The Heat is On!

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....

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.

Wishing all of you a very Happy, Healthy Summer. Thanks for being such nice, caring folks.



Thank You Gratitude Greetings

"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends." -- Kozuko Okakura

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

Snakes and Blooms

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 back garden.


A few days ago I saw this pretty snake (photo below) on my driveway. It was close to 4 feet in length with a narrow head. I'm not sure of the species, though I did check with the Austin Herpetological Society web links. A few walkers said they saw two other snakes just like it a block or so away from my house on the same day. I was glad when the snake finally reached the safety of the grass where misguided people would be less likely to see and kill it. The South Texas Poison Center offers some good advice as to how one can let snakes live in peace.



My container water garden continues to flourish. This week's waterlily bloom has a much longer stem than the previous flowers which seemed to just lay on top of the water before.



It really is lovely!

I'm also pleased that my pots of sedum are doing so well. My cuttings originally came from my great-grandmother's garden. I'm trying to grow the sedum as groundcover in some of my flowerbeds, but they seem to prefer containers like this one.

Speaking of groundcover, I have a mystery plant in one front bed that I have not identified yet (see photo below). I'm not sure if it's friend or foe, but the little purple flowers are cute.

I enjoy watching the activity in my front garden. The Cannas are blooming by the front stairs.

My Bat-faced Cuphea (cuphea llavea) is thriving in the warmer summer weather.

And this purple buddleja still attracts its share of butterflies, though some of the blooms are beginning to fade.

One plant that's in bloom all over Austin right now is a kind of Leucophyllum, or what some here call Texas Sage. I'd like to add at least one to my garden.

I'm hoping to visit some more flora-rich Texas sites like the Fredericksburg Herb Farm soon. And when I do I'll certainly blog about it.

"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared." ~David Ben-Gurion