Sticks and Stones

Something is eating the bark off my apple tree limbs.  I suspect those pesky grasshoppers.

My neighbors new stone walls at the entrance to their driveway.

A closeup of the end.

I love this look.  Very good work.

My cute little pink turk's cap.  This is somewhat blurry.  My camera skills are not too good.  I'm having a problem with closeups.

This is beach vitex.  It is about 4 feet wide by 2.5 feet tall.  Lots of little blue blooms now.  Most of the time it is insignificant.  Very drought tolerant.

The pomegranates are getting bigger.

Time to clean those bluebonnet seeds!

Blooms After The Rain

This 'Green Cloud' cenizo blooms more profusely than the usual grey variety.

The two varieties together, Green Cloud on the right

 Passalong plant, crinum.  Thanks, Esther

Pavonia is blooming great.

The coral vine is my favorite vine.  It will take over the fence and the entry arbor of the kitchen garden by the end of the summer.

The perennial morning glory is starting it's mission of swallowing the potting shed, starting with the rain barrel.

T

This rock rose by the wood pile gets no extra attention or water.  Another one nearby is blooming just as heavily.  Such a pretty and reliable plant.  It creates lots of seeds and seedlings so there are plenty to transplant.

I love the 'Strawberry Fields' gomphrena,  another tough plant.

The salvia farinacea is in it's second bloom cycle.  It blooms all summer if you regularly deadhead and cut it back a third or more occasionally.

Salvia gregii and pavonia together.

 Nothing much going on in the kitchen garden, just a bit of chard and some parsley going to seed.  The drought and water shortages just make it too difficult to keep going for now.

Zexmenia looks nice with the daylily.

A wider view of the garden.

My leaning tower of .....purple martin house.  I did have purple martins this year.

Colors

PURPLE, PINK AND WHITE.  Once you have Grandpa Ott's morning glory, you have it for life.  It reseeds prolifically.  But so pretty!

BLUE.  The vitex tree is blooming.

BLUE and PINK.  This perennial morning glory is impossible to kill.  By the end of the summer, it will have swallowed my garden shed, under and over.

YELLOW.  The sunflowers have burst open at last.

ORANGE.  The japanese maple and confederate jasmine are doing a great job of hiding the water tank.

GREEN.  Virginia Creeper makes a great 'lawn'.  

ORANGE and YELLOW.  This native lantana was planted by the birds, wind, or something.  I didn't do it.  So tough and pretty.

MAROON, PINK.  Why are my mums blooming now?  It isn't fall.

RED, WHITE, BLUE.  Red and white gladiolus and blue verbena bonariensis.   I really like the billowy gray Powis Castle artemisia.

ORANGE, YELLOW.  I ordered a group of orange daylilies from White Flower Farm and this is their first year to bloom.

BURGUNDY.  This barberry has struggled but now it is doing really well next to the rocky stream bed.

That's all folks!

Fruits of my labor

Asian pears.

Plum.

Pomegranate

Rain Lilies Galore

The recent rains triggered the bloom cycle of the rain lilies all over the neighborhood.  Looks like lots of buds are ready to open tomorrow as well.

Lovely, lovely rain

I had almost given up on a really good rain event.  Everything is so refreshed, including me.  I spent the next day pulling weeds that slipped out of the ground so easily and transplanting other plants that will now have a chance to survive.

Droughty Days

Zoey in the bluebonnets, Spring 2010

Zoey in the dirt, Spring 2011

What a difference a little rain makes.