November...

November!

Seems, each month, 

I'm surprised the time had gone by so fast.

I should be used to it, by now.

We made it through a Halloween,

without a flood.

So, I'm smiling today...even though we do need rain.

So...what have we been up to?

Well, mostly this....

It's Fall Leaf Season.

Or, more accurately, Fall SEED Season.

See all those seeds?

They're Cedar Elms.

The best germinating seeds ever!

At least 85%.

And, each one will be a little Cedar Elm tree,

if it falls onto soil.

I try to keep as many as possible out of the soil.

Come spring, I'll be out there pulling them all up.

So, every day is seed clean up day.

Next...when the seeds are done...every day,

will be LEAF clean up day.

Such fun.

But, we can at least use the seed-free leaves for mulch.

And, of course...there is always fun with deer.

They took the core out of the Spanish Dagger Yucca.

There is a REASON this is called a dagger.

Sorry to be mean, 

but I hope it really hurt.

There's already a new center growing back, though.

So, on a happier note...

the Big Muhly has really taken off, this year.

And, the Gulf Muhly is trying hard.

They're both really pretty, with the sun shining through. 

Oh, and we went to Oregon.

Tell you about that next time.

Hope your November is starting out good.  

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

This and That on Friday...

Well...another week gone by.

This year, is flying.

We haven't had any real rain, for over a week.

I'm having to water...yes, water.

It's pretty amazing how fast things can dry out.

But, the creek is still flowing.

It comes across the cart path here, and the path gets really slippery.

But, it sounds nice. Here, and the waterfall, further down.

Kids have built another place for the water to make noise.

The Mexican Hats are beginning to take off.

And, the grasses.

I'm not a fan of Johnson Grass, unless it's on the other side

of Elli's Meadow. The seed heads are really pretty.

Especially, backlit with the sun.  

I ran up to our local garden/feedstore the other day,

for a few more plants. (can you have too many plants?)

 And, there looking like some

strange thing peeking at me, was this

Giant Silk Moth...

Antheraea polyphemus.

Really cool...and, about six inches across.

Never know what you'll find, at the garden center.

That's about all from here. Watering and weeding

have taken up the week.

And, I do believe Summer may be here.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

And the Neighbors Say....

Uh oh....

She's at it again....

Yep.

Stay tuned...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Plants at the Golf Course....

Recently, I posted about our trip to the desert,
and Golfing in a Garden.

I thought I'd show you a little of the Flora and Fauna there.

Some, I've not seen before.

This Bougainvillea is one I don't know.

From a distance, I thought it was a Crepe Myrtle.
Very upright....almost like it could be a tree.

But closer, I could see it was a Bougainvillea.
Smaller leaves....

And, clusters of smaller blooms.

Here's the Bougainvillea I'm used to.

And, this bush.  It gets quite large.

That's one, just ahead and to the left of these carts.  I saw some even larger ones.

It has these pretty yellow blooms.
Sorry for the photo.  My camera does NOT like to take pix of yellow flowers.

And, this silver shrub.  I think it's some kind of Sage.  I like it.

 There were lots of nice grasses....

And, the ever present Lantana...

The Palm Springs area uses Lantana a lot.  It's a good hot weather, drought resistant plant.

The landscaping at the villas at the Hyatt Indian Wells, is pretty good, too.

And, there were pink and white water lilies blooming in the water hazards.

With the water, and all those blooming things, there were lots of birds.

This little hummer...I think maybe a Black Chin Hummingbird...posed for me several times.

And, this little red bird took a lot of work to get a shot or two.

I think he's a Flame-colored Western Tanager.

This little guy...a Black Phoebe?...just came right up and posed on the handle of the rake in a sand trap.

And, this American Loon was swimming around with his friends, diving under water for whatever was on the bottom.

view from our balcony

I had a busy day, even though I didn't golf.

If you know the names of those plants I showed you, please let me know.
Hmmm....wonder if deer like them.

*******

The Longhorns have a big game this weekend, up in Dallas.
We play our arch rivals, Oklahoma.

Hook 'em Horns!

*******

Have a great weekend...
~~Linda~~

Foliage Follow-Up...June 2012...

June 16.

The day after Bloomday, we join 

Pam at Digging 

for 

Foliage Follow-Up.

This month, we have the usual suspects, here at

Patchwork Garden.

The front Island Bed is coming along.

The Yucca Rostrata, Mexican Feathergrass and Lantana are doing good.

Artemisia 'Powis Castle' is a reliable foliage plant that adds an airy look, beside the structured plants.

Moving around to the side of the house, Dusty Miller in containers add another silver, airy touch.

The Inland Sea Oats are filling in, in a shady corner beside the garage.

Inside the Fenced Yard, Liriope is a good old stand-by.

Lamb's Ear and Purple heart make a good combination.

The striped leaves on this Canna, give the garden interest, 

even when there are none of those great blooms.

On the deck step, a pot of deer resistant Blue Fescue grass is working.

The old firepit-turned-planter holds an Agave lophantha.  It's growing and putting out pups.

I'll soon need to cut out the pups, and move them somewhere else.

Inside the Veggie Garden, the grapevine we got on the Wine Trail last year, is looking healthy, 

and growing up the fence.

Outside that fence, the Prickly Pear I moved from the shade of the Deer Grove,

is loving the extra sunshine.

And, the Mexican Feathergrass here is taking off.  And...there are lots of little baby

Feathergrasses, too.  I'll be moving them all around the place.

This Agave I rescued from our neighbor Elli's redo last year,

is beginning to grow.  Another one is not doing as well.  

But, the deer have left them alone...for now.

Lastly, I don't know what is happening to this new Yucca.
It hasn't been watered too much...and, I hope not too little.  But, it's not looking so good.

It's supposed to look like this.  

Any ideas?

So....show us your foliage.

Hop over to Pam's, and see some great plants.

Have a Great Weekend...
~~Linda~~

Fall in the Grove...

We've had some wonderful weather, for the last week.  Fall is finally here.

The grasses in the grove are glowing in the late afternoon sun.



With the extra rain this year, we've had a lot more growing in the Deer Grove....that's the wooded area behind our house.  The sun sends shafts of light, between the trees.

The fountain type grass, is still making a show.  It's been joined by a couple others.

I did some research and think I know what kind they are.  If anyone knows something different, please let me know.



I think this might be Lindheimer muhly, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri.  It's not as tall as the description, but looks a lot like the pictures.

This is either Ear Muhly, Mulenbergia arenacea, or Gulf Muhly, Muhlenbergia capillaris.  Since it's not very pink, I'm thinking it's the Ear Muhly.

And, this must be Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii. 

We're really enjoying this show of grasses.  Coming from an urban setting, where grasses were mostly mowed down, it's good to see them left alone.

And, we're enjoying the weather.  It makes it so pleasant to get out there and work in the garden.  I hope you're having the same fun.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~