laying eggs on the leaves. I'm hoping for some caterpillars soon.The passion flower blossoms offer a nice touch of color to my

A Crazy Birthday & End of School Week

2007-05-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy week with two birthdays at our house and school coming to an end. A dear friend was kind enough to send this pretty bromeliad arrangement to me for my birthday last week.Last week I visited a friend's garden. She is concerned that her zinnias are dying. As you can see, they look pretty bad...I examined the undersides of the leaves carefully, but could not catch anything in the

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-11T19:57:00.000-05:00

I received some extra special Mother's Day gifts today. Not the least of which was a SpongeBob Squarepants Mother's Day card from my son along with some fun movies.My garden even bestowed some special surprises by giving me my very first water lily bloom in my new container garden. I'm very glad now that I bought this variegated waterlily, Texas Dawn at Hill Country Water Gardens. There was some

A Fledgling Gardener's View

2007-05-08T22:23:00.000-05:00

Look who sat on my solar fountain. A fledgling cardinal hopped and half-flew around my back garden for quite a while yesterday. I was afraid I'd scare her if I opened the door, so this is a through-a-glass-darkly sort of shot.She stood on the fountain for almost 5 minutes, drank some water and even tried to peck at the metal dragonfly (photo below) before she flew into the nearby oak tree. One

Butterflies, Hummers and Baskets

2007-05-04T18:29:00.000-05:00

First of all, a big congratulations to Pam at Digging for her excellent article in the Austin American-Statesman. You're a talented writer and gardener, Pam. Thanks for letting everyone know about the Austin Garden Bloggers. It was a privilege to meet all of you. I'm honored I was included, despite my newby status.The plants in my garden continue to grow. The front porch basket of petunias and

A Visit to Umlauf Sculpture Garden

2007-05-02T10:59:00.000-05:00

Part of the fun of having out-of-town guests is introducing them to my new discoveries here in Austin. Last week I took my visiting parents to several of my favorite haunts including the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. The Gardens combine the best of both worlds; art and beautiful landscaping. They even have some bronze plants like this lily.The colors of this yellow columbine, (Ranunculaceae Aquilegia

Happy May Day!

2007-05-01T09:56:00.001-05:00

April was wonderful here in Austin. I especially enjoyed the special treat of meeting the other Austin Garden Bloggers on the 22nd. What a lovely group of ladies! Thanks to all of you for inviting me to view your beautiful gardens. It was so inspiring to see what the garden possibilities are in this area.During my parent's visit last week we dropped by Lady Bird Johnson's Wildflower Center. The

Of Wrens and Butterfly Plants

2007-04-16T10:17:00.001-05:00

They're moving in! The Carolina Wrens have decided that the birdhouse in my back garden is worthy of consideration. You can see one of them sticking its head out the entrance below. They were stuffing grass, twigs and anything else that wasn't nailed down into the house today. I'm so pleased!Meanwhile, I've been busy planting the front bed with hummingbird and butterfly plants. This weekend we

A Beautiful Day in My Neighborhood

2007-04-10T23:24:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. As a recent transplant to Austin I'm on a huge learning curve when it comes to gardening here. I found a terrific resource book at Half-Priced Books entitled "Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife", by Noreen Damude and Kelly Conrad Bender.According to the book my neighborhood is on the edge of a geological region known as

A Very Cold Easter Weekend

2007-04-09T10:02:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.Austin was extraordinarily cold last weekend. We even had sleet here near the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. I tried to prepare for the freezing temps by covering my flowers with sheets and putting a heater in my new container water garden. The sheets seemed to work, but I still lost a few fish to the cold.Looks like I have

Nursery and Roadside Inspiration

2007-04-06T18:59:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. Even though it's supposed to get cold this weekend, I couldn't resist visiting the Red Barn Garden Center to look at their native ornamental trees. I learned today that the old house in the center of the nursery is the Historical Thompson Home built in 1870's.According to the clipping at the bottom of this article I read today

Container Water Garden

2007-04-05T11:09:00.000-05:00

Since we live on a limestone hill I decided not to try digging a fish pond right away. Instead I thought our tiny patio could use a container water garden.I found the urn at my latest trip to Hill Country Water Gardens.It was the right size for my patio, but too big to fit in my car, so they delivered it the next day. I chose a small, pink-flowering water lily, variegated rush, pickeral and

Gardening Penance in Suburbia

2007-04-04T22:48:00.001-05:00

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved. My neighborhood is connected to the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve; a 24,000 acre wildlife refuge. Photo by Mark Sanders While I feel a bit guilty living in a subdivision that may impact negatively on this wilderness, I also view my garden as an opportunity to grow more native plants in a lot that was -- and still is -- fairly