Carol
Courtyard Project – Phase Two: Retaining Wall
We have been pondering and planning the materials and design for the south side of the courtyard for a year now. I can’t tell you how many different ideas we have tested out for the treatment of this space. It is the transition between the courtyard and the lower vegetable garden area. There is about a four foot drop in the elevation between the two areas, and it occurs at the south end of the courtyard area.
Greenhouse Produce Growing
We have a nice winter vegetable crop started in the greenhouse this year. We have half a dozen cucumbers, over twenty tomatoes, raspberries, lettuce, and some peppers. All of the plants are hooked up to a drip irrigation system. We are using liquid organic fertilizer applied in-line through the irrigation system which seems to be working really well. The plants are all very healthy and vigorous, with thick stalks and broad leaves. I will be planting spinach, chard, more lettuce, and some herbs over the holidays, which I can move out to the gardens later if we want to.
Summer and Winter in the Same Day
It’s hard to believe that I was working in the courtyard gardens at lunchtime yesterday, it was near 80 degrees and I was sweating, and by the time I went to bed last night it was snowing. When I got up this morning, it was right at freezing, and there was still snow laying around everywhere. The temperature actually dipped for a while around 8 am, and the snow stuck around all morning in most places. I took a few photos just before I went to work this morning.
Christmas 2008 Decorations
I spent several days over the Thanksgiving break putting up the interior holiday decorations. They are always similar from year to year, but I think the photography has improved over time. I think I will need a better flash assembly before I can make much more improvement though. Anyway, here is what I have going [...]
Fall Colors Abound
Our valley is more colorful this year than I can ever remember it. I don’t know what determines the level of color in our native trees, but we have had very little rain here since last May, very hot summer temperatures, and a very mild fall so far. The red oaks seem to get more [...]
Copper Canyon Daisies and Giant Swallowtail
The Copper Canyon daisies in the front courtyard are blooming profusely now. I planted them last spring and was surprised when they started blooming about a month after I planted them. I thought they only bloomed in the fall, but perhaps I was mistaken. There are only three plants, but they have gotten quite large [...]
Butterflies, Caterpillars, and Moonflower Seeds
The gardens are alive with butterflies, bees, birds, and caterpillars. Yellow and white skippers are abundant, and swallowtails, monarchs, painted ladies, and fritillaries are frequent visitors as well. The front courtyard, which is visible from most rooms in the house, provides a picture window view to all of the activity.
Monarch Migration
November is the month that the Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico, and I have been anticipating their arrival this year since we have more flowers this year than in past years. I saw my first Monarch of the year several days ago. Yesterday there were quite a few of them here feeding on our marigolds and mealy sage. I got several nice photos of them with their wings closed, but wasn’t able to capture one with their wings spread. They are very skittish. With some luck I will have more opportunities to get the full dorsal shots I am after.
Finally, Fall
Fall gardening is in full swing here, despite the warm afternoon temperatures. We have had a couple of mornings in the 40s this past week, which feels pretty brisk first thing in the morning, but by 9 am it is already getting warm. I was out harvesting jalapenos and tomatoes for salsa-making this afternoon when [...]
New Blooms and Veggies
I bought this The President Clematis from the Natural Gardener in the spring of this year, and it was green and covered with large purple blooms. I planted it in an eastern exposure where it gets full morning sun, and the top part of the plant gets midday and afternoon sun as well. There are garden sage plants at the foot of the plant to help shade the roots also. Several weeks after I planted it, the weather turned very hot and dry and all of the blooms fell off and the foliage started to turn a bit brown. No new growth was evident at all, until last week. There are now several new branches putting out leaves and setting flower buds. I am so pleased. I put this plant at the front entrance to the house hoping that it would be worthy of being showcased.
The Damage Done
Little did I know when I was admiring this sphinx moth earlier in the spring of the year, that it would turn into a monster worm that would try to decimate my tomato crop. I found three tomato hornworms in my tomato patch this morning, and much damage was already done.
Rain is Coming
The most reliable predictor of rain here in Central Texas is the Texas sage, Leucophyllum frutescens. When this plant blooms, rain is on the way. There has been many a time when the local weather forecasters are not predicting rain, but my Texas sages are all blooming like crazy, and within a couple of days we will get rain. It is almost uncanny how reliable these plants are. Anyway, they are all blooming now in anticipation of the rain we are expecting from the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico.
Blackberry Lily
I inherited this plant from a friend who moved from the area a couple of years ago, and I had not identified it until now. I haven’t grown many lilies or irises in my life, so I wasn’t really sure if this plant was an iris or a lily. I took some close ups of the blooms friday and googled ‘orange lily’ and looked through the images until I found the one that matched my plant. It turns out that this plant is actually an iris that has been classified as a lily. The botanical name is Belamcanda chinensis, and the common name most often used is blackberry lily because of the black seed clusters that it produces in the fall. According to the Univ of Wisconsin horticultural site, this plant can be easily started from seed, so I think I will try to cultivate more of them this winter in the greenhouse.
Harvesting Peppers and Tomatos
Although it has been extremely hot so far this summer, I am starting to bring in a pretty good harvest of jalapeno and bell peppers, and tomatoes. I admit that I am using a lot of water to keep these plants happy enough to be bearing good quality produce, but the results are definitely worth it. I harvested over two pounds of bell peppers – small, but meaty and juicy, and almost two pounds of jalapeno peppers – all very nice looking. The large tomatoes are just starting to ripen, and they are fairly good quality, and the cherry tomatoes are producing lots of really tasty fruits.
Texas Native Volunteer Plants
There has been a morning glory, that I did not plant, growing under the bird feeder in the courtyard. I haven’t been able to identify it up until now because there were no blooms on it, but yesterday I noticed that a couple of very small white blooms were appearing. I did a Goggle search on white morning glory and identified this plant as a White Star morning glory (Ipomoea lacunosa). I was delighted to validate that it is a native species. It is working well as a ground cover in the spot that it is growing, is tolerating full sun and 100+ degree temperatures with very little water being applied. Although the blooms are not large and showy, they are quite beautiful.
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